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University M icrofilms International 300 N. ZEEB ROAD. ANN ARBOR. Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW. LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8107353

KRAUSE, MAUREEN THERESE

AN ANALYSIS OF E. T. A. HOFFMANN'S DOUBLE NOVEL "LEBENSANSICHTEN DES KATERS MURR NEBST FRAGMENTARISCHER BIOGRAPHIE DES KAPELLMEISTERS JOHANNES KREISLER IN ZUFALLIGEN MAKULATURBLATTERN. HERAUSGEGEBEN VON E. T. A. HOFFMANN"

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iversity Microfilms ^national AN ANALYSIS OF E.T.A. HOFFMANN'S DOUBLE NOVEL

LEBENSANSICHTEN DES KATERS MURR NEBST FRAGMENTARIS CHER

BIQGRAPH1E DES KAPELLMEISTERS JOHANNES KREISLER

IN ZUF&LLIGEN MAKULATURBLATTERN. HERAUSGEGEBEN

VON E.T.A. HOFFMANN

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By Maureen Therese Krause, B.A., M.A

* * * * *

The Ohio State University

1980

Reading Committee: Approved By

Professor Hugo Bekker

Professor Donald Riechel

Professor Gisela Vitt To David ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my teachers at Northwestern

University, especially Professors Gloria Flaherty, C.R.

Goedsche, Erich Heller, Hans Egon Holthusen, Geza von

Molnar and Meno Spann? and my teachers at Ohio State

University, especially Professors Hugo Bekker, Johanna S.

Belkin, Wolfgang Fleischhauer, Oskar Seidlin and Wolfgang

Wittkowski. My special thanks go to Professors David

Benseler, Werner Haas, Charles W. Hoffmann, Donald Riechel and Heimtraut Taylor. My very special thanks go to my ad­ visor, Professor Gisela Vitt, whose thorough criticism and insights contributed immeasurably to this dissertation. VITA

June 17, 1947. . . . Born - Evanston, Illinois

1969 ...... B.A. With Distinction, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

1969 ...... Diploma, Stanford E.P.D.A. Institute for Advanced Study, Bad Boll, Germany

1969-197 2 ...... University Fellowship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1970 ...... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1970-197 4 ...... Teaching Associate, Department of German, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

197 1 ...... Departmental Good Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching Associates, Department of German, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1974-1977...... Senior Translation Aide, Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, Ohio

1977-1978; 1979-1980 Teaching Associate, Department of German, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1980 Instructor of German, Department of German, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: German

Studies in Literature. Professors Hugo Bekker, Johanna S. Belkin, Oskar Seidlin and Wolfgang Wittkowski.

Studies in Language and Philology. Professor Wolfgang Fleischhauer

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iii

VITA ...... iv

LIST OF FIGURES...... viii

INTRODUCTION ...... I

PART I. THE DOUBLE STRUCTURE OF TIME AND SPACE IN KATER MURR...... 35

Chapter

1. THE TEMPORAL SETTING OF THE NOVEL...... 36

A. The "Namensfest." The Structural Nu­ cleus of the Spatial-Temporal Double­ ness ...... 36 B. The Total Chronology ...... 41 C. The Duality of the Time-Treatment in the Novel. Murr-Time and Kreisler- T i m e ...... 51

2. THE SPATIAL SETTING OF THE N O V E L ...... 69

A. M u r r - S p a c e ...... 73 B. Kreisler-Space...... 81

PART II. THE NARRATORS OF THE DOUBLE NOVEL. THE FRAGMENTATION OF THE NARRATIVE FUNCTIONS . . . 97

Chapter 1. NARRATIVE FRAMEWORK OF THE DOUBLE NOVEL. . . 98

A. The Outer Frame. The Fictitious E d i t o r ...... 103 B. The Inner Framework. Murr's Double F o r e w o r d ...... 120

vi 2. THE NARRATORS OF THE DOUBLE NOVEL...... 129

A. Murr as Narrator ...... 130 B. The Kreisler-Biographer...... 143 C. The Shifting Perspectives...... 156

PART III. THE CHARACTERS OF THE DOUBLE NOVEL...... 167

Chapter

1. MURR AND KREISLER. THE DOUBLE HERO. . . . 168

A. Murr and Kreisler as Individuals . .170 B. Murr and Kreisler as Social Beings . 177 C. Ambiguities in Stylistic Expression. 184

2. MEISTER ABRAHAM. UNITY IN TWO-NESS. . . . 200

CONCLUSION ...... 231

APPENDIX ...... 248

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 253

vii LIST OF FIGURES

Page

1. THE SPATIAL-TEMPORAL STRUCTURE ...... 38

2. THE STRUCTURAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL TIME SEQUENCES. . 40

3. DOUBLE NARRATED "PRESENT" OF K10 - K 1 7 ...... 42

4. CHRONOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL SEQUENCES OF K10-K17. 46

5. NARRATED TIMES AND NARRATING TIMES ...... 50

6. STRUCTURE OF KREISLER-TIME ...... 53

7. TEMPORAL STRUCTURE OF KI2...... 61

8. MURR-SPACE ...... 74

9. KREISLER-SPACE...... 84

10. STANZEL'S TYPOLOGICAL CIRCLE...... 101

11. THE OUTER AND INNER FRAMEWORK OF MU R R ...... 121

12. RELATIONSHIP OF MURR'S NARRATING SELF AND EXPERI­ ENCING SELF ...... 133

13. THE NARRATIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN K 1 ...... 145

viii Introduction

E.T.A. Hoffmann's last major work, Lebensansichten des

Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapell­ meisters Johannes Kreisler in zufdlligen Makulaturbid.ttern.

Herausgegeben von E.T.A. Hoffmann (1819/21) represents the summation and culmination of his art. From the be­ ginning, Hoffmann's poetic world is characterized by a dualistic world view. In other words, Hoffmann's works il­ lustrate two ways of perceiving the same reality: the rational mode of the sober philistine, or non-artist, who regards the marvelous ("das Wunderbare") as a realm re­ moved from empirical reality and perceives the odd ("das

Wunderliche") as a deviation from the norm; and the mode of the creative artist who perceives the odd as the manifesta- 2 tion in this world of the marvelous. The two radically different modes of perceiving the same reality give rise to the doubleness that informs many of Hoffmann's works, in­ cluding doubleness in narrative structure, temporal struc­ ture, spatial structure? duality of perspective; and dupli­ cation of characters.

Doubless represents the basic tenor of Hoffmann's po­ etic world already in the earliest tales, the Fantasiestttcke in Cailots Manier Cl814/15). . The narrative principle of the Fantasiesttlcke ("Callotisches Erz&hlen") is a double one deriving from the dualistic mode of per­ ceiving reality outlined above, where everyday objects can be seen from a fantastic and creative perspective "in dem

Schimmer einer gewissen romantischen OriginalitSt (I, 12):

Kfinnte ein Dichter oder Schriftsteller, dem die Gestalten des gewfihnlichen Lebens in seinem innern romantischen Geisterreiche erscheinen, und der sie nun in dem Schimmer, von dem sie dort umflossen, wie in einem fremden wunderlichen Putze darstellt, sich nicht wenigstens mit diesem Meister ent- schuldigen und sagen: Er habe in Cailots Manier arbeiten wollen? (I, 13). ^

The best illustration of this narrative principle is to be found in Der goldne Topf, a fairytale "aus moderner Zeit" that unfolds in everyday life on the streets of Dresden.

In Der goldne Topf, reality is shown to have two levels that are intimately intertwined: everyday reality, represented by the bourgeois world of Paulmann and Veronika, and the realm of artistic creativity, represented by the fantastic world of the salamander and "Geisterftlrst" Lindhorst and his daughter Serpentina.^ In the Nachtstttcke (1816/17) , empir­ ical reality and the fantasy world in its demonic aspects are intertwined as for example in Der Sandmann and Ignaz

Denrier.

In other tales, the structuring principle of the nar­ ration is double. In Hat Krespel (1816) , the second tale in the collection Die Serapionsbrtlder (.1819-21) , two per­ spectives of a single story are given, with the result that the same incidents are narrated twice; from the perspectives of two different characters. As Gisela Vitt-Maucher shows, the narrative falls into two distinct parts as a result of the double perspective. In the first part, the events are narrated from the external and unpriviledged perspective of an observer, Theodor, who witnesses certain strange events involving Krespel which lead him to conclude that this

"allerwunderlicher Mensch" is insane. In the second part, the external perspective of Theodor gives way to the inner perspective of Krespel himself; Krespel narrates the events

Theodor observed and reveals the background to the events

C as well as his own inner motives behind his actions. The view shifts from outside to inside, from observation to interpretation. For example, Theodor and the reader learn that Krespel's seemingly bizarre behavior in throwing

Antonia's fiance out of the house was really motivated out of a sense of fatherly love: the young man had encouraged her to sing, unaware that singing could be fatal to her.

From the rational perspective, the artist appears as odd and bizarre; from the inner, creative perspective, Theodor discovers the essence of art.

In a tale contemporary to Kater Murr, Des Vetters Eck- fenster (.1822) , a double perspective of a different sort determines the structure of the work. The narrator visits his ill cousin and together they sit at his window and ob­ serve the crowds at the marketplace. At first, the narra­ tor sees only the empirical aspects of this scene, but his cousin teaches him to see creatively, like Serapion, to allow the visual impressions of empirical reality to spark the creative imagination:

Der Vetter: Vetter, Vetter! nun sehe ich wohl, dass auch nicht das kleinste Ftinkchen von Schriftstellertalent in dir gltiht. Das erste Erfordernis fehlt dir dazu, um jemals in die FuBstapfen deines wilrdigen lahmen Vetters zu treten; nflmlich ein Auge, welches wirklich schaut. Jener Markt bietet dir nichts dar, als den Anblick eines scheckichten, sinnverwirrenden Gewtlhls des in bedeutungsloser T&tigkeit bewegten Volks. Hoho, mein Freund! mir entwickelt sich daraus die mannigfachste Szenerie des btirgerlichen Lebens, und mein Geist, ein wackerer Callot, oder moderner Chodowecki, entwirft eine Skizze nach der andern, deren Umrisse oft keck genug sind. Auf Vetter! ich will sehen, ob ich dir nicht wenigstens die Primizien der Kunst zu schauen beibringen kann {IV, 600).

In a dialogue they share their observations: using the powers of reason to describe the empirical "facts," i.e. the physical attributes and the activities of the people; and using the powers of imagination to invent stories that illuminate or "explain" the motivations of the people they describe, thereby giving substance and deeper meaning to observable reality. So the perspective is a double one:

1) the external, rational perspective of their factual descriptions, and 2) the inner, creative perspective that penetrates beneath the surface of observable reality to its inner essence.

Another expression of Hoffmann's dualistic view can be found in the characters of many of his works. Many of

Hoffmann's characters tend to relate to each other as pairs of opposites. For example, the artist experiencing conflic­ ting attractions to two opposite female characters, one emphasizing earthly qualities, the other embodying spiritual values and functioning as the source of his artistic inspir­ ation, recurs throughout Hoffmann's works. For example, the character constellation of Veronika - Anselmus - Serpentina in Der goldne Topf, Ephemie - Medardus - Aurelia in

Elixiere des Teufels (1815/16), and Christine - Traugott -

Felizitas in Per Artushof (1815) is paralleled in Hedwiga -

Kreisler - Julia in Kater Murr.^ A different form in which character duplication takes place in Hoffmann's works is in the phenomenon of the "DoppelgSnger" in such stories as

Die Elixiere des Teufels, Das steinerne Herz (1817), and

Prinzessin Brambilla (1821), to name a few. The most sophisticated and complex form of heroes relating to each other as opposites occurs in the double hero of Kater Murr, in the philistine Kater Murr and the tormented artist

Kreisler.

Doubless manifests itself in Hoffmann's style as well.

For example, the self reflective narrative mode that characterizes many of Hoffmann's works is a technique in 6 which the narrator performs two different functions at the same time: he both narrates the plot of the story and he comments on his act and method of narration, i.e. he nar­ rates himself narrating. For example, in Der Sandmann

(1816), the first tale in the Nachtstticke, the narrator directly addresses the fictional audience, "der gilnstige

Leser," and not only "das Erz&hlte" but the "ErzShlvorgang" 7 as well become the subject of the narrative. The narrator of Der Sandmann, for example, breaks in after the opening letters to discuss how to begin the story:

Das Wunderbare, Seltsame davon erfdllte meine ganze Seele, aber eben deshalb und weil ich dich, o mein Leser! gleich geneigt machen musste, Wunderliches zu ertragen, welches nichts Geringes ist, qu<e ich mich ab, Nathanaels Geschichte, bedeutend - originell, ergreifend, anzufangen: "Es war einmal" - der schfinste Anfang jeder ErzShlung, zu ntichtern! - "In der kleinen Provinzialstadt S. lebte" - etwas besser, wenigstens ausholend zum Klimax. - Oder gleich medias in res: " 'Scher er sich zum Teufel1, rief, Wut und Entsetzen im wilden Blick, der Student Nathanael, als der WetterglashSndler Giuseppe Coppola" - Das hatte ich in der Tat schon aufgeschrieben, als ich in dem wilden Blick des Studenten Nathanael etwas Possierliches zu versptlren glaubte; Die Geschichte ist aber gar nicht spasshaft. Mir kam keine Rede in den Sinn, die nur im mindesten etwas von dem Farbenglanz des innern Bildes abzuspiegeln schien. Ich beschloss gar nicht anzufangen. Nimm, geneigter Leser! die drei Briefe, welche Freund Lothar mir gtitigst mitteilte, filr den Umriss des Gebildes, in das ich nun erz&hlend immer mehr und mehr Farbe hineinzutragen mich bemtihen werde. Vielleicht gelingt es mir, manche Gestalt, wie ein guter Portr&tmaler, so aufzufassen, 7

dass du es Shnlich findest, ohne das Original zu kennen, ja dass es dir ist, als hottest du die Person recht oft schon mit leibhaftigen Augen gesehen. Vielleicht wirst du, o mein Leser! dann glauben, dass nichts wunderlicher und toller sei, als das wirkliche Leben und dass dieses der Dichter doch nur, wie in eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels dunklem Widerschein, auffassen kfinne (I, 344).

The narrator of Der Sandmann chooses not to begin the story in a conventional manner for artistic reasons, namely out of the conviction that it is impossible for the poet to portray real life mimetically but only "in eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels dunklem Widerschein.11 This is, of course, the real reason for the chaotic structure of the

Kreisler-biography in Kater Murr, but in conscious irony,

Hoffmann has the biographer give a mundane and unartistic excuse for the chaos and the unconventional beginning,

i.e. he narrated the story in the sequence in which he re­ ceived the fragmentary information in order not to forget any of the details. In Meister Floh (1822), written at the same time as Kater Murr, the narrator gives a different reason for his unconventional beginning: to maintain the reader's suspense— which is one of the pleasures of reading.

Whereas the Kreisler-biographer laments that circumstances preclude an ab ovo narration, the narrator of Meister Floh makes the deliberate choice to begin in an unconventional way and to reveal the plot in bits and pieces— again for 8 ironically pragmatic reasons: so that people will read it:

Es war einmal - welcher Autor darf es jetzt wohl noch wagen, sein Geschichtlein also zu beginnen. - Veraltetl - LangweiligI - so ruft der geneigte oder vielmehr ungeneigte Leser, der nach des alten rflmischen Dichters weisen Rat, gleich medias in res versetzt sein will. Es wird ihm dabei zumute, als nehme irgendein weitschweifiger Schw&tzer von Gast, der eben eingetreten, breiten Platz und rSuspre sich aus, urn seinen endlosen Sermon zu beginnen und er klappt unwillig das Buch zu, das er kaum aufgeschlagen. GegenwcLrtiger Herausgeber des wunderbaren MSrchens von Meister Floh, meint nun zwar, dass jener Anfang sehr gut und eigentlich der beste jeder Geschichte sei, weshalb auch die vortrefflichsten M&rchenerz&hler, als da sind, Ammen, alte Weiber u.a. sich desselben jederzeit bedient haben, da aber jeder Autor vorzugsweise schreibt, um gelesen zu werden, so will er (besagter Herausgeber n&nlich) dem gilnstigen Leser durchaus nicht die Lust benehmen, wirklich sein Leser zu sein (IV, 677).

Hoffmann forces his reader to participate actively in the deciphering of the story.8 Integration of the reader recurs throughout Hoffmann's works and reaches its most radical degree in Kater Murr, a novel in which the reader must piece together the incomplete and fragmentary stories of two different narrators.

Contemporary critical reception of E.T.A. Hoffmann's

Kater Murr was ambivalent.9 The Kreisler-biography itself was well received owing to the familiarity of the Kreisler- figure from the Kre i si eri'ana (1810/13) .10 The 9

Murr-autobiography, however, was summarily dismissed as

"possierlich" and lacking in true humor. For example, an anonymous reviewer writes in the Morgenblatt ftir gebildete St&nde:

Mit wenigen Ausnahmen erhebt sich der Verf. in dieser Autobiographie nicht tiber die SphSre des Possierlichen und Witzig- Neckischen, dem er, an die alte Definition von Humor (Wasser und Luft) erinnernd, sich nur zu oft ergibt. . . Einen bei weitem hfihern Wert haben dagegen die eingestreuten zufctlligen Makulatur-BlSttern und sehr passend ist schon durch diese Benennung das Schicksal angedeutet, das oft dem Besseren in der Welt und im Mikrokosmus des Buchladens zuteil wird.1-1-

Some critics were troubled in particular by the unique double structure of Kater Murr— in spite of the originality of this form. As an anonymous reviewer in the Aligemeines

Repertorium asserts in his review of the second volume of

Kater Murr:

Am Ende dieses Bandes mag der Verf. die Anordnung seines Buchs, dass n&mlich Fragmente aus zwei, scheinbar ganz verschiedenen Btlchern untereinander hinlaufen, satt geworden sein. Die Leser sind dies gewiss weit frtiher; denn so originell dieser Einfall ist, und so belustigend ftlr wenige Bogen: so sicher hOrt er auf, letztes zu sein, und macht eher verdriesslich, wird er zwei ziemlich starke BSnde fortgeftthrt.

Even among Hoffmann's friends there were those who con­ sidered his Kater Murr inferior to his earlier works. In a letter to Karl Bernard Trinius, Chamisso deplores the 10

novel's so-called "watered-down" content:

Was haben Sie zu Hoffmann und dessen Tod gesagt? H&tte er nur nicht zuletzt, wie Deutsche pflegen, Wasser in sein Tintenfass gegossen! Wahrlich die MakulaturblcLtter (Kater Murr) , Berganza und so manches andere sind [Blei] und night © [Gold]. Er hinterlclsst nur Ungeschriebenes, darunter aber sein Hauptwerk Sch[njellpfeffer, und den Beschluss der erwShnten MakulaturblMtter, 1_ Fertig war es sonst bis auf das Schreiben.

According to Steinecke, many critics rejected Murr because

of Hoffmann's exaggeration of Romantic style, especially with structural elements such as the interweaving of the two

seemingly unrelated works: "Der Kater Murr wurde fast

durchweg abgelehnt, weil Hoffmann hier die romantische

Manier bis zum Extrem getrieben und ttbersteigert habe.

Die Kritik tadelte vor allem die Vermischung der beiden

Biographien, die den an einer kontinuierlichen Lektiire

gehinderten Leser verdriesse und verfirgere.

In the following decades, the judgement of Hoffmann's

German contemporaries remained generally undisputed. In

Germany, the critics' view of Kater Murr did not become 15 favorable until after the turn of the twentieth century.

The seemingly chaotic form of Kater Murr however remained

a point of contention among the critics. Hans von Mtiller,

for example, in an attempt to temper Hoffmann's "excesses,"

published the Murr-autobipgraphy and the Kreisler-biography

separately as Das Murrbuch and Das Kreislerbuch. Mtiller 11

considered the double structure of the novel symptomatic

of a "krankes Gemtlt":

Ich kann . . . in dieser Verbindung (von Murr- und Kreislergeschichte) nur eine krankhafte Roheit sehen, den Ausdruck einer Seele, die der naiven, ganzen Geftihle nicht mehr f&hig ist oder nicht mehr wagt, sich zu ihnen zu bekennen. Das kranke Gemiith greift zur perversen Simulantien, es ertr> das Leben nur noch in dem schmerzhaften, rasenden Wechsel von entgegengesetzten, aufeinander aufhebenden Stimmungen.^6

H.A. Korff found the interruptions of the Murr-strand

destructive to the continuity of the Kreisler-strand:

Denn so wie Hoffmann die verrdckte Idee gehabt hat, die Biographie seines dichterischen Haupthelden in Form von MakulaturblSttern zu geben, auf denen das angebliche Hauptwerk, die Lebensansichten des Katers Murr, niedergeschrieben sind, deren Rtickseiten nur versehentlich mitgedruckt wurden, so dass die beiden so vollkommen heterogenen Bestandteile best&ndig miteinander abwechseln und der Zusammenhang der Kreisler-Biographie auf die mutwilligste Weise verstdirt wird, genauso hat Hoffmann auch dxe Gestalt seines verrtickten Musikers an vielen Stellen durch Ubertreibung mutwillig selbst zerstiirt.l?

More recent scholarship recognizes that Murr is not an

amorphous melange, but a structured and unified composition.

'The precise nature of the principle underlying this order

remains a subject of debate, however. The interpretations

range from Steinecke's notion of "die Ubersteigerte

Formlosigkeit als durchgedachte Form," whose formal 12 principle is "der Geist des Humors,to Terra's formu­ lation of it as "das polyphonische Prinzip."19 At the base of these diverse interpretations lies the common premise that form and substance are inextricably united in this novel and that an accurate conception of the novel’s structure (or the method underlying the seeming lack of structure) is fundamental to the interpretation of the meaning and substance of the novel. The major emphasis in Kater Murr resides in the structure rather than in the content, a shift in emphasis fairly new to the European novel, as Steinecke observes:

Der Kater Murr ist einer der ersten Versuche im europ&ischen Roman, einen entscheidenden Akzent des Werkes vom Inhalt in die Struktur, die Kompositions- weise zu verlagern.20

The major interpretations of Kater Murr have been ad­ vanced by Hermann FShnrich, Erwin Rotermund, Herbert Singer,

Robert Rosen, Esther Hudgins, and Bernhard Heimrich.

Both F&hnrich and Rotermund use musical concepts to interpret the structure of Kater Murr. According to

FShnrich, the structure of Kater Murr consists in dual themes with variations. Unlike the traditional musical form of theme and variations, Murr has two themes, which are stated in the forewords— that of the literary cat who strives to surmount the limitations of his animal nature and enter the educated sphere of man and the 13 musician possessed by his art who flees from the narrowness of bourgeois society to the realm of creative spirit. Each theme is varied stylistically and harmonized by various forms of "Themenverkntipfung. “2-*- The unity of the two sets of variations is established by the combination of themes which, according to FShnrich, occurs when Abraham gives

Murr to Kreisler:

In seinem musikalischen Bestreben, die Satzteile zyklisch abzurunden, bringt Hoffmann die letzte Kreisler-Variation, also die Aufldsung des Geschehens, als erste Variation in die Murrvariationen. Die anfSngliche Verwirrung, die er damit hervorruft, gleicht er geschickt durch die Thememkonbination: Murr und Kreisler aus: Meister Abraham tibergibt den Kater Murr seinem Freunde Kreisler. Damit ist die musikalische Einheit der Variationenreihe hergestellt.2

FShnrich neglects to consider the fact that Murr's life with

Kreisler never actually occurs within the novel itself: K1 breaks off before Murr actually begins his life with

Kreisler, and M17 just as Murr is about to begin his life with Kreisler. We do not know what happens and the novel's ending remains open.

FShnrich draws a cursory comparison between typical characters in opera with characters in the Kreisler-biog- raphy, e.g. the two sopranos with Julia and Hedwiga, the

"pathetischer Bassbuffo" with IrenSus, and so on.22 The plot of the Kreisler story is compared to that of an opera taking place on three major "stages": the residence in 14

Sieghartsweiler, Abraham's apartment and the Benedictine monastery in Kanzheim.2^

Erwin Rotermund applies Hoffmann's pronouncements

on music# i.e. his analysis of Beethoven’s symphonies#

to his literary production. According to Rotermund,

Hoffmann uses the tern "counterpoint" beyond its tradition­

al meaning when he uses the phrase "Welche wunderbare

kontrapunktische Verschlingungen . . ." in his analysis

of the last movement of the Fifth Symphony. Rotermund

analyzes the "Verschlingungen" in Hoffman's literary works, particularly in Kater Murr; he applies the concepts of

counterpoint and arabesque to the structure of the novel.25

Rotermund succintly formulates the structural principle of

Kater Murr as follows: "Es ist evident: das Prinzip der

'kiinstlich geordneten Verwirrung1 hat durch die

Zusammenftlgung zweier selbstst&ndiger# in ironischer

Spannung zueinander stehender Romane zu einem formal geschlossenen 'Ganzen' eine effektvolle Konkretisierung

erfahren."26

In his discussion of the arabesque relationship be­

tween the two narratives# Rotermund refers to "die

Antithetik beider Romane" and enumerates some of the paral­

lels between the two narrative strands. Specifically,

Rotermund lists the common motifs and situations which

occur in the first nine sections of each strand, but he

neither interprets nor discusses their significance. 15

Rotermund discusses in some depth, however, the themes of love and music as they occur in K7 and M10 as well as the contrapuntal relationship between these two sections.

Rotermund concludes from his discussion of the

"arabesque" structure that the relationship between the two narratives is one of harmony. This follows from

Rotermund*s discussion of the arabesque, since harmony is the essence of the arabesque according to his (and

Hoffmann's) usage of the term. As I will attempt to show, however, the relationship between the two narrative strands is not one of total harmony. Certainly there are harmonies between the two strands as a result of parallels between the characters, but there are many more tensions and disharmonies— tensions born of irony and the myriad contrasts between the two strands with regard to time, space, narrative techniques and characters.

In a similar vein, Herbert Singer interprets the re­ lationship between the two strands as "Kontrastharmonie":

Die Aspekte der Idee und der Unendlichkeit fehlen in der Autobiographie Murrs; nicht aber in dem Roman des Kapellmeisters Kreisler. Erst die scheinbar willkhrliche Verkntipfung der Katersatire mit dem Ktinstlerroman verleiht jener Gewicht und voile Bedeutsamkeit, macht aus einer launigen Persiflage ein un- Ubertroffenes Exempel romantischer Ironie . . . Auch der Kreislerroman ist nicht arm an Skurrilem? doch erst Murr und Kreisler zusammen konstituieren die stets gegenwflrtige Kontrastharmonie von ernsthaftem Spass und ironischem Tiefsinn, die die unvergleichliche Signatur des Buches ist. 7 16

Singer maintains that Hoffmann's intention was not to create a detailed and one-to-one correspondence between adjacent sections of the two strands, but to demonstrate the contrasts and irreconcilability of the two worlds:

"Nicht um Glossierung, Kontrastierung und Parodierung des

Einzelnen also ist es ihm zu tun, sondern um das Ganze, um die Demonstration der Unvereinbarkeit der beiden Welten und Lebensformen.This description is, however, not entirely accurate since the two worlds do mirror each other to such an extent that elements of each are found in the other. Structurally the parallels serve a dual function: to unify the two strands of the novel and to point out and emphasize the differences between the two strands and the worlds and characters they portray. From Singer's argument in favor of the irreconcilability of the two protagonists and their worlds, follows his contention that Kater Murr is of necessity a fragment, and he convincingly demon­ strates "die formale Geschlossenheit der Dichtung."^

Unfortunately, the only book dealing exclusively with Kater Murr, i.e. Robert Rosen's published dissertation, offers nothing new or satisfying to Murr scholarship.

Rosen claims to analyze the "Aufbauformen und

Erz&hlsituationen" of the novel, but, as Vitt-Maucher maintains in her review, what he offers is little more than a descriptive "Materialsammlung” and long-winded, pointless reiteration of the plot.^ 17

Rosen devotes a whole chapter to "die Gestaltung des

Raumes in Roman" and totally ignores the complexity of the spatial structure o f .the novel and its relevance to the meaning of the novel. In short, his whole study is devoid of interpretation. The few attempts he does make at inter­ pretation result in meaningless statements, e.g. in refer­ ence to the park at Sieghartshof: "Auch diese Brtlcke ist keineswegs eindeutig lokalisiert, sie hat aber die Funktion, der Einbildungskraft des Lesers einen Anhaltspunkt zu geben."31 Rosen completely disregards the double structure of space resulting from the dual narrative strands; instead he talks about three spaces!: "Neben den relativ geschlossenen R&umen von Hof und Kloster ist noch ein dritter Raum im Roman einbezogen und zu berilcksichtigen: der Raum, in dem das biirgerliche Leben des All tags verlduft." His meager conclusion to this chapter on space reads: "Raum- und Zeitgestaltung sind miteinander 33 im Einklang; Raum und Zeit sind unbegrenzt und offen."

Rosen classifies Murr as a figural novel: "So konnten wir, in Anlehnung an die Typologie des Romans von Stanzel, 34 den Roman der personalen ErzShlsituation zuordnen."

This is nonsense: there are to be sure elements of and tendencies toward figural narration (.in the Kreisler- strand), but to classify the whole novel as figural nar­ ration ignores the basic narrative machinery of the novel: the Murr-strand is told by Murr the narrator and the 18

Kreisler-strand is told by the Kreisler-biographer, and both these perspectives are coordinated by the fictitious editor.3^

In a more recent and fruitful study, Esther Hudgins, deriving a general characterization of the Romantic novel in terms of their non-epic structures, describes Kater Murr as a synthesis of musical and literary forms:

Wenn die Kreislerbiographie mit der Ouverture der Festbeschreibung, die alle Motive enthSlt, beginnt, dann das Thema des Ktinstlers als Fremdling in der Welt entwickelt, dieses Thema variiert und am Ende wieder zu dem Fest zurflckkehrt, so Iflsst sich— trotz des fehlenden dritten Buches— in dem Vorschluss bereits die typische Kreisform der musikalischen Gestaltung erkennen. Da Kreisler Komponist, also Musiker ist, entspricht die Form seiner eigenen kilns tier ischen Ausdrucksform. Die in der Zeit fortlaufende Lebensgeschichte Murrs hat dagegen die lineare Form der erz&hlenden Literatur. Murr ist Pseudo- Dichter, die Form entspricht also auch seiner kilnstlerischen Ausdrucksweise. In der Kombination der musikalischen und der literarischen Grundformen liegt das Geheimnis des Doppelromans.

There are some inaccuracies, and inconsistencies in Hudgins!, otherwise excellent interpretation. For instance, Hudgins inadvertently undercuts her own claim that musical form is absent in the Murr-strand in her depiction of Murr's verses as "Solo-einlagen."3^ One fails to see how these verses are any more "solo” than the rest of Murr's subjective first-person narrative. Hudgins' greatest contribution, 19 however, is her accurate classification of Kater Murr as a "Doppelroman" and her explication of some of the examples of this double structure.

