WG Sebald and Outsider

UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Writing from the Periphery: W. G. Sebald and Outsider Art Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1979c8pp Author Etzler, Melissa Starr Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Writing from the Periphery: W. G. Sebald and Outsider Art by Melissa Starr Etzler A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German and the Designated Emphasis in Film Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Winfried Kudszus, Chair Professor Anton Kaes Professor Anne Nesbet Spring 2014 Abstract Writing from the Periphery: W. G. Sebald and Outsider Art by Melissa Starr Etzler Doctor of Philosophy in German and the Designated Emphasis in Film Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Winfried Kudszus, Chair This study focuses on a major aspect of literature and culture in the later twentieth century: the intersection of psychiatry, madness and art. As the antipsychiatry movement became an international intervention, W. G. Sebald’s fascination with psychopathology rapidly developed. While Sebald collected many materials on Outsider Artists and has several annotated books on psychiatry in his personal library, I examine how Sebald’s thought and writings, both academic and literary, were particularly influenced by Ernst Herbeck’s poems. Herbeck, a diagnosed schizophrenic, spent decades under the care of Dr. Leo Navratil at the psychiatric institute in Maria Gugging. Sebald became familiar with Herbeck via the book, Schizophrenie und Sprache (1966), in which Navratil analyzed his patients’ creative writings in order to illustrate commonalities between pathological artistic productions and canonical German literature, thereby blurring the lines between genius and madness. In 1980, Sebald travelled to Vienna to meet Ernst Herbeck and this experience inspired him to compose two academic essays on Herbeck and the semi-fictionalized account of their encounter in his novel Vertigo (1990). In this study, I reveal how Sebald incorporated Herbeck within his works over a thirty year period in order to provide a social commentary. Sebald looks to Herbeck to examine what had become the standards of normality in Western Germany following the Second World War from a critical perspective. Not only is Sebald’s empathetic identification with the outsider Herbeck in itself a political and social act of protest, but I show how Sebald recognized in Herbeck’s language an embodiment of his own viewpoints regarding (eco)politics and critical theory. Since his understanding of Herbeck is informed by a number of disciplines, various cultural discourses assist in my clarification: I turn to Sebald’s interest in the Frankfurt School thinkers, such as Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno; Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s ideas on minor literature; political viewpoints as posed by filmmakers such as Alexander Kluge and Werner Herzog; and also the socio-anthropological writings of Pierre Bertaux, Michel Foucault and Claude Lévi-Strauss. I furthermore provide close readings of Herbeck’s poems to argue that Sebald imitates Herbeck’s style. Focusing initially on archival material, I locate within Sebald’s unpublished poetry and prose several thematic, linguistic and semantic characteristics which are typical of Herbeck’s poetry. I then expand this analysis to incorporate 1 how these features also reappear in Sebald’s published novels. In uncovering underexplored intertextuality, this study sheds new light both on Sebald’s novels, since recognizing Herbeck’s voice within his prose calls for a reevaluation of what is “Sebaldian”, as well as on the broader, yet underexplored cultural movement from which I focus on Herbeck as the apex. It also locates Sebald’s key political ideas and his values concerning poetics and morality as derivatives of a particular historical and psychological discourse. 2 Dedication This work is dedicated to the many inspirational professors with whom I have been fortunate enough to work. Each professor at Berkeley has been involved in the making of this dissertation, and I will forever be thankful for all they taught me. I am especially grateful to my dissertation committee. Winfried Kudszus rekindled my love for Sebald and inspired me to pursue my own, unconventional path. His endless patience, kindness and encouragement helped me through many difficult moments. Academically, Walter Sokel described him appropriately as the embodiment of the phrase “stille Wasser sind tief” – indeed they are. Anton Kaes consistently opened my eyes to new ways of viewing film, and taught me how to ask relevant questions and think critically. I will always value his judgment and ideas. I am grateful for Anne Nesbet’s approachability and her thoughtful and insightful comments on my dissertation. These tips have inspired me to think in new directions and to pursue new paths in my future research. I offer my deepest gratitude to the Wylie Agency (New