Gottfried Keller still the first Swiss writer

Autor(en): Valk, William

Objekttyp: Article

Zeitschrift: The Swiss observer : the journal of the Federation of Swiss Societies in the UK

Band (Jahr): - (1971)

Heft 1629

PDF erstellt am: 02.10.2021

Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-690645

Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. Das Veröffentlichen von Bildern in Print- und Online-Publikationen ist nur mit vorheriger Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber erlaubt. Die systematische Speicherung von Teilen des elektronischen Angebots auf anderen Servern bedarf ebenfalls des schriftlichen Einverständnisses der Rechteinhaber.

Haftungsausschluss Alle Angaben erfolgen ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit. Es wird keine Haftung übernommen für Schäden durch die Verwendung von Informationen aus diesem Online-Angebot oder durch das Fehlen von Informationen. Dies gilt auch für Inhalte Dritter, die über dieses Angebot zugänglich sind.

Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch

http://www.e-periodica.ch GOTTFRIED KELLER STILL THE

FIRST SWISS WRITER by van<

It is easy to pigeonhole Gottfried gift for observation. That his mind is devoid of good writers at this time: Keller as a cosy raconteur, a spinner not as complex as that of a Nietzche but while there were enough good ones of agreeable yarns, the chronicler of is certain—but there is simple intelli- around, France and England were pul- things Swiss in times gone by. People gence and complex intelligence, and lulating with both good and great ones. tend to regard the short story or who is to say that the latter is any It would be an error of judgement Novelle form, of which Keller was a deeper or better than the former? to place Keller alongside Goethe and master, an art; his subject matter would There is no reason to deride Keller on Schiller; but of those living and work- seem to be eminently respectable, with the grounds of his empirical, rather ing in the middle of the 19th century nothing too out of the ordinary to dis- than theoretical, approach to life. in German-speaking lands, he is one of turb or provoke. Furthermore, he is Speaking personally, I am inclined to the greatest. Furthermore, he was cer- highly readable—his style is after all think that this approach yields much tainly the most successful cultivator in free of the murderous syntax which more, in terms both of art and of life. his day of the short-story, a form which bedevils much of German literature, Moreover, it is high time that the ridi- it is lamentably easy to under-rate: and and he does allow himself to laugh culous idea that a complex style is per- this at a time when German literature gently. This received opinion of Keller, force indicative of a vast reservoir of was rich in good short stories. Droste- widespread, understandable and shal- meaning should be swept away. It fre- Hulshoff, Arnim, Brertans, Eichendorf, low as it is, has led to the popularity of quently indicates no more than bad the brothers Grimm, E. T. A. Hoff- various of his works on school's sylla- writing, or a cluttered mind, or both. mann, Jean-Paul, Kleist, Tieck and buses and as set texts for G.C.E and Why clog one's wisdom in verbal con- others had supplied a rich fund of University examinations. Undergradu- stipation? Keller's clarity of style is Novellen during the first half of the ates rely on Keller as a "soft option", admirable: like all good writers, he century; and contemporaneously with an author they can swot up in a hurry sees the virtue of making himself under- Keller, Storm was writing then in Hoi- if they are under-revised for an exam. stood. To say that Keller is a simple- stein, Morike in Stuttgart, and Meyer, Out of all this, it is clear that a ton is. in itself, an over-simplification. his great rival, in Zurich itself. For- little knowledge of Keller's ouput is a midable competition and yet what dangerous thing; for while, super- stories are as well known today as ficially, it may seem a bit homely, A master of the short story some of the "Leute von Seldwyla" closer study reveals Keller as a writer stories, or the "Züricher Novellen"? of considerable stature in German So much for the myth. The re- Probably only Droste's "Die Juden- literature. All clichés have a certain ceived view of his works has been al- buche" or Storm's "Der Schimmel- core of truth, but in this case, it is lowed to obscure his true stature. It is reiter". Moreover, Keller's oeuvre was restricted to external impressions and certainly not presumptuous to claim not confined to Novellen. His literary thus bears little relation to the subject that he is of first importance on at career started with poetry, and there is which it travesties. Gertainly Keller least two counts. Firstly, his literary some fine verse in his "Neue Gedichte" was no trail-blazer; he did not cut standing. German literature is curious collection of 1851. And his best known swathes through the European literary in that, while it has produced one fig- work, "Der Grüne Heinrich", is a scene in the manner of a Goethe. But ure of towering genius (Goethe) and a novel, admittedly uneven in quality, then, to be perfectly honest, few Ger- few others of major European stature, but a "Bildungsroman" in the true tra- man men of letters ever have; and a it is otherwise strangely thin. After the dition of that form. reasoned study of Keller's work must extraordinary vitality of the years 1760- Secondly, Keller is possibly still place him near the front rank of Ger- 1810 Germany had to wait the best the most important Swiss-German man literature, even if that front rank part of a century before another giant author. He is one of the best, and con- is on the whole less glittering than that (Thomas Mann) came along. This is tributed to German literature in a man- of French or English literature. not to say that German literature was ner quite disproportionate to her size.