Bernard Heimrich deals briefly with Kater Murr in his study of the concepts of fiction and fictional irony and their application to the theory and literature of German

Romanticism.3® Heimrich traces the historical development of the concept of fiction from its origin in Aristotle's conception of art as imitation of nature; through the

"Tcluschungs-Begriff" of the Enlightenment, the "SchiJpfer-

Begriff" of Storm and Stress; and its perfection in

Schiller's concept of "clsthetischer Schein." Heimrich devotes most of his study to an analysis of the Romantic's concept of fiction and fictional irony. Heimrich defines fictional irony as "ein Selbstwiderspruch des

Fiktiven."3^ It is a form of "Reduction” in which the fiction is destroyed or called into question. The

Romantics' modified fictional irony; rather than destroying the fiction, it is a part of the fiction: "... das

Eigenttlmliche der romantischen Fiktionsironie war ja, dass sie den Fiktionsrahmen nicht relativiert, sondern innerhalb seiner stattfindet.Romantic fictional irony is not a

"Reduktion" of the fiction but an "Improvisation" within the fiction: 20

Die Reduktion ist ein Ph&nomen im Vehikel des Fiktionalen, ein Widerspruch im and zum fiktionalen Erzflhlen, im und zum Wirklichkeitscharakter einer 'Person der Handlung'; sie ist ein fiktionstheoret- isches PhSnomen. Die Improvisation hingegen ist eine Erscheinung innerhalb der Fiktion, sie ist ebenso fiktional wie die tibrige erzflhlte Oder dargestellte Wirklichkeit, ja, gerade sie ist das ErzShlte oder Dargestellte.41

Heimrich shows how this concept of fictional irony applies to Kater Murr:

Doch wir milssen bereits das 'Vorwort des Herausgebers E.T.A. Hoffmann' als dem Roman zugehiirig betrachten. Dieses Vorwort des 'Herausgebers' is so fiktional wie die Vorrede Murrs selbst. Denn schon in diesen einftihrenden Bemerkungen gilt die Roman-Wirklichkeit: Murr ist Autor seiner 'Lebens-Ansichten', ein weiterer 'Biograph' hat die Kreisler- Geschichte geschrieben, und Hoffmann stellt sich als der 'Herausgeber' vor.42

Heimrich briefly analyzes the narrative functions in the novel and comes to the conclusion that Murr and the

Kreisler-biographer together narrate a "whole" story:

Diese Verzahnung zeigt sich in drei Ph&nomenen: in der Spiegelung von Ereignissen des einen Teils im andern, in der gegenseitigen erz&hltechnischen Erg&nzung und schliesslich in einer gegenseitigen erzclhlerischen Hilfestellung dergestalt, dass Murr und Biograph im direkten Widerspruch zu der so differenzierten Erz&hlstruktur letztlich eine einzige, "ganze" Geschichte erz&hlen— zusammen.43 21

This is true, as X will show, but, not without some quali­ fication: the two perspectives do not add up to a complete and omniscient perspective; even when taken together, there remain many gaps in the story, as I will show in my analy­ sis of the narrative functions.

Essential to my interpretation of Kater Murr is the accurate classification of the work's genre and an analysis of the structure. FShnrich, Singer and Rotermund briefly analyze the double structure of the novel; Rosen, however, evades the issue by trying to force the novel into a con­ ventional mold. Hudgins accurately categorizes Murr as a double novel C'Doppelroman")— although she does not define the term. Heimrich, however, hesitates to call Murr a double novel because to him this term implies that the two narrative strands are totally independent and unrelated:

Die Klassifizierung der "Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr” als "Doppelroman, in dem zwei ErzShlstrcLnge ohne Verbindung nebeneinander herlaufen” ist also im Grunde nicht zutreffend, denn in dieser erzflhlkompositorischen Zuordnung der beiden Teile wird das Walten von "Zufall und Setzer” wider aufgehoben: das "Zerreissen" des Erz&hlens und Erzflhlten aktualisiert nicht ein "Zerrissenes", ein tats&chliches Durcheinander. von "Geschichte" und "fremden Einschiebseln", sondern ganz im Gegenteil ein Integriertes in einem hintergrttndigen Zusammenspiel des zweif<igen Erz&hlens zur Darstellung der Geschichte.*4

Heimrich implies that a double novel is one in which "zwei

Erzclhlstrange ohne Verbindung nebeneinander herlaufen," but 22 he gives no examples. Heimrich attributes these words to

Maatje, yet Maatje says no such thing: what Maatje does say is that, in spite of the independence of the two strands, there is a unity and cohesion between the two strands:

Als wir in der Einleitung das "Modell" des Doppelromans aufstellten, wurde bereits darauf hingewiesen, dass das Verh<nis der beiden Haupthelden zueinander und damit die Verbindung der ErzShlstr£Lnge sich durch eine personale Abh&ngigkeit kennzeichnet. Damit ist gemeint, dass, trotz der Selbstcindigkeit der Strange, die eine Handlungseinheit doch aus der Perspektive der anderen heraus erz&hlt wird, oder, wenn dies ausnahmsweise nicht der Fall ist, die Gesamtstruktur des Romans dennoch zu einem st&ndigen Vergleichen der beiden Hauptgestalten zwingt.45

All novel theories proper to Maatje's study are in many regards inadequate to describe the structure of Kater

Murr. Maatje formulates a definition of the double novel as a genre, but, because of inherent inaccuracies in his definition, he fails to recognize that Kater Murr repre­ sents the classic example of the double novel.

Maatje summarizes his definition of the double novel as follows:

Weiter haben wir festgestellt, dass zu den Kriterien, welche fiber die Zugehdrigkeit zum Typus des Doppelromans entscheiden, gehOren: eine gewisse Selbstst&ndigkeit der beiden HandlungsstrSnge. die Spiegel- ung des einen Handlungsstranges in dem anderen, so dass eine motivliche 23

Verknhpfung entsteht, die Duplikation von Zeit, Raum und Person, welche beinhaltet, dass die beiden StrSnge zeitlich und rdumlich getrennt sind und verschiedene Haupthelden haben.4°

Though very broad, this definition seems useful. The inac­ curacies in Maatje's conception of the.double novel become apparent when he discusses the relationship between the two narrative strands. According to Maatje, one of two nar­ rative situations prevails in the double novel: either one strand is narrated from the perspective of the other or, in exceptional cases, the overall structure of the novel effects a continual comparison between the two heroes

(which is the case in Kater Murr): "Damit ist gemeint, dass, trotz der SelbststSndigkeit der Strdnge, die eine

Handlung doch aus der Perspektive der anderen heraus erz&hlt wird, Oder, wenn dies ausnahmsweise nicht der Fall ist, die Gesamtstruktur des Romans dennoch zu einem st&ndigen Vergleichen der beiden Haupthelden zwingt."47

What Maatje considers the exception to the rule is really the true double novel: Maatje in effect maintains that the true double novel is one in which the two strands form a frame and a narrative within— any other relationship be­ tween the two strands represents the exception rather than the rule. This relationship between strands is one of his main criteria for the double novel. In his definition of

"Mehrstrfingigkeit" Maatje includes "Binnenerz^hlungen" 4 8 which are connected with the frame in more than one place. To illustrate his theory of the double novel Maatje chooses the more traditional type of novels with a narrative frame­ work and an inner narrative, including those in which the inner narrative is inserted into the "frame" in more than one place: Johnson's Das dritte Buch {lber Arnim,

Raabe1s Chronik der Sperlingsgasse, Thackeray's Vanity

Fair, Mann's Doktor Faustus, Dekker's Max Havelaar and

Blaman's Eenzaam Avontuur. The special relationship, however, between the two narratives of a "RahmenerzMhlung" creates in effect a novel within a novel rather than two separate and independent fictions interwoven and integrated structurally into one work.

In this study I will use a modification of Maatje's definition of the double novel. As I see it, the double novel is a special type of novel which consists of two separate and independent narratives interwoven (in several places) into a unified whole. Each narrative has its own narrator, main character, and two discretely narrated realms of time and space. In the true double novel ("Vollform des

Doppelromans") the two narrators should be totally independ­ ent of each other in the sense that one narrative is not told from the perspective of the other as in the

"RahmenerzcLhlung" of Maatje's definition. What Maatje considers the exceptional case (.i.e. the novel that does not conform to the "Rahmen-Binnen" model1 I take to be the rule. In other words, in the true double novel no one 25 narrator is subordinate to the other. In a double novel the two narrative strands are spatially and temporally separate, each with its own hero, resulting in the char­ acteristic doubleness of time, space, person, and narrative technique and perspective. The two narratives are struc­ turally linked, both consecutively and correlatively, i.e. there is a causal explanation for their coexistence and a parallel-contrastive mirroring of individual themes and motifs between the two strands. The overall structure of the true double novel effects a comparison between the two heroes, a relationship which contributes to the overall unity and coherence of the double novel.^9 There can also be moments in the double novel where the doubleness is suspended temporarily at points where the two strands in­ tersect or overlap temporally and/or spatially, or where characters from one strand make an appearance in the other strand.

Maatje correctly points out that the significant tem­ poral dichotomy in the double novel is not between the nar­ ration time ("ErzShlzeit") and the narrated time

("erzShlte Zeit"!, but between the two narrated times;

Es ist nun interessant zu beobachten, dass im Doppelromans das Verh<nis zwischen der "ErzcHilzeit" einerseits und den beiden "erz&hlten Zeiten" andererseits nicht das wichtigste ordnende Prinzip der Zeitstruktur ist. Es ist im Gegenteil vielmehr so, dass dieses Verh<nis Csoweit ilberhaupt innerwerklich wirksam) einem anderen, wichtigeren, Spannungsverhflltnis untergeordnet 26

erscheint, und gleichsam durch letzteres ersetzt wird. Wir meinen das Verhclltnis zwischen den beiden Zeitebenen des Sujet, zwischeh den beiden "erzclhlten Zeiten" des Doppelromans. Schon in der ein- strSngigen ErzShlung kommt es letzten Endes nur auf die innerwerkliche Spannung in der Zeitstruktur an, nSmlich auf das VerhSltnis zwischen den einzelnen aufeinander folgenden Handlungsphasen. Die Theorie von der "ErzShlzeit" und der "erzclhlten Zeit" ist lediglich ein Hilfsmittel, diese Spannung zu registrieren. Bei der Beschreibung der Struktur eines Doppelromans bedarf es dieses Hilfsmittels nicht, weil das Verhclltnis zwischen den beiden "erzclhlten Zeiten" die Zeitstruktur des Ganzen beherrscht, 50 nicht deren Verhclltnis zur "ErzcLhlzeit".

In his discussion of the spatial relationships in the double novel, Maatje makes a distinction that is inconsistent with his conception of the temporal relationships, and the argu­ ments he uses to support this distinction contradict the arguments he uses with regard to time. Maatje distinguishes between "narrator space" ("ErzShlerraum") and narrated space ("erzclhlter Raum") , i.e. the space of the

"Rahmenhandlung" where the "Ich-Erz&hler" appears and the space in the "Binnenhandlung." Maatje claims that this distinction between "Erzahlerraum" and "erzShlter Raum" is valid not only for the "Ich-RahmenerzShlung" but for other forms of the double novel as well:

Immer findet das Erz^hlen in einem der beiden R&ume irgendwie seinen fiktionalen Ausgangspunkt, und dadurch wird dieser Raum zum "Erzahlterraum", der andere zum "erzclhlten Raum". It could follow from this argument that one strand contains the "Erzcihlerzeit" and the other strand the "erz&hlte

Zeit.” Maatje himself argues, however, that the real tem­ poral dichotomy in the double novel is between two

"erz&hlte Zeiten,” which contradicts his statements concern­ ing the spatial relationships. It would be more correct, as well as consistent with the notion that the important temporal duality is that between the two narrated times, to argue that the significant spatial dichotomy in the double novel is between two narrated spaces. Even if the novel in question i£ a "Rahmenerzdhlung," the space in which the narrator of the "Binnenteil" exists as a character is the narrated space of the "Rahmenteil" (he and his space are narrated by the narrator of the

"Rahmenteil”). Maatje's contention that the act of narra­ tion in a double novel finds its fictional point of depar­ ture in one of the two strands holds for Murr only in the broadest sense. Murr is responsible for the inclusion of the Kreisler fragments, but neither he nor any other charac­ ter in the Murr-strand is identified as the narrator of the Kreisler-strand. Kater Murr is not a "Rahmenerz^hlung,” but a classic example of the double novel. Maatje himself does not seem to know how to classify Murr, describing it both as a true double novel and as a transitional form of double novel. In the introduction to his study, Maatje says that in his third section he will discuss the "Vollform 28 des Doppelromans" and Kater Murr,52 but in his definition of the double novel he claims that novels with a structure similar to Murr's, i.e. ones in which the other strand is not narrated from the perspective of the other, are transitIona1 f o r m s . ^3 From his own definition he would have to conclude that Murr is not an example of "Vollform des Doppelromans."

The purpose of my study is three-fold: to fill the voids, to remedy certain deficiencies and to dispel certain misconceptions in Murr scholarship. With this analysis of

Kater Murr I hope to contribute the following to Murr scholarship: 1) a more precise definition of the double novel (above), 2) a demonstration that, contrary to Maatje's view, Kater Murr indeed represents the double novel in its purest form, 3) a more comprehensive analysis of Kater

Murr than hitherto attempted, and 4) an interpretation of

Kater Murr's significance to Hoffmann's work and to the historical development of the novel.

My study consists of three major parts: 1) an analysis of the temporal and spatial structure of the novely 2) an analysis of the individual narrative functions and the over­ all effect of the shifting narrative perspectives of the fictitious editor, the narrator Murr, and the Kreisler- biographer; and 31 a comparative analysis of the two sep­ arate protagonists Murr and Kreisler and a discussion of 29

Meister Abraham, the unifying character who appears in both strands. Notes to Introduction

Hoffmann began writing Kater Murr in May of 1819 and completed it in December of 1822; the two volumes were published as he completed them: the first appeared in December of 1819 and the second in December of 1822. During this period the stories Aus dem Leben eines bekannten Mannes {May 1819) and Die Haimatochare (June 1819) were pub­ lished as well as the second and third volumes of Die Serapionsbrtlder (Sept. 1819/Sept. 1820). During the period of Murr*s creation Hoffmann also wrote Die Brautwahl (Nov. 1819), Der Zusammenhang der Dinge (Feb. 1820), Prinzessin Brambilla (Oct. 1820), Die Kflnigsbraut (Mar. 1821), Die Geheimnisse. Fortsetzung des Fragments aus dem Leben eines Fantasten: Die Irrungen (Nov.-Dec. 1821) and Die Doppeltglnger (Nov.-Dec. 1821). The only works Hoffmann produced after Kater Murr were Meister Floh (April 1822), which he began while writing Murr and laid aside to finish the novel, Des Vetters Eckfenster (April/May 1822), Der Feind (published posthumously in 1824) which he wrote in April and May of 18 22, and Die Genesung (published post­ humously July 4 and 6 , 1822) which he dictated in early or middle June 1822 shortly before his death on June 25, 1822. For a detailed chronology of Hoffmann's life and work; see Dichter tiber ihre Dichtungen, ed. Friedrich Schnapp (Mhnchen: Heimeran, 1974), pp. 312-87.

2See Gisela Vitt-Maucher, "Die wunderlich wunderbare Welt E.T.A. Hoffmanns, JEPG, 75 (Oct. 1976) 4, pp. 515f. Also p. 518: "So wie damals, als 'die Aufklflrung hereinbrach’ (V, 21), das Wunderbare vertrieben wurde, so bricht nun in Hoffmanns poetischer Welt das Wunderbare wieder herein, und zwar h&ufig im Susserlich sichtbaren Gewand des Wunderlichen." Also pp. 520f.: "Betrachten wir zunSchst im Allgemeinen die zwei grundlegenden Erlebensweisen, die sich aus Hoffmanns Sicht des Wunderlich- Wunderbaren ergeben. Da ist zunSchst die Sehweise der Bilrger Oder verntinftigen Leute, die alle seltsamen Wunderlichkeiten lediglich als heterogene, sinnlose AbnormitcLten sehen und sie deshalb als toil abtun ’weil sie nicht weiter zu schauen (vermflgen), als eben (ihre) Nase reicht’ (III, 28). . . Zur hiSchsten Stufe, das Wunderbare zu erleben, gelangt erst der mit der rechten Darstellungskraft

30 31 begabte Ktinstler. Er vermag die Doppelschichtigkeit des Susserlich Wunderlichen derart in seinem Werk darzustellen, dass eine gewisse Transparenz der wunderlichen Oberfl&che— allerdings auch wieder nur dem rechten Betrachter— Einblick gew&hrt in die Tiefenzone des Wunderbaren."

^E.T.A. Hoffmann. Sdmtliche Werke in _5 Einzelb^nden, ed. Walter Milller-Seidel (Mtinchen: Winkler, 1960-65). All quotes will be taken from this edition.

^Barbara Elling calls this phenomenon "doppelte Optik" [Barbara Elling, Leserintegration im Werk E.T.A. Hoffmanns (Stuttgart: Haupt, 1973)].

^See Vitt-Maucher, pp. 528f. for her excellent analysis of the dual perspectives in Rat Krespel.

®See Herbert Singer, "Hoffmann. Kater Murr," in Der deutsche Roman. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart. ed. Benno von Wiese, I (Ddsseldorf: Bagel, 1963), p. 319: "... Kreisler steht zwischen Julia und Hedwiga wie Anselmus zwischen Serpentina und Veronika, wie Medardus zwischen Aurelie und Ephemie— wie eine ganze Reihe von Hoffmanns Helden also zwischen einem guten und einem bfisen Prinzip ..." and Bettina Boss: "Es ist in diesem Zusammenhang erwfihnenswert, dass die beiden Frauentypen, die in der Geschichte durch Guiletta und die Hausfrau vertreten sind, mutatis mutandis in anderen Werken Hoffmanns vorkommen: Serpentina und Veronika im 'Goldnen Topf', Felizitas und Christine im 'Artushof, Olympia und Klara im 'Sandmann'. Filr die mSnnlichen Hauptfiguren dieser Erz&hlungen bedeutet die Wahl der einen oder der anderen Frau zugleich die Entscheidung zwischen dem ruhigen Leben eines bttrgerlichen Ehemanns und der* viel riskanteren Kiinstlerexistenz. Alle w&hlen schliesslich das Leben eines Kdnstlers und die Frau, die dem Bild in ihrera Innern entspricht, wenn sie sich auch nicht zur bdrgerlichen Ehefrau eignet" [Bettina Boss, "Die Rolle des Erzclhlers bei E.T.A. Hoffmann," Diss. University of New South Wales 1978, p. 106].

^See Boss, p. 203: ". . . w&hrend die Leseranreden insofern auf die sp&teren M&rchen vorausweisen, als sie ausser dem Erz&hlten auch den Erz&hlvorgang zum Gegenstand haben."

®See Elling for an excellent analysis of the inte­ gration of the reader in Hoffmann's works. Q See Hartmut Stemecke, "Nachwort zu E.T.A. Hoffmanns Lebensansichten des Katers Murr," ed. Hartmut 32

Steinecke (Stuttgart: Reclam, 1972) and E.T.A. Hoffmann in Aufzeichnungen seiner Freunde und Bekannten. Eine Sammlung, ed. Friedrich Schnapp {Mtlnchen: Winkler, 1974) .

^Steinecke, p. 486.

^ Literatur-Blatt (Morgenblatt fttr gebildete StSnde) February 11, 1820, p. 46. 12 Allgemeines Repertorium der neusten in- und ausl&ndischen Literatur ftir 1822, I, p. 411.

13Schnapp, Auf zeichnungen, p. 674. By "Ungeschriebenes" Chamisso is referring to Hoffmann's un­ fulfilled plans to finish Kater Murr and to write a novel called "Timotheus Schnellpfeffers Flitterwochen vor der Hochzeit." Cf. Gtinzel, p. 505: 116.11 1821 . . . Plan zu dem (nicht mehr ausgeftihrten) Roman 'Timotheus Schnellpfeffers Flitterwochen vor der Hochzeit'."

■^Steinecke, p. 48 6.

•^Steinecke, p. 487. Outside German, e.g. in Russia and in France, Kater Murr was extremely well-received (Steinecke, p. 481) .

■^Hans von Mtiller, Das Kreislerbuch (1903) , XLIV.

■^H.A. Korff, Geist der Goethezeit, IV (Leipzig: Koehler and Amelang, 1953) , 562.

•^Steinecke, p. 510 and 491.

•^Victor Terras, "E.T.A. Hoffmanns polyphonische ErzcLhlkunst," German Quarterly, 39 (1966), p. 567.

20Steinecke, p. 509.

^Hermann F&hnrich, "Kater Murr. Eine musikalische Variation." Musica, 18 (1964), p. 10.

22Fahnrich, p. 11.

23F&hnrich, p. 11.

2^Fclhnrich, p. 11.

23Erwin Rotermund, "Musikalische und erzMhlerische Arabeske bei E.T.A. Hoffmann," Poetica, 2 (1968), p. 51. 33

2®Rotermund, p. 63.

2^Singer, p. 310.

29Singer, pp. 310f.

29Singer, p. 325.

30See Gisela Vitt-Maucher, rev. of E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Kater Murr": Aufbauformen und Er z & hisitua tionen, by Robert S. Rosen, German Quarterly, 46 (1973), pp. 106f.

31Robert S. Rosen, E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Kater Murr": Aufbauformen und ErzHhlsituationen (Bonn: Bouvier, 1970), p. 71.

32Rosen, p. 76.

33Rosen, p. 79.

34Rosen, p. 101.

33Vitt-Maucher, rev., p. 108: "Dabei wurde aber wohl liber sehen, dass die Grundstruktur des fragmentarischen Kreislerromans wesentlich auf der Person eines Biographen basiert, der seine Anwesenheit und Rolle als Erzdhler an vielen Stellen— nicht nur da, wo er direkt kommentiert— zu erkennen gibt."

36Esther Hudgins, Nicht-epische Strukturen des Romantischen Romans (The Hague: Mouton, 1975), p. 109.

3?Hudgins, p. 102.

39Bernhard Heimrich, Fiktion und Fiktionsironie in Theorie und Dichtung der deutschen Romantik (Ttibingen: >, 1968) .

39Heimrich, p. 69.

40Heimrich, p. 88 .

41Heimrich, p. 109.

42Heimrich, p. 112.

43Heimrich, p. 115.

4^Heimrich, pp. 117f. 34 45F.C. Maatje, Per Doppelroman. Eine .1 iteratursyst ema tische Studie tber dupiikative Erza.hlstruktur, 2nd ed. CGroningen, 19 681 , p. 81. ^Maatje, p. 39.

^Maatje, p. 81.

43Maatje, p. 1: "Die ftir den Doppelroman charakteristischen Erzclhlmflglichkeiten ergeben sich bei einer ganz besonderen Art der Mehrstr&ngigkeit. Schicken wir zun&chst einige Bemerkungen zur Mehrstr&ngigkeit im allgemeinen voraus. Diese liegt vor, wenn sich zwei oder mehrere ErzShlstr&nge im Nacheinander der Lese- (ErzShl-)zeit einige Male ablflsen."

49The comparison need not be direct and explicit, however.

50Maatje, pp. 22f. 51 Maatje, p. 32.

■^Maatje, p. 8: "Im dritten Teil wenden wir uns den Vollformen des Doppelromans zu und behandeln die personale Abh&ngigkeit an Hand von E.T.A. Hoffmanns Werk 'Kater Murr' sowie die Erzflhlerfrage (1. Kapitell."

53Maatje, p. 81. Part I.

The Double Structure of Time and Space in Kater Murr

35 Chapter 1. The Temporal Setting of the Novel

A. The "Namensfest." The Structural Nucleus of the Spatial-Temporal Doubleness

According to the definition developed in the Intro­

duction, the double novel is characterized by a doubling

of time and space. In other words, the double novel has

two distinct narrated times and spaces. The two narrated

time and spaces can intersect at times, lending an element

of cohesion to the novel. At these moments of intersec­

tion and identity the spatial-temporal doubless disappears.

Time and space are identical in Kater Murr at the be­

ginning of the novel in Ml and Kl. Both strands of the

novel open with a flashback to the "Namensfest." The

Murr-strand opens with Murr's recollection of his rescue

at the end of the "Namensfest"; the Kreisler-strand begins with Abraham's account of the "Namensfest," which he had

orchestrated and intended as the turning point in

Kreisler's life: "'Wie einem zum Tode Siechen sollte

Arznei, dem Orkus selbst entnommen, die im stSrksten

Paroxysmus kein weiser Arzt scheuen darf, dir den Tod

bereiten Oder Genesungl'" (310).^ Nevertheless, since

Kreisler never showed up, Abraham's plans were thwarted.

36 37

What could have been the most significant event in

Kreisler*s life becomes, because of his absence, the most

important event in Murr1s life. Unable to save Kreisler,

Abraham saves the kitten from drowning. Thus, just as the

"Namensfest" celebrates the Ftirstin*s (and Julia's) name-

day— and commemorates their baptisms— it represents, in a

sense, a baptism or rebirth for Murr and a potential bap­

tism of fire for Kreisler: "'Wilder unbesonnener Mensch',

erwiderte Meister Abraham ruhig, 'wann wird endlich der ver- wtlstende Brand in deiner Brust zur reinen Naphthaflamme werden, genShrt von dem tiefsten Sinn filr die Kunst, filr

alles Herrliche und Schtine, der in dir wohnt!'" (310).

The novel begins therefore with a double retrospective

glance— that of Murr and that of Abraham. In the total

chronology of the novel the "Namensfest" represents for

Murr the chronological and narrated beginning of his adven­

tures. For Kreisler the "Namensfest" marks the chronolog-

cal end and the narrative beginning of his story. So the

"Namensfest" functions simultaneously as the beginning and

the end of the novel as a whole. Ml and K1 together repre- o sent both prologue and epilogue to the novel. The chaos

and turmoil of the "Namensfest"— both the elemental chaos of the storm and the artificial chaos contrived by

Abraham— prefigure the chaotic and discordant tenor of 38 Kreisler's character and his disruptive influence on society portrayed throughout the Kreisler-strand.

The ''Namensfest," or more precisely the report of the "Namensfest,” forms the structural nucleus of the spatial-temporal doubleness from which the novel grows.

Prom this point of identity— in the juxtaposition of Ml and

K1— the two spatial-temporal systems diverge and assume in­ dependent existences. Adapting Maatje!s diagram of the spatial structure of the double novel, the spatial-tempor­ al relationship of the Murr- and Kreisler-strands can be illustrated as follows.^

Kriiilcr-riM-spae*I

riquru I. Th* 5patial*T»vpor*l Structure

The "Namensfest” itself is also the causal nucleus of

the novel since it was Abraham's rescue of Murr which ulti- mately made the novel possible. 5 And the publication of the Kreisler-biography— albeit in multilated form— was made possible, in turn, by the publication of the Murr-autobiog-

raphy. Likewise, Murr's life, i.e. his rescue, as we al­

ready saw, was made possible indirectly by Kreisler, that

is by his absence from the "Namensfest" which led Abraham

to rescue Murr. It is therefore Abraham who is ultimately

responsible for the "Namensfest," the existence of the

Murr-autobiography and the publication of the Kriesler-

biography. Abraham thus performs a vital function in both

the outer and inner structure of the novel.

Ironically the single most important event for the

novel as well as for the lives of the two heroes never ac­

tually "occurs" within the novel, leaving a gap in the nar­

rated time at the very outset as well as at the end of the

novel, and the reader never learns directly what really

happened. It is an inspired omission since it allows

Abraham to narrate the story of the "Namensfest" and give

his interpretation and evaluation of this incident and,

more importantly, to reveal its significance for his own

life. A logical explanation for the gap is offered in the

Murr-strand: the event occurred too early in Murr's life

for him to remember its details and be able to record it in

his autobiography— which he did not begin writing until

some time in his adolescence. The omission is especially

significant in the Kriesler-strand: for Kreisler the omis­

sion signifies a void in his experience because he was Structural Sequence

A's Peoort of "Namensfest" K's Return - H meets K A's Letter Announcing "Namensfest"i Description of Sieghartshof t I l t i fK Arrives in Park 1 K1 K2 K3 K13 Kl7 _!_ - 1 , I _L_

HI- M17 I I I i A Leaves •End of "Namensfest" H with K Murr's Rescue

Chronological Sequence

Background on Sieghartshof, Abraham

"Namensfest" I | Murr's Life K2 K3 K10 Kll Kl 2 El4 K16 i Ml ^ ------■------>> H17 _1____ l_ - h -i 1 i 1---- 1---- A - > ------T 1 K Appears in Park , Kia r.itK17 k Already in Monastery,- _ _K 1 3 Kll 1 for Several Months I K Disappears I ' I K Returns to Sieghartshof , I ? ~ — — — - Kreisler in Monastery __ ^1 Kanaheim ,

Figure 2. The Structural and Chronological Time Sequences 41 absent from the "Namensfest;" which represented a missed chance for a solution to the dilemma of his existence.

B. The Total Chronology

In the total chronology of Kater Murr (see diagram next page)6 the Kreisler story in general pre-dates the

Murr-story. Ml is the structural beginning of the novel but not the chronological beginning. In chronological se­ quence the novel would open with K2 in which background in­ formation is given for the Kreisler-story, i.e.

Sieghartshof is introduced and the history of Abraham's appearance at court is narrated. K2 would then be followed by K3 in which Kreisler's arrival in the park at

Sieghartshof is recounted. This would be followed in se­ quence by K4 through K10, in which Kreisler disappears during the duel and flees to the monastery Kanzheim. In all, only about two weeks pass between Kreisler's arrival at Sieghartshof in K3 and his disappearance in K10.

After K10 the temporal structure becomes more com­ plex. ^ There are two levels of narrated "present" in the

latter half of the Kreisler-strand (Kll through K17 during which time Kreisler is absent from Sieghartshof): 1) the narrated time at Sieghartshof while Kreisler is away: Kll,

K12, K14, K16 and 2) the narrated time at Kanzheim while

Kreisler is there: K13, K15, K17. The following diagram 42 illustrates the chronological sequence of events.

Slagtiartftiiof

riquce I. D o u M a N a r r a t e d "Preeent* of KIQ-'KLT

K15, where Kreisler and the abbot discuss the painting of the miracle, probably takes place only a short time after

Kreisler1s arrival at Kanzheim and therefore sometime between K10 (the duel) and Kll (the day after K10). In

K12 Abraham receives Kreisler’s letter describing the de­ tails of the duel and his flight to the monastery: Since

Kreisler mentions in the letter that the duel occurred

"yesterday" ("Das Gestern," 344), only a day or two must pass between the duel (K10) and when Abraham receives the letter (K12). K12 would be followed by K17: at the end of K17 Kreisler receives Abraham's letter announcing the "Namensfest" and admonishing Kreisler to attend, which

Abraham must have written shortly after receiving Kreisler's letter in K12. The adjutant's funeral at Kanzheim also 43 occurs in K17, a few days before K14 in which Hedwiga de­ scribes the funeral procession which she witnesses three days earlier (either on the same night as K10 or shortly thereafter). K16 takes place only the day after K14: in

K16 the reader learns from Abraham that the "Namensfest” is to be "in einigen Tagen"? "'In einigen Tagen, mein schfines Fr&ulein, kommt meine Unsichtbare, und dann wollen wir sie befragen wegen des Prinzen Hektor, wegen Severino und andern Begebnissen der Vergangenheit und der Zukunft1"

(637). Up to this point Kreisler has been in the monastery only a few days. In K13, however/ the reader learns that

Kreisler has already been in the monastery for several months — in spite of the fact that this segment is struc­ turally the first of the Kanzheim segments and, to compound the temporal confusion, actually reads like an introduction to Kriesler's adventures at Kanzheim with the biographer's physical description of the landscape, the monastery, the chapel, the abbot's rooms, the abbot's background and the nature of life at the monastery. Only a single and— given the context— easily ignored temporal reference be­ lies the impression given by the biographer's narrative technique that this Kreisler segment occurs at the beginning of Kreisler's stay at the monastery when, in fact, it occurs near the end of his stay: 44

Der Abt sprach nun von den Einrichtungen des Klosters, von der Lebensweise der Mfinche, rtihmte den wahrhaft heiter-frommen Sinn, den alle in sich trilgen und fragte zuletzt den Kapellmeister, ob er {der Abt) sich nicht t&usche, wenn er bemerkt zu haben glaube, dass Kreisler seit den Monaten, dass er sich in der Abtei befinde, ruhiger, unbefangener, dem t&tigen Forttreiben in der hohen Kunst, die den Dienst der Kirche verherrliche, geneigter geworden (538).

