University of Cincinnati
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
U UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: June 10, 2009 I, Susanne Koch , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy in German Studies It is entitled: In the Footsteps of Pascal and Kierkegaard: Ethics and Faith in Wolfgang Koeppen's Postwar Novels Susanne Koch Student Signature: This work and its defense approved by: Dr. Sara Friedrichsmeyer Committee Chair: Dr. Katharina Gerstenberger Dr. Richard Schade Approval of the electronic document: I have reviewed the Thesis/Dissertation in its final electronic format and certify that it is an accurate copy of the document reviewed and approved by the committee. Committee Chair signature: Sara Friedrichsmeyer In the Footsteps of Pascal and Kierkegaard: Ethics and Faith in Wolfgang Koeppen’s Postwar Novels A dissertation submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies at the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the Department of German Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences 2009 by Susanne Koch Master of Arts, University of Cincinnati, 2003 Bachelor of Arts, University of Cincinnati, 2001 Committee Chair: Professor Sara Friedrichsmeyer Abstract In focus of this dissertation are the philosophical and Christian dimensions of Wolfgang Koeppen’s postwar novels, Tauben im Gras (1951), Das Treibhaus (1953), and Der Tod in Rom (1954). The author claimed to be neither a philosophical nor a religious writer. Nevertheless, Koeppen raised in his postwar novels fundamental philosophical questions, as well as questions pertaining to the Christian Church and faith. Since the author explicitly identified Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) and Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) as wise men, this dissertation sets out to answer three pivotal questions: why did Koeppen choose these two religious philosophers as mentors, how does this choice manifest itself in his postwar novels, and what might have been the reason for his preference of Kierkegaard? The introduction provides a research overview and places the author and his work within postwar Germany, i.e., his time, culture, and postwar literature. Chapter one examines Koeppen’s literary intentions, the means that he utilizes in his trilogy to achieve his goal, and the texts’ existential themes and issues. The propounded existential thoughts and problems serve then as the basis for the following chapters. Chapter two relates Koeppen’s literary objectives and existential ethics to Pascal’s literary intentions and philosophy. The chapter concludes that the French philosopher’s perspicacious understanding of human nature and relations and his uncompromising ethical approach to existence made him a trustworthy guide for Koeppen, who searched for sure ways and means to amend his contemporaries emotional, mental, moral, and spiritual deficiencies. Chapter three briefly discusses the emergence of existentialism and the movement’s impact on the postwar German author and his trilogy. Thereafter, the chapter analyzes the similarities in Koeppen’s and Kierkegaard’s thinking and writing and concludes that the Danish philosopher provided Koeppen with the insight of what it means to be a self and how ii to achieve true freedom, which certainly prompted the postwar German author to give Kierkegaard preference over Pascal. Chapter four investigates the themes of Church and faith as they manifest themselves in the trilogy. Since Koeppen portrayed a society that no longer believes in or misconceives Christianity and presented the Catholic Church as a powerful worldly institution whose integrity needs to be questioned, the trilogy’s themes of Church and faith are ambiguous. Nevertheless, chapter four substantiates that Koeppen offered not only ethics but also faith as a potential remedy to his era’s despair and nihilism. Since the connection between Koeppen’s, Pascal’s, and Kierkegaard’s way of thinking and writing has been largely overlooked, the vast majority of Koeppen researchers ascribed to the author a scornful, misanthropic, fatalistic, and resigned mentality. However, the findings of this study, i.e., Koeppen’s moral and spiritual engagement in society, allow for a new assessment of the postwar German author’s mental disposition. iii © Copyright 2009 Koch, Susanne All rights reserved. iv Table of Contents Introduction 1 Koeppen research 1 The literary context 9 The socio-political context 16 The existential philosophical and religious context 21 The rationale of this study 23 Chapter One: Taking Stock 25 Koeppen’s search for the truth and the essence of life 25 A subjective approach 26 The author’s objective 29 Unsound Zeitgeister 31 Koeppen’s use of imagery, irony, and literary allusions 35 Tauben im Gras : the protagonist’s paralyzing nihilism 37 Das Treibhaus : the protagonist’s self-destructive despair 39 Der Tod in Rom : the protagonist’s shame, guilt, despair, and nihilism 43 To despair is a sin 46 Infinite possibilities 47 Humanity’s dual nature 50 Self-reflection and self-awareness: the basis of a sound