The tag of respectability

As for his suitability as an author free of indecency and fit for blushing ZURICH INSURANCE COMPANY THE (a limited Company incorporated in Switzerland in 1872) maidens to read, no watchful super- visor could guarantee snow-white un- THE BEDFORD LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY LTD. impeachability, for that would not be ZURICH (an associate member of the Life Offices Association) the truth, and truth as he sees it is THE BEDFORD GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY LID something that Keller is very keen to (a member of the British Insurance Association) put across. He can be unsparing in his observations of people's petty foibles GROUP UNDERTAKE ALL and plain in his approach to moral CLASSES OF INSURANCE' issues. Yet his work has acquired the BRANCHES THROUGHOUT THE U.K. tag of respectability: a fatuous judge- HEAD OFFICE: ment, and one generally applied by FAIRFAX HOUSE, FULWOOD PLACE those with fixed notions of the "nice- HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C.1 ness" of the short form and who story Telephone 01-242 8833 cannot see beyond this to art and truth. Keller is often approved of because of GROUP RESOURCES EXCEED £500,000,000 his apparent simplicity—this is due to his uncongested style, which in fact lays bare a keen intelligence and a supreme

8 your home youroffice Sulzer's international au X aIi m« « experience solves heating «i/^i a a V yVilli ICtUlli y problems in Britain Sulzer's services range from industrial heating and ventilating contracts to a unique thermostatic radiator valve for use in domestic central heating systems. This valve, which is helping British families to get more economy and comfort from their central heating, is called Temset. Set it to the temperature you want — and from then on it keeps the room at that level of heat. Temset even makes adjustments to compensate for the number of people in the room and changes in the weather. Sulzer Bros./London/Ltd., Bainbridge House, Bainbridge Street, London W.C.1.

9 His popularity among his own com- a none too happy childhood, he went set to music by Delius under the name patriots is unrivalled by any other to Munich in 1840 in order to realise of "A village Romeo and Juliet". The Swiss writer. This is partly due to the his dream to become a painter. It took opening scenes, when all is still well, accessibility of his work, which as him several years to see that this was are related with great good humour; stated earlier does not make it trivial, not his true vocation. He turned to but gradually Keller brings in an in- and partly because he can be seen as a literature in the mid-1840s, starting creasing sense of doom, and the story kind of recorder of Swiss life and lore. with political verse. He gradually ends in suicide and despair. This fam- Other Swiss authors may excel him in gained a reputation as a poet, and ous story shows up various other key certain aspects; Meyer, for example, spent formative years in Heidleberg points of Keller's art; for example, his in the re-creative imagination of his and Berlin. His writing career was masterly descriptions, made through fables, set in historical times and speak- somewhat stunted by his long period of a painter's eye. Who shall be surprised ing for the vividness of his inner life. service as First Secretary of Canton at the importance of the visual for him? But he is a rounder figure than Meyer Zurich. After 1876 he was able to de- Here also is the love of nature, the and the others, with his deep vote more time to writing. The last deep knowledge of the Swiss country- knowledge of rural and urban life in years of his life were rather solitary, side, the poetic sense with which the Switzerland, his awareness of the cul- though he was well known in Zurich. story is charged. Keller is no mean tural importance of Germany and his Much of his life was imbued with a caricaturist and can mercilessly expose independence of mind. sense of failure. His inability to sue- the pettiness and grotesquries of peo- ceed as a painter left its mark, as did pie, as in the pithy story "Die drei ger- his rather bleak personal life. Although echter Kammacher", also from "Die A grey existence borne with humour he reportedly fell in love many times, Leute von Seldwyla". And his concoc- he never married. He frequently had tion of the entire village of "Seldwyla", Keller's lifetime spans the literary to endure poverty and ill-health. For planted a good half hour's journey changes of the 19th century. He was the record, he must be Number One from the nearest river "as a manifest born in 1819, during the height of the Tiny Man : he was four feet ten inches sign that nothing would ever become German Romantic movement, and tall, which beats Dollfuss by an inch of it", is no mean feat of imagination". died in 1890, when the pervading liter- and the much vaunted Toulouse Lau- tree two. ary ideas were those of the Realists by The philosophy of a genuine Swiss and the new Naturalist school. The trends of the times are to a certain ex- Keller thus places universal themes tent mirrored in his works. His first Writing with a painter's eye in these familiar Swiss settings. He was literary efforts in the 1840s were politi- not a theorist. If there is an under- cal when poems, written at a time many The autobiographical novel "Der lying philosophy to his work it is a romantic writers all over Europe were Grüne Heinrich" broadly relates his belief in the value of leading a good emerging from their introspection and early life : the memories of childhood, and wholesome life guided by common involving themselves in the politics of the efforts of painting, the unfulfilled sense. the day. Like many others, he was dis- love affairs, the return to Zurich to Like many writers of the time, he appointed in the events of 1848. A take up an anonymous administrative was not always careful about form. more lasting trait is the love of nature, post—though in fact Keller's job as "Der Grüne Heinrich" for example, the expressed at first in romantic man- First Secretary of a Canton was far remains rambling and episodic even ner in his early lyric poetry, later to above what he allotted Heinrich. "Der after its revision, and the writing is not become a current running through all Landvogt von Greifensee", one of the always of the first order. This is coun- his works. Like many German writers, "Züricher Novellen", is a catalogue of ter-balanced by its vividness as a work he produced a semi-autobiographical one man's unsuccessful loves, related of "confession". Where Keller's sense the novel, Bildungsroman "der Grüne in a string of miniature stories. But al- of form lets him down, we can look for Heinrich", which can trace its literary though this may sound gloomy, it is in redeeming elements such as the hum- ancestry back to Goethe's "Wilhelm fact charmingly told, and this is char- our, the vividness of the descriptions and is unrelated Meister", not to the acteristic of Keller. His work is typi- and the compassion for his fellow men. French "romans Towards personnels". fled by geniality and good humour. His interest in the visual appearance the end of his he made life, an unsuc- His lack of sentimentality never allows of people and things lead him to see cessful attempt to keep up with the his stories to descend to mawkishness. it as an indicator of their inner nature, and new Realist Naturalist literature While keenly aware of tragedy, he and this, combined with his sense of by writing "Martin Salander", a story never forgets humour, which does not humour, is also responsible for the of squandered fortunes and disastrous obtrude on sadness but preserves it comic vein. marriages. Keller was plainly alive to from over-dramatisation. This can be This geniality is one of the things literary trends. seen in the splendid "Romeo and Julia that Keller's work still has offer His life to us own story was not par- auf dem Dorfe" from the collection today. His wisdom goes deep, fur- successful eventful. very ticularly or After "Die Leute von Seldwyla" which was ther I have suggested than the philo-