So, as the diagram on page 4o illustrates, K13 actually occurs several months after K16 and the "Namensfest" and, likewise, several months before K1— where Kreisler returns to Sieghartsweiler, Abraham tells him about the Namensfest and sends Murr to live with him. In fact Kreisler's con­ versation with the abbot in K13 might well be the cause of Kreisler*s eventual flight from the monastery: Kreisler might have remained indefinitely if he had not learned in the course of this conversation that the abbot and Benzon were in constant communication and that therefore the mon- g astery was not the sanctuary he had thought it to be.

Thus, while the Kreisler-segments appear at first reading to be arranged chronologically, a close examination reveals just the opposite: Kreisler-time is unchronological and seemingly chaotic. The effect of and purpose for the lack chronology becomes apparent when we review exactly which events are out of the chronological sequence. Let us compare the chronological sequence with the structural sequence by means of the following diagram. The numbers 45 in parenthesis indicate the segment's position in the chronological sequence. (1) (3) (4) (6) (7)

K10 Kll K12 K14 K16

K13 K1S K17

(8 ) (2) (5)

K1 - Sieghartshof - duel

K1S - Kanzheim - K and Abbot discuss Painting - Shortly after K's Arrival

Kll - Sieghartshof - day after K10

K12 - Sieghartshof - Abraham gets K's letter describing duel

K17 - Kanzheim - K receives A's letter announcing "Namensfest"

K14 - Sieghartshof - Hedwiga witnesses Adjutant's funeral procession

K16 - Sieghartshof - day after K14 - "Namensfest" to be in a few days

K13 - Kanzheim - K had been in monastery for several months

Figure 4. Chronological and Structural Sequences of K10-K17 As the diagram shows, only the events at Sieghartshof are Q arranged chronologically. The only events that are not in chronological order are those which take place at

Kanzheim. By arranging these particular events unchronologically and alternating the Kanzheim-segments with the Sieghartshof-segments, Hoffman is able to achieve the effect of a temporal simultaneity between these two different spaces. Kreisler discovers in K13 that Kanzheim, though geographically remote from Sieghartshof, is closely affiliated with Sieghartshof in other ways: the Abbot and

Benzon are in constant contact and Kanzheim is entangled in the same web of mystery and intrigue as Sieghartshof. The spiritual interrelationship between these two spaces is mirrored on a structural level in the interplay between the temporal levels of the two spaces, in the seeming temporal simultaneity effected by the alteration of Sieghartshof- and Kanzheim-segments.

Moreover, the temporal structure of Kreisler's Kanzheim adventures mirrors that of the Kreisler-strand as a whole.

Like the entire Kreisler-strand, the Kanzheim adventures open with the last event in their chronological sequence:

K13, where Kreisler makes the discovery that causes him to flee the monastery, i.e. the close association between

Kanzheim and Sieghartshof. Thus, the lack of temporal chronology achieves a deliberate reversal between cause and 48 effect, of before and after, creating a level of expression more subtle than words.

Let us now examine how the chronology of the Murr- strand relates to that of the Kreisler-strand. Murr's life begins (Ml) several days after K16. Murr's lifetime lies for the most part outside the time-span of the Kreisler- strand. Murr's narrated life fills the gap between K16— the last Kreisler-segment before the "Namensfest"— and K1 when Kreisler returns to Sieghartsweiler after several months in the monastery and meets Murr, who by this time has entered his "adulthood."

From temporal indicators in the text and the fact that roughly a couple of weeks pass between K3 and K14, we can determine that K3 takes place in very late summer

("Sommerabend," 366) and K14 in very early autumn

("Herbstwind," 555). So the "Namensfest” must have been in early fall, and Murr's life stretches from that event to the following spring ("Frfllingsdufte," M16, 600), a period of approximately six to eight months during which time

Kreisler remains in the monastery. This estimate is consis­ tent with Murr's own statement of the overall time-span of his narrative when he explains that a cat's lifetime is measured in weeks and months rather than in years, so that, for example, "Ltimmeljahre" become "Lflitimelwochen" in Murr's time-frame (386). Murr's chapter titles give temporal indicators reflective of his conception of time: "Die 49

Monate der Jugend," "Die Lehrmonate," "Die reiferen Monate des Mannes."

When Kreisler returns to Sieghartsweiler in Kl,

Abraham introduces him to Murr and asks Kreisler to keep

Murr while he will be out of town. Kl occurs the same day as M17 where Murr says he must stop writing because he is about to leave with Kreisler, and the narrative breaks off:

Mein Meister musste verreisen und fand es fttr gut, mich auf die Zeit seinem Freunde, dem Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, in die Kost zu geben. Da mit dieser Verflnderung meines Aufenthalts eine neue Periode meines Lebens anf&ngt, so schliesse ich die jetzige, aus der du, o Katerjflngling! so manche gute Lehre fiir die Zukunft entnommen haben wirst.

Whether Murr and Kreisler have a life together remains un­ told and the novel ends with a temporal gap— just as it had opened with one, namely the "Namensfest" which "took place" outside the narrative framework of the novel.

As I have tried to show, Kreisler-time generally pre­ dates Murr-time— with the notable exceptions of K13 and Kl.

The "Namensfest" represents the temporal watershed:

Kreisler-time represents "before the 'Namensfest'" and

Murr-time "after the 'Namensfest,'" and, on a structural level, the Murr-strand is the "logical sequence" of the

Kreisler-strand and the "Namensfest." As a result of the alteration of segments of each narrative strand, there is a constant alternation in time between "after" and 50

"before." The juxtaposition of these two opposing time levels tends to create the illusion of simultaneity of two discrete time levels, serving to underscore the dichotomy between the two narratives and their respective protago­ nists, as well as contributing to the cohesion of the two strands of the novel.

A remarkable discrepancy in the fiction comes to light if we compare the narrated times of each strand with the

"Erz&hlgegenwart" of each of the two fictitious narrators.

Murr boqlna narrating mirr1* narrating TIm _ >

rturr'a Narrated TIm HI i_Hll

KraleLar'a Narrated T I m * 2 wl HU HU ~

aiograpfcar'e Narrating TIm

• rlqura 4. Narrated TIm * and Narrating Tiaiaa

As the diagram shows, Murr's narrating time coincides in part with that of the Kreisler-biographer. If the biogra­ pher is still in the process of writing the Kreisler- biography while Murr is writing his autobiography, how does

Murr manage to include K13 in his manuscript? The most striking temporal discrepancy concerns the writing of Kl and its subsequent inclusion in the Murr-strand. M17, as I

have shown, pre-dates Kl by at least a few minutes or hours, yet Murr is somehow able to include it in his manuscript.

Kl had to have been written after Murr stopped writing

since Murr himself says in M17 that he is interrupting his writing to go live with Kreisler, and in Kl the reader witnesses Murr's meeting and departure with Kreisler:

"Kreisler lachte hell auf, indem er rief: 'Nun so komm denn du kluger, artiger, witziger, poetischer Kater Murr,

lass uns (319). How could the Kreisler-biographer have possibly written this section in time for Murr to include

it in his manuscript— not to mention that Murr includes it at the beginning of his manuscript which he began writing months before Kl could have been written! This is, of course, impossible according to the laws of empirical reality, and therein lies one of the most ingenious and

subtle ironies of the novel, in a way confirming the editor's remark about the strange manner in which the novel

"fit itself together": "... auf welche wunderliche

Weise es sich zusammengefilgt hat."

C. The Duality of the Time-Treatment in the Novel. Murr-Time and Kreisler-Time

The Murr- and Kreisler-strands not only unfold on dif­

ferent time planes, but they differ in their treatment of 52

the time as well. The two strands are characterized by

opposite forms of narrative progression. The Murr-strand

proceeds linearly and chronologically, beginning with

Murr's earliest memory following his rescue through his childhood, adolescence and adulthood, ending on the thresh­ old of the "mature" period marked by his residence with

Kreisler. In formulating his theory of autobiography,

Murr reveals the penchant for detail and the nondiscrimina-

v tion between the significant and the insignificant that be­

come the guiding principles of his narrative method. Murr,

in his delusion that he is a great genius, claims that nothing insignificant happens in the life of a genius, that

every experience, no matter how seemingly trivial, contrib­ utes in its own way to the development of his genius:

Es ist ncLmlich wohl hdichst merkwiirdig und lehrreich, wenn ein grosser Geist in einer Autobiographie ilber alles, was sich mit ihm in seiner Jugend begab, sollte es auch noch so unbedeutend scheinen, recht, umstSndlich [sich] ausl&sst. Kann aber auch wohl einem hohen Genius jemals Unbedeutendes begegnen? Alles, was er in seiner Knabenzeit unternahm oder nicht unternahm, ist von der httchsten Wichtigkeit und verbreitet helles Licht ilber den tiefern Sinn, ilber die eigent- liche Tendenz seiner unsterblichen Werke (319).

Murr pursues this principal "Kann aber auch wohl einem hohen

Genius jemals Unbedeutendes begegnen?" to its utmost and

absurd limits by concentrating so heavily on the insignifi­ cant and trivial that very little substance seems to be 53 recorded in his autobiography. Murr is not a great genius but a cat, with the ironic result that Murr's autobiography violates and contradicts his own intended narrative prin­ ciples.

The linearity of Murr-time is contrasted by the over­ all circularity of Kreisler-time.10 The Kreisler-strand opens with the last event in the chronological sequence:

Abraham's report of the "Namensfest" (Kl), and closes with the second to the last event in the chronological sequence:

Abraham's letter announcing the "Namensfest." One segment of the overall sequence has been significantly displaced: the last has become the first, so that the Kreisler-strand has an overall circular structure beginning with the chronological beginning (see diagram below) .1‘L

Kll K7

K14

XI

(Chronoloqictl End of Hurr*3ttandl

H q u r * Structure of '-Timm 54

The specific temporal techniques used in each strand mirror the form in which Murr and Kreisler view the courses of their own lives- Murr describes his life as a recti­ linear progression of "giant steps" toward "perfection":

"Nichts verstilrt meine Bildung, nichts widerstrebt meinen

Neigungen# mit Riesenschritten gehe ich der Vollkommenheit entgegen, die mich hoch erhebt (lber meine Zeit" (350) .

This view is effectively mirrored in the linear, chronolog­ ical and consecutive progression of the Murr-strand; iron­ ically, the novel breaks off before Murr reaches his goal of "Vollkommenheit"— a goal which he at least considers definitely within his reach. The forward progress of his narrative, unimpeded by the retrograde motion associ­ ated with numerous flashbacks mirrors Murr's emphasis on the "forward" progress of his education and development:

"So ging ich mit Riesenschritten vorw&rts in der Bildung ftlr die Welt" (305) .

The circularity of the Kreisler-strand, on the other hand, vividly mirrors the circularity of Kreisler's own life. Kreisler imagines himself to be caught in a vicious 12 circle of fate, and the ironic derivation of his name betrays his fatalistic view of existence:

"Es ist ganz unmfiglich, Vortreffliche! dass Sie meines Namens Abstammung in dem Worte Kraus finden und mich, nach der Analogie des Wortes Haarkr&usler, ftir einen Ton Kr&usler oder gar ftir einenKr^usler tiberhaupt halten kttnnen, da ich mich alsdann eben KrSusler schreiben mtisste. Sie kfinnen nicht wegkommen 55

von dem Worte Kreis, und der Hinunel gebe, dass Sie denn gleich an die wunderbaren Kreise denken mtigen, in denen sich unser ganzes Sein bewegt, und aus denen wir nicht herauskomraen kfinnen, wir mfigen es anstellen wie wir wollen. In diesen Kreisen kreiselt sich der Kreisler, und wohl mag es sein, dass er oft, ermiidet von den Sprtingen des St. Veits-Tanzes, zu dem er gezwungen, rechtend mit der dunklen unerforschlichen Macht, die jene Kreise umschrieb, sich mehr als es einem Magen, der ohnedies nur schwclch- licher Konstitution, zusagt, hinaussehnt ins Freie" (352) .

Murr-time is continuous while Kreisler-time is frag­ mented. Although each Murr-section breaks off mid-sentence, there are no gaps in Murr-time— each section begins with the next word of the sentence that ends the previous section.

In the Kreisler-strand, by contrast, there are a multitude of temporal gaps, both within and between sections. Again sentences break off half-way, but the sentence fragments at the ends and beginnings of Kreisler-sections cannot be spliced together to form a coherent syntatic whole. They are parts of different sentences. The disordered chronolo­ gy, already discussed, and the many temporal gaps create an illusion of temporal chaos in the Kreisler-strand.

The reader would expect Murr-time to be well-defined because of Murr's pedantry in all other areas. Conversely, the reader would expect Kreisler-time to be diffuse and indefinite owing to the fiction, verbalized by the biogra­ pher, that the Kreisler-strand is "eine Geschichte voller

Lticken" (621). It is precisely these numerous temporal 56

gaps already discussed which contribute to the illusion of

temporal obscurity. Nevertheless, contrary to the expecta­

tion of fictional consistency, Kreisler-time is better de­

fined than Murr-time. Although temporal indicators are

given in both strands, they are more numerous and far more meaningful in the Kreisler-strand than in the Murr-strand.

The span of Kreisler-time, as already shown, can be de­

termined solely from the temporal indicators in the

Kreisler-strand itself? an accurate estimate of the duration

of Murr-time cannot be made on the basis of the Murr-text

alone, but necessitates reference outside the Murr-strand

to the temporal indicators in the Kreisler-strand— which

preempts the fiction that the Kreisler-strand is dependent

on and secondary to the Murr-strand.

Murr-time spans about six to eight months compressed

into approximately 140 pages of text. Kreisler-time spans 13 about fourteen days (with the exception of K13 and Kl)

expanded into about 212 pages. Thus, in comparison to their

respective narration times, or number of pages,the two

strands reveal opposite types of narrated time: Murr-time

is compressed and Kreisler-time is expanded. The novel

alternates between compressed narrated time (in the Murr-

segments) and expanded narrated time (in the Kreisler-

segments).

A closer examination reveals that Murr-time itself is

alternately compressed and expanded with great temporal leaps that seem to trace the "Riesenschritte" which Murr insists characterize his life. To illustrate: at various points Murr describes particular scenes in minute detail, even reproducing the dialogue. He thereby isolates a par­ ticular day from his life and devotes several pages to it.

These expansive scenes alternate with compressed narration in which Murr summarizes larger segments of his life— some as long as months. In M5, for example, Murr takes eight pages to narrate a single morning: ". . .und nun foppt Ihr mich den ganzen Morgen damit herum" (364). The time- setting of M5 is a few days after Ponto stole Murr's manu­ script which Lothario now shows to Abraham: "'Diese

Blotter brachte mir vor einigen Tagen mein Pudel

Ponto. . .'" (364). Murr reproduces the dialogue of the ensuing confrontation between Lothario and Abraham and re­ cords his own terrified thoughts at the time as well as his sober musings as the narrator recalling the episode. As

Abraham's reaction clearly shows, this is a potentially life-threatening situation for Murr: "' . . . wenn ich glauben ktinnte, dass du wirklich den Wissenschaften nachstelltest, statt den Mclusen, ich glaube, ich kfinnte dir die Ohren wund zwicken, oder gar - '" (365). The scene preoccupies Murr a great deal and temporarily dis­ turbs his normally positive outlook. This incident repre­ sents a milestone in Murr's life and he therefore focuses closely on it in his narrative. The subsequent period of 58 fear and secrecy during his banishment from Abraham's study is glossed over and compressed into only a few sentences:

"Unmutig wie ich war, brachte ich in dieser Periods manche

N3.chte, manche Tage, in den Kellern des Hauses zu . . ."

(366). Appropriately, this dark period in Murr's life is relegated to obscurity through his manipulation of time.

Digressions abound in the Murr-strand in the form of descriptions, characterizations, philosophizing, rhapsodiz­ ing and direct addresses to the reader. Since digressions are extra-temporal ("ausser der Zeit"), the forward motion of the Murr-strand is temporarily retarded. So the general structure of Murr-time is the interweaving of compressed time and expanded time with periods of temporal suspension

("zeitlicher Stillstand") within the space of a relatively compressed narration. What remains constant is that there is only a single level to the narrated time of the Murr- strand, a fitting reflection on Murr's single-minded pur­ pose in writing this autobiography: self-glorification.

In the Kreisler-strand, by contrast, narrated time is complex, multi-levelled and dense. In contrast to the Murr- strand in which the motion is always forward, the Kreisler- strand abounds in temporal regressions in the form of flash­ backs and other references to the past. The narrated' time of the Kreisler-strand is spun against a backdrop of flash­ backs into the past as well as an undercurrent of secrets and mysteries from the past which play a significant role in 59

the "present" action: among them the past intimate rela­

tionship between IrenSus and Benzon, the mysteries sur­

rounding Cyprianus, and the mysterious disappearance of

Chiara. Thus Kreisler-time consists of a duality between

the present and the past in such a way that events on'these different time-levels relate to each other in a mysterious

and sometimes incomprehensible causal relationship. For

example, the abbot's painting of the miracle depicts an

event from the past which seems causally related to the

present, not only because of the modern dress of some of the

figures, but more conclusively because of the uncanny resem­ blance between the figure of the murderer in the painting

and Hector:

Wie ein Blitz traf es den Kreisler, als er in dem Antlitz des MOrders die Zhge des Prinzen Hektor erkannte; nun war es ihm auch, als habe er den zum Leben erwachenden Jflngling schon irgendwo, wiewohl nur sehr fltichtig, gesehen. Eine ihm selbst unerklclrliche Scheu hielt ihn zurtlck, diese Bemerkungen dem Abt mitzuteilen, dagegen fragte er den Abt, ob er es nicht filr stiirend und anstiissig halte, dass der Maler ganz im Vorgrunde, wiewohl im Schlagschatten, Gegenst&nde des modernen Anzuges angebracht und wie er jetzt erst sehe auch den erwachenden Jiingling, also sich selbst modern gekleidet? (590) .

The true extent of this casual relationship between the past depicted in the painting and the present is spelled out in Cyprianus1 revelation in K17 that he is the 60 miraculously resurrected youth portrayed in the painting and Hector the murderer.

The causal relationship between the present and the past in the Kreisler-strand is most evident in the numerous flashbacks. The overriding importance of the past for the present is reflected in the sheer number of flashbacks: almost twice as many Kreisler-segments contain flashbacks

(eleven) as those that do not (six): Kl, K2, K 4 , K5, K6,

K8, K9, K10, Kll, K13 and K17 all contain flashbacks.

The complexity and density of Kreisler-time reaches its climax in K12 where two concurrent scenes are narrated side- by-side (as the narrated "present") interspersed with two flashbacks (the narrated "past") and an episode of temporal suspension where the biographer intervenes to theorize about mail (see diagram next page). One scene of the narrated

"present" takes place in the park, where Abraham yields to memories of the past after having received (but not yet read) Kreisler's letter from the monastery. The concurrent scene unfolds in the castle where Hedwiga is regaining con­ sciousness after her illness. The uncharacteristic abrupt­ ness in the scene-change and the sudden switch from past tense to past perfect signal the simultaneity— the biographer has to "back up" so to speak in order to show the simultaneity, and hence the switch to the past perfect:

"Er trat ins Fischerhaus um nun Kreislers Brief zu lesen. -

In dem ftirstlichen Schlosse hatte sich Merkwtlrdiges begeben" (521). After this the biographer switches back again to the narrative past. Within these two simultaneous scenes yet other time levels are referred to. Within the narrated

"present" of the Abraham-scene there are three other time levels"i two narrated "pasts"— the narrated time of

Kreisler*s letter to Abraham and that of Abrahamrs flash­ back— and the Kreisler-biographer1s time level where he re­ flects on the significance of mail. Then the scene shifts back to the "present" action where Abraham enters the

"Fischerhaus" to read Kreisler's letter, and finally the scene switches to the simultaneous scene in the castle.

The structure of time in K12 can be illustrated as follows.

Abraham gets letter

Biographer on letters

Flashbacks Kreisler's letter ("zeitlicher Stillstand") (contents) _ v

Abraham walking in Abraham's Flashback - park

A enters "Fischerhaus

-> Hedwiga in castle

Figure 7. Temporal Structure of K12 62

The complexity of the time treatment within the individual segments of the Kreisler-strand, in these myriad narrative moves mirrors the complexity of the overall time treatment in the Kreisler-strand as a whole. But more importantly, the density of Kreisler-time boils down to the duality between objective and subjective time, between empirical and psychological time, between clock-time and the artist's creative conception of time (and timelessness) as a dynamic and fertile stream of associations.

The treatment of time in each strand mirrors its hero's conception of and attitude towards time and exis­ tence. The strict chronology and temporal continuity of

Murr-time befits the pedantic and exacting Murr. He views the world as strictly orderly and adhering to the Newtonian categories of time and space, which form the basis of

Murr's viewing and interpreting the world. In the philis­ tine world which Murr emulates, the clock and time itself as regulators of activity and duty are of great impor­ tance.^ The past is also very important to Murr as an in­ dex of the present, as a means to show how he developed in­ to the genius he claims to be.

Kreisler, by contrast, attempts to break out of the philistine world, out of all restrictions of time and space and find sanctuary in the timeless and infinite realm of art. Kreisler experiences a split between the self that is compelled to exist in time and the creative self that must 63 transcend time in order to create; for example, his duties as "Legationsrat" stifle his creativity- The complexity and seeming chaos of Kreisler-time mirrors the artistic, unstable Kreisler who views the world through the Romantic artist's eyes and whose own life is chaotic, episodic and obscure. Kreisler's life is full of mysteries and unan­ swered questions— concerning, for example, the identity of his parents, Hedwiga's identity, etc.— and hence the persistent undercurrent of the past throughout the Kreisler- strand. In contrast to Murr who knows all about his past and writes his autobiography in order to share his his­ tory with the "world," Kreisler's life is confusing and obscure and ill-suited to ab ovo narration. Kreisler is reluctant to talk about his past simply because it is so confused. The Privy Councillor misinterprets Kreisler's reluctance as a deliberate attempt to hide his past:

"Hfire", begann nun der Geheime Rat, "hiire, Kreisler - also eine Erinnerung an deine Knabenzeit war es, die in deine Seele kam, und dieser Erinnerung mag ich es wohl zuschreiben, dass du heute so mild bist, so gemiltlich - hflre, mein innigstgeliebter FreundI es wurmt mir, wie alien, die dich ehren und lieben, dass ich von deinem frilhern Leben so ganz und gar nichts weiss, dass du der leisesten Frage darilber so unfreundlich ausweichst, ja, dass du absichtlich Schleier ilber die Vergangenheit wirfst, die doch zuweilen zu durchsichtig sind, urn nicht durch allerlei in seltsamer Verzerrung durchschimmernde Bilder die Neugierde zu reizen. Sei offen gegen die, denen du doch schon dein Vertrauen schenktest." - (370). When the Privy Councillor continues to press Kreisler to

reveal his past, Kreisler gives an ironic and trivially

factual account of his birth, treating himself in the

third-person like a character in an historical novel in

order to mock the fact that most people have orderly and

uneventful pasts:

"Am Tage Johannis Chrysostomi, das heisst am vierundzwanzigsten Januar des Jahres Eintausendsiebenhundert und etzliche dazu, um die Mittagsstunde, wurde einer geboren, der hatte ein Gesicht und H&nde und Ftlsse" (370) .

Kreisler drops his ironic pose, however, when he talks

about events that have deeply affected him. His detach­ ment breaks down and he seems to relive the event as he

narrates it. The most striking example is his account of

the death of "Tante Ftisschen." Kreisler concludes the

story of her death with the admission that in this in­

stance he feels such a profound immediacy to the past

that, in telling the story, he experiences the same

emotions he did at the time— there is a timelessness to

death that is related to the timelessness of art:

"Ich weiss wohl, dass ich den Sinn dieser Worte [sie ist gestorben] nicht verstehen konnte, aber noch jetzt, jenes Augenblicks gedenkend, erbebe ich in dem namenlosen Geftlhl, das mich damals erfasste" (374) .

In another instance, Kreisler expresses a mock horror over 65

the historical detail with which he tells Benzon the story

behind his sudden appearance at Sieghartshof:

"Nun, Verehrte, wissen Sie ausfilhrlich, wie ich in den Park des wackern Ftirsten Iren&us kam, und werden nicht mehr daran zweifeln, dass ich, kommt es darauf an, imstande bin, ruhig, mit erforderlicher historischer Genauigkeit, und so angenehm zu erzclhlen, dass mir selbst davor graut" (358f.).

Empirical time, or clock-time, is irrelevant to the artist who seeks through his art to capture the timeless essence

of being. In the treatment of time in the novel, the

Murr-strand reflects the values of the Enlightenment with

the emphasis on history and clock-time; the Kreisler-strand

the concerns of Romanticism with the temporal circularity

and chaos, and the protagonist's striving for the time­

less realm of spirit. Kreisler is disturbed by the

Philistine's attempt to categorize and compartmentalize the past neatly and with temporal exactitude because it is

impossible for him to illuminate his own obscure past, nor does he see any purpose to this endeavor. For Kreisler the past is only a vague "Ahnung," while for Murr the past is the tangible history of his genius, which he delights in

savoring and sharing with his public like a tasty recipe. Notes to 1 .1

^All page references are -to the Winkler edition of Kater Murr.

2Singer, p. 311: "Kreislers Biographie beginnt, nach einem spelter zu betrachtenden ersten Fragment, das Prolog und Epilog zugleich ist, mit der Schilderung des Hofes zu Sieghartshof."

2Hutto points out this function of the "Namensfest." After reiterating the details of the "Namensfest," Hutto concludes: "The details listed in these passages are worth noting. For they provide virtually no factual material about Kreisler1s life, but do establish a mood and a cer­ tain type of experience with which Kreisler1s character comes to be associated in the reader's mind. Throughout this section, one image after the next suggesting chaotic turmoil occurs: storm, thunder, hurricane, wind." (R. Hutto, "The Dear Reader: A Study of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Techniques of Confusion, his Attitude toward his Reader and his Readers," Diss. Washington U. 1975, pp. 137f.).

^My diagram is adapted from Maatje's schema. See Introduction for the explanation for my intentional modifi­ cation of his diagram.

^Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 527: "Das Misslingen seines anmassenden ErlOsungsprojektes verweist ihn [Abraham] zurtick in die Schranken menschlichen Rettungsver- mfigens. Wunderbar sinnvoll— und ein subtiles Beispiel ftir das Wirken romantischer kilnstlerischer Ironie— ist diese anscheinend unbedeutende Tat ausschlaggebend mit der Struktur des Gesamtromans verwoben: denn sie erst ermOglicht es dem K&tzchen, als Kater Murr seine Lebensansichten der Nachwelt zu ilbergeben."

66 67

®These diagrams were adapted, with considerable changes, from those outlined by Gisela Vitt-Maucher for a lecture on Kater Murr.

^Homer Ellis Finger recognizes to some degree the complexity of Kreisler-time: "The proceedings at Sieghartshof and at the Benedictine cloister are not overly complex in themselves, but they are played out before an intricate backdrop of past events and relationships, thus involving a far more detailed use of time than is first evident. Further, the interplay between present intrigue and past circumstance leads to a thick entanglement of per­ sons, motives, and possible situations. Beneath the main narrative is a substratum of preliminary material, some of which emerges in the course of the novel and some of which remains unexplained at the end of the book" (Homer Ellis Finger, "Experiments in Chaotic Form. The Structuring of Self-Portraiture in the German Romantic Novel," Diss. Princeton 1973, pp. 185f.)

^Michael Jones is the first to show that the dis­ covery of the link between Kanzheim and Sieghartshof is the real reason behind Kreisler*s fleeing the monastery (Michael Jones, "Hoffmann and the Problem of Social Reality: A Study of Kater Murr," Monatshefte 69(1977) 1, p. 51) . 9 Finger is one of several recent critics who mis­ takenly believe the Kreisler-strand to be chronological (with the exception of Kl): "Because of a chance rear­ rangement of the excerpted papers, the first fragment actually belongs, at the end of the novel, and the real beginning of Kreisler*s story is found in the second insert. Most of the other fragments fall in rough chronological order, but even here there are frequent flashbacks to earlier periods in the lives of different characters" (p. 185) .

^°The opposing narrative forms— i.e. the linear and the circular structures— have been pointed out by a number of critics, foremost among them Singer (p. 327) and Hudgins (p. 120). Singer visualizes the structure of the total novel as a circle (the Kreisler-strand) and a tangent (the Murr-strand). I would content that the 68 following would be more accurate: a circle with a line running through it, as follows:

■^The exceptions to this overall circular structure are K13, K14, K15 and K17 as already discussed.

12H . Loevenich, "Einheit und Symbolik des Kater Murr. Zur Einftihrung in Hoffmanns Roman. Der Deutschunterricht 16 (1964) 2, p. 82: "Zuerst sieht Kreisler in der kreisffirmigen die vollkommene Bewegung (wunderbare Kreise). Er denkt an den schtitzenden Kreis, den die Natur um den Menschen zieht. Dann wird der Kreis zum Symbol der sinn- und rastlosen Bewegung. Das Leben ist so widerspruchsvoll wie Kreisler selbst: klingt 'Kreisler' bizarr, so kann man aus dem 'sanften Namen* Johannes schliessen, dass unter der skurrilen Larve ein weiches Gemiit verborgen ist." See also Singer, p. 326: "Dieser Kreis aber ist auch konstitutiv ftir den Kreislerroman: so wie die Situation, die er .entfaltet, keine geradlinige Weiterentwicklung zul&sst, so wie Kreislers Lebensweg, sobald er einmal von den Pesseln von Amt und Beruf frei ist, keine Entwicklung, sondern nur noch ein Hin und Her und Rundherum zulSsst, so ist auch die Biographie des Kapellmeisters so angelegt, dass sie zum Ausgangspunkt zurriickkehrt."

-^Although K13 and K1 occur months after K3 through K17, each of these segments covers less than a day.

■^The concepts "ErzShlzeit" and "erz&hlte Zeit" were originated by Gtinther Milller [Gtlnther Mtlller, Die Bedeutung der Zeit in der ErzShlkunst (Bonn and Bad Godesburg: AthenSum: 1947) and "Erz&hlzeit und erzflhlte Zeit” in Festschrift filr P . Kluckhohn und H. Schneider (Ttibingen: Mohr, 1948)]. 1 C See Ursula Lawson for a study of the various time- levels in Hoffmann's works (Ursula Dersch Lawson, "The Temporal Structure of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Fiction, Diss. Vanderbilt 1966). Chapter 2. The Spatial Setting of the Novel

The Murr- and Kreisler-strands unfold on discrete spa­ tial planes. These two narrated spaces reveal opposite characteristics and qualities which mirror the beings of the two protagonists and their inner lives. The Murr- strand has a single stage, Sieghartsweiler, the town where

Abraham lives. The Kreisler-strand, by contrast, consists of two distinct narrated spaces which coincide with the two concurrent levels of narrated "present" already dis­ cussed: Sieghartshof and the monastery Kanzheim. Though

Murr-space and Kreisler-space are separate and distinct realms, there are subtle links between them which add to the unity and coherence of the total novel. The two spaces are subtly linked when characters from one narrated space intrude into the other narrated space. For example, two characters from the Kreisler-space appear in the Murr- space in Ml. Murr describes two of Abraham's visitors and, although they are not mentioned by name, they can be none other than Iren&us and Benzon:

Nur zwei Personen nannten ihn schlechtweg "Mein Lieber!" Ein grosser diirrer Mann in papageigrtlnen Hosen and weibseidenen Strtimpfen und eine kleine sehr dicke Frau mit schwarzem Haar und einer Menge Ringe

69 70

an alien Fingern. Jener Herr soil aber ein Filrst, die Frau hingegen eine jttdische Dame gewesen sein (307).

