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Diplomarbeit Diplomarbeit Titel der Diplomarbeit „Der Schriftsteller als Arzt und Patient: Krankheitsmetaphern bei Arthur Koestler“ Verfasserin Elisabeth Prinz Angestrebter akademischer Grad Magister der Philosophie (Mag. phil.) Wien, im Oktober 2008 Studienkennzahl lt.Studienblatt: A332 295 Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt: Deutsche Philologie Betreuer: Univ. Prof. Dr. Michael Rohrwasser 1. EINLEITUNG ............................................................................ 3 2. LITERATUR ALS ANTI-THERAPIE.......................................... 6 2. 1. Schriftsteller als Ärzte................................................................ 7 2. 1. 1. Diagnostiker und Chirurgen..................................................... 10 2. 1. 2. Versuchungen des Messers .................................................... 17 2. 2. Koestler als Arzt und Patient ................................................... 20 2. 3. Krankheitsmetapher als dialogische Form? ............................ 23 2. 3. 1. Kulturanalyse nach Raymond Williams ................................... 25 2. 3. 2. Bild/Text nach W. J. T. Mitchell ................................................ 27 3. VOM PATIENTEN ZUM ARZT ................................................ 32 3. 1. Anamnese der Renegaten ...................................................... 33 3. 1. 1. Inoffizielle Geschichtsschreibung ............................................ 36 3. 1. 2. Operation und Rekonvaleszenz .............................................. 42 3. 2. Koestler als Stratege und Netzwerker ..................................... 49 3. 3. Rezeption als Diagnostik......................................................... 54 3. 3. 1. Angst und Neurose.................................................................. 55 3. 3. 2. Wurzelloser Nihilismus ............................................................ 61 3. 3. 3. Janusgesicht Arzt/Patient ........................................................ 64 4. KRANKHEITSMETAPHERN .................................................. 69 4. 1. Geschichte der Krankheitsmetapher ....................................... 70 4. 1. 1. Körper als Ganzheit: Menenius Agrippa .................................. 71 4. 1. 2. Köpfung und Vervielfältigung: Cromwell und Karl I.................. 73 4. 1. 3. Ordnung des Leviathan: Thomas Hobbes............................... 79 4. 2. Revolutionäre Ärzte: Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin ........................... 85 4. 3. Koestlers organisches Gesellschaftsbild ............................... 104 4. 3. 1. Körperliche Einheit der Vielheit ............................................. 105 4. 3. 2. Intelligenz als Membran ........................................................ 109 4. 3. Dialektische Bilder................................................................. 113 4. 3. 1. Das Gehirn des Souveräns ................................................... 116 4. 3. 2. Infektiöse Fremdkörper ......................................................... 119 5. KRIEG UND KRANKHEIT .................................................... 122 6. LITERATUR- UND ABBILDUNGSVERZEICHNIS................ 124 6. 1. Primärliteratur........................................................................ 124 6. 1. 1. Arthur Koestler ...................................................................... 124 6. 1. 2. Rezeption und andere Literatur............................................. 126 6. 2. Sekundärliteratur................................................................... 130 6. 3. Verzeichnis der Abbildungen ................................................. 137 7. ANHANG .............................................................................. 139 7. 1. Zusammenfassung................................................................ 139 7. 2. Lebenslauf............................................................................. 140 7. 3. Danksagungen ...................................................................... 141 2 1. EINLEITUNG Arthur Koestler ist ein Autor, der sich wissenschaftlichen Etikettierungsversuchen stets verweigern wird. Schon den Zeitgenossen Koestlers fiel es schwer, passende Zuschreibungen für den Grenzgänger zwischen politischer Literatur, Philosophie und Naturwissenschaften zu finden. Die Schwierigkeiten beginnen bereits bei der Biografie und der nationalen Zuordnung. Melvin J. Lasky erzählt in einem Interview, dass die britische Times anlässlich des Suizids Koestlers 1983 in London, diesen einen „Hungarian writer“ nennt, obwohl zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch kein einziges seiner Bücher ins Ungarische übersetzt worden ist.1 Koestler wird 1905 in Budapest geboren und verbringt dort seine Kindheit. Als Sohn eines ungarischen Industriellen und einer österreichischen Mutter wächst er in einem vorwiegend deutschsprachig geführten großbürgerlichen Haushalt der K. u. K.