Telegrams and Cables : TRANCOSMOS LONDON TELEX 24777 Telephone : 01-407 4433 (8 Lines) COSMOS FREIGHTWAYS ÛBiSK ALSO AT INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT FORWARDERS LIVERPOOL, MANCHESTER NEWCASTLE.ON-TYNE By Road, Rail, Sea and Air HULL, BRISTOL, CARDIFF OFFICIAL FREIGHT AND SWANSEA, NEWPORT, Mon. 1, CATHEDRAL STREET, PASSENGER AGENTS FOR GLASGOW. LONDON BRIDGE, LONDON, S.E.I. SWISSAIR AND ALL AIR LINES REGULAR GROUPAGE SERVICES WITH TO SWITZERLAND AND ALL CONNECTED PARTS OF THE WORLD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD SWITZERLAND ANGLO-SWISS CUSTOMS EXPERTS. WELTIFURRER INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT CO. Ltd., Zurich, Basle, Schaffhausen, Geneva, St. Gal.

10 sophies of many a more theoretical parallel, and there is no reason why some writers would do well to take a writer; and there is much that he can anyone researching on the Switzerland leaf out of his book and aim to write remind us of. As a story-teller and of the last century or even earlier at least half as vividly and entertain- documenter of his time, he is without should not refer to Keller. Finally, ingly.

RENTENANSTALT

Swiss Life INSURANCE AND PENSION COMPANY specialises in Pension Plans for (Incorporated with limited liability in Zurich Switzerland) International Companies and Mutual Company—Established 1857 MASTER COVER CONTRACT ASSETS EXCEED offers in Great Britain all types of £600 MILLIONS life assurance and annuities.

24 Cheapside, London E.C.2. 30 Exchange Street East, Liverpool L2 3QB Telephone: 01-236 3841 Telephone: 051-236 6712 Head Office: SCHWEIZERISCHE LEBENSVERSICHERUNGS-UND RENTENANSTALT, ZURICH.

X i i Ï 3

*874 SWISS BANK CORPORATION (a Company /imite/ i>y 5/tarw, incorporate/ in Swiizcr/anr/,)

Principal London Office SOCIETE DE BANQUE SUISSE 99 CRESHAM STREET, P.O. Box No. 1 14, SCHWEIZERISCHER LONDON EC2P 2BR BANKVEREIN Tel. 01-606 4000 SOCIETÀ DI BANCA SVIZZERA West End Branch SWISS CENTRE, 1 NEW COVENTRY STREET, LONDON W1V 8BR Tel. 01-734 0767 Offices throughout Switzerland in New York, San Franicsco and Tokyo 3 (Savings Account facilities available) ^iaiiaiiaiiaiiBiiaMiiiBMaiiBHiiiiiiBtiaiiii>iiiaiiaHaHiMaiiaiiaiia>iaHauaHa«ia«4auaM«4MiiiaiiaM«Mai*«itartaitaMaiiai«aH«iiaMaHai»aHaHaMaHaHaHaiiBiiauaiiiiiaiiaiiauaiiaHaHBiiiHaiiaiiiiiiiiaiiaiiaiiaiiaiiiiiBMaiiiiiBiiaiiBiiiiiaiiaMai^

11