Murr himself actually makes an appearance in the Kreisler-

strand in the only scene in that strand which takes place

in Sieghartsweiler (Kl) rather than in Sieghartshof. In this scene Kreisler takes up a problem that is of concern

to Murr/ namely "das Geistesvermtigen der Tiere": "'Wer kann es sagen, wer nur ahnen, wie weit das GeistesvermdJgen der Tiere geht!'" (318). There is an ironic intersection in Kreisler's involuntary and unintended comment about a concern which the other narrative— of which Kreisler, of course, has no knowledge— expresses. The same is true of

Abraham's talk about Murr's creative dreams.

"Der Kater Murr", unterbr'ach Meister Abraham den Freund, "tr&umt nicht allein sehr lebendig, sondern er ger&t auch, wie deutlich zu bemerken, h^ufig in jene sanfte Reverien, in das trclumerische Hinbrtiten, in das somnambule Delirieren, kurz in jenen seltsamen Zustand zwischen Schlafen und Wachen, der poetischen Gemtitern ftir die Zeit des eigentlichen Empfanges genialer Gedanken gilt. In diesem Zustande stfihnt und achzt er seit kurzer Zeit ganz ungemein, so, dass ich glauben muss, dass er entweder in Liebe ist, Oder an einer Tragfldie arbeitet" (319).

Abraham is, of course, joking when he suggests that Murr may be in love or else working on a tragedy. There is a double irony here: the irony intended by Abraham, who in no way believes that his statement could have any basis in fact, and the narrative irony of which Abraham has no 71 knowledge, namely that his "joke" is really a valid descrip­ tion (which is also an irony) of the Murr of the Murr- strand. Murr in turn takes up a concern of Kreisler*s, the artist's fate as an outsider: in a style which is, with its musical imagery, very much like Kreisler*s: "... Jede

Stimme darf nur eingreifen in den vollkoinmenen Akkord des

Ganzen aber des Dichters Ton dissoniert, und ist, kann er unter andern UmstSnden auch ein sehr guter sein, dennoch in dem Augenblick ein schlechter Ton, weil er nicht zum Ganzen passt -'* (639) . Thus characters from one fictional world unknowingly and unintentionally support the "ground rules," so to speak, of the other fictional world; resulting in an ingenious unifying device between the two disparate fiction­ al worlds and their respective narrative strands.

There is one significant moment when Murr and Kreisler appear together in the fictional world: in Kl, the narra­ tive opening and chronological end of the Kreisler-strand and of the novel as a whole; as Murr and Kreisler meet to join their lives, the two fictional worlds merge. This

"merging" of the two fictional worlds marks the beginning of a chapter that was never to be written, so in a sense, they never really merge at all— another irony!

The contrast between Murr-space and Kreisler-space is that between the bourgeois world portrayed in the Murr- strand and the aristocratic world portrayed in the

Kreisler-strand.'*' Murr's master is a respected commoner and 72 advisor to the "Filrst." The main characteristic of Abraham, however, that is depicted in the Murr-strand is his domes­ ticity. The picture painted is the comfortable and simple domestic life of a burgher in his "gelber Schlafrock" with his cat. Murr himself is a bourgeois member of the animal world who does not fit into the "high society" of aristo­ cratic dogs owned by the nobility. Murr is afforded an outsider's view of human aristocracy from the stories

Ponto tells him about his new master, the Baron von Wipp and, like a good burgher, Murr disapproves of their life­ style. Xn the Kreisler-strand, on the other hand, the world of the nobility forms the center-stage of Kreisler-space.

Even the second and seemingly isolated locale of the monastery Kanzheim is really a part of this total world ruled by Benzon— a non-aristocrat who aspires to gain a place in the aristocracy through the marriage of her daugh­ ter Julie to IrenSus1 son Ignatius. Another— and the most important— level to Kreisler-space is the infinite realm of pure spirit to which the artist aspires.

The spatial polarity between the two strands is that between the bourgeois philistine society of the Murr-strand, exemplified in Murr himself, and the courtly world of the nobility and the artistic, transcendent realm to which

Kreisler aspires in the Kreisler-strand. The dichotomy is expressed structurally in the contrast between the 73 narrowness of Murr-space and the expansiveness of Kreisler-

space, the limited vs. the unlimited.

A. Murr-Space

The philistine world of Murr is mirrored in the con­

finement of Murr-space. Most of the action takes place in

Abraham's apartment in Sieghartsweiler, or on the street— but never more than a block away. This confined locale has

structural and symbolic significance for the novel as a whole.3 The narrowness of Murr's sphere of physical in­

fluence is symbolic of and mirrors the confined sphere of his spiritual and intellectual life. He is a hopeless philistine and pedant who lacks the slightest spark of creative genius and is incapable of perceiving a transcen­ dent realm.

Murr-space is not only confined and limited but mi­ nutely complex, as illustrated in the diagram on the fol­

lowing page. The complexity and detail of Murr-space is consistent with his attempt at writing a "Bildungsroman," a genre in which space is of primary importance.4 Each

individual locale in Murr-space, as I will show, corres­ ponds to a "station” in Murr's development. Murr-space is double-levelled with several substages. The dual levels

are 1) Murr's indoor world, i.e. Abraham's apartment

(represented on the horizontal plane in the diagram); and The "Upper" Realm Feline Society

Roof

I. INSIDE WORLD

1 2 3

The "Inner" Rt aim Human Society Kitchen Living Study Moral and Physical __( Oven | Room <-- — Intellectual "Pedantic" Reality T 'V 1 i V "Underworld” ■ - i* Basement Front Step (Transition) Human, Cat, Dog Society Street CD- Chaise (Transition)

11. OUTSIDE WORLD "Die neue Welt" Badine's "Pudel- "Katzenbursch- Ponto Teaches Murr High gesellschaft" Ways of the World gesellschaft" Society

Figure 8. Murr-Space 75

2) Murr's outdoor world consisting of the street and Murr's so-called "new world" about a block away (represented on the vertical plane).

Murr's indoor world consists of four substages: the kitchen, the parlor, Abraham's study, and the cellar. The kitchen represents for Murr the realm of physical as well as ethical reality. It is here that Murr receives his so- called "physische und moralische Erziehung" by Abraham

(305). The oven is the most important part of this space.

It represents a sanctuary to which Murr retreats for soli­ tude during trying moments in his life. For example when his "Burschenleben" is abruptly ended by the dog Achilles,

Murr flees to the oven to bemoan the fate of his comrades:

"So war es um unser friShloches Zusammenleben geschehen, und ich kehrte zurilck unter den Ofen des Meisters, beweinend in tiefer Einsamkeit das Schicksal meiner unglticklichen

Freunde" (548f.). Shortly after this incident, Ponto's un­ expected appearance sparks Murr's unhappy memory, and this time Murr leaps into the oven, closing the door behind him:

"Leise, leise schlich ich weg von meinem Kissen, und war mit einem Satz im Ofen, dessen Ttire gerade offen stand, die ich hinter mir anzog" (.549) . This ludicrous and theatrical gesture is Murr's serious attempt at a defiant withdrawal from his friend and the world. The oven also becomes asso­ ciated with Murr's secretiveness, selfishness and his suc­ cumbing to his "baser" instincts. He hides behind the 76 oven, for example, after selfishly devouring the herrings'

heads he had promised his starving mother (335). Murr him­

self associates the oven with the "Einsamkeit" and

"Schwermut" characteristic of the young "Romantiker" he

tries so hard to be. The oven becomes the concrete sym­ bol of his feline "Reich der Traume," but, by virtue of the prevailing ironies, it is a parody of true "Innerlichkeit":

Eine gewisse Schwermut, wie sie oft junge Romantiker befSllt, wenn sie den Entwicklungskampf der grossen erhabenen Gedanken in ihrem Innern bestehen, trieb mich in die Einsamkeit. Unbesucht blieben, mehrere Zeit hindurch, Dach, Keller und Boden. Ich empfand mit jenem Dichter die stlssen idyllischen Preuden im kleinen HSuschen am Ufer eines murmelnden Bachs, umschattet von dtlster belaubten HSngebirken und Trauerweiden, und blieb, mich meinen Traumen hingebend, unter dem Ofen (345).

Murr's oven, thus, really becomes the symbol of his bour­

geois and comfortable existence.

Abraham's study represents the second stage of Murr's

inside world. Here Murr discovers books and teaches him­

self to read and write, thus transcending to a certain de­

gree the predominantly physical realm represented by the

kitchen. The study symbolizes the pedantic aspect of

Murr's character, as well as the narrowness of his intel­

lectual life defined by the four walls of the study.

The third substage of Murr's inside world is repre­

sented by the room where Abraham receives his guests, 77 which, though not directly mentioned in the text, is in­ ferred by the reader. This stage represents a transitional realm between the relative solitude and the seclusion of the kitchen (i.e. the oven) and the study, and the outside world represented by the street. It is in Abraham's parlor that Murr meets others and learns of the world outside the confines of his kitchen. He meets Ponto and Iren&us who come from a realm beyond Murr's direct experience, the realm that is narrated in the Kreisler-strand.

Finally, the cellar represents the fourth substage.

The cellar is associated with death— both intellectual and physical. Murr exiles himself to the basement when Abraham threatens him with physical abuse if he is discovered read­ ing and writing, and it is in the cellar that Muzius' fu­ neral takes place.

The second level of Murr's inside world is represented by the roof. The roof is almost an extension of the kitchen— Murr gets there through the kitchen window. It is neither "inside" in the same sense as the kitchen nor

"outside" in the manner that the street is. The roof is, instead, a transitional space between Murr's inside world and his outside world. At the same time the roof repre­ sents a "higher" realm for Murr— not only physically by virtue of its elevation, but also "spiritually." On the roof Murr first sees Miesmies and they fall in love. It is also on the roof that Murr hears "music" for the first time 78

(the other cats wailing) and discovers his own "musical" talent," and where he and Miesmies sing their love duet.

In this way the roof gains symbolic value and, as a part of

Murr-space, becomes a concrete representation of his ver­ sion of a "higher realm" of love and music. Murr's "higher realm" is, however, not a transcendent one like Kreisler's, but is firmly rooted in the physical, as is Murr's love for 5 Miesmies.

The second level of Murr-space, the outdoor world, is the street where Murr encounters dog, cat, and human soci­ ety. The front door step marks the transition between

Murr's inside and outside worlds and his entry into maturity:

Ein Gegenstand dieser Betrachtungen war denn auch, warum es mir noch niemals eingefalien, mich aus eignem freien Antriebe vor die Hausttire zu setzen oder auf der Strasse zu lustwandeln, wie ich es doch viele von meinem Geschlecht tun sah, ohne alle Furcht und Scheu. Ich stellte mir das als etwas hflchst Angenehmes vor und war tlberzeugt, dass nun, da ich zu reiferen Monaten gekommen und Lebenserfahrung genug gesammelt, von jenen Gefahren in die ich geriet, als das Schicksal mich, einen unmtindigen Jtingling, hinausschleuderte in die Welt, nicht mehr die Rede sein kflnne (600f.).

The "Halbwagen" is another transitional space in

Murr's outdoor world. It transports Murr accidentally into the second substage of the outside world, "die neue Welt"— no more than a block from Abraham's apartment. Here Ponto, after Murr has become hopelessly lost, teaches him how to get along in the world. These lessons from Ponto garner

Muzius* disapproval because, as Muzius declares, what Ponto teaches Murr are really the ways of human beings: "der gute Ponto der statt Euch einzuftihren in das wahre

Weltleben, Euch unterhielt mit albernen, menschlichen

GeschichtenI" (487). Muzius disapproves of Murr's associa­ tion with Ponto because Ponto is not of their species:

". . . weil Ihr nicht seinesgleichen seid ..." (487).

The "Pudelgesellschaft," Badine, and the

"Katzenburschgesellschaft" have their meetings in this lo­ cale. All three represent worlds where Murr does not fit in. Just as his association with the poodle Ponto brings about the disapproval of his cat-mentor Muzius, his attempt to join Ponto in the "Pudelgesellschaft" incurs the wrath of the other dogs— especially Ponto's uncle Scaramuz, who disapproves of their friendship for the same reason Muzius does.

Murr does not even completely belong in the

"Katzenburschgesellschaft" because of his human-like strivings to be a poet. With their forcible disbandment by the dogs, Murr— much like Kreisler— has no society of which he can be a member. Murr finally attempts unsuccessfully to socialize with the dogs of the nobility who meet regu­ larly at the whippet Badine's. Murr is not accepted there, again because he is not a dog: "Mancher Pudel blickte mich 80 an mit einer gewissen ver&chtlichen Verwunderung, als wolle er sagen: " 'Was will ein gemeiner Kater unter uns sublimen

Leuten'" (642). Even when he finds one among them—

Minona— who seems to accept him, and even appreciates his poetic talents, he ends up suffering another insult. After

rhapsodizing about her deep understanding of Murr's poetic genius and even reciting some of his verses from memory,

Minona disappears, leaving the love-struck Murr alone for

the rest of the night. He comes to realize that Minona's praise and enthusiasm were not really meant for him but for herself— and in this sense she is not unlike Murr himself.

After this incident Murr secludes himself behind the oven for weeks, shunning his usual spots and his cat

friends. Muzius finally comes and accuses Murr of being a

"Katzphilister”— a term ironically and appropriately in­

comprehensible to Murr. Not only does Muzius accuse Murr of

being a "Katzphilister” but a "Philister" per se because of

his "einsames Studieren." In a sense Muzius articulates

the reader's judgement of Murr and his autobiography, the

"masterpiece” of his "einsames Studieren”: "Glaubt mir aufs

Wort, all Euer einsames Studieren, hilft Euch ganz und gar

nichts, und ist Euch vielleicht vielmehr noch schcldlich.

Denn Ihr bleibt dennoch ein Philister . . ." (487f.). Iron­

ically, a character from within the fictional world of

Murr's own creation passes judgement on that fictional world

and on the talent of its creator. The aesthetic solution to Murr's isolation, alienation, and confinement to a narrow social and intellectual realm— though Murr himself does not view his situation this nega­ tively— is offered by a realm beyond Murr-space, by

Kreisler's world. The novel breaks off, however, before

Murr fully enters Kreisler*s world, and a complete synthe­ sis of Murr-space and Kreisler-space is never realized within the novel.

B. Kreisler-Space

Like Murr-space, Kreisler-space reveals a double structure: the action takes place on two separate and con­ current stages, Sieghartshof and the monastery Kanzheim.

On one level the opposition of Sieghartshof and Kanzheim mirrors the conflict in Kreisler between two opposite forms of music: secular and sacred music. In Sieghartshof

Kreisler composes and conducts secular music, music which, according to Korff, comes from "below," from the demonic.

In Kanzheim Kreisler composes and conducts sacred music, music which originates from "above," from the angelic.®

This dichotomy mirrors the conflict within Kreisler's soul between the demonic forces ("• • .von welchen Purien der

HOlle getrieben . . 309) which threaten to destroy him, and the angelic forces which offer him salvation 82

(" . . . gen&hrt von dem tiefsten Sinn fUr die Kunst, ftir alles Herrliche und Schdne der in dir wohnt!1" 310).

On another level, the apparent opposition between

Sieghartshof and Kanzheim mirrors the fundamental duality between the earthly and the spiritual, between the realm of everyday reality portrayed in the courtly world of

Sieghartshof with its stifling effect on Kreisler's musical genius and the realm of creative spirit to which Kreisler finds unusually easy access in the aesthetic atmosphere of the monastery Kanzheim. On the surface Sieghartshof and

Kanzheim seem to be diametrically opposed, which Kreisler himself believes for a time. Kanzheim represents a tempo­ rary paradise for Kreisler: the monks are accomplished musicians— some even virtuosi— and all are eager that

Kreisler compose new works for them to perform. In this aesthetic atmosphere Kreisler experiences a renewed creative vitality and an unusual inner peace. The monastery repre­ sents an asylum from the ill-boding world of Sieghartshof and the threat of impending insanity personified in the looming spectre of Kreisler's "Doppelgdnger" Ettlinger:

War nun die Gegend in der die Abtei lag ein Paradies zu nennen, gewHhrte das Leben im Kloster die bequemste Behaglichkeit, wozu ein leckrer Tisch und edler Wein, filr den der Vater Hilarius sorgte, wohl auch zu rechnen, herrschte unter den Brildern die gemiltliche Heiterkeit, welche von dem Abt selbst ausging, schwamm ttberdem Kreisler, den die Kunst rastlos beschfiftigte, recht in seinem Elemente, so konnt es nicht fehlen, dass sein bewegtes 83

Gemilt ruhig wurde, wie seit langer Zeit nicht mehr. Selbst der Zorn seines Humors d&mpfte sich, er wurde sanft und weich wie ein Kind. Aber noch mehr als das alles, er glaubte an sich selbst, verschwunden war jener gespenstische DoppeltgSnger, der emporgekeimt aus den Blutstropfen der zerrissenen Brust (536).

Both Sieghartshof and Kanzheim have several substages,

each with its own symbolic value. The main substages of

Sieghartshof are the palace, the "FischerhSuschen," and

the park. The main substages of Kanzheim are the abbot's

chamber, the chapel, and the monastery grounds.

The palace at Sieghartshof forms center stage for the

aristocratic and artificial "Scheinwelt" created by IrenSus

and ruled by Benzon. The stifling influence of society on

Kreisler's creative genius is reflected in the events which

take place in the palace: Kreisler's conversation with

Benzon in which he bitterly describes this repressive effect

of aristocratic society on the artist (K4), the performance

of the Lieutenant's dilletantish tragedy from which Kreisler

escapes to memories of his childhood (K5), Hedwiga's frus­

trating music lesson (K8). The palace represents the sphere

of intrigue and mysterious secrets from the past: most of

the flashbacks and allusions to the past take place in the

palace.

A parallel locale in Kanzheim is the Abbot's room.

Although on one level the Abbot's room represents the intel­

lectual realm— Kreisler and the Abbot discuss art and 84

KANZHEIM Chapel (sacred music)

------A b b o t ’s Room M o n a s t e r y

INDEFINITE

(Nature) G e i e r s t e i n

Park Fischerhauschen" SIEGHARTSHOF (Nature)

(secular music)

Bridge

Lake

Figure 9. Kreisler-Space aesthetics here (K15)— on another level it parallels

IrenSus' palace at Sieghartshof as the realm of intrigue and mysterious secrets from the past which threaten the present. In the Abbot's room, Kreisler learns that the monastery is really an extension of the palace: the Abbot betrays an intimate knowledge of the happenings at

Sieghartshof during Kreisler's stay there, thus proving

that he is in league with Benzon: "Eben diese Benzon musste mit dem Abt in Verbindung stehen, von seinem (Kreislers)

Aufenthalt in der Abtei unterrichtet sein und so war sie die

Triebfeder alles Beginnens des ehrwtlrdigen Herrn" (544). So

the "peace" of the monastery is deceptive. Kreisler also

discovers the link between the past and the present in the painting of the miracle which the Abbot hangs in his room

upon the arrival of Cyprianus at the monastery. When order

returns to the monastery with Kreisler's exposure of

Cyprianus as Angela's murderer and the resurrected youth in

the painting, this change is mirrored in the replacement of

the painting of the miracle with the painting that had

originally hung there, the DaVinci Holy Family (K17).

Both Sieghartshof and Kanzheim in general are social

spaces; Kreisler's private space is within him. His private

space is symbolized by certain spots within Kanzheim and

Sieghartshof, such as the "FischerhcLuschen," the chapel,

nature, and the "Geierstein." The second substage of

Sieghartshof, the "Fischerh&uschen," is a special realm: it is Abraham's private domain where he keeps his magic instru­ ments. It is a realm removed from the rest of Sieghartshof.

The "Fischerh&usen" provides a sanctuary from the intrigues

of the palace and the influence of Benzon. Iren&us goes to

the "Fischerhaus" when he wants to consult privately with

Abraham. Benzon herself never enters the "Fischerhaus,"

nor can she eavesdrop on what is said inside— Abraham is

able, by means of an accoustical trick, to distort every­

thing that is said inside (Kll). The "Fischerhaus" repre­

sents a place of safety and refuge. Kreisler runs into the

"Fischerhaus" when he is terrified by the appearance of his

"Doppelg&nger (K8)— a trick which Abraham explains to

Kreisler in the "Fischerhaus." Kreisler rescues Julia from

Hector by bringing them to the "Fischerhaus" where he shows

Hector the incriminating picture Abraham has given him. The

"Fischerhaus" also symbolizes Abraham's "Reich der TrSume":

it is in the "Fischerhaus" that Abraham has his dream of reunion with Chiara (K16).

Like the "Fischerhaus," the chapel at Kanzheim repre­

sents a sanctuary in the midst of the intrigue that engulfs the monastery and Sieghartshof. The chapel represents the

realm of music. The monks perform Kreisler's liturgical works here, and, standing in front of the chapel, Kreisler

defends his music against Cyprianus' accusations that it

profanes religion C653f.). After this confrontation

Kreisler calms himself by entering the chapel to find the 87 inner peace that music gives him: "Er rannte von dannen: die Mtinche sangen eben im Chor die Abendhora und Kreisler begab sich in die Kirche, weil er hoffte dort sein tief aufgeregtes, tief verletztes GemtLt zu beruhigen. . . .

Musik - fromme Musik war aufgegangen in ihm, Julia hatte ge- sungen, und nicht mehr brauste der Sturm in seinen Innern"

(655) .

Nature plays a central role in the Kreisler-strand, in both Sieghartshof and Kanzheim. Nature is Kreisler*s (and

Abraham's) element. Kreisler appears and disappears in na­ ture: in K3 Kreisler is discovered by Julia and Hedwiga in the park at Sieghartshof and in K10 he disappears from the park during his duel with Hector. The "Namensfest," which was to have been the most important event in Kreisler*s life, occurs in the park. The lake in the park represents the dangerous and demonic aspects of nature. Hector tries to seduce Julia by the lake and Kreisler is confronted with his fears of insanity when he believes he sees Ettlinger staring at him from the depths of the lake.

For Kreisler nature represents an entrance to the

"Reich der Trciume." Standing in the colonnade of the church at Kanzheim and staring into the countryside,

Kreisler dreams for a second time the creative dream in which he heard Julia singing the Agnus die he had not yet composed: 88

Die Brflder waren zurilckgekehrt in ihre Zellen, Kreisler allein weilte in dem SSulengange und schaute hinaus in die Gegend, die im Schimmer der letzten Strahlen der sinkenden Sonne vor ihm lag. Da war es ihm, als vernShme er aus weiter Ferne noch einmal sein Werk, das ihm eben lebendig dargestellt von den Brildern. Als nun aber das Agnus dei kam, da erfasste ihn aufs neue und stSrker die namenlose Wonne jener Augenblicke, in denen ihm dieses Agnus aufgegangen. . . Und diesen Traum trSumte Kreisler nun noch einmal, er vernahm Julias Stimme, hiiher und hflher schlugen die Wellen des Gesanges, als nun der Chor einfiel: "Dona nobis pacem", er wollte untergehen in dem Meer von tausend seligen Wonnen, das ihn tiberstrflmte (537f.) .

The importance of nature in Kreisler-space is reflected in the occurrences of a stylistic technique used sparingly by

Hoffmann, i.e. in the several isolated instances of lyrical descriptions of nature at significant moments in the story, as in the above passage: "... und schaute hinaus in die

Gegend, die im Schimmer der letzten Strahlen der sinkenden

Sonne vor ihm lag" (K13, 537). Note the uncharacteristic use of alliteration in the description. The Vyrical de­ scription of nature in this passage sets the scene for

Kreisler's dream. The other instances of such unusual lyrical moments occur in K3, K8, K9 and K12.

The first lyrical description of nature to occur in the

Kreisler-strand sets the scene for Kreislerrs first appear­ ance in the park at Sieghartshof: 89

Eben in diesem Augenblick ist nichts anders zu erzSLhlen, als dass nicht lange nachher, als Ftirst Iren&us in Sieghartsweiler sich nieder- gelassen, an einem schiinen Sommerabend Prinzessin Hedwiga und Julia in dem anmutigen Park zu Sieghartshof lustwandelten. Wie ein goldner Schleier lag der Schein der sinkenden Sonne ausgebreitet tiber dem Walde. Kein BlcLttlein rtihrte sich. In ahnungsvollem Schweigen harrten Baum und Gebiisch, dass der Abendwind komme und mit ihnen kose. Nur das Gettise des Waldbachs, der tiber weisse Kiesel fortbrauste, unterbrach die tiefe Stille. Arm in Arm verschlungen, schweigend, wandelten die Mfldchen fort durch die schmalen Blumengflnge, ilber die Brticken, die ilber die verschiedenen Schlingungen des Bachs filhrten, bis sie an das Ende des Parks, an den grossen See kamen, in dem sich der ferne Geierstein mit seinen malerischen Ruinen abspiegelte (336).

The persistent alliteration of the [s] sound evokes on the stylistic level the pervasive silence ("Schweigen") and peacefulness of the setting. The effect of this uncharacter­ istic technique is to form a contrast with the discordant effect of Kreisler's bizarre appearance and strange behavior on the harmony of the setting and the tranquility of the girls' souls which the serene landscape mirrors. The si­ lence is broken by Kreisler's singing and cursing, and appropriately the girls hear Kreisler's music before they ever actually see him:

Nun vernahmen sie eine Weise nach der andern, verbunden durch die seltsamsten tfberg&nge, durch die fremdartigste Akkordenfolge. Dazwischen liess sich eine sonore m&nnliche Stimme hiiren, die bald alle Stlssigkeit des italienischen Gesanges erschdpfte, bald, plfitzlich abbrechend, in ernste dilstere Melodien fiel, bald rezitativisch, bald 90 mit starken krfiftig akzentuierten Worten dreinsprach. - Die Guitarre wurde gestimmt - dann wieder Akkorde - dann wieder abgebrochen und gestimmt - dann heftige, wie im Zorn ausgesprochene Worte - dann Melodieen - dann aufs neue gestimmt (337).

The expectant waiting of nature for the caresses of the evening breeze (."in ahnungsvollem Schweigen harrten Baum und Gebtisch, dass der Abendwind komme und mit ihnen kose") mirrors the expectancy and presentiment on the human level, and the nature imagery prefigures Kreisler's appearance to Hedwiga and Julia. The image thus becomes a leitmotif for Kreisler's presence. In K9 a strikingly similar image occurs in the scene where Julia and Hedwiga suddenly become aware of Kreisler's protective spiritual presence in the singing of the chapel choir:

"Das war er", lispelte die Prinzessin leise. "Er war's", erwiderte Julie. - Sie verstanden sich. In ahnungsvollem Schweigen harrte der Wald, dass die Mondscheibe aufsteige, und ihr schimmerndes Gold fiber ihn ausstreue. Der Choral der Sfinger, noch immer vernommen in der Stille der Nacht, schien entgegenzuziehen dem Gewfilk, das glfihend aufflammte, und sich fiber den Bergen lagerte, die Bahn des leucht- enden Gestirns bezeichnend, vor dem die Sterne erblassten (466).

Julia herself interprets the symbolic value of the setting:

"Ach", sprach Julie, "was ist es denn, das uns so bewegt, das so mit tausend Schmerzen unser Inneres durchschneidet? - Horche doch nur,t wie das ferne Lied so trfistend zu uns hertiberhallt? Wir haben gebetet, und aus den goldnen Wolken sprechen fromme Geister zu uns herab von himmlischer Seligkeit" (466). 91 In other instances the lyrical descriptions of nature mirror Kreisler's soul and prefigure what is to happen. In the passage already quoted from K3 and in K8 similar images of the "Geierstein" casting its reflection in the water of the lake occur. In K3 we read: ". . .an den grossen See kamen, in dem sich der ferne Geierstein mit seinen malerischen Ruinen abspiegelte" (336). Compare this with the image in K8: "Kreisler blieb mitten auf der Brilcke stehen, die tiber einen breiten Arm des Sees nach dem

Fischerhcluschen ftthrte, und schaute in das Wasser hinab, in dem sich der Park mit seinen wunderbaren Baumgruppen, der hoch darttber emporragende Geierstein, der seine weissblinkende Ruinen auf dem Haupte, wie eine seltsame

Krone trug, abspiegelte in magischem Schimmer" (436) . The image of the "Geierstein" casting its mirror image in the lake prefigures Kreisler's terrifying experience of seeing his "DoppelgSnger" in the lake and his "Ebenbild" pursuing him from the bridge to the "Fischerhaus" (K8). The

"shimmer" ("magisches Schimmer") of the "Geierstein1s" re­ flection in the lake prefigures the "shimmer" of Abraham's

"Astrallampe" on the "Hohlspiegel," which causes the opti­ cal illusion that Kreisler thinks is his "DoppelgSnger" pursuing him: "Unfern der Ttire [des Fischerhauses], im vollen Schimmer des Lichts, erblickte Kreisler sein

Ebenbild, sein eignes Ich, das neben ihm daherschritt"

(437). The selective use of the adjective "magisch" to 92 describe nature rather than Abraham's masterful illusion reflects the Romantic view that nature is the true magical realm, and sets the stage for Abraham's speech on "die geheimnisvollsten Wunder der Natur" (439).

As I have tried to show, Hoffmann's nature descrip­ tions are formulaic and repetitive. The landscapes are de­ liberately "arranged." The landscape is not described for its own sake, but as a hieroglyph; it is a subjective, in­ ner landscape as in the paintings of Runge or Friedrich.

The effect of these lyrical and formulaic nature descrip­ tions is to mirror spiritual states and to prefigure spiritual or psychological events, a typically Romantic technique, but highly uncharacteristic for Hoffmann, and for this reason all the more effective in this novel.

The most intriguing locale in Kreisler-space is the enigmatic "Geierstein," which looms over the landscape and eerily casts its reflection in the lake, as illustrated in all the passages quoted above. The "Geierstein" is geo­ graphically the highest point in Kreisler-space and as such represents "das Uberirdische." The "Geierstein" rep­ resents the supernatural in both its angelic and its demonic aspects: Kreisler climbs the Geierstein after the duel and is healed of his wounds there in a symbolic transfiguration before entering the monastery at Kanzheim. The demonic aspect is reflected in the name itself: "Geierstein"

("vulture rock"): the insane artist Ettlinger calls 93 himself Mder rote Geier" when he threatens to paint with

Hedwiga's blood (429). The association of the "Geierstein" with the beyond is obvious in the allusion in K1 to the storm that destroyed the "Namensfest" as originating from above the "Geierstein," as Abraham tells Kreisler: "'Da gewahrte ich, aufschauend zum Himmel, tiber dem fernen

Geierstein, im Schimmer der Nacht, die kleine rdtliche

Wolke, die jedesmal ein Wetter bedeutet, das still heraufzieht und dann hier tlber uns mit einer fttrchterlichen

Explosion losbricht'" (314). The mountain image itself is an important religious symbol: Moses climbed the mountain to speak with God; the devil took Christ to a mountain-top to tempt him. The image of the "Geierstein" casting its reflection in the lake symbolizes the mirroring of the spiritual in the earthly and the Romantic idea of nature as visible spirit. In this regard, the name of the peak is symbolic as well: the word "Geier" is associated with death; death being the link between life and the afterlife, between the natural and the supernatural. Kreisler recalls climbing the "Geierstein" and longing to jump in order to enter the transcendent realm beyond time and space:

" - Ach Meister, noch einmal stelle ich mich hin auf jene hervorragende Spitze des Geiersteins - noch einmal breite ich die Arme aus wie Adlersfltlgel mich dort hinzuschwingen, wo ein stLsser Zauber waltete, wo jene Liebe, die nicht in Raum und Zeit bedingt, die ewig ist wie der Weltgeist, mir 94

aufging in den ahnungsvollen Himmelstfinen, die die dtirstende Sehnsucht selbst sind und das Verlangen!" (513).