moral conscience 53 The human heart 55 Constituents of freedom 62 The pitfalls of desirers 65 v The deceptive force of self-love and self-hatred, the will, and imagination 71 A critical look at the social and political sphere 73 The necessity to question authority and the collective 75 Freedom is more than a philosophical concept 78 Chapter Two: Beacons of Truth and Morality 82 The controversy behind the Provincial Letters 83 The Provincial Letters 84 A preliminary assessment of Koeppen’s choice of Pascal as mentor 90 The Pensées 92 Nosce te ipsum : one cannot understand the world without understanding oneself 92 The form of Pascal’s Pensées and Koeppen’s trilogy 97 The human heart 98 Koeppen’s and Pascal’s communication method 100 Human beings’ dual nature and their propensity to misjudge their abilities 103 Potentially harmful inner forces 108 Potentially harmful outer forces 118 Koeppen’s deviation from his initial mentor 126 Closing remarks 129 Chapter Three: The Self and its Abuse of Freedom 131 The emergence of existentialism 131 Koeppen and existentialism 132 Koeppen’s preference of Kierkegaard 134 Koeppen’s and Kierkegaard’s literary objective 135 vi A subjective and ethical approach toward existence 136 Koeppen’s depiction of history 138 Koeppen’s and Kierkegaard’s communication method 140 The aesthetic mode of existence 143 The ethical mode of existence 144 The religious mode of existence 145 What it takes to be a self 146 Human beings’ inherent body-mind polarity 148 Koeppen’s use of animal-metaphors 149 Thinking per se does not make a self 151 Koeppen’s critical stance toward mere being 152 Anxiety is entangled freedom 155 Despair is a sickness of the self 156 Tauben im Gras : Philipp’s self-corruption and misuse of freedom 158 Das Treibhaus : Keetenheuve’s self-corruption and misuse of freedom 168 Der Tod in Rom : Siegfried’s self-corruption and misuse of freedom 176 Koeppen’s moral admonition 185 Chapter Four: Church and Faith 187 The Catholic Church in Tauben im Gras 189 Faith in Tauben im Gras 191 Emmi’s misconceived Christianity 191 Hillegonda’s pure-hearted Christian spirit 195 The heart as the seat of faith 197 Washington Price’s exemplary Christianity 198 Faith in Das Treibhaus 202 vii The Christianization of West Germany’s politics 204 Church and faith in Der Tod in Rom 210 The early Church 211 The medieval Catholic Church 213 The Catholic Church in the modern era 218 Adolf’s doubt and faith 225 A Christian approach to postwar Germany’s generation gap 232 Judgment Day 235 Closing remarks 237 Conclusion 239 viii Introduction The focus of my dissertation is the philosophical and Christian dimension of Wolfgang Koeppen’s postwar novels, Tauben im Gras (1951), Das Treibhaus (1953), and Der Tod in Rom (1954), which I regard as central to the trilogy as the author’s socio- political criticism and his modernism. The author claimed to be neither a philosophical nor a religious writer. Nevertheless, Koeppen raised in his postwar novels fundamental philosophical questions, as well as questions pertaining to the Christian Church and faith. Since the author explicitly identified Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) and Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) as wise men, I set out to answer three questions in my dissertation: why did Koeppen choose these two religious philosophers as mentors, how does this choice manifest itself in his postwar novels, and what might have been the reason for his preference of Kierkegaard? 1 Studies that examine the trilogy’s philosophical and religious elements are the exception. Many researchers have interpreted the postwar novels as Zeit-, Gesellschafts-, and Künstlerromane that describe and respond to concrete socio-political events, conjure the Zeitgeist of the nineteen fifties, and reflect upon the role of postwar art. Numerous researchers have noted the trilogy’s modernism and discussed the texts’ formalistic aspects in detail. Yet, the postwar novels’ inherent existential-philosophical and existential-theological discourses have been mainly overlooked. 1 In the article “An Ariel und an den Tod denken,” first published in Die Zeit, Hamburg, 26 April 1968 and reproduced in Koeppen’s Gesammelte Werke , the author writes, „ich lese vor dem Schlafen mit Nutzen, wie ich hoffe, Pascal, den Weisen meines Anfangs” (GW 5: 282). In a conversation with Thomas Richner that took place in Zurich on April 16th in 1978, Koeppen identified Kierkegaard as “den Weisen seines Lebens” (Richner 105). 1 Koeppen research For a long time, Koeppen research could be divided into two diverging main categories, the formalistic and the socio-political approach. Already in the 1960s, Helmut Heißenbüttel analyzed Koeppen’s trilogy under the aspect of modernism. This approach has been carried on in the 1970s by Ernst-Peter Wieckenberg and in the 1980s by Norbert Altenhofer, Hans-Ulrich Treichel, and Martin Hielscher. In focus were the peculiarities of Koeppen’s writing style, the subjectivity of narrator and narrative, the novels’ inherent literary tradition – the Avantgarde – , and the self-reflectivity of the novels.