York) and to the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach for generously granting me permission to bring many undiscovered treasures from the Estate of W. G. Sebald to light. Additionally, none of these pages would have been possible without the generous financial assistance via the Bernhard Zeller Stipendium and the American Friends of Marbach to research in the archive, as well as the abundant years of aid from the German Department at the University of California, Berkeley. Any accomplishments of mine are also due to the influence begot by my permanent and visiting professors from California State University, Long Beach. Jutta Birmele introduced me to Sebald many moons ago and continues to provide me with thought-provoking material, emotional support and friendship. The impact Jeffrey High has had on my life in indescribable. While he goes above and beyond any definition of Vorbild, this is what he will always be for me; he is both brilliant in his field and an amazing individual. Being buried underneath Sebald’s literary remains afforded me the opportunity to become acquainted with several Sebald scholars who greatly expanded my understanding of Sebald as an academic, author and individual. Uwe Schütte well exceeded personally and intellectually all of the expectations I had made over years of devotedly following his research. I also dedicate this study to the many friends I made at Long Beach, Berkeley and in the C-haus on Schiller Heights in Marbach. They encouraged me in intellectual discussions, moved me in new directions and kept me sane. I already look forward to working with you all as my colleagues in the near future. I am also indebted to the devoted individuals who assisted me over the years in the archive and behind the scenes at Berkeley. I am thankful for the intellectual stimulation begot by Marcel Lepper, Ulrich von Bülow, Ulrich Raulff and Nikola Herweg; and I appreciate the patience and assistance of Katharina von Wilucki and Susanne Rößler as well as from those in the aquarium: Thomas Kemme, Hildegard Dieke and Heidrun Fink. I extend a hearty thanks to Andrea Rapport, my intensive motivational speaker and therapist. The constant love, support and encouragement of my individuality from my parents aided me in finishing this more than they can imagine. I dedicate this also to my best friend, my wonderful sister, to whom I can turn no matter what and with whom I have a psychic connection regardless of the distance between us. I also thank the ghost who is somewhere intangible and yet undoubtedly very proud at this moment, my dearest pops. Finally, this is dedicated to the one i whose presence has seeped into each page of this work, although he hasn’t read a word of it. He was there in the beginning, gave me a cozy sense of home in the middle, and convinced me to make it through to the end. ii Table of Contents Introduction: W. G. Sebald’s Pathological Library and a Brief History of Outsider Art iv Chapter One: Excavating the Herbeckian Voice in W. G. Sebald’s Unpublished Prose 1 Chapter Two: Ernst Herbeck Inspires A Perspectival Exchange and Border Crossing 29 Chapter Three: Pathological Language, Historical Critique and Environmental Stance 46 Chapter Four: Identifying the Societal Critique in Ernst Herbeck’s Poetry 68 Chapter Five: Behaving Beastly: Reading Sebald and Herbeck through an Anthropological and Ecopolitical Lens 85 Chapter Six: A Cinematic Shift: Visual Representations of Otherness 103 Conclusion 129 Works Consulted 133 iii Introduction W. G. Sebald’s Pathological Library and a Brief History of “Outsider Art” The following study explores W. G. Sebald’s (1944-2001) interest in pathology and Outsider Art, paying close attention to the role the schizophrenic writer Ernst Herbeck (1920- 1991) played in influencing his thought and literature. In both of the academic essays which Sebald wrote on Herbeck,1 he identifies and admires general characteristics of Herbeck’s language and yet he neglects to provide the reader with concrete examples from Herbeck’s poetry to support his assertions. Inspired by this lack, one goal of this study is to fill in this blank by providing close readings of Herbeck’s poems in order to illustrate what Sebald likely had in mind when he made claims about Herbeck’s style, for example regarding the physiognomy of his language or his unconventional semantics which create a riddle for the reader. To demonstrate the relevance of such characteristics of Herbeck’s writing, I will align them with passages from Sebald’s own works to reveal his imitation of certain Herbeckian elements. Sebald’s engagement with psychology and mental illness began in the early 1960s and is apparent throughout the body of his work, yet surprisingly, within the bulk of secondary literature which has appeared in ever increasing amounts since Sebald’s untimely death in an automobile accident on 14 December 2001, very few works have dealt specifically with this topic.

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