Kreisler desires the impossible, to transcend the limita­ tions of time and space and exist exclusively in the realm of pure spirit. Kreisler's true dilemma is his inability to co-exist both in the world of everyday reality determined by the categories of time and space and in the infinite and timeless realm of creative spirit. The world from which

Kreisler wishes to flee is exemplified in Murr-time-space and personified in Murr himself. Notes to 1.2

***Hans-Georg Werner, E.T.A. Hoffmanns Darstellung und Deutung der Wirklichkeit im dichterischen Werk (Weimar: Arion, 1962), p. 164: "Die gesellschaftliche Sphere, in der sich Kreisler bewegt, deckt sich nicht mit der Lebensphclre des Katers Murr, wenn sich auch beide gelegentlich Uberschneiden. Kreisler ist in erster Linie abh&ngig vom feudalen Hof; die den Kater umgebenden Wesen entstammen— gleichghltig, ob sie sich hinter einer Tiermaske verstecken Oder nicht— ihren Anschauungen, ihrem Verhalten und ihrer sozialen Lage nach meist den btirgerlichen Gesellschaftsschichten."

^1 use the terms "Enge1' and "Weite” in the same sense as Petsch in his discussion of the scale with which "absoluter Raum" is measured: "'Weite* bis zur Unendlichkeit auf der einen und 'Enge' bis zum Geftihl der beklemmenden Umschlossenheit auf der anderen Seite bezeichnen die Endpunkte dieser Skala" [Robert Petsch, Wesen und Formen der Erz£hlkunst (Halle/Salle: Niemeyer, 1934), p. 112.]. Cf. Maatje, p. 82: "Gegendber dem Raum der 'Enge' des philistrdisen und eingebildeten 'Zivilizationskater1 steht der Raum der 'Weite* des Kilnstlers Kreisler."

Hermann Meyer, "Raumgestaltung und Raumsymbolik in der ErzHhlkunst," in Landschaft und Raum in der Erzdhlkunst, ed. Alexander Ritter (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975), p. 211: "Das Lokal ist bestimmt durch Angaben faktisch-empirischer Art, durch Nennung von geographischen Namen, Strassennamen u.d. Der Raum hat geistigen Charakter, er ist gestalthafter Ausdruck menschlichen Empfindens, und er kann auf Faktizitflt verzichten, ohne dass dies seine sinntragende Kraft ver- ringert." 4 Gilnther Milller, "Aufbauformen des Romans," Neophiloloqus 27 (1953), pp. lOf.: "Der Raum ist es, der im Zusammenspiel mit Zeit die Phasenbildung gerade der meisten Entwicklungsromane bewirkt. Der (Jbergang der Hauptfigur von Stufe zu Stufe, von einer Art der Forderungen und Mttglichkeiten zu einer anderen, wird im Obergang von Raum zu

95 96

Raum besonders deutlich. Die ftbergfinge selbst bieten wiederum mannigfache MGglichkeiten erz&hlender Entfaltung."

5Ironically Murr's "Erhebung" is completely con­ crete, in contrast to Kreisler's which is spiritual— through artistic inspiration. Cf. Wulf Segebrecht, E.T.A. Hoffmann. Autobiographie und Dichtung in seinem Werk (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1967), pp. 181f.: "W&hrend der erhOhte Standort des Katers sich lediglich als ein Plfltzchen auf dem Dachfirst erweist, geht es Kreisler in der Tat um die kilnstlerischen Forraen der Erhebung, die ihm aber infolge seiner eigenen Zerissenheit nicht gelingen. . ."

^Korff, pp. 554ff.: "Das Entscheidende der weltlichen Musik ist, dass sie prim&r von unten kommt, aus der Welt, ja aus der Unterwelt des Menschen aufsteigt und Ausdruck seiner seelischen Emotionen, seiner Geftlhle, Affekte und Phantasien ist. Ihr Stoff ist das Irdisch- Menschliche, und erst durch seine musikalische Formung, die Harmonisierung dieses Stoffes, wird sie zur Musik im eigentlichen Sinne, wird das Irdisch-Menschliche zum Himmlisch-Gttttlichen vgrklSrt! Diese Musik ist zugleich ein Ausdruck wie eine Uberwindung der irdischen Welt. Die geistliche Musik dagegen stammt geradewegs von Gott. Sie ist himmlischen Ursprungs und hat mit der irdischen Welt urspriinglich nichts gemein. Sie ist reine Harmonie, wie es der Himmel selber ist. Und sie erhebt uns daher auch (Iber das Irdische, ohne uns gleichzeitig mit ihm zu durchdringen. Sie strebt geradewegs zu Gott empor." Part II

The Narrators of the Double Novel.

The Fragmentation of the Narrative Functions

97 Chapter 1. Narrative Framwork of the Double Novel

Many of Hoffmann’s innovations in Kater Murr concern

the function and role of the narrator, defined by Kayser

as the most important aspect of the novel.1 Methodologic­

ally my discussion is based on Franz Stanzel's recent study,

"Towards a Grammar of Fiction." In this article, Stanzel modifies his earlier typology of the novel to incorporate

recent scholarship on the theory of narration, such as the

linguistic approach and the approach "in which the main accent is no longer on the classification of the basic

forms [of narration] but on variations and modulations of

these forms, on their combinations and fusions as they appear in a particular novel or short story.Stanzel redefines his original concepts from Narrative Situations

in the Novel by formulating them more precisely and by em­ phasizing the continuum of forms rather than separate

formal categories or types. At the basis of his original definition of the three narrative situations was the no­

tion of mediacy of presentation, i.e. that narration pre­

supposes a transmitter or narrator. The narrator, Stanzel maintains, may be 1) personalized and visible as a char­

acter in a fictional world (first-person narration such

98 99

as in Der Grtine Heinrich); 2) personalized and visible but outside the fictional world {auctorial narration as in Tom

Jones) ; or 3) invisible and replaced by a figural medium or reflector-character (figural narration as in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man). ^ In his new study, Stanzel maintains that mediacy of narration comprises several nar­

rative elements, the most important of which are: per­

son, perspective and mode of narration. Stanzel presents

these three narrative elements in the form of “binary oppositions" having distinctive features, which he defines

as follows:

Person: identity or non-identity (separation) of the worlds of the fictional characters and of the narrator. These terms correspond to the traditional, somewhat ambiguous, and therefore often confusing terms of first- and third-person narration. Perspective: internal or external perspective. This largely coincides but is not quite identi­ cal with the conventional distinction between omniscience and limited point-of-view. Mode: transmission by teller-character or by reflector-character. This opposition partly covers what is more generally described as the two narrative styles of "telling" and "showing.

Unlike most systematic studies of narrative transmission—

such as Stanzel's earlier system or LSmmert's groundbreak­

ing work— 5 Stanzel's new system accommodates all three nar­

rative elements in an attempt to relate them to each other

comprehensively. Stanzel illustrates his "grammar of

fiction" in his "typological circle" which presents all possible narrative situations on a continuous scale with the "binary oppositions" forming the axes of the circle

(see diagram following page). As the diagram illustrates,

"each of the basic narrative situations is dominated by one pole of one of the three oppositions: the first-person narrative situation by the identity of the worlds of characters and narrator, the authorial narrative situation by an external perspective, and the figural narrative situ­ ation by the presence of a reflector-character."® As

Stanzel points out, "each individual novel is, of course, a structured sequence of a number of modulations of these narrative situations, one usually dominating: it is this predominance that decides a novel's place in the typologi-

•7 cal circle."

The typological circle allows for classification of novels in which there is a change of narrative situation from one part to the next, as Stanzel illustrates by lo­ cating some novels in more than one place (e.g. Vanity

Fair and Ulysses). In fact, the typological circle as a continuum theoretically allows for an infinite number of modulations of the basic narrative situations— an aspect

Stanzel himself admits was missing from his earlier study, and which represents an innovation in scholarship on nove1 theory: G v U JV fJ» 3 FA JM t WAV O f M L n f S H BWOTHfi'i MAAAfAJCVfC* t| Fw* C»f*KCJf»r £sr5A rOnrfAi VAMtfrf tC* JWLNMKrov jOHts fajjfajvM SHANDr Q ir DfCK vU

Figure 10. Stanzel's Typological Circle 102

This typological circle is to be understood as a continuum of an infinite number of forms of narrative transmission. The emphasis in this arrangement lies on the variability of the narrative forms in the gradual transition from one narrative situation to another and not on the separation or division into cate­ gories. Variability and transition also characterise [sic] the narrative process in a novel, its strategy very often shift­ ing from chapter to chapter or from scene to scene, occasionally also from sentence to sentence.

It is in light of Stanzel's typological circle that I will analyze the narrative situations and explore the nature of

Hoffmann's narrative method in Kater Murr.

With the creation of three narrator figures, Hoffmann breaks with the conventional unity of narrative situation and the traditional omniscient narrator that distinguishes the nonepistolary novel. By this device Hoffmann forces the reader into a more active role of questioning and syn­ thesizing the three seemingly limited perspectives. He breaks with the traditional unity of fictional contrivance that characterizes the 18th century novel and that mirrors that century's deistic methaphysical view. For the

Romantics and Post-Kantian Idealists, the universe is in constant flux and the reality behind sensory phenomena is not directly perceptible. Hoffmann's poetic universe mirrors this metaphysical view, differing markedly from the deistic view in that the laws of his poetic universe are neither immutable nor universal. For the Romantics, 103 freedom is the basis of artistic creation and Hoffmann— like Sterne before him— assumes absolute freedom over his creation; he is free to tamper with and alter the fiction at will. Hoffmann's first ingenious device for this pur­ pose is the invention of the fictitious editor. In him

Hoffmann creates a fictional role for himself in his own novel.

A. The Outer Frame. The Fictitious Editor

As an invented role, Hoffmann the editor is not iden­ tical with Hoffmann the author, but is by definition part of the poetic reality of the novelwith his foreword, commentaries and afterword he is an integral part of the fiction. Hoffmann the editor seems to be identical with

Hoffmann the author. The editor signs himself "E.T.A.

Hoffmann" (297) and identifies himself as the author of the Nachtstttcke: "So sprach z.B. der Herausgeber im zweiten Teil seiner Nachtstticke . . . 11 (298) as well as

Das Frdulein von Scuderi (298). The application of these historical data to the fictitious editor, as well as the invention itself of the fictitious editor, allows the reader to bridge the chasm between his own empirical world and the fictional world portrayed in the novel.^-®

By giving the editor his own name and listing the titles of real works, Hoffmann is able to blurr the boundaries between empirical and fictional reality, thereby easing the reader's passage into the fictional world. It may be true— as is presumed by Heimrich— 11 that the fictitious editor functions as an auctorial narrator, how­ ever he is not an auctorial narrator in the conventional sense. Hoffmann's ingenious invention is that he reduces the conventional auctorial voice from an original author to a mere editor who does not create but only edits and criticizes an existing manuscript. The auctorial medium is no longer a narrator but a medium of ironic distance.

By means of this inventive technique, Hoffmann detaches himself from his work, thereby gaining absolute freedom over it, from inception to conclusion. Hoffmann can re­ main in the background as the mastermind behind this narrative tour-de-force.

By freeing himself from identification with an empir­ ical narrator, Hoffmann is freed from empirical narrative conventions, one of which is the preservation of the unity of contrivance or fiction. In Kater Murr the first in­ stance of fictional irony or inconsistency in the fiction, is evident already in the title penned by the fictitious editor: "Lebensansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biograhie des Kapellmeisters Johannes

Kreisler in zuf&lligen MakulaturblcLttern. Herausgegeben von E.T.A. Hoffmann." The double title mirrors the doubleness of the narrative, theme, character and style 105 as it signals the unusual relationship of the author

Hoffmann to his creation, and also the shifting narrative perspective of the multiple narrator figures. Moreover the title stands in ironic contrast to what is presented in the novel, or in Scher's words: "Hoffmanns Roman enthSlt nicht was der Titel verspricht. A fictional irony arises from the tension between the structural implications in the title and the actual structure of the novel itself. The title formulates a vital element of the fiction, namely the accidental quality of the form:

"in zufSiligen Makulaturbl&ttern," which is consistent with the fictitious editor's claim in the foreword, but incon­ sistent with the mirroring of themes and motifs between the two strands and the overall structure which reveals unify­ ing elements, parallels as well as deliberate contrasts.

The title, as well as the fictitious editor who in­ vented it, function to lend the illusion of non-fiction to the novel. Hoffmann avoids the designation "Roman" in the title, recalling-— whether consciously or not— the tradition of the 18th century and early Romantic novel where the novelist sought to lend authenticity to his work by calling it "eine Geschichte" or "ein Leben" or "eine Biographie" instead of "Roman," which is by definition fiction.-1-3

With Kater Murr Hoffmann seems to continue this tradition of lending authenticity to the novel by means of the title, but he does so for an intentionally ironic effect: that of 106 combining in one work two "authentic” life stories, one of which is written by a cat. The double title may well be a parody of a Jean Paul double title: Des Feldpredigers

Schmelzle Reise nach Flaz mit fortgehenden Noten (1809)

It is likewise possible that Jean Paul's novel inspired the fiction of Kater Murr as well: in his foreword to

Schmelzle, the fictitious editor (who calls himself Jean

Paul) explains that the notes he had jotted down while reading Schmelzle's manuscript were accidentally included in the published edition and in almost random order:

Das zweite Wort soli die auffallende, mit einem Noten-Souterrain durchbrochne Gestalt des Werkleins entschuldigen. Sie gefflllt mir selber nicht. Die Welt schlage auf und schaue hinein und entscheide ebenfalls. Aber folgender Zufall zog diese durch das ganze Buch streichende Teilungslinie? ich hatte meine eigne Gedanken (oder Digressionen), womit ich die des Feldpredigers nicht stfiren durfte, und die bloss als Noten hinter der Linie fechten konnten, aus Bequemlichkeit in ein besonderes Neben-Manuskript zusammen geschrieben und jede Note ordentlich, wie man sieht, mit ihrer Nummer versehen, die sich bloss auf die Seitenzahl des fremden Haupt-Manuskripts bezog; ich hatte aber bei dem Kopieren des letztern vergessen, in den Text selber die entsprechende einzuschreiben. Daher werfe niemand, so wenig als ich, einen Stein auf den guten Setzer, dass dieser - vielleicht in der Meinung, es geh&re zu meiner Manier, worin ich etwas suchte - die Noten gerade so, wie sie ohne Rangordnung der Zahlen untereinander standen, unter den Text hinsetzte, jedoch durch ein sehr lobenswtirdiges kilnstliches Ausrechnen wenigstens dafilr sorgte, dass unter jede Text-Seite etwas von solchem glSnzenden Noten-Niederschlag kSme. — Nun, die Sache ist einmal geschehen, ja verewigt, nSmlich gedruckt. 107

Like the Murr-editor, the Schmelzle-editor considers the accident that gave rise to the doubleness of a narrative and a commentary— a fortunate turn of events— the

Schmelzle-editor, unlike the Murr-editor, addresses himself directly to the innovativeness of a dual strand narrative:

Vielleicht aber holt die Schreibwelt - bei dem Fl&mmchen dieses Zufalls - eine wichtigere Ausbeute, einen grdissern unterirdischen Schatz herauf, als leider ich gehoben; denn nun ist dem Schriftsteller ein Weg gezeigt, in einem Marmorbande ganz verschiedne Werke zu geben, auf einem Blatte zugleich ftir zwei Geschlechter, ohne deren Vermischung, ja ftir fiinf Fakult&ten zugleich ohne deren Grenzverrtickung zu schreiben, indem er, statt ein ekles g^rendes Allerlei filr niemand zu brauen, bloss dahin arbeitet, dass er Noten-Linien Oder Demarkationslinien zieht und so auf dem nSmlichen filnfstflckigen Blatte die un&hnlichsten Kdpfe behauset und bewirtet. Vielleicht l&se dann mancher ein Buch zum vierten Male, bloss weil er jedesmal nur ein Viertel gelesen.^®

With the invention of the fictitious editor of Murr's manuscript, Hoffmann creates the deliberately ironic illu­ sion of authenticity and verisimilitude for the novel.

The fiction itself is ironic and Hoffmann further rein­ forces the illusion of truth by lending the semblance of

"empirical" existence to the authors of the two strands of the novel, reinforcing the fiction established in the title that the work is nonfiction. The editor's reference in the foreword to a "schriftstellerische Kollege" who supposedly had given him the Murr-manuscript similarly 108 lends the ironic illusion of "verisimilitude" to the fiction that a cat is the author of this autobiography.

The identity of this mysterious "colleague" has caused controversy among the critics. Because the editor refers to him as being a writer, he could be neither Abraham nor

Kreisler. Since the editor describes his colleague as

"einen Freund, mit dem er ein Herz und eine Seele ist, den er ebenso gut kennt, als sich selbst" (297), it could be none other than Hoffmann himself. This time as the anonymous discoverer of the manuscript, another facet of

Hoffmann's self intervenes in the foreword to proclaim approval of the novel's form; he is quoted directly by the editor— himself of course another of Hoffmann's masks:

Dieser Freund sprach eines Tages zu ihm [dem Herausgeber] ungef&hr also: "Da du mein Guter, schon manches Buch hast drucken lassen, und dich auf Verleger verstehst, wird es dir ein leichtes sein, irgendeinen von diesen wackern Herrn aufzufinden, der auf deine Empfehlung etwas druckt, was ein junger Autor von dem gia,nzendsten Talent, von den vortrefflichsten Gaben vorher aufschrieb. Nimm dich des Mannes an, er verdient es" (297).

Hoffmann the author splits himself into two roles here: the editor and the so-called colleague who gave him the manuscript. With this device Hoffmann might well be il­ lustrating the dichotomy in his own character: the

"schriftstellerische Freund": Hoffmann the creative artist, and the meticulous editor: Hoffmann the burgher. 109

The editor goes beyond the fictional world to the em­ pirical realm by introducing the "real" Hoffmann in the figure of the "schriftstellerischer Freund." Similarly, the editor attempts to draw in the empirical realm by mentioning an historical person, namely Hoffmann's pub­ lisher Dilmmler. The editor not only mentions him but indirectly quotes him as agreeing to undertake the publica­ tion of the manuscript in spite of its unprecedented authorship:

Herr Dilmmler meinte, bis jetzt habe er zwar nicht unter seinen Autoren einen Kater gehabt, wisse auch nicht, dass irgendeiner seiner werten Kollegen mit einem Mann des Schlages bis jetzt sich eingelassen, indessen wolle er den Versuch wohl machen (297) .

Climaxing the ironic fiction of authenticity, the editor finally reveals that he himself has made Murr's acquain­ tance: "Schliesslich darf der Herausgeber versichern, dass er den Kater Murr persdnlich kennen gelernt und in ihm einen Mann von angenehmen milden Sitten gefunden hat"

(299). This is the ultimate tour-de-force: a character, himself part of the fictitious world of the novel,

"assures" the reader that Murr is indeed the author and a well-mannered cat besides.

The fictitious editor poses not only as guarantor of the "authenticity" of the fiction, but apologist for the strange form of the novel. His foreword opens with a 110 justification for its inclusion in the novel:

Keinem Buche ist ein Vorwort niitiger, als gegenwttrtigem, da es, wird nicht erklttrt, auf welche wunderliche Weise es sich zusammengefttgt , hat, als ein zusammengewttrfeltes Durcheinander erscheinen dtirfte. Daher bittet der Herausgeber den gttnstigen Leser, wirklich zu lesen, n&mlich dieses Vorwort (297).

Significantly, the opening sentence of the novel contains a formulation of its own structure. With the phrase "auf welche wunderliche Weise es sich zusammengefttgt hat," the editor subtly alludes to the unusual manner of its creation.

The choice of verb and adverbial modifier suggests that the novel had "fit itself together," or that there were strange, incomprehensible t"Wunderlich”) forces at work beyond the author's control which had fit these elements together, in accord with the structural principal of Romantic art for­ mulated by Schlegel as "kttnstlich geordnetes Chaos."

"Das Wunderliche," a central concept in Hoffmann's aesthet­ ic philosophy, refers to the seemingly absurd oddities found in everyday reality. ^ Because of their nonconform­ ance with empirical laws of nature, such oddities seem to point beyond the everyday world to that other aspect of the

Romantic world, "das Wunderbare":

Wenn die Welt der romantischen Dichtung in zwei Httlften gespalten ist, in eine Sphttre des gewtthnlichen Lebens (auch "Wirklichkeit" gennant) und in ein Reich des Wunders, so Ill

scheint das Wunderliche eine Art Ubergang zwischen beiden zu bilden, zwar in Beziehung zum Wunderbaren zu stehen, aber ihm dpch gewissermassen vorgeschaltet zu sein.*-8

While the 18th century viewed such strange phenomena as bizarre or abnormal, the Romantics regarded them as ciphers of supernatural reality, offering a glimpse beyond the physical into the spiritual world. "Das Wunderliche" is an ambiguous concept inspiring both aversion and fascin­ ation. The concept is itself double because it exists in boths realms at once; this inherent doubleness leads to the principle of doubleness that characterizes

Hoffmann's poetic world as well as the structure of so 19 many of his works.

Hence the editor's remark "auf welche wunderliche

Weise es sich zusammengeftlgt hat" is a veiled formulation of the principle of seemingly inexplicable doubling which characterizes Hoffmann's poetic world in general and repre­ sents the structural principle of this his last novel.

Furthermore, as the verb "zusammenftigen" implies, all the pieces fit together; that is, the novel is cohesive and co­ herent, in its own unique way, and there is meaning and or­ der in spite of the seeming chaos. There is an ironic inconsistency in the fiction since the editor's choice of words seems to belie his claim that the novel is chaotic and the result of an accident. And the question arises: is the novel really unified and ordered as his choice of 112 words suggests, or is this simply another of Hoffmann's myriad contradictory ironies? There are so many ironic

reversals within the narrative modes that the reader tends

to lose sight of the original fiction: the auctorial nar­ rator who traditionally provided the "fester Standpunkt"

for the reader here becomes the vehicle of constantly re­ versing fictions.

The figure of the fictitious editor itself is a* vehicle of irony and the doubleness born of "das Wunderliche."

He is a hybrid figure. On one level he is part of the poetic world of the novel, a part of the fiction; on an­ other level he points to the mastermind behind the novel.

He is an ambiguous figure who performs a double function: he is set up as responsible for the coincidental character of the work, but at the same time he admits to its design

and purpose. Through the editor, Hoffmann seems deliber­ ately to confuse and mystify the reader.20 Kater Murr thus represents the quintessential "romantisch verwirrter

Roman.,r

The editor formulates the fiction, or the causal ex­ planation, for the strange intermingling of the Murr- and

Kreisler-strands. He attributes it to a three—fold acci­ dent: 1) Murr using parts of the Kreisler-manuscript

"teils zura Lflschen, teils zur Unterlage" (130), uninten­ tionally incorporating them as part of his work; 2) the printer carelessly printing those pieces as part of the 113 novel and 3) the editor himself supposedly neglecting to proofread the manuscript before consignment to the pub­ lisher- So the ultimate responsibility seems to lie with the editor himself. The editor further emphasizes the accidental origin of the novel in his description of Murr's so-called "literarischer Vandalismus" with the modifiers

"ohne Umstclnde," "harmlos," and "aus Versehen" (298). The editor therefore, himself a part of the fiction, is also the vehicle through which the fictional framework is created and given form.

The fictitious editor is also the instrument by which the author tampers with the fiction. For example, the editor's claim that the novel is not a "zusammengewilrfeltes

Durcheinander" is contradicted by his emphasis on the ac­ cidental genesis of the novel on the one hand and, on the other, his compulsion to include the pedantic emendations

"M.f.f." and as well as several footnotes of his own.

A similar reversal of the fiction is apparent in the incon­ sistency between the editor1s claim of not having read the manuscript and these emendations and footnotes, which must have involved a closer reading of the text than the editor admits to having made. Furthermore, and this is the most compelling fictional irony, his very act of writing this foreword stands in ironic contrast to the pretext that he did not read the manuscript. 114

In his role as editor, i.e. critic and "reviewer11 of a manuscript, the editor inserts commentaries into both strands of the novel— three in the Murr-strand and one in the Kreisler-strand. In the three commentaries on the

Murr-strand, the editor accuses Murr of plagiarism. Murr's pervasive habit of quoting, i.e. misquoting, is already established in the opening lines of his autobiography with his free rendering of lines from Egmont; and his various poems sound suspiciously like feline imitations of Schiller and Goethe.^1 The editor, however, singles out for comment only three of the myriad instances of Murr's borrowings: from Shakespeare's As_ You Like It (528f.) , from Chamisso's

Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte (585), and from

Kreisler (640) . The editor seems to have carefully selected

these examples for comment because they are concerned with themes important to the Romantics (and HoffmannI).

Shakespeare was considered by Hoffmann and the Romantics

to be a kindred spirit because of his fondness for the

comic and the ironic. Chamisso was a close friend of

Hoffmann, and Peter Schlemihl deeply inspired him:

Hoffmann mentions the work frequently in his tales and him­

self wrote a variation on the same theme, "Geschichte vom

verlornen Spiegelbilde (in Abenteuer der Sylvesternacht)

part of the collection Fantasiestttcke in Cailot's Manier

(1814/15). The theme of Peter Schlemihl, the loss of one's

shadow or "das solide Selbst" as opposed to the soul, 115 metaphorically parallels Kreisler*s condition as an artist whose loss of the "solide Selbst" is expressed in his alienation from society and in the mystery surrounding his identity and past. And Kreisler of course is a fictional- character of Hoffmann's own creation not only in this double novel but in the earlier Kreisleriana. He is the epitome of the Romantic artist and so much a part of Hoffmann him­ self that he even calls himself "Kapellmeister Kreisler" in letters to Chamisso.^ Through this deliberately selec­ tive criticism of Murr's borrowings, the editor demon­ strates his intimate knowledge of the Murr-strand, in con­ tradiction to his claims of ignorance expressed in the foreword.

In the single commentary on the Kreisler-strand, the editor does not comment on what is contained in the text, as in the Murr examples, but on what has been deleted through Murr's vandalism:

- Hier hat, wie der Herausgeber es dem geneigten Leser bemerklich machen muss, der Kater wieder ein paar MakulaturblStter ganz weggerissen, wodurch in dieser Geschichte voller Lticken wiederum eine Lilcke entstanden. Nach der Seitenzahl fehlen nur acht Kolumnen die eben nichts besonders Wichtiges enthalten zu haben schienen, da das Folgende sich im ganzen noch so ziemlich an das Vorhergegangene reiht. Also weiter heisst es. . . (621).

In this instance Hoffmann has the editor mislead the reader with him implication that "nothing of importance" has been 116 eliminated with the deleted pages. Nor is the reason the editor offers for the omission to be trusted. It soon be­ comes evident what has been left out, and this is all part of Hoffmann's irony. The deletion occurs between two dif­ ferent and totally unrelated scenes: the one preceding the gap focuses on Abraham's personal vision of his lost wife,

Chiara. Absorbed in reverie he hears melodic tones which are translated in his soul into Chiara*s voice and words:

"'0 du barmherziger Himmel', lispelte der Alte mit bebenden Lippen, 'sie ist nicht mehr unter den Lebendigen!*"

(454). The tones lull Abraham to sleep and he dreams of their past happiness and imagines they are young again and lying in each other's arms:

StSrker anschwellend und wieder verhallend lockten die silssen Tflne den Schlaf herbei, der den Alten einhtillte in seinen schwarzen Fittich. Aber in dem Dunkel ging strahlend wie ein schtiner Stern der Traum vergangenen Gliicks auf und Chiara lag wieder an des Meisters Brust und beide waren wieder jung und selig und kein finstrer Geist vermochte den Himmel ihrer Liebe zu trtiben - (621).

Just as Abraham's mystical reunion with Chiara is about to reach its highest point, the text breaks off. The gap occurs at precisely the moment in the novel when "das

Wunderbare" might be about to manifest itself— Abraham has entered the "Reich der TrcLume" and is about the experience

"der hOchste Moment" of mystical vision that Hoffmann describes in Ritter Gluck as the moment of creative 117 exaltation. The meaning of this moment is inexpressible and there must be a gap in the novel where it occurs. At this point the editor intervenes to snatch the reader back to the impoverished "reality" of court intrigue at

Sieghartshof, which is the subject of the section following the deletion. With his pseudo-explanation for the exis­ tence of the gap in the text, the editor reduces the sub­ lime to the banal, shocking the reader back to reality:

Also weiter heisst es: - - - nicht erwarten durfte. Ftirst Iren&us war ilberhaupt ein abgesagter Feind von alien ungewdhnlichen Vorfallen, vorzilglich wenn seine eigne Person in Anspruch genommen wurde, die Sache n&her zu untersuchen. Er nahm daher, wie er es in kritischen Fallen zu tun pflegte, eine Doppeltprise, starrte den LeibjSger an mit dem bekannten niederschmetternden Friedrichsblick und sprach: "Lebrecht, ich glaube, wir sind ein mondstichtiger Tr&umer und sehen Gespenster und machen einen ganz unndtigen Hallas?" (621).

The editor reappears at the conclusion of the novel in his afterword. He now gradually reveals his role as the reverse of what it had started out to be. At first, con­ tinuing his seeming attempt to preserve the fiction, to lend further credence to the story and to explain con­ vincingly the unfinished form of the novel, the editor opens the afterword with, a brief obituary notice:

Am Schluss des zweiten Bandes ist der Herausgeber gendtigt den geneigten Leser eine sehr betrtlbte Nachricht mitzuteilen, - Den klugen, wohlunterrichteten philosophischen, 118

dichterischen Kater Murr hat der bittre Tod dahingerafft mitten in seiner schtinen Laufbahn. Er schied in der Nacht vom neunundzwanzigsten bis zum dreissigsten November nach kurzen aber schweren Leiden mit der Ruhe und Passung eines Weisen dahin (.663) .23

With the intervention of the editor following the breaking-

off of the novel and the obituary notice containing the

precise date of Murr's death, the boundaries between fic­

tion and reality seem to blur. The ironic illusion of

reality is given with the inclusion of an obituary no­

tice written by a figure who poses as a real editor. By means of this illusory blurring of the boundaries between

empirical and fictional reality— similar to, though not

identical with, the technique used in the forword to ease

the reader's entrance into the fictional world— the read­

er's exit from the fictional world is smoothed, almost

imperceptibly.

In the second half of his afterword, the editor, while

formulating the fictional explanation for the novel's un­

finished form, points out the positive aspect of that

"accident," i.e. that both Murr's "Nachlass," containing many reflections and observations recorded during his stay with Kreisler, as well as a portion of the Kreisler- manuscript remain unpublished. The editor proposes com­

bining the two into a third volume, inserting Murr's reflec­

tions and observations into the remnants of the Kreisler-

biography: 119 Der Herausgeber findet es daher der Sache nicht unangemessen, wenn er in einem dritten Bande, der zur Ostermesse erscheinen soli, dies von Kreislers Biographie noch Vorgefundene den geneigten Lesern mitteilt und nur hin und wieder an schicklichen Stellen das einschiebt, was von jenen Bemerkungen und Reflexionen des Katers der weitern Mitteilung wert erscheint (663).24

The editor's afterword becomes a preview or plan for

"Volume Three"; "Nachwort" thus becomes "Vorwort," re­

sulting in another mirror effect. The editor now adopts as

a conscious structural procedure the very form he had pur- ported to be an accidental form. Ironically, the same

editor who at the outset had criticized the form of the novel, in the end plots its continuation in a similar form, with one significant difference: he reverses the position of the two strands by using the Kreisler-biography as the continuous narrative and Murr's notes as the inserts, so

that the third volume would be the mirror opposite of the

first two.

By way of summary: the editor proceeds from an

initial denial of knowledge in the foreword to a

demonstration of his knowledge in the commentaries within

the novel, to the admission of knowledge in the afterword

and the active plan of consciously continuing the double

structure. While in the foreword the editor seems dis­

turbed by the form of the novel and is compelled to

apologize for it, in the afterword he acknowledges Murr1s 120 principle of montage as a valid principle of narration.