-Monarchie auf. Die Übersiedlung nach Wien im Alter von 14 Jahren und sein Studium an der Wiener Technischen Hochschule ab 1922 werden Koestler aber keineswegs auf eine nationale Identität als Österreicher festlegen. Vielmehr folgt der überzeugte und abenteuerlustige Zionist 1926 seinen jüdischen Wurzeln und geht für einige Jahre nach Palästina. Als Journalist beim renommierten Ullstein-Verlag lebt er von 1930 bis 1932 in Berlin, wo er sich auch der Kommunistischen Partei anschließt. Nach einer einjährigen Reise durch die Sowjetunion findet er seinen Mittelpunkt für einige Jahre in Paris und reist 1937 im Auftrag der Komintern nach Spanien, wo er beinahe dem Bürgerkrieg zum Opfer fällt. 1938 verlässt er die Kommunistische Partei und beginnt an seiner Karriere als Schriftsteller zu arbeiten. Ab 1941 schreibt Koestler ausschließlich in englischer Sprache und bleibt stets ein internationaler Kosmopolit. Er wechselt in den 1940er und 1950er Jahren mehrmals seinen Wohnsitz, lebt in Wales, Frankreich und den USA. Seinen Lebensschwerpunkt hat er aber in Großbritannien, wo er insgesamt über 30 Jahre zubringt. Beim Österreichischen Literaturhaus führt man ihn heute ebenso als österreichischen Schriftsteller wie er in Standardwerken zur Exilliteratur als Autor einer „deutsch-jüdischen 1 Lasky, Melvin J.: Remembering. Interview by Diana West. In: Encounter, Nr. 1 (Juli-August 1983), S. 59-64, S. 61. 3 Literatur“ und „österreichischen Exilliteratur“ zugerechnet wird.2 Dennoch ist Koestler in Österreich kaum bekannt. Die Rezeption bewegt sich innerhalb verschiedenster Fachdiskurse, die einander nur selten berühren und Bilder vom jüdischen Exilautor, vom engagierten Antikommunisten sowie Bestsellerautor des Romans Sonnenfinsternis und vom naturwissenschaftlichen Philosophen entwerfen. Denn ab 1955 wendet sich Koestler vom literarischen Schreiben ab und konzentriert sich auf überwiegend populärwissenschaftlich gehaltene interdisziplinäre Arbeiten, die sich die Aufgabe eines Brückenschlags zwischen Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften stellen. Ein interessantes Detail am Rande ist, dass sich Koestler in den 1960er Jahren in Alpbach in Tirol niederlässt, um hier im Sommer, in seiner Stadtvilla in Kensington aber im Winter zu leben. Hilde Spiel erwähnt in ihrem Nachruf, dass Koestler diesen Wohnort in den Bergen aufgrund des jährlich stattfindenden „Europäischen Forums“ wählte.3 Im Anschluss an seine endgültige Rückkehr im Jahr 1971 nach London, sollte er dieser Veranstaltung mit seinem Roman The Call-Girls (Die Herren Call-Girls) ein satirisches Andenken setzen.4 Besonders die politischen und medizinischen Diskurse der 1920er und 1930er Jahre zwischen Berlin, Moskau und Paris haben Koestler in seinem literarischen Schreiben geprägt. Er arbeitet mit der Krankheitsmetaphorik vor allem in seiner Literatur zwischen 1940 und 1953, wodurch diese in bestimmte Bildtraditionen der politischen Körper- und Fremdkörpermetaphorik eintritt und auf Konzepte einer hierarchischen Gesellschaftsordnung bzw. deren organische Ganzheit verweisen. Koestler ist als Exkommunist auch in politischer Hinsicht ein Grenzgänger und wird von George Orwell zu einer neuen Schule der Renegaten gezählt, deren Literatur er „political writing, or pamphleteering“ nennt.5 Denn diese antitotalitäre Literatur will politisch intervenieren, 2 Vgl. N. N.: Arthur Köstler (sic!). Kurzbiografie. In: http://www.literaturhaus.at/autoren/K/A- Koestler/bio.html (=Website des Literaturhaus Wien), 12.10.2008; vgl. Kaukoreit, Volker: Siglinde Bolbecher, Konstantin Kaiser (in Zusammenarbeit mit Evelyn Adunka u. a.): Lexikon der österreichischen Exilliteratur. Wien, München: Deuticke 2000. Rezension. In: Sichtungen online, http://www.onb.ac.at/sichtungen/rezensionen/kaukoreit-v-8a.html (=Website der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Österreichisches Literaturarchiv), 12.10.2008. 3 Spiel, Hilde: Arthur Koestler. In: Dies.: Englische Ansichten. Berichte aus Kultur, Geschichte und Politik. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 1984, S. 97-101. Erstmals erschienen in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 5. 3. 1983. Gekürzt abgedruckt im Schwerpunkt-Heft des Encounter, Nr. 1 (Juli-August 1983), S. 29. 4 Koestler, Arthur: Die Herren Call-Girls. Ein satirischer Roman. Bern u. a.: Scherz 1973. 5 Orwell, George: Arthur Koestler. In: Arthur Koestler. A Collection of Critical Essays, S. 13-24, S. 13. 4 will der offiziellen und durch Stalin diktierten Geschichtsschreibung der kommunistischen Linksintelligenz in Europa eine andere Ordnung entgegensetzen. Die Krankheitsmetaphorik markiert daher eine visuelle Strategie in Koestlers Literatur: Sie behauptet kontinuierlich einen Zustand der politischen Unordnung. Diese Arbeit wird
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