The fictional framework of the double novel is set up and given form in the editor's foreword and afterword, which form a frame around the double novel within. The editor's foreword and afterword with their interplay of empirical and fictional reality function as a transitional framework into and out of the fictional world of the double novel.

B. The Inner Framework. Murr's Double Foreword

The editor's foreword and afterword form an outer frame around the double novel. Murr's two forewords repre­ sent a part of the overall framework, forming a kind of in­ ner half-frame, so to speak, or frame of a secondary nature.

The outer frame is written by a figure seemingly outside the fictional world of the Murr- and Kreisler-narratives, and the inner frame is written by a narrator who is both a narrating and an experiencing self in one section of the double novel (the Murr-strand) and the experiencing self in the other (in the Kreisler-strand). With the editor's commentaries, which appear in both the Murr- and Kreisler- strands as well as in the second Murr-forword, a network is created in which the perspective shifts back and forth between the outer frame and the novel within. 121

Murr'Strand

-I i --- ] I i I--- I I l U !1 '! V 11 !i S !i !i /■

editor** Editor'* (nurr's Foreword*> Hit , / ^ Afterword Foreword __ i j j i i i T M l O U U U U ii ii i2 •* v /, / , ^ fiiiilifStrmd

^ s, ' '~ ~ ~ Outer Fra»

editor** Cca*enc*riua

figure LIf Tft* Outar *nd Inner rr*a«worA of Hurr

The outer frame contains the causal explanation for the in­

terweaving of the two narrative strands— which could be

called the "superfiction" as opposed to the fiction. The

causal explanation or superfiction represents the so-called

consecutive connection necessary to the unity of the double novel. The consecutive connection is normally found in one 2 6 of the two narrative strands, as Maatje contends.

Hoffmann, however, employs an unusual hybrid form which is

a combination of Rahmen- and Doppelroman.

The two Murr-forwords are mirror opposites and as such

function to establish the duplicity of Murr's character.

Murr is a complete hypocrite as reflected in the blatant contradictions between his two forwords. The first fore­ word, intended for publication, represents Murr's

"public" face, the facade he presents to the world. The 122 second forword was not intended for publication; it reveals his private self. For examplef the two forewords have opposite tones: Murr's humble trepidation in I

("Schhchtern mit bebender Brust11) stands in sharp contrast to the arrogant calm of II ("Mit der Sicherheit und Ruhe"),

The opposition of the content is highlighted by the basical­ ly parallel syntactic structure of the opening sentence of each: adverbial modifier - "iibergebe ich der Welt" - direct object. The vocabulary of the two are contrasting and evocative of two essentially opposite historical and literary periods and philosophies. The vocabulary of I derives from "Empfindsamkeit" and early Romanticism with the emphasis on the emotional: "Leiden," "Hoffnung,"

"Sehnsucht," "mit bebender Brust"; while the vocabulary of II derives from the Enlightenment with the emphasis on the intellectual or rational: "Bildung," "Vortrefflich- keit."

Murr characterizes the origination of his autobiog­ raphy in opposite terms: as born of poetic inspiration

("dichterische Begeisterung," I) and of an intellectually- based creative urge ("wahres Genie," II). The orientation of I is toward others, the direction is outward, from the inner self to the outside world: "meinem innersten Wesen entstrfimt" and the mirror opposite in II, i.e. self- centered and inwardly directed with the self absorbing the adulation of the world: "itiich liebe, sch&tze, ehre, 123 bewundere, und ein wenig anbete." Murr contradicts himself regarding his motives for writing his autobiography: in foreword I he claims his sole purpose is to edify the reader and in foreword II it is to glorify himself and show the world what an exemplary figure he is.

Murr expresses his concern over the reception of his autobiography in contrasting terms. In foreword I Murr anxiously questions not just the reception but his own talent as well: "Werde, kann ich bestehen vor dem strengen Richterstuhl der Kritik?" 27 In II he is arrogantly confidant of the intrinsic worth of his autobiography to the extent of threatening the critics: "Sollte jemand verwegen genug sein, gegen den gediegenen Wert des ausserordentlichen Buchs einige Zweifel erheben zu wollen, so mag er bedenken, dass er es mit einem Kater zu tun hat, der Geist, Verstand besitzt, und scharfe Krallen" (301).

This is an ironic forewarning that anticipates the some­ times critical reception by the fictitious editor as well as the mixed reception by the contemporary readers.

The tone of the second foreword contradicts the editor's characterization of Murr in the foreword as "einen

Mann von angenehmen milden Sitten" (299). In an attempt to minimize the effect on the reader of Murr1s contradic­ tory forewords, the editor intervenes as part of his editorial function to make his obligatory remarks ("es bleibt nichts ttbrig") about the inclusion of a foreword 124 that should have been supressed:

N.S. Das ist zu arg! - Auch das Vorwort des Autors, welches unterdrtickt werden sollte# ist abgedruckt! - Es bleibt nichts tlbrig, als den giinstigen Leser zu bitten, dass er dem schriftstellerischen Kater den etwas stolzen Ton dieses Vorworts nicht zu hoch anrechnen, und bedenken mflge, dass, wenn manche wehmiltige Vorrede irgendeines andern empfindsamen Autors in die wahre Sprache der innigen Herzensmeinung tlbersetzt werden sollte, es nicht viel anders herauskommen wtirde. d.H. (302).28

The editor's "explanation" has a satirical ring and pre­ cisely by not saying the obvious— that the two forewords are contradictory— the editor emphasizes Murr's hypocrisy.

The juxtaposition of these two opposing forewords and the editor's {and Hoffmann's) compulsion to include them in the novel, provide the key to Murr's character as well as his narrative stance within the novel. Murr's two forewords are a measuring-stick of Murr's hypocrisy. Just as Murr has two forewords ready, so throughout the novel he has two opposite and conveniently interchangeable po­ sitions available on all value-questions. The two Murr forewords thus provide a good first sketch toward the self-portrait of Murr. Notes to II.1

■^Wolfgang Kayser, "Wer erzfihlt den Roman?" Zur Poetik des Romans/ ed. Volker Klotz (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1965)/ p. 206: "Unter alien Wesensztigen des Romans ist die variable Art des Erz&lens vielleicht die wichtigste. . . "

2Franz K. Stanzel, "Towards a Grammar of Fiction/" Novel (Spring 1978) 3, p. 247. This article is a revision of Stanzel's earlier study, Die typischen Erzahlsituationen im Roman. Darcrestellt an "Tom Jones," "Moby-Dlck," "The AmbassadorsT" Ulysses" u.a. (Wien-Stuttgart: Braumtiller, 1955).

3For a definition of auctorial narration see note 10. 4 Stanzel, "Grammar," p. 249.

5Eberhard LSmmert, Bauformen des Erzclhlens (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1955).

6Stanzel, "Grammar," p. 251.

7Stanzel, "Grammar," p. 253.

8Stanzel, "Grammar," p. 263.

9Heimrich, pp. 112f.

^■°This is part of the auctorial narrator's function according to Stanzel: "Tritt der Autor durch Leseranreden, Kommentare zur Handlung, Reflexionen usw. hervor, so ilbersetzt der Leser die Kluft zwischen seiner Welt und der dargestellten Wirklichkeit sozusagen gefdhrt von der Hand des Autors, es wird auctorial erzMhlt" (ErzShlsituationen, p. 23). In order to prevent confusion of the narrator with the author himself, I will refer to the "auktorialer Erz&hler" as the "auctorial narrator," avoiding the ambiguous and potentially misleading term "authorial narrator" which Stanzel's translator (and later Stanzel himself) uses.

125 126

i;LCf. Heimrich, p. 113.

l^steven Paul Scher, "Kater Murr and Tristram Shandy: Erz&hltechnische Affinitaten bei Hoffmann und Sterne," ZDP 95 (Nov. 1976), p. 32. 1 ^ ~\Among the numerous examples of this convention are: Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, Foundling (1749), Gellert's Das Leben der schwedischen Grdfin von O. (1747/48) or Tieck's Geschichte des Herrn William Lovell (1795/96). Hence Hoffmann designates the Kreisler-strand "Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler" and the Murr-strand "Die Lebensansichten des Katers Murr." The latter title echoes Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen (1760/67) [Cf. Steven Paul Scher, "Hoffmann and Sterne Unmediated Parallels in Narrative Method," CL 28 (1976), p. 314] Certainly von Milller failed to recognize the significance of Hoffmann's deliberate avoidance of the designation "Roman" when he published the two strands separately as Der Murr-Roman and Der Kreisler-Roman.

l^Cf. j. Cerny, "Zu E.T.A. Hoffmanns Kater Murr," Euphorion 16 (1909), pp. 512f.: "Woher Hoffmann die Anregung zu der merkwtirdigen Komposition des 'Kater Murr' geschfipft hat, ist noch nicht gentlgend nachgewiesen. Wenn ich in meinem Aufsatze ttber sein VerhSltnis zu Jean Paul (Profr. d. St. Gymn. in Mies. 1907 und 1908) die Form der 'fragmentarischen Biographie in zuf&lligen Makulaturblclttern' auf das 'Leben Fibels' und andere biographische Romane Jean Pauls und die witzige Motivierung der Verbindung mit der Autobiographie des Katers auf den 'Feldprediger Schmelzle' als Muster zurilckgeftihrt habe, so ist damit noch nicht alles gesagt. Denn im 'Feldprediger Schmelzle* handelt es sich um die den Bericht des furchtsamen Helden begleitenden Noten des Herausgebers Jean Paul, mit denen der Drucker so wenig anzufangen wusste, dass er sie ungeordnet unter den Strich setzte, bei Hoffmann dagegen wird die eine Biographie (die Murrs) immer wieder von Fragmenten der anderen unterbrochen. Indes hat vielleicht Hoffmann die Idee der kontrastierenden Doppelbiographie fiberhaupt Jean Paul zu verdanken. Diesen zieht es immer wieder . . . in seinen grossen Romanen neben der ernsten 'Biographie' eine humoristisch-satirische, in Philisterkreisen spielende Parallelgeschichte einhergehen zu lassen."

-**5Jean Paul, Werke XI ed. Norbert Miller (Mtinchen: Hanser, 1975), p. 10.

16Jean Paul, Werke, XI, p. 11. 127

^Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 515.

l^Lothar Pikulik, "Das Wunderliche bei E.T.A. Hoffmann. Zum romantischen Ungentigen an der Norm," Euphorion 3 (1975), p. 297.

•^Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 515. 20 In her dissertation on optical motifs in Kater Murr, Holbeche suggests that Hoffmann deliberately attempts to confuse the reader [Y.J.K. Holbeche, Optical Motifs in the Works of E.T.A. Hoffmann (Gdppingen: Ktimmerle, 197577 p. 21]. Hutto argues in a similar vein in his disserta­ tion. He advocates the view that Hoffmann confused the reader in order to enlighten him. In his discussion of Hoffmann's use of confusion in Kater Murr, Hutto ignores the all-important roles of the narrator figures in manip­ ulating and confusing the reader. Instead he concentrates on Abraham's and Kreisler's acts of creating confusion [Hutto, pp. 127ff.].

2-*-For a more complete discussion of literary quotes in Murr, see Hermann Meyer, Das Zitat in der Erz£hlkunst (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1961).

22Ulrich Helmke, E.T.A. Hoffmann. Lebensbericht mit Bildern und Dokumenten (Kassel: Wenderoth, 1975), p. 90.

23it is interesting to note that the obituary no­ tice Hoffmann sent to Hitzig upon the death of the real Murr is uncannily similar to the fictional obituary in the novel— and the death dates are identical: "In der Nacht vom 29. bis zum 30. Novbr. d. J. entschlief nach kurzem aber schweren Leiden, zu einem bessern Dasein mein geliebter Zfigling der Kater Murr im vierten Jahre seines hoffnungsvollen Alters, welches ich teilnehmend GOnnern und Freunden ganz ergebenst anzuzeigen nicht ermangle. Wer den verewigten Jilngling kannte, wird meinen tiefen Schmerz gerecht finden und ihn— durch Schweigen ehren. Berlin d. 30. Novbr. 1821" (Hoffmann sent a second death notice to Hippel, dated December 1, 1821). It is another ironic coincidence that Hoffmann completed the second (and last) volume of Murr in the middle of December 1821, although it appeared in the same month predated "1820" [Hitzig, Aus Hoffmanns Leben und Nachlass, in E.T.A. Hoffmann in Aufzeichnungen seiner Freunde und Bekannten, ed. Friedrich Schnapp (MUnchen: Winkler, 1974), p. 512]. It is as if the death of the real Murr caused Hoffmann to stop writing the novel. 128

2^There are indications that Hoffmann did indeed intend to publish a third volume. Hoffmann mentions this in a letter to his publisher dated September 2, 1821: "Der dritte und letzte Teil kOnnte dann wohl, da ich nun nicht mehr abbreche, zur Neujahrsmess fertig werden" (quoted from Steinecke, "Nachwort," pp. 465f.). In another letter to DUmmler, dated January 29, 1822, Hoffmann claims to have begun the third volume: "Murr Tom: 3. ist angefangen, Gott schenke mir nur wieder mehr Kraft und Gesundheit" [B. II, 256f, quoted from Schnapp, p. 259] . As Schnapp points out, however, Hoffmann had begun the volume only in his head and had nothing on paper (Schnapp, Dichter, p. 259). On the 30th of January Hoffmann acknowledged receipt of an honorarium for the promised third volume: "Dankbarlichst empfing ich auf Abschlag des Honorars fttr Murr Tom. 3." (B. II, 357 quoted in Schnapp, Dichter, p. 259). Five months later, on June 25, 1822 Hoffmann died before ever beginning to write the promised third volume--thus fulfilling all the novel’s ironies. It is clear from this correspondence that Hoffmann— for a time anyway— seemed to be planning a third volume. There is no documentation whether Hoffmann changed his mind in the meantime, but it could be argued that the death of the real Murr prevented the completion of the novel and that the editor never produced his third volume because the person behind the mask, the real Hoffmann died, again blurring the boundaries between reality and fiction, between life and art.

25wulf Segebrecht, "HeterogenitSt und Integration bei E.T.A. Hoffmann," Romantik heute (Bonn Godesberg, 1972), p. 393.

28Maatje, p. 2.

2^Scher sees the humorous prefaces to Kater Murr as a parody of a mannerism of Jean Paul. Scher suggests that Hoffmann had Jean Paul in mind when he has Murr write: "Werde, kann ich bestehen vor dem strengen Richterstuhl der Kritik?" (Scher, "Hoffmann," p. 323).

28Scher considers the postscript to Murr's suppressed foreword confirmation of his suspicion "that Hoffmann never really forgave Jean Paul for that conde­ scending 'Vorrede' to the Fantasiesttlcke11 (Scher, "Hoffmann," p. 323). Chapter 2. The Narrators of the Double Novel

The double novel within the editor's frame is charac­ terized by two distinct narrative situations: the first- person autobiography of the Murr-strand contrasted by the third-person biography of the Kreisler-strand. The narra­ tive form of each strand mirrors the vital concerns of its protagonist. For Kreisler it would be impossible to write his own first-person autobiography because that would en­ tail revealing what he is doomed by virtue of his artist- nature to keep hidden: Kreisler cannot give form to his life by writing it down any more than he can freely commit his music to paper. Only Murr can write his autobiography because revealing and giving literary form to his life is his way of proving to the world his genius. Murr illumi­ nates his inner life in order to reveal his identity;

Kreisler obscures his inner life in order to conceal and protect his soul from the unsympathetic eyes of philistine society. Eliminating Murr as narrator would mean the elim­ ination of the element of compulsive self-expression, self- glorification and confession that is an essential trait of

Murr and a central theme of the Murr-strand. Likewise, making Kreisler the narrator of his own story would

129 130 eliminate an essential trait of Kreisler1s artist-nature, the inability to concretize his identity and soul, a cen­ tral theme of the Kreisler-strand.

A. Murr as Narrator

The linear and consecutive progression of Murr-time is reflected in Murr's narrative style. Murr narrates his story ab ovo, resulting in the chronological and linear structure of Murr-time. Murr alternates his narrative be­ tween scenic presentation via dialogue and summary report, which is mirrored in the alternation in the Murr-strand be­ tween expanded time and compressed time.

Murr is a teller-character who, as the author of a first-person narrative, plays two roles: he is both the narrator of and the main character in his narrative, re­ sulting in the identity of the narrator1s realm and the fictional world portrayed in the narrative.Stanzel characterizes the two roles of the first-person narrator as

"das erzShlende Ich" and "das erlebende Ich," or the

"narrating self" and the "experiencing self."2 At the out­ set of his autobiography, Murr's narrating self is distin­ guishable from his narrated, or experiencing self by the former's tendency toward introspection and reflection. It is Murr's narrating self who generally theorizes, reflects, rhapsodizes and draws moral conclusions from the various 131 predicaments the experiencing self encounters. For example, Ml opens with Murr's narrating self rhapsodizing about life, quoting freely from Egmont:

Est ist doch etwas Schdnes, Herrliches, Erhabenes um das Leben! - "0 du stisse Gewohnheit des DaseinsI" ruft jener niederltindische Herr in der Tragtidie aus. So auch ich, aber nicht wie der Held in dem schmerzlichen Augenblick, als er sich davon trennen soil - nein! - in dem Moment, da mich eben die voile Lust des Gedankens durchdringt, dass ich in jene stisse Gewohnheit nun ganz und gar hineingekommen und durchaus nicht willens bin, jemals wieder hinauszukommen (303).

Murr's experiencing self is not introduced as a separate entity from the narrator until about 55 lines later where

Murr relates his earliest experience, with the scene switching from the here-and-now of the narrator to the past, the temporal level of the experiencing self as a character in the narrative:

Denn wie es unserm Geschlecht eigen, waren meine Augen verschleiert. Ganz dunkel erinnere ich mich gewisser knurrender prustender Tflne, die um mich her erklangen und die ich beinahe wider meinen Willen hervorbringe, wenn mich der Zorn tiberwtiltigt (304).

The gap between Murr's narrating self and his experiencing self is the greatest here at the outset of the story: Murr near the end of his life (at least his life with Abraham) reflects on the beginning of his life. The perspective of 132

the narrating self and his time level prevail, as evidenced by the juxtaposition of the present tense and the narrative past. With the phrase "ganz dunkel erinnere ich mich ..." Murr defines his narrative mode. Moreover the

"ganz dunkel" signifies the limitation of his perspective and his lack of omniscience as a narrator, which Murr him­

self underscores later in the narrative, e.g. in relating how as a kitten he could not understand Abraham's speech:

"Er sprach vieles mit mir, welches ich aber nicht verstand ..." C306) or, in admitting that he understood very little of the conversation between Abraham and

Lothario: "Der Professor geriet nun mit dem Meister in ein weitlclufiges Gespr&ch, das sich nicht auf mich und auf mein

Geschlecht zu beziehen schien und von dem ich eigentlich wenig verstand" (552}. Murr deliberately emphasizes the great distance between the narrating self and the experi­ encing self at these points in the story in order to

illustrate the tremendous progress he had made in his de­ velopment towards "perfection."

Through the first volume the gap between Murr's nar­ rating and experiencing selves remains relatively great as

indicated by various comments which incorporate the

"Erz&hlgegenwart" and compare the state of the narrating

self with the stage of development of the experiencing self,

such as ". . . wie ich jetzt weiss ..." C3Q4} ,

". . . erst sp&ter habe ich eingesehen. . ." (344), 133

". . . wie ich nachher einsehen lernte . . ." (386) . As the narrative progresses, the gap gradually narrows until the last Murr-section where the narrating self and the ex­ periencing self merge as the narrating time catches up, so to speak, with the time of narration; the narrative breaks off as Murr is about to leave Abraham and embark on a new period in his life:

Mein Meister musste verreisen und fand es ftir gut, mich auf die Zeit seinem Freunde, dem Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler in die Kost zu geben. Da mit dieser Vertinderung meines Aufenthalts eine neue Periode meines Lebens anfSngt, so schliesse ich die jetzige, aus der du, o KaterjtinglingI so manche gute Lehre ftir deine Zukunft entnommen haben wirst - (646).

The relationship between Murr's narrating self and his ex­ periencing self can be outlined as follows.

Murr'a Narrating Self

and its Time Level

Murr's Experiencing Self Time Level of Narrating Self and its Time Level Interrupts Narrated Time

Figure 12. Relationship of Murr'3 Narrating Self and Experiencing Self 134

As the diagram shows, the narrative opens with the time level of Murr's narrating self, as the narrating self rhapsodizes about the joys of existence; then Murr reaches back into the past and introduces the experiencing self as a character in his narrative and he relates his earliest experiences of his life. The narrative continues from there and, at a second moment, precisely at the midpoint of the narrative (the beginning of M9), the time level of the narrating self breaks in again as Murr the narrator— in a passage that reads almost like a diary entry— inter­ rupts the story to say that he is going to stop writing for awhile in order to take a walk. A gap in the narrated time follows— as indicated by the dash and empty line on the page— and then Murr announces his return to his desk and he resumes his story:

Es wird mir so enge, so beklommen urns Herz - ich vermag, von den erhabensten Gedanken durchstrOmt, nicht weiterzuschreiben - ich muss abbrechen, muss ein wenig spazierengehenI Ich kehre zurtick an den Schreibtisch, mir ist besser - Aber wovon das Herz voll ist, davon geht der Mund fiber, und auch wohl der Federkiel des Dichters! (448f.).

Murr continues to narrate his story as if he were writing a diary entry with another reference to the time level of the narrating self: 135

Mein Meister hatte heute den ganzen Vormittag hindurch m einem schweins- ledernen Quartanten gelesen, als er sich endlich zur gewflhnlichen Stunde entfernte, liess er das Buch aufgeschlagen auf dem Tische liegen- Schnell sprang ich herauf, um neugierig, verpicht auf die Wissenschaften, wie ich nun einmal bin, zu erschnuppern, was das wohl filr ein Buch sein kflnne, worin der Meister mit so vieler Anstrengung studiert. Es war das schfine herrliche Werk des alt- en Johannes Kunisperger, vom natiirlichen Einfluss der Gestirne, Planeten und zwfilf Zeichen" (499).

In the above examples, the narrating self predominates.

In fact, the perspective of the narrating self prevails throughout Murr's entire "Lebensansichten": "Ansichten" thus prevail over "Leben." In other words, Murr records more views and opinions on life (and art).than actual events from his life.3 The events Murr does narrate are not in themselves consistently related to each other. What really ties them together is the commentary in between.

It is Murr's auctorial voice which lends coherence to the

scattered events he depicts from his life. To illustrate— and again Ml provides the best example— Murr's narrative does not open with his birth or some other significant event from his life but with his opinions, a rambling discourse on the joys of survival. Murr finally mentions his rescue by Abraham a full page later, and then only to illustrate the opinions he has just expounded. From that point on, 136 opinions and life alternate, one growing out of the other in a string of associations.

Of the incidents Murr does narrate, at least half of them, rather than portraying his exemplary character as is his intention, actually demonstrate just the opposite: that he is a selfish and hypocritical creature. In Murr's

"anti-Bildungsroman,11 positive and negative are reversed.^

Each new "virtue" Murr is proud of having leanred is— from the reader's perspective— a vice. For example, Murr describes how he won the duel with the cat in uniform through trickery, a tactic Murr the narrator not only rationalizes but, through convoluted argumentation, extols as a laudable means to an end, and a trait to be emulated by his feline audience:

Filr dich, o Katerjtingling! habe ich mit gutem Bedacht die Geschichte meines ersten Zweikampfs so umstSndlich aufgeschrieben. Ausserdem dass dich diese merkwtlrdige Geschichte ilber den Ehrenpunkt belehrt ganz und gar, so kannst du auch noch manche filr das Leben hflchst nfltige und niltzliche Moral daraus schfipfen. Wie z.B. dass Mut und Tapferkeit gar nichts ausrichten gegen Finten und dass daher das genaue Studium der Finten unerlclsslich ist, urn nicht zu Boden getreten zu werden, sondern sich aufrecht zu erhalten, "Chi no se ajuta, si nega", sagt Brighella in Gozzis gltlcklichen Bettler, und der Mann hat recht, vollkommen recht. - Sieh das ein, Katerjflngling und verachte keinesweges Finten, denn in ihnen liegt, wie im reichen Schacht, die wahre Lebensweisheit vorborgen (532). 137

As Murr's narrative progresses, the predominance of the narrating self over the experiencing self increases so much that the attitudes and reactions of both seem to be identical. The experiencing self begins to sound so much like the narrating self that the former seems to perform the very function that Stanzel defines as peculiar to the narrating self, namely introspection and reflection. For example in the "Halbwagen" episode, after being beaten for trying to steal a sausage, Murr's experiencing self— hence the quotation marks— breaks into lamentations typical of the narrating self:

"Das ist" (so brach ich aus in laute Klagen), "das ist also die Welt, in die du dich hineinsehntest von hem heimatlichen Dache? - Die Welt, wo du Tugend zu finden hofftest, und Weisheit, und die Sittlichkeit der htthern Ausbildung! - 0 diese herzlosen BarbarenI - Worin besteht ihre Kraft als im Priigeln? Worin ihr Verstand, als in hohnlachender Verspottung? Worin ihr ganzes Treiben, als in scheelstichtiger Verfolgung tieffiihlender Gemtiter? - 0 fort - fort aus dieser Welt voll Gleissnerei und Trug! - Nimm mich auf in deine ktihle Schatten, silsser heimatlicher Keller! - 0 Boden! - Ofen - o Einsamkeit, die mich erfreut, nach dir mein Herz sich sehnt mit Schmerz!" Der Gedanke meines Elends, meines hoff- nungslosen Zustandes flbermannte mich. Ich kniff die Augen zu, und weinte sehr (389).

The fact that the experiencing self is so imbued with the perspective and attitudes of the narrating self indicates the "younger" experiencing self is "improving" rapidly and approaching the "wisdom" of the "older" narrating self, as 138 in the case through much of the latter half of the novel until the two finally merge in the end.

The predominance of the narrating self brings Murr as a narrator close to being an auctorial narrator.5 The intrusion of the "ErzShlgegenwart" already discussed is characteristic of an auctorial narrative (e.g. Tristram

Shandy). The narrative situation of the Murr-strand is located on Stanzel's typological circle between first- person and auctorial narration (cf. p.101) and it alter­ nates between these two modes of narration. Murr's auctorial comments serve several functions: they empha­ size his didactic purpose; they anticipate his fictive reader's reactions to what he is narrating; they reveal and discuss his rationale for the content and they describe his narrative method.

Murr is very conscious of his fictional audience (the

"Katerjtingling” or "geliebter Leser" to whom he addresses his remarks) and tends to carry on a one-sided conversa­ tion with his reader in much the same manner as the auc­ torial narrator of Tristram Shandy:

Seht ein, geliebter LeserI dass ein wackerer Dichter weder sich im rauschendem Walde befinden, noch an einer fltlsternden Quelle sitzen darf, ihm strdmen der Ahnung spielende Wellen doch zu, und in diesen Wellen erschaut er doch alles, was er will, und kann davon singen, wie er will (455). 139

Murr also addresses the reader frequently in the third-

person:

Zur Belehrung der hoffnungsvollen Katerjugend, kann ich nicht unbemerkt lassen, dass ich, wollte ich studieren, mit zugedrilckten Augen in die Bibliothek meines Meisters sprang, und dann das Buch, was ich angekrallt, herauszupfte und durchlas, mochte es einen Inhalt haben wie es wollte (345) .

In the above passage, Murr steps beyond his role as first-

person narrator and, in his auctorial voice, comments on

his own act and method of narration. In this and similar

passages Murr objectifies his narrative act and overtly

describes it. In other words, Murr, as he tells his

story, describes himself telling the story. For example,

Murr interrupts his story several times to pass aesthetic

judgement (always favorable) on what he has just written.

In the middle of his account of the herrings' heads

episode, Murr's auctorial voice intervenes to congratulate

himself on the precision and clarity of the pseudo-Fichtean

terms with which he describes his psychological state:

Da geriet ich in einen Zustand, der auf seltsame Weise mein Ich meinem Ich entfremdend, doch mein eigentliches Ich schien.- Ich glaube mich verst&ndlich und scharf ausgedrtlckt zu haben, so dass in dieser Schilderung meines seltsamen Zustandes jeder den die geistige Tiefe durchschauenden Psychologen erkennen wird. - Ich fahre fort! (335). 140

The duality inherent in Murr's reaction as he describes

it— "mein Ich meinem Ich entfremdend, doch mein

eigentliches Ich schien"— is an exact description of his

self-reflective narrative role, the narrative "ich"

holding a mirror up to itself.

In a similar example Murr, in reproducing the sonnet

contained in the manuscript Ponto had stolen from him,

remarks that he hopes the reader appreciates the excellence

of his poem:

Ich hoffe, dass jeder meiner gtltigen Leser die Musterhaftigkeit dieses herrlichen Sonnetts, das aus der tiefsten Tiefe meines Gemllts hervorfloss, einsehen, und mich um so mehr bewundern wird, wenn ich versichere, dass es zu den ersten gehiirt, die ich (iberhaupt verfertigt habe (362).

Murr often records the decisions he makes concerning how

to continue his narrative at particular points. For

example, in the account of his preparations for the feast

to follow Muzius' funeral, Murr anticipates the reader's

desire for precise explanations: Murr interupts the story

to inform the reader, with a superior air, that he will

satisfy his curiosity and describe exactly how he managed

to get a saucer of milk down to the cellar:

Ftir Leser, die alles gern auf das genaueste erklSrt haben und daher auch wohl wissen mOchten, wie ich es angefangen, das GetrSnk 141

hinabzutransportieren bemerke ich, dass ohne weiteres Mtihen mir eine freundliche Hausmagd dazu verhalf (574) .

Hoffmann himself becomes visible in the obviously satirical tone of the remark. Sometimes Murr even explains the reasons for his omissions. For example, Murr tells the reader that he could reproduce more of his verses in his autobiography if he had not intended to publish them later under another title:

Die gelungensten wttrd ich hier dem geneigten Leser mitteilen, hStte ich nicht im Sinn, dieselben nebst mehreren Witzwflrten und Impromptus, die ich in mtissigen Stunden angefertigt und tiber die ich schon beinahe vor Lachen bersten mdgen, unter dem allge- meinen Titel: Was ich gebar in Stunden der Begeisterung, herauszugeben (599).

In these and other auctorial remarks, Murr reveals his self-conscious effort to emulate the great autobiographers and to "sound like" a poet. For example, Murr interrupts his rhapsody on poetic inspiration to draw the reader's attention to the care and deliberation with which he chooses vocabulary that reflects his role as a poet— even if the particular word is inappropriate for a cat:

Die Nacht ist etwas frisch und ich wollte - doch jeder der dies lieset Oder nicht lieset, begreift nicht meine hohe Begeisterung, denn er kennt nicht den hohen Standpunkt, zu dem ich mich hinaufgeschwungen! - hinaufgeklettert w&re richtiger, aber kein Dichter spricht von seinen Filssen, h&tte er auch deren viere so 142

wie ich, sondern nur von seinen Schwingen, sind sie ihm auch nicht angewachsen, son­ dern nur Vorrichtung eines geschickten Mechanikers (303).

Later in the story Murr interrupts the depiction of his encounter with Ponto's new master, the Baron Von Wipp, to remark on the necessity of recording his inner state at this point in order to fulfill his "duties" as an auto­ biographer. And, as if to surpass the great autobiogra­ phers, Murr indicates he will use verse rather than prose:

Ich sollte nun, um alle Pflichten eines ttichtigen Selbstbiographen zu erftillen, wiederum meinen Seelenzustand beschreiben und ktinnte das nicht besser tun als mittelst einiger sublimer verse, die ich seit einiger Zeit so recht, wie man zu sagen pflegt, aus dem Pelztirmel schtittle. Ich will - (619).

The narrative breaks off in mid-sentence and in the con­ tinuation of the sentence in the next Murr section, Murr reverses himself: he claims now that he has decided not to include the poem afterall. Continuing in his auctorial voice, Murr expresses his personal theory on the mixing of verse in a prose work— a Romantic predilection not shared by Hoffmann— and prescribes that verse be used sparingly and never where prose would suffice to express the thought:

- es indessen lieber bleiben lassen. - Katerjtingling, sei bescheiden wie ich, und nicht gleich tiberall bei der Hand 143

mit deinen Versen, wenn die schlichte ehrliche Prosa hinreicht, deine Gedanken auszuspinnen (638).

Thus, just as Murr holds up his experiencing self as an

example to his fictive reader, he also sets up his nar­

rating self and his narrative method as a model. As in

Tristram Shandy, narration itself becomes a major concern

in the Murr-strand. The Murr narrative is, in a sense, a

narrative about the act of narration.

B. The Kreisler-Biographer

The Kreisler-biographer, like Murr, is a self- conscious narrator who interrupts the story to comment on

his narrative method. In contrast to Murr, however, the

narrative process for the Kreisler-biographer is fraught with difficulties. The narrative techniques in the

Kreisler-strand reflect its temporal structure: The

temporal confusion, complexity and density are mirrored in

the convoluted and intricate narrative style of the

Kreisler-biographer.

The Kreisler-biographer is a third-person narrator.

He is visible— through anonymous— and exists outside the

fictional world of the story he narrates. Although not

a character in the story he narrates, the biographer is

nevertheless a fictional character and as such exists in a 144 fictional world removed from that of the characters of his story. Like the fictitious editor, the biographer exists on a different level of fictional reality than the characters of either strand. The biographer's perspective is external— he claims to be an outsider looking in. The only source he ever directly cites is the historiographer of the Iren&us household, who himself does not appear as a character in the story either. As in the Murr-strand, the mode of narrative transmission in the Kreisler-strand is by a teller-character as opposed to a reflector-character.

There is no figural medium in the Kreisler-strand, i.e. there is no character through whose reflecting conscious- ness the story is "shown."

To analyze the narrative situation in the Kreisler- strand, I will begin by examining the first three Kreisler- segments. In Kl, the biographer relates a scene between

Abraham and Kreisler in which Abraham reiterates in dialogue form his conversation with Iren&us concerning the "Namensfest" and then describes in auctorial form the events of the "Namensfest." There are therefore two levels of narrating time and narrated time in Kl: the narrating time of the Kreisler-biographer and that of

Abraham as narrator: the narrated time of the scene with

Kreisler and Abraham and that of the two "stories"

Abraham tells Kreisler. The relationship of these scenes can be diagrammed as follows. 145

Story of 'KutnKfit* narnit*d Krm«!ar-Qioqraph«r

Conv*r»*tton t>«tw««n Abr*hi» / •nd Irdftlu* tl*rrat«d by Abr*h*«

Fivjur* 1J. 7h« Nifritiv» iwbtianihlpi in Kl

Instead of narrating the story in a logical manner, from outside to inside, so to speak, the biographer does pre­ cisely the opposite: he narrates from inside to outside; he begins in the middle of the conversation between

Abraham and Iren&us. Abraham is the narrator of this scene, so the attributive phrase, "erwiderte der Ftirst"

(308), which occurs in the middle of the dialogue scene is Abraham speaking, not the biographer. Because the strand opens on this scene in medias res, the reader is misled into assuming that the biographer is the narrator of this scene. When the first-person suddenly appears in the second attributive phrase in the scene, "erwiderte ich" (309), the reader is mystified: according to the title of the novel, the Kreisler-strand is supposed to be a biography and therefore is the third person, not the first. Eight lines below, a second narrator appears, this 146 time a third-person narrator: "'Hiire' unterbrach hier den Meister Abraham, Johannes Kreisler . . ." (309). The reader is totally confused at this point, but, as he con­ tinues to read, he is finally able to untangle the con­ fusion: this second narrator is the Kreisler-biographer and he is narrating Abraham narrating the conversation with IrenSus. Thereafter, the situation is easier to keep track of: at Kreisler's urging Abraham tells him the story of the "Namensfest"? the biographer signals

Kreisler's interruptions of Abraham's narration with neutral attributive phrases such as ". . . rief Kreisler ..." and "... sprach Meister Abraham ..." (312).

The biographer therefore arranges the narration in sharp contradiction to the traditional mode of narrating such a scene: instead of beginning with the "frame"

(Abraham telling Kreisler the stories) and then presenting the "inner story" (Abraham's conversation with Iren&us and the story of the "Namensfest"), the narrator presents it backwards: he begins in the middle of the "inner story" and then presents the "frame." In this way Hoffmann pre­ pares the reader for the abrupt switches between Murr- and

Kreisler-sections that follow.

Not until K2 does the biographer appear directly:

"- zum bessern Verstclndnis doch nfltig sein, dir, geneigter

Leser das ganze VerhSltnis der Dinge klar und deutlich auseinanderzusetzen" (325). The opening statement of K2 is a fragmentary indication on the biographer's part that

some clarity and order might be needed. The biographer

implies that he is prepared now to narrate in a convention­

al manner: he presents a third-person, logically ordered

narration of the history of Sieghartshof, IrenSus1 family

and a description of Abraham and his arrival at court.

K2 contains the background information for the Kreisler-

strand, which would have come at the beginning in a con­

ventional narrative, but comes instead second in this

convoluted and unconventional narrative. The narrative

"ich" of the biographer makes its first appearance half-way

through K2 in an attempt to reinforce the verisimilitude

of the story by appealing to one of his sources for

corroboration; the biographer appears as a full-fledged

auctorial narrator: "... und der Historiograph des

IrenSusschen Hauses, dem ich dies nachschreibe,

behauptet ..." (329) .

In K3 the biographer makes a point of discussing the problems involved in narrating the story:

— nichts verdriesslicher ffir einen Historiographen oder Biographen, als wenn er, wie auf einen wilden Fiillen reitend hin und her sprengen muss, liber Stock und Stein, fiber Acker und Wiesen, immer nach gebahnten Wegen trachtend, niemals sie erreichend. So geht es dem, der es unternommen fflr dich geliebter Leser, das aufzuschreiben, was er von dem wunderlichen Leben des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler erfahren. Gern h&tte 148

er angefangen: In dem kleinen St&dtchen N. Oder B. oder K., und zwar am Pfingstmontage oder zu Ostern des und des Jahres, erblickte Johannes Kreisler das Licht der Welti - Aber solche schOne chronologische Ordnung kann gar nicht aufkommen, da dem ungliicklichen Erz&hler nur mtlndlich, brockenweis mitgeteilte Nachrichten zu Gebote stehen, die er, um nicht das Ganze aus dem GedSchtnisse zu verlieren, sogleich verarbeiten muss. Wie es eigentiich mit der Mitteilung dieser Nachrichten herging, sollst du, sehr lieber LeserI noch vor dem Schlusse des Buches erfahren, und dann wirst du vielleicht das rhapsodische Wesen der Ganzen entschuldigen, vielleicht aber auch meinen, dass, trotz des Anscheins der Abgerissenheit, doch ein fester durchlaufender Faden alle Teile zusammenhalte (336).

The biographer admits that he would have preferred to begin at the beginning, but that circumstances, i.e. the haphaz­ ard way in which he received the fragmentary information, forced him to write the biography in the same sequence that he received his information in order not to forget it.

This is extremely ironic: instead of "taking notes" and later reordering and reworking the information before attempting to write the biography— as a "normal" writer would do— the biographer himself chooses to use a haphazard method in writing the biography. In typical Hoffmann fashion, we do not get this discourse on the difficulties of narration first. Instead, the Kreisler narrative opens (in Kl) with an illustration of the problems in­ volved in narrating this story. Underlying the biogra­ pher’s difficulty in narrating the story is a basic 149

epistomological problem: how to reconstruct "reality,"

i.e. tell a story, of which only fragmentary information

and perspectives are available. Omniscience is seemingly

impossible for the narrator since he must rely on the

subjective accounts of others.

The basic framework of the narrative machinery, there­

fore, is a biographer who poses as a figure removed from

the story. His narrative style shifts between telling and

showing, i.e. between summary narration and scenic presen­

tation. The Kreisler biographer is alternately visible and invisible in the narrative, and this shifting visibili­ ty corresponds to his shifting between auctorial and

neutral narration. If one makes room on Stanzel's

typological circle for a neutral narrative mode, the

Kreisler-strand can be located between auctorial and neutral narration (cf. p.101).

In his neutral mode, the Kreisler-biographer reveals an omniscient perspective— in contradition to his claims of limited information— and in his auctorial mode he dis­ plays a limited perspective; the Kreisler-biographer vascillates between these two different perspectives.

As we already saw, the biographer in his auctorial voice interrupts the story to come to terms with the for­ mal principles of narration and to complain about his

limited source of information. In one instance, however, 150 the biographer reveals more information than he claims to have:

-In diesem Augenblick Srgert sich gegenw&rtiger Biograph fiber alle Massen, denn indem er an den zweiten Moment aus Kreislers Leben kommt, von dem er dir, geliebter Leser, zu erzfihlen versprochen, n&mlich, wie Johannes Kreisler den wohlerworbenen Posten eines Legations- rates verlor, und gewissermassen aus der Residenz verwiesen wurde, wird er gewahr, dass alle Nachrichten, die ihm darfiber zu Gebote stehen, a.rmlich, dflrftig, seicht, unzusammenhSngend sind (396) .

The biographer, in direct contradition to his claims of ignorance of the facts surrounding Kreisler*s loss of his post, then proceeds to explain the reason for Kreisler*s leaving the post, the very information he claims to lack.

The fiction of uncertainty of knowledge and ignorance of the facts is reversed at many points where the biogra­ pher reveals moments of omniscience. These moments of omniscience occur in three forms: 1) in neutral narration creating the illusion of “presentness," 2) in the biographer's conveyance of characters' inner processes or narration from the inner perspective of a character and

3) in seemingly "eye-witness" accounts.

1) For example, the biographer presents the major dramatic confrontations in dialogue scenes, such as the encounter between Benzon and Kreisler following his bizarre appearance in the park (K4), revealing their past relationship as well as illuminating the events that led to 151

Kreisler's sudden appearance in Sieghartshof; the clash between Kreisler and Hector in which Kreisler shows him the incriminating miniature (K10); the confrontation be­ tween Abraham and Benzon climaxing their ongoing power struggle at court, and representing the clash of two anti­ thetical forces seeking to direct Kreisler1s destiny

(Kll). Hoffmann has the biographer present these scenes in dialogue form in order to heighten the drama by creating the illusion of "presentness," and to differentiate the dramatic present from the undercurrent of the past that so vitally influences it. The climax of this technique is reached in K16 in the confrontation between Abraham and

Hector— the most dramatic and illuminating scene in the novel. The climactic drama of the scene is intensified by the uncharacteristic absence of any "stage directions" indicating who is speaking, and the terseness and staccato of the speakers' lines.

Likewise, the biographer has the individual characters speak for themselves in relating significant events from their pasts. For example Abraham tells the story of the

"Namensfest" (Kl), Kreisler narrates scenes from his youth to the Privy Councillor (K5), Abraham tells Kreisler the story of his association with Severino and his life with Chiara (K8), and Hedwiga tells Kreisler her childhood memories of Ettlinger (K8). While these scenes them­ selves are still "objective scenes" as in the first set of 152 examples, the emphasis is now shifted to the subjective perspective of the teller of each story. With this technique Hoffmann subtly demonstrates that reality is not directly perceptible but is knowable only as a collection of subjective perspectives. The biographer has the characters themselves narrate these events from their own pasts to emphasize his own external perspective, and by means of these "objective scenes" lend the semblance of objectivity and verisimilitude to these parts of the story. The illusion of "presentness" and the emphasis on the individual characters' subjective perspectives clashes with the biographer's confessions that all his information is second-hand and incomplete. The mask of the fictitious biographer momentarily slips and the author himself becomes visible.

2) At other times the biographer conveys inner pro­ cesses, as in his narration of Abraham's dream of Chiara

(620f.) or Kreisler's "SelbstgesprSch" (648). The biographer frequently narrates from the inner perspective of various characters. For example, in describing the secret meeting between Iren&us and Abraham in the

"Fischerhaus," the biographer narrates from both Abraham's and Irenaus' inner perspectives:

Furst IrenMus hatte im Geftlhl des Vertrauens, das er dem Meister Abraham schenken, ja der geistigen {Jbermacht, die er ihm zugestehen musste, alle 153

ftirstliche Bedenklichkeiten beiseite gestellt, und im FischerhSuschen sein cranzes Herz ausgeschilttet, auf alle Ausserungen der Benzon tlber die verstilrenden Ereignisse des Tages aber geschwiegen. Dies wusste der Meister, und uni so weniger durfte ihm die Empfindlichkeit der RStin auffallen . . . (495).

3) Other moments of omniscience that reverse the claim of ignorance occur when the narrator gives an

"eye-witness" account of an event, such as his first-hand account of Julia's singing which he claims never to have heard himself (409ff.). The biographer adds a visual dimension to several scenes as if he had been there:

". . . erwiderte der Abt, indem eine besondere

Freundlichkeit sein Antlitz tiberstrahlte. . (539). Or consider the numerous instances where the biographer sig­ nals Kreisler's irony by describing his facial contor­ tions: "'0 Gott1, rief Kreisler, indem sein Gesicht in dem mannigfaltigsten Muskelspiel vibrierte, wie es allemal zu geschehen pflegte, wenn der Humor aufstieg in dem

Innern . . ." (414).

The Kreisler-biographer not only vascillates between two opposite perspectives, but also between two different attitudes: that the narrative is fragmentary and dis- unified and that there is indeed inner unity. The biographer, on the one hand, complains about the chaotic and disjointed manner in which he must narrate the story 154

and, on the other hand, he promises that before the end of

the narrative the reader will learn "wie es eigentlich

mit der Mitteilung dieser Nachrichten herging." The

effect desired is that the reader will perceive there is

indeed meaning and order in spite of the seeming chaos:

. . . und dann wirst du vielleicht das rhapsodische Wesen der Ganzen entschuldigen, vielleicht aber auch meinen, dass, trotz des Anscheins der Abgerissenheit, doch ein fester durchlaufender Paden alle Teile zusammenhalte (336) .

This claim that "ein fester durchlaufender Faden" holds

all the parts together is reminiscent of the editor1s

arguments in the foreword. Thus, both the editor and the

biographer defend the same viewpoint: that the novel

possesses a subtle internal unity.

The key to the seemingly chaotic form of the Kreisler-

strand is the so-called "wunderliches Leben des

Kappelmeisters Kreisler" (336). The biographer (and

Hoffmann) finds the conventional forms of narration no

longer adequate for his subject matter. A new form must

be created in order to capture the essence of this bizarre figure and to express the world view of the author.

The technique of the biographer, to write the biography

in the order in which he received his fragmentary infor­ mation, allows Hoffmann to transcend the restrictions of

conventional narrative methods. The appropriate form for 155

"ein Wunderliches Leben" is "das Rhapsodische" ("das rhapsodische Wesen Des Ganzen") that characterizes the

Kreisler-strand as well as the novel as a whole. Hoffmann uses the term "rhapsodisch" in its original meaning of

"zusammenfiigen? the biographer's use of the term thus mirrors the editor's use of "zusammenftigen" ("auf welche wunderliche Weise es sich zusammengefiigt hat"). In this context "rhapsodisch" seems to imply unity and coherence in the midst of seeming chaos.®

* Because of the difficulties the biographer encounters in narrating the story, Scher concludes that, like Tristram

Shandy, Kater Murr is a novel about the impossibility of Q writing novels— or at least, as I maintain, the impos­ sibility of writing novels in the conventional form. The biographer's role itself is part of the new form that

Hoffmann creates. He is the most innovative of Hoffmann's narrators: he is a narrator who shifts between the posi­ tions of knowing and doubting. As an auctorial-neutral narrator, the biographer by definition has an external perspective, is a traditionally omniscient one, as Stanzel s h o w s , ^-0 the Kreisler-biographer, however, claims to have a limited perspective, a claim which is contradicted at many points in the narrative. Hoffmann changes the conventional omniscient auctorial narrator to a biographer who is both an untrustworthy, insecure narrator, bothered by insuf­ ficiently coherent sources and facts, and at times a 156 confident, omniscient narrator in full control of the scene and the characters he narrates.H This is part of

Hoffmann's progressive narrative method, which effectively mirrors the inscrutability of the artist.

C. The Shifting Perspectives

To summarize briefly: the Murr-strand and the

Kreisler-strand are composed of varying narrative voices.

In the Murr-strand the narrator is a character present in the fictional world he narrates while in the Kreisler- strand the narrator is not a part of the fictional world he narrates. Murr as narrator has an internal perspective with an internal view of himself and an external view of the other characters. By way of contrast, the Kreisler- biographer can only have an external perspective of the main character. He claims a limited knowledge and perspec­ tive; yet he reveals moments of omniscience and an inner view. In the Murr-strand the narrator is visible; in the

Kreisler-strand the narrator is alternately visible and invisible. Typical of the first-person narrative situation,

Murr has a limited point of view, but he displays an unabashed sense of total certainty. Unlike the conven­ tional auctorial narrator, the Kreisler-biographer has a seemingly limited point of view; however, unlike Murr he is painfully aware of his limitations as a narrator, 157

creatively overcoming his limitations by means of a poetic vision as a substitute for "facts." The narrative situa­

tion of the Murr-strand is located on Stanzel's typological

circle between first-person and auctorial narration; the

narrative situation of the Kreisler-strand is located be­

tween auctorial and neutral narration. In both strands

,the auctorial voice serves as an underlying unifying

element. The narrative situation of the fictitious editor

stands midway between the Murr narrator and the Kreisler- narrator on the typological circle (see p. 101).

In their auctorial voices, all three narrator figures come to terms with the formal principles of narration.

Like the editor and Murr, the biographer reveals a self- conscious preoccupation with the act and form of narration.

All three narrator figures belong to the category of fully

aware narrators who, like Tristram Shandy, comment on

their activity of narrating as they narrate the story.

Murr comments on his method of narrating in order to establish his narrating self as an example to his audience.

The Kreisler-biographer laments the seeming chaos of his

narrative; the editor comments on the chaotic form of the novel as a whole. They deal however with two dif­

ferent kinds of disorder. The editor deals with the dis­ order inherent in the combination of two such disparate

elements as the Murr-strand and the Kreisler-strand into

one work. The biographer, by way of contrast, has only 158 one hero and a single story line to keep track of, but his problem is caused by the disjointedness of Kreisler1s life itself, a life lacking in direction and continuity. The chaos of the Kreisler-strand is rooted in the disjointed

information the biographer claims he must work with and the purportedly haphazard manner in which he received it.

A shifting of perspective corresponds to the alterna­ tion of the accounts of the three narrator figures. The perspective shifts from the external perspective of the fictitious editor in the outer frame to the internal per­ spective of Murr in the "inner framework." Within the novel the perspectives alternate between the internal per­ spective of Murr and the external perspective of the

Kreisler-biographer. In the outer frame again we get back to the most external and detached of the perspectives, that of the fictitious editor in his afterword.

In comparing the three perspectives, the editor emerges as the most detached of the three narrator figures.

He reveals an overview of the whole novel, and, at times, detailed knowledge of the content of both strands, despite his insistence that he did not know of this accidental manuscript until after the fact. The editor has the whole novel in his grasp and even has the last word. Yet he makes no effort to fill in the gaps in the two strands nor to shed light on their interrelationship. The true extent of his knowledge remains a mystery since by his 159 silence, he is deliberately shaped into a non-omniscient narrative function.

The fictitious editor is the medium of ironic dis­ tance, through whom the author detaches himself from his work and conceals its authorship. The editor becomes the medium for freeing the author from empirical narrative standards. While this is nothing new in itself, Hoffmann uses this technique to make possible and probable the fic­ tion of a cat as author, as well as the apparent senseless doubleness of the novel. The editor as a variant of the conventional auctorial narrator is reduced to a minimum in that he does not create, i.e. does not narrate the story, but only publishes an existing manuscript which turns out to be two manuscripts in one.

Murr too, by virtue of his internal perspective, has a limited point of view, revealing intimate knowledge of himself but his perspective tends to be solipsistic. The

Kreisler-biographer seems to have the most limited per­ spective of all three, yet he reveals that he knows much more than he will admit to: however, there is no direct evidence in his narrative that he is aware of the Murr- autobiography.

Be design, these three perspectives do not add up to an omniscient whole. Together the three narrators do not narrate a "whole" or complete story as Heimrich claims they do.^2 Even after piecing together the three perspectives, 160 there remain unfathomable gaps in the story, especially at the end— not to mention the many months that Kreisler is at the monastery. Truth and knowledge are shattered and a few of the fragments hidden, so that even when the reader does reconstruct the narrative, a complete whole does not emerge, but only fragmentary points of view. The shifting narrative perspectives cast an ironic light on the act of narration itself, mirroring the problematic process condi- 13 tioning all knowledge. All three narrator figures sense the difficulty of their task. All three are self-conscious narrators (always bearing in mind that the editor is not fully a narrator) who address themselves directly to the difficulties involved in narration and come to terms with the theory and formal principles of narration. In

Hoffmann's poetic world as represented in Kater Murr, the conventional forms of narration are found to be inadequate, omniscience is impossible. Poetic reality and knowledge are fragmented, and the act of reading becomes a process of piecing together and synthesizing numerous perspectives.

And to add to the confusion, the novel breaks off before there is a chance that the mysteries and gaps will be resolved.

With the continual alternation of the two main per­ spectives, the reader finds himself in two worlds with no fixed point of orientation. Normally, a point of orientation could be found in an auctorial narrator, but this novel has, in effect, three different auctorial narrative functions— each of course a mask of the author himself. Without one firm point of orientation within the novel, the reader is forced by Hoffmann into a more active and independent role. His task is to synthesize the various perspectives, to evaluate critically, and to put together pieces of the puzzle— some of which are blank.

Thus, narrated reality becomes paradoxical for Hoffmann.-*-®

The theme of the quest after certitude is mirrored through­ out the Kreisler-strand— from the mysteries surrounding

Kreisler's past, the enigma of his identity, to the mysteries surrounding Abraham and Chiara. The incompre­ hensibility of what constitutes "reality" is mirrored in

Hedwiga's loss of contact with the outside world during her cataleptic attack and in Ignatius' imbecility. Manipula­ tion of "reality" is a preoccupation of several of the characters, including IrencLus with his carefully orchestrated "Scheinwelt" at count, Benzon in her manipu­ lation of Iren&us, and Abraham's optical illusions and demonstrated mastery of the occult sciences. The whole

Murr-strand as well is based upon "Schein" and deception:

Murr's self-deception of being a poet; his hypocrisy, lies and deceits; and his incapacity to perceive a reality high­ er than his physical instincts. Between the absurd

"reality" of Murr and the enigma of Kreisler, within the constant flux of narrative perspectives, narrated "reality" 162 becomes insubstantial and absurd.1^ Where is a "fester

Standpunkt" to be found? Hoffmann actively involves the reader in the quest for knowledge in a poetic world where certitude is impossible, and while that is nothing new for ironic literature, what is new is Hoffmann's progressive narrative method. Notes to II.2

^•An identity which according to Stanzel forms the foundation of the first-person narrative situation (Stanzel, ErZclhlsituationen, p. 60) . 2 Stanzel uses Leo Spitzer's terminology. Cf. Stanzel, Er Zclhlsituationen, p. 71) .

^Singer too makes the observation that Murr does not confine himself to arid facts, "sondern das Hauptgewicht wirklich auf seine 'Lebensansichten' legt, auf die Kommentierung des Berichteten, die Mitteilung von empfangenen Lehren, von Meditationen und Maximen, Seelenzust&nde und inneren Erfahrungen" (Singer, pp. 303f.).

^Singer calls Murr an "Anti-Meister"; "Murrs Bildungsroman ist eine unfreiwillige Parodie, ein Anti- Meister. Das heisst aber: Hoffmanns Katerbuch ist eine wohlzubereitete Satire" (Singer, p. 304).

^According to Stanzel, a first-person novel in which the narrating self predominates tends in the direction of the auctorial novel (Stanzel, Erzahlsituationen, p. 65).

^This technique, which Victor Lange defines as "sich schreibend beschreibt," is characteristic of Cervantes and Fielding and, above all, Sterne: "Am charakteristischen ist Fieldings Zurtlckgreifen auf den von Cervantes her vertrauten, erfundenen Schriftsteller, der, noch nahe am eigentlichen Verfasser, sich schreibend beschreibt; der schon viel subtiler vom Verfasser abgelOste ErzShler bei Defoe oder Fielding verftigt tiber das, was zu berichten ist, in einer so freien Weise, dass er es sich leisten kann, seine eigene TStigkeit nicht nur des Berichtens, sondern des Komponierens, des Kunstschaffens zu kommentieren" [Victor Lange, "ErzShlformen im Roman des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts," Anglia 76 (1958), p. 130].

^Stanzel's categories of "teller-character" and "reflector-character" are similar to but not identical with Friedman’s narrative styles of "telling" and "showing," as Stanzel himself points out. Stanzel seems to imply,

163 164 however, that only a reflecting character "shows" or pre­ sents scenes. This is not true for an auctorial narrator or a neutral narrator, both of whom can "show" through so-called objective scenes, as does the Kreisler-biographer. Stanzel's misconception in this regard derives from his definition of neutral narration as a special type of figural narration, when in fact, as Hernadi suggests, the two are very different. In figural narration, the per­ spective resides in a figure in the story, a reflector- character such as Stephen Dedalus in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In neutral narration, on the other hand, the perspective is not located in any figure in the story, but is detached and separate from the fic­ tional world of the story. Furthermore, Stanzel does admit elsewhere that such "objective scenes" can occur in auctorial and first-person narration. Compare Paul Hernadi, Beyond Genre. New Directions in Literary Classification (Ithaca and London: Cornell U., 1972, pp. 71f.: '*Stanzel discusses what he calls the objective scene as the 'special case' of figural representation in which the point of view is not attached to any given figure (p. 23). But this definition is far from being sat­ isfactory. In the first place, it is difficult to see why Stanzel thinks it fit to include what he himself regards as a 'neutral' mode of representation in a type of story­ telling defined precisely with respect to its reliance on a 'figural' perspective. Secondly, Stanzel admits that vividly described conversational scenes in the mode of neutral representation often occur in the context of authorial narration (p. 28), and it should be added that their occurrence is by no means exceptional in 'first-person novels' either. Thus I am inclined to suspect that the at­ traction of the number three for generic critics has in­ duced Stanzel to subsume the 'neutral,' in fact interperson­ al, mode under the general heading of 'figural representa­ tion' (personale Darstellung). For, as can be seen in the above diagram, Stanzel regards the authorial, first-person, and figural types of the novel as suggestive, on a larger scale, of three genres or attitudes of literature— the epic, the lyric, and the dramatic."

^Derived from Greek rhaptein— to sew or stitch to­ gether, and ode— song. Joh. Heyses Allgemeines verdeutschendes und erkl£rendes Fremdwdrterbuch, 17th ed., ed. Otto Lyon (Hannover und Leipzig, 1893), p. 737: . . das von einem Rhapsoden vorgetragenes Gedicht, bes. die einzelnen Abschnitte der Homerischen Gedichte; daher tiberhaupt ftir ein abgerissenes Stilck, Bruchstflck eines grfisseren Gedichtes ..." Originally, rhapsody referred to the song of the rhapsodist in ancient Greece, "a wandering minstrel or court poet who recited epic poetry 165 partly extemporaneously and partly from memory. He selected and Stitched' together his own poetry or that of others into which he frequently interpolated his own work" [Preminger, Alex et al., eds. Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (Princeton: Princeton U ., 1965), p. 701]. Wahrig gives as one of the meanings of "rhaptein" the word "zusammenftigen" [Deutsches Wflrterbuch, ed. Gerhard Wahrig (Giitersloh: Bertelsmann, 1968) , p. 29*3] .

9See Scher, "Hoffmann," p. 315.

-*-°Stanzel maintains that the external perspective is traditionally an omniscient one (Stanzel, "Grammatik," p. 315).

^lln calling the Kreisler-biographer an untrustworthy narrator, I am deliberately avoiding Wayne Booth’s term "unreliable narrator" because of some inherent inconsisten- cies in his definition of the term. Booth defines reliable and unreliable narration as follows: "For the lack of better terms, I have called a narrator reliable when he speaks for or acts in accordance with the norms of the work (which is to say the implied author's norms), unre­ liable when he does not" [Wayne C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago and London: University of Chicago, 1961), pp. 158f.]. Where do ironic narrators fit into this schema? From this definition, one could conclude that ironic narrators are "unreliable." Booth, however, seems to contradict this implication of his definition when he continues: "It is true that most of the great reliable nar­ rators indulge in large amounts of incidental irony, and they are thus ’unreliable' in the sense of being potentially deceptive. But difficult irony is not sufficient to make a narrator unreliable" (p. 159). Thus, it remains unclear whether "deliberately deceptive narrators," or ironic narrators, are unreliable according to Booth's definition.

^2Heimrich, p. 115.

3,31 borrow this idea from Peter Garrett who, is dis­ cussing the narrator of Vanity Fair, focuses on Thackeray's shifting narrative stances: "Thackeray's shifting narra­ tive stances serve the rhetorical purpose of controlling distance, but they also cast an ironic light on the act of narration itself, exposing the problematic process of mediation which conditions all knowledge and evaluation. The narrator himself senses the difficulty of establishing his authority and at the end of chapter 8 tries to define his position with the contrast of a double anecdote" [Peter Garrett, "Double Plots and Dialogical Form in Victorian Fiction," NCF 32 (June 1977) 1, p. 9]. 166

•^See Stanzel, Erzahlsituationen, p. 47. 15 For a comprehensive study of the role of the reader in Hoffmann, see Elling, Leserintegration.

3-6For a cogent study of Hoffmann's narrative method in general, see Wolfgang Preisendanz, "Eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels dunkler Widerschein, E.T.A. Hoffmanns ErzShlkunst," in Festschrift ftlr Jost Trier zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. William Foerste and Karl Heinz Borck (Kttln: Bohlau, 1964). Cf.: "Denn gewiss zShlt er zu den ersten, bei denen der Begriff 'dargestellte Wirklichkeit' paradox wird, weil die perspektivische Darstellung, dieser matt geschliffne Spiegel, darauf angelegt ist, Wirklichkeit als das Sich-Entziehende und deshalb Unaus- weisbare, als dunkeln Widerschein zu reflektieren" (p. 429) ; or: "Denn wie gesagt: der Erz&hler Hoffmann nimmt keinen Standpunkt, er bietet nur Standpunkte, die sich innerhalb der dargestellten Wirklichkeit ergeben. Oder anders ausgedriickt: das Erz&hlen legt keine gewisse Perspektive fest, sondern das ErzShlte gew&hrt Perspektiven und tiberlSsst dem Leser das Problem, ftlr welche er sich entscheiden solle. Im Wechseln und Wiederstreit dieser Perspektiven aber warden die Pr&dikate real und illusionSr vertauschbar, je nachdem. Es bleibt keine eindeutig ausweisbare Wirklichkeit iibrig, wenn wir die Perspektiven abziehen; denn damit - so k6nnte man ein Nietzschewort paraphrasieren - h&tte man die RealitSt abgezogen, zum Verschwinden gebracht" (p. 426) .

•**^In her otherwise excellent study, Hudgins is at a loss to explain the purpose for these shifts in nar­ rative perspective or the biographer's untrustworthiness: "Das Experimentieren mit der ErzShlfunktion, das bereits auf den modernen Roman vorausweist, ist nicht immer gegltickt. Der haufige Perspektivenwechsel, wie auch die gelegentliche Allwissenheit ist von einem Erzahler, der nach eigner Angabe zum Erlebnisbereich der Kreislerhandlung gehttrt, nicht erklcLrlich" (Hudgins, p. 126). Part III.

The Characters of the Double Novel

167 Chapter 1. Murr and Kreisler. The Double Hero

According to the definition of the double novel de­ veloped earlier, the doubleness of the narrative results not only in two discrete spatial-temporal frameworks, but also in dual protagonists. Each narrative strand has its own main character, who is a separate and autonomous fig- gure existing in a discrete narrated time and space. The interweaving of the two narrative strands forces the read­ er into a continual comparison— both conscious as well as unconscious— of the two characters. Thus, in spite of their independence, there is a structural relationship between Murr and Kreisler consisting of parallels and contrasts between them. The mirrorings between the two main characters is an interrelatedness essential to the cohesion and unity of the double novel as both Maatje and

I define it.

Many critics have already discussed various examples of the mirrorings of motifs and themes between the Murr- strand and the Kreisler-strand.1 Instead of discussing all the mirrorings between the two strands, I will attempt to analyze the affinities and polarities between the two pro- tagonists by means of a few representative examples. 168 169

Murr and Kreisler have long been recognized as pro­

jections of two conflicting aspects of Hoffmann's own per­ sonality— the legal mentality personified in the pedantic philistine Murr and the artist's sensibility in the bizarre, seemingly possessed Kreisler. Hoffmann's own

schizophrenic dilemma of balancing these two incompatible forces in his own personality is portrayed in the Murr-

Kreisler dichotomy, in which the two halves of Hoffmann himself are split into two separate characters existing

in two distinct narrated times and spaces.

Each character is an incomplete, unbalanced person­ ality tending in an opposite extreme and unconsciously seeking his other half and with it balance and stability.

Kreisler seeks to counterbalance the extreme irrationality of his artistic nature by trying to exist harmoniously in bourgeois society; Murr attempts to overcome the limita­ tions of his feline nature by trying to be a poet. Both are striving for the unattainable: Kreisler, because of his inability to control his creative "Feuer," can never sustain a harmonious existence in society while at the same time fulfilling the demands of his art; Murr, in his futile attempts to emulate the artist, reveals himself to be a pedantic philistine, the artist's natural enemy.

This is the nature of the schizophrenic dilemma as

Hoffmann experienced it: how to reconcile the two worlds, 170

the world of everyday reality as portrayed in the Murr-

strand and the realm of creative spirit represented in

the Kreisler-strand.

To demonstrate the complexity of the relationship be­

tween the two characters/ I will analyze the parallels— both

the analogies and the contrasts— between Murr and Kreisler

as individuals and as social beings.

A. Murr and Kreisler as Individuals

As individuals Murr and Kreisler reveal striking para­

llels in their lives and in their opinions on life. Both

Murr and Kreisler experience similar phases in their devel­

opment, both had an unhappy childhood and adolescence.

They were separated from their parents at any early age

and were raised by stern guardians whose pedantry stifled

their natural curiosity and creativity. Kreisler describes

a period of laziness he calls his "Lilmmeljahre" (K5, 374)

and Murr, too, later in the novel, describes a period of

idleness he calls his "Lilmmelwochen" (M6, 386) . Both also

enter similar phases they describe as the discovery of

"eine neue Welt'1— a parallel that contrasts the sublime with the banal: Kreisler's "neue Welt" is his discovery of

his musical genius: Murr's "neue Welt"— very different

from Kreisler's— is the mundane world of society only a

block away from his kitchen door. Besides these parallel 171 phases in their lives, there are specific pivotal events which occur in the lives of both protagonists: Kreisler's duet with Julia is mirrored on a mundane level by Murr1s duet with Miesmies, Kreisler's duel with Hector is mirrored in Murr's duel with the cat in uniform, and the funeral of Hector's adjutant killed in the duel is mirrored by the funeral of the cat Muzius who died from a wound re­ ceived during Murr's duel.

Both Murr and Kreisler try to overcome the narrowness of their early upbringing by taking over their own educa­ tion. Murr describes how he taught himself to read and write in his master's study: "Nichts zog mich in des

Meisters Zimmer mehr an, als der mit Btlchern, Schriften und allerlei seltsamen Instrumenten bepackte Schreibtisch. . ."

(M2, 321-25}. Likewise Kreisler educated himself in his guardian's library: "Der Oheim hatte eine ziemlich starke

Bibliothek, in der ich nach Gefalien stfibern und lesen durfte was ich wollte. . ." (K5, 378f.). The most ironic parallel between Murr and Kreisler lies in their choosing the same person after whom to model their lives. Both

Murr and Kreisler take Rousseau as their model: Murr in his first attempts at writing and Kreisler in his first attempt at composing. The results of their imitating

Rousseau are disastrous on Kreisler's part: the fire which breaks out while he is trying to compose an opera seria in 172 bed in imitation of Rousseau (379), and ludicrous on

Murr's part: this confessional autobiography (320).

Although their lives are surprisingly parallel, their opinions on life are antithetical: Kreisler complains of his estrangement from life while Murr rhapsodizes about

"die silsse Gewohnheit des Daseins." Both Murr and Kreisler feel that their early training robbed them of their freedom.

Their conceptions of freedom, however, are different: for

Kreisler freedom is a spiritual value, for Murr— and under­ standably so— freedom is merely a physical state. Murr is torn between his desire for "culture" and the drives that "culture" inhibits, namely the immediate gratifica­ tion of natural impulses and desires:

Je mehr Kultur, desto weniger Freiheit, das ist ein wahres Wort. Mit der Kultur steigen die Bedilrfnisse, mit den Bedilrfnissen - Nun: eben die augenblickliche Befriedigung mancher natilrlichen Bedlirfnisse ohne Riicksicht auf Ort und Zeit, das war das erste, was mir der Meister mittelst des verhcLngnisvollen Birkenreises total abgewfihnte. Dann kam es an die Gelilste, die, wie ich mich spelter tiberzeugt habe, lediglich aus einer gewissen abnormen Stimmung des Gemtits entstehen (M2, 320f.).

Kreisler describes his loss of freedom in terms of a spiritual imprisonment. As Kreisler tells the Privy

Councillor, his release from this "GefSngnis" came too

late; he had grown so accustomed to his prison that he now experiences estrangement from the world and longs for 173 his familiar prison: . . zu spSt trat die Befreiung ein. Mir geht e s r wie jenem Gefangenen, der, als er endlich befreit wurde, dem Getilmmel der Welt, ja dem

Licht des Tages, so entwfihnt war, dass er nicht vermflgend, der goldnen Freiheit zu geniessen, und sich wieder zurilcksehnte in den Kreker" (K5, 383). Just as Kreisler longs for his familiar prison, Murr longs for his oven during moments of crisis, seeking refuge there at every opportunity.

As artists Murr and Kreisler are incomplete personal­ ities; each possesses precisely what the other lacks.

Kreisler has true artistic inspiration but lacks the de­ gree of "Besonnenheit" necessary to give consistent and lasting form to his creative inspirations. Kreisler is so possessed at times by his creative inspiration that he is often unable to control it, which, in Abraham’s opinion, is Kreisler's tragic flaw:

"Erfahre es jetzt, Johannes, ich habe tief in dein Inneres geschaut und das gefShrliche - bedrohliche Geheimnis erkannt, das darin ruht, ein g&render Vulkan, in jedem Augenblick vermdgend loszubrechen in verderblichen Flammen, riicksichtslos alles.um sich verzehrend!" (309).

There was a time in his life when Kreisler could not even bring himself to write down his compositions and, on the rare occasions that he did, he would later burn them, 174 as the biographer maintains in his allusion to the Kreisler of the Kreisleriana. The older Kreisler seems to have changed since that time— he now refrains from this bizarre practice and, while in the monastery, composes many re­ ligious works for the monks:

Irgendwo heisst es von dem Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, dass seine Freunde es nicht dahin h&tten bringen kfinnen, dass er eine Komposition aufgeschrieben und sei dies wirklich einmal geschehen, so habe er doch das Werk, soviel Freude er auch ilber das Gelingen ge&ussert, gleich nachher ins Feuer geworfen- - So mag es sich begeben haben, in einer sehr verh&ngnisvollen Zeit, die dem armen Johannes den rettungslosen Untergang drohte, von der gegenw&rtiger Biograph bis jetzt aber nicht recht viel weiss. Jetzt in der Abtei Kanzheim wenigstens htitete sich Kreisler wohl, die Kompositionen zu vernichten, die recht aus seinem Innersten hervorgingen, und seine Stimmung sprach sich in dem Charakter silsser wohltuender Wehmut aus, den seine Werke trugen, statt dass er sonst nur zu oft im mSchtigen Zauber aus der Tiefe der Harmonik, die gewaltigen Geister hinaufbeschwor, die die Furcht, das Entsetzen, alle Qualen hoffnungsloser Sehnsucht aufregen in der menschlichen Brust - (537).

Murr, by contrast, lacks inspiration but does possess the consciously acquired skill of "giving form." Murr is in perfect control of the technique of writing, but he has no creative "Feuer" which he needs to keep in check. Murr is most prolific in exercising this act of formulating, but that which he so industriously formultes is devoid of inspiration and originality. Murr's autobiography, 175 which he considers a great masterpiece, is the ultimate in banality. Murr's art is totally self-conscious in the negative sense: contrived and devoid of creative spon­ taneity. Murr represents in essence the personification of the modern artist, whom the abbot regards as the antithesis of Kreisler:

"Es fehlt unsern jungen Malern an der wahren Begeisterung, die das Bild in aller Glorie des vollendetsten Lebens aus dem Innern hervorruft und ihnen vor Augen stellt. Man sieht, wie sich dieser, jener vergebens abqudlt urn endlich in jene erhtthte Stimmung des Gemtlts zu geraten, ohne die kein Werk der Kuns£ geschaffen wird. Was dann aber die Armsten, fiir wahre Begeisterung halten, wie sie den heitern ruhigen Sinn der alten Maler erhob, ist nur das seltsam gemischte Gefilhl von hochmtttiger Bewunderung des selbst gefassten Gedankens und von Sngstlicher, qu&lender Sorge, nun bei der Ausfhhrung es dem alten Vorbilde auch in der kleinsten Kleinigkeit nachzutun. - So wird denn oft die Gestalt, die selbst lebendig, ins helle freundliche Leben treten sollte, zur widerlichen Fratze. Unsere jungen Maler bringen es nicht zur deutlichen Anschauung der im Innern aufgefassten Gestalt und mag es vielleicht nicht lediglich daher kommen, dass sie, ger&t ihnen auch sonst alles so ziemlich gut, doch die F&rbung ver- fehlen? - Mit einem Wort, sie kftnnen hiichstens zeichnen, aber durchaus nicht malen" (588).

In expressing his love for Miesmies, Murr tries to emulate the artist, just as Kreisler predicts the "good people" do ("die guten Leute," K8, 430f.). The first time Murr sees Miesmies he longs to paint her: "Aus einer 176 Dachluke, unfern von mir, stieg leis und linde ein

GeschGpf heraus - oh, dass ich es vermflchte, die Holdeste

zu malen!" (M9, 451). Murr's love for Miesmies parallels parodistically the artist's love and Kriesler's love for

Julia. These parallels serve to highlight the differences between Murr and Kreisler. For example, recall Kreisler's words concerning the beloved as muse: "'Und sie, sie

selbst ist es, die Herrliche, die, zum Leben gestaltete

Ahnung, aus der Seele des Ktinstlers hervorleuchtet, als

Gesang - Bild - Gedicht!"1 (K8, 431). Later in the Murr-

strand, Murr describes a dream he had of Miesmies and his words read like a direct distortion of the concepts con­

tained in the Kreisler passage:

Dann erschien mir das silsse Bild der holden Miesmies! - Himmel, so stand wohl alles im Zusammenhange, Milchbrei, Verachtung der wissenschaften, Melancholie, Polster, unpoetische Natur, Liebesandenken! (Mil, 4 8 5).

The artist's perception of the totality of all being per­

sonified in the beloved and expressed in art is reduced by

Murr to the totality of his own limited experience and

animal nature, to edibles and bodily comforts which he

equates with and puts on the same level as the sublime

emotions of melancholy and love. Love and eating are

essentially the same for Murr; in the process of trying to

prove he is a poet, Murr proves he is a philistine, but 177 always a lovable one. Murr thus represents "das

Animalische" and Kreisler "das Geistige." Hoffmann uses an animal to represent this aspect of human nature; Murr sounds delightfully funny when he tries to make his animal drives seem spiritual. Kreisler, by contrast, truly ex­ periences the conflict between the animal and the spiritual sides of human nature. He cannot completely give up physi­ cal pleasures as he tells the Abbot who suggests that

Kreisler join the order: Kreisler is repelled by the idea of renouncing the world:

"Tief", sprach Johannes, da der Abt schwieg, ernst und dtlster, "tief fiihle ich die Wahrheit Ihrer Worte, mein ehrwfirdiger Freund 1 tief, dass ich wirklich nicht in eine Welt tauge, die sich mir gestaltet wie ein ewiges r&tselhaftes Missverst&ndnis. Und doch - ich gestehe es frei, erregt mir dernGedanke Schauer, auf Kosten so mancher Uberzeugung, die ich mit der Muttermilch eingesogen, dies Kleid zu tragen, wie einen Kerker, aus dem ich nimmer wieder heraus kann. Es ist mir, als wenn dem MiSnch Johannes dieselbe Welt, in der der Kapellmeister Johannes doch so manches htibsche GSrtlein voll duftender Blumen fand, plbtzlich eine ttde unwirtbare Wtiste sein wtirde, als wenn einmal in das rege Leben verflochten die Entsagung" (541).

B. Murr and Kreisler as Social Beings

There are parallels between Murr and Kreisler in their relationship to society. Each strand reveals a different aspect of society: the Kreisler-strand presents 178 philistine aristocracy and the Murr-strand philistine bourgeoisie. Both Murr and Kreisler are viewed by others as bizarre figures, though their effects on the observers are different. Hedwiga perceives the dissonant effect of

Kreisler's appearance and behavior, and recognizes his resemblance to the mad artist Ettlinger:

"Oh", erwiderte die Prinzessin, "eben dieser unbekannte Mensch - Glaubst du wohl Julia, dass mir seine Gestalt, seine wunderlichen Reden ein inneres Grauen erregten, das mir unerkl&rlich ist? - Noch jetzt durchbeben mich Schauer, ich erliege beinahe einem Geffihl, das, seltsam und entsetzlich zugleich, alle meine Sinne gefangen nimmt. In dem tiefsten dunkelsten Gemtit regt sich eine Erinnerung auf, und ringt vergebens sich deutlich zu gestalten. - Ich sahe diesen Menschen schon in irgendeine ftlrchterliche Begebenheit verflochten, die mein Herz zer- fleischte - vielleicht war es nur ein spukhafter Traum, dessen Andenken mir geblieben - Genug - der Mensch mit seinem seltsamen Beginnen, mit seinen wirren Reden, deuchte mir ein bedrohliches gespenstisches Wesen, das uns vielleicht verlocken wollte in verderbliche Zauberkreise! (K3, 340).

In a grotesque parallel, Murr is described by Lothario as an equally bizarre apparition:

"Was gewahrte ichi - HdJrt es und erstauntl - In dem einsamsten Winkel des Bodens sitzt Euer Kater! - sitzt aufgerichtet vor einem kleinen Tisch, auf dem Schreibzeug und Papier befindlich, sitzt und reibt sich bald mit der Pfote Stirn und Nacken, fclhrt sich fibers Gesicht, tunkt bald die Peder ein, schreibt, hflrt wieder auf, schreibt von neuem, tiber- liest das Geschriebene, knurrt (.ich konnte es 179

hfiren) knurrt und spinnt vor lauter Wohlbehagen. - Und um ihn her liegen verschiedene Bticher, die, nach ihrem Einband, aus Eurer Bibliothek entnommen" {M5, 364f.).

Hedwiga and Julia observed the musician Kreisler fantasizing

on the guitar and singing, i.e. practicing his art; Lothario observed Murr practicing his art, writing. The artist is viewed by society as an alien being— just as bizarre as a cat who writes poetry. Ironically, the cat who writes

inspires the amazement of human society, the artist inspires

fear.

Murr as well as Kreisler upset the "harmony" and nor­ mality that seems to be an overriding concern of most char­

acters in both strands. In the philistine courtly world

of the Kreisler-strand reality becomes identical with con­ vention. ^ Iren&us could not survive outside the artificial order of his illusory "kingdon." Benzon controls this

grand illusion— she is the puppeteer who pulls the strings:

"Der RStin heller durchdringender Verstand, ihr lebhafter

Geist, ihre Weltklugheit . . . tibten ihre Macht in voller

StArke, so dass sie es eigentlich war, die die Faden des

Puppenspiels an diesem Miniaturhofe zog" (327f.). She

fights to preserve this order to protect her own interests.

Kreisler poses a threat to Benzon's power because he

recognizes (as does Abraham) the illusiveness and in­

substantiality of life at Sieghartshof. Kreisler cannot 180 accept the value of convention and his sarcasm and irony threaten that convention, as shown in Benzon's tirade and

Kreisler's humorous reply:

- "Und immer werden Sie", erwiderte die genzon, "mit dieser fantastischen Uberspanntheit, mit dieser herzzerschneidenden Ironie, nichts anstiften als Unruhe - Verwirrung - vtillige Dissonanz aller konven- tionellen VerhcLltnisse wie sie nun einmal bestehen." "O wundervoller Kapellmeister", rief Johannes Kreisler lachend, "der solcher Dissonanzen mSchtig!" (351).

Kreisler's arrival at court is a jolt to the order of things.^ He sarcastically mocks Hedwiga in the park when she haughtily declares that she is the Princess Hedwiga.

He does not cower under the gaze of IrenSus' so-called

"Friedrichsblick" which is supposed to strike fear into his subjects; on the contrary, Kreisler returns the stare with such a smirk that Iren£us is compelled to avert his eyes: "'. . . aber der Herr von Kreisler, den mag ich anblitzen, wie ich will, er macht sich gar nichts daraus, sondern l&chelt mich an auf eine Weise, dass-ich selbst die

Augen niederschlagen muss'" (408).

The artist is alienated from society because his art upsets the conventionality of life. Hedwiga describes how Ettlinger, with his life-like portrait of her mother, seemed to have stolen her image from the mirror. Since

Ettlinger had told Hedwiga he wanted to paint with her blood, she has felt as if a vampire were preying on her. 181

The painter is feared by the philistines because he is able to give visual form to the spirit, to the soul, and conceivably to rob a person of life by painting his portrait. Similarly the composer can render spirit audible, his music threatens to penetrate too deeply into the souls of the listeners, to upset their composure by striking a discordant note in their souls. Recall Hedwiga*s philistine reaction to Kreisler*s moving love duet with Julia:

"Es wird mir nun wohl erlaubt sein, auch meine Meinung zu sagen. Ich gebe zu, dass das Duett als Komposition seinen Wert haben mag, dass meine Julie vortrefflich gesungen hat, aber ist es recht, ist es billig, dass man im gemtitlichen Zirkel, wo freundliche Unterhaltung obenanstehen soil, wo wechselseitige Anregungen Rede, Gesang, forttreiben sollen wie einen zwischen Blumenbeetan sanft murmelnden Bach, dass man da extravagante Sachen auftischt, die das Innere zerschneiden, deren gewaltsamen zerstfirenden Eindruck man nicht verwinden kann? Ich habe mich bemilht, mein Ohr, meine Brust zu verschliessen dem wilden Schmerz des Orkus, den Kreisler mit, unser leicht verletzliches Inneres verhflhnender Kunst in Ttinen aufgefasst hat, aber niemand war so giitig, sich meiner anzunehmen. G e m will ich meine Schwclche ihrer Ironie preisgeben, Kapellmeister, gern will ich gestehen, dass der ilble Eindruck Ihres Duetts mich ganz krank gemacht hat. - Gibt es denn keinen Cimarosa, keinen Paesiello, deren Kompositionen recht filr die Gesellschaft geschrieben sind?" (414).

Whereas life and reality in Kreisler*s social environ­ ment are governed by the norms of convention, life and reality in Murr's world are based on the laws of nature. 182

Both Murr's animal peers and the representatives of human society view his human-like activities as disruptive of the natural order. Muzius, for example, believes that

Murr is perverting the natural order by engaging in these

"unnatural” activities. Scaramuz, the representative of dog society, disapproves of Murr's disregard for the sep­ aration of cats and dogs as natural enemies through his friendship with Ponto and his joining the

"Pudellgesellschaft.” Lothario, the Professor of Aesthetics who is, like Benzon, a firm believer in the preservation of the status quo, accuses Abraham of attempting to over­ turn traditional educational theory by teaching Murr to read and write. Although Abraham does not believe

Lothario's claims to be true, he is nonetheless outraged at the mere suggestion that Murr has corrupted the sim­ plicity of his animal nature by this bizarre imitation of human beings:

"Kater, wenn ich wdsste dass du, deine ehrliche nattirliche Natur ganz und gar verleugnend, dich wirklich darauf verlegtest, solche vertrackte Verse zu machen, wie sie der Professor vorgelesen, wenn ich glauben kiinnte, dass du wirklich den Wissenschaften nach- stelltest, statt den Mftusen, ich glaube, ich kflnnte dir die Ohren wund zwicken, oder gar -" (365).

Murr actually makes a conscious effort to try and fit in where he does not belong: his friendship with the dog

Ponto, his attempt to join the "Pudellgesellschaft," his 183 effort to associate with the "high society" of dogs at

Badine's where the pets of the nobility gather. Kreisler is doomed by his artistic nature to be a disruptive in­ fluence on society. His sudden appearance and bizarre be­ havior in the park upset Hedwiga to the point of illness, his biting sarcasm and irony overwhelm Iren&us, his in­ fluence on Julia threatens to destroy Benzon's plans for

Julia's marriage to Ignatius.

Thus both Murr and Kreisler are alienated from so­ ciety, but for different reasons and with opposite effects.

Murr's "alienation" is a conscious and deliberate choice to "better" himself; Kreisler's alienation is the result of his artistic nature and his inability to adjust his life to social conventions. Murr derives pleasure from continually commenting on the implications of his

"alienation," whereas Kreisler cannot analyze himself, but acts out his inner tensions through his irony. Murr inter­ prets his own calculated inability to exist harmoniously in neither cat, dog, nor human society as a sign of his artistic genius— he stands above those who misunderstood him and is very self-satisfied in his solitary existence.

For Kreisler, however, the realization that he is com­ pelled to be a disruptive force in society and doomed to estrangement is a painful one which could ultimately threaten his sanity. Ironically, the musician who can create beautiful harmonies in music is doomed, by that same 184 gift, to produce only dissonance and discord in his human relationships. Although Kreisler agrees with the Abbot

that he is alienated from the world, he cannot agree to renounce it. Kreisler's dilemma is that he is not at home

in either world: either in the courtly world of

Sieghartshof or in the aesthetic world of the monastery.

C. Ambiguities in Stylistic Expression

Neither Murr nor Kreisler express themselves in a con­

sistently individualistic style; in fact, they sometimes

sound so much alike that if certain passages were taken out of context, it would be difficult to identify the speaker.

To illustrate this point, consider the following quote out of context:

. . . dass der Aush&ngeakt, das gierigen els thetischen Leckerm&ulern dargebotene Koststtick, in der Tat herrliche Gedanken enthalte, ftlr deren originelle Genialit&t schon der Umstand sprSche, dass auch anerkannt grosse Dichter w.z.B. Calderon, Shakespeare und der moderne Schiller darauf gefallen (368) .

The appositional phrase modifying "Aush&ngeakt," in which an object for aesthetic appreciation is identified with an object for physical consumption, i.e. food, and the

aesthetic process equated with the act of eating, is a

typically Murrian turn of phrase. The audience is reduced 185 pars pro toto— a rhetorical device often used by Murr— to

"greedy aesthetic mouths" ("gierigen Ssthetischen

Leckerm&ulern"). The bizarre compound "Leckermduler" is

reminiscent of Murr's countless neologisms such as

"rachedurstendes Wurstprin2ip" (398) . The coupling of

the two incompatible adjectives "gierig" and

"Ssthetisch" stylistically mirrors Murr's own dualism

inherent in the conflict of his instinctive animal drives

and his aesthetic aspirations. Furthermore, Murr frequent­

ly congratulates himself on his "herrliche Gedanken," so it would be entirely plausible that this passage is simply

another of those many tirades of Murrian self-glorification.

The "originelle GenialitcLt" which the speaker attributes to

the play is a virtue Murr has praised in his own work on

numerous occasions. As Murr frequently does, the speaker

cites as evidence for the "originelle Genialitat" of the

play the contradictory fact that other great poets have

also used the same ideas: "... dass auch anerkannt

grosse Dichter wie z.B. Calderon, Shakespeare und der moderne Schiller darauf gefalien" (368). Only Murr could

seriously argue that his own plagiarism is proof of his

originality.

All the evidence seems to point to Murr's authorship

of the passage. When placed in context, however, the pas­

sage turns out to be an indirect quote of Kreisler: 186

Ja, als besagter Lieutenant, da er geendet, ihn [Kreisler] heftig fragte, was er von der Dichtung halte, begniigte er sich, mit dem mildesten Ausdruck des innern Ergfitzens im ganzen Gesicht, dem jungen Kriegs- und Vershelden zu versichern, dass der Aus- hSngeakt, das gierigen Ssthetischen Leckermclulern dargebotene Koststtick, in der Tat herrliche Gedanken enthalte, ftlr deren originelle Genialit&t schon der Umstand sprSche, dass auch anerkannt grosse Dichter w.z.B. Calderon, Shakespeare und der moderne Schiller darauf gefallen

As the biographer points out, Kreisler's controlled ironic response is an unprecedented event: “Und diese Stimmung war es, die das Unerhofte geschehen liess" (367). Not only is Kreisler's reaction unprecedented but so is his language. Such combinations of "Tierwflrter" and abstract words are not really characteristic of Kreisler's speech but of Murr's. Kreisler uses the exact words to praise, in total irony, the Lieutenant's dilletantish play which

Murr could have used to praise, in all seriousness, his own work. The irony of these remarks escaped the

Lieutenant because Kreisler*s face reveals "ein inneres

Ergfttzen" instead of the bizarre distortion of features that usually attends his ironic outbursts. There is good reason for Kreisler's mild reaction: he does not need to get ironically aggressive about this distortion of art be­ cause he had not been listening to the Lieutenant's play at all" " ’Geheimer Rat, gib dir die Mtihe zu merken, dass es eine Erinnerung an meine Knabenzeit war, die mich dir und 187 dem Lieutenant entftihrte'" (369). So the same speech that in Murr's mouth would have been serious praise is in

Kreisler's a subtle but devastating form of ironic commen­ tary.

Let us consider the following passage to see if in­ herent textual characteristics allow us to identify the speaker:

Jede Stimme darf nur eingreifen in den vollkommenen Akkord des Ganzen aber des Dichters Ton dissoniert, und ist, kann er unter andern Umst&nden auch ein sehr guter sein, dennoch in dem Augenblick ein schlechter Ton, weil er nicht zum Ganzen passt (639).

Both style and content seem to indicate that Kreisler is the speaker. Musical imagery is far more prevalent in the

Kreisler-strand than in the Murr-strand. Kreisler uses a similar metaphor of a single voice that has a dissonant effect on the harmony of the whole in K5 in reference to an incident from his "Lilmmeljahre": "'Und noch jetzt behaup- te ich keck, dass Ihr unrecht tatet mich auszuschelten, mich einen stSrrigen, unverst&ndigen Burschen zu nennen, der durch die dissonierende Stimme seiner Torheit einen ganzen singenden und spielenden Konvent aus Ton und Takt bringen kttnne'" (374). Moreover, the alienation of the artist from society is more a concern of the Kreisler-strand than the Murr-strand. In spite of the evidence which links

Kreisler to the above text dealing with music and harmony, 188 the speaker is Murr. Murr reveals himself when he tries

to apply these lofty ideas to his own lowly situation— with very humorous results:

Warum, dacht ich ferner, sollt es aber einem geistreichen Kater, ist er auch Dichter, Schriftsteller, Ktlnstler, nicht gelingen kilnnen, sich zu jener Erkenntnis der htthern Kultur in ihrer ganzen Bedeutsamkeit hinaufzuschwingen und sie selbst zu tiben mit aller Schdnheit und Anmut der fiussern Erscheinung? - Hat denn die Natur dem Geschlecht der Hunde allein den Vorzug jener Kultur gegflnnt? (M17/ 640).

In these instances of ambiguity, style assumes a struc­ tural function in providing links— untrustworthy or ironic as they may be— between the two narrative strands of this double novel.

The reasons for these ambiguities becomes clear when we realize that the way in which Murr and Kreisler view themselves and how they relate to society is reflected in the basic attitude they take in critical moments. Murr faces himself and the world hypocritically— though, because he is afterall a cat, we cannot judge him harshly; Kreisler faces himself and the world ironically. Murr's arms against society in his own hypocrisy, Kreisler's defense is his irony.

Murr is able to bend or alter the truth to his advan­ tage as the situation warrants, and often with humorous results. For example, when confronted with Scaramuz1s 189

outrage over Murr's friendship with his nephew Ponto,

Murr saves himself by lying; he completely denies their friendship (601f-l. Murr's hypocrisy helps him escape embarrasing or threatening situations on numerous other occasions: for example, when Miesmies accuses Murr of trying to seduce his own daughter, Murr lies. He claims that the attention he was showing Mina was really motivated by an instinctive fatherly affection. Even after Miesmies' revelation that Mina is their daughter, Murr's desire does not abate (585f), but this is culpable only from a human perspective.

Murr first reveals his duplicity, or hypocrisy, at the beginning of the novel in his two contradictory fore­ words already discussed. These two forewords provide the key to Murr's stance throughout the novel as one totally devoid of irony— in spite of Singer's and Preisendanz's claims that Murr is an ironist who consciously parodies 3 the Kreisler-strand. This is impossible: a self-glorify­ ing hypocrite cannot be a self-critical ironist. As a hypocrite Murr cannot view himself and his own faults with the detachment necessary to irony. He proves himself in­ capable of such insight— not to mention that he is only a cat! Murr is, of course, unable to relativize and call into question his own worth and identity as Kreisler is able to do. Moreover, as a cat and a philistine, Murr does not suffer under the dualism that determines human existence. The only "dualism" that Murr experiences is the conflict between his natural animal instincts and the artificial, elevated precepts of his self-acquired "Bildung"; and even there the conflict is smoothed over through rational­ ization (e.g. in the herring's head episode where he turns selfishness into a virtue) or is totally unconscious, as is so vividly mirrored in the grotesque combination of vocabu­ lary from the human and the animal realms that character­ izes Murr's style: ". . .so mag er bedenken, dass er es mit einem Kater zu tun hat, der Geist, Verstand besitzt, und scharfe Krallen" (301).^° The whole Murr-strand traces

Murr's growing ability to lull his "conscience" to sleep.

Murr's "Bildungsroman" records his developing flexibility and growing mastery of self-delusion and deception— a skill he learns from the human world! One of Murr's most skillful deceits occurs near the end of the Murr-strand in M17 where, in describing his ability to impress the dogs at Badine's,

Murr rationalizes his own hypocrisy as "ein nattirlicher

Instinkt":

Ein natiirlicher Instinkt lehrte mich antworten wie ich gefragt wurde, nSmlich ohne Rilcksicht auf diese Frage ilberall kurz absprechen in solch allgemeinen Ausdrticken, dass sie auf alles nur MOgliche bezogen werden konnten, durchaus keiner Meinung sein und nie das Gespr&ch von der glatten Oberfl&che hin- unterziehen wollen in die Tiefe. - Ponto versicherte mir im Vorbeistreifen, dass ein alter Spitz ihm versichert, wie ich ftir einen Kater amhsant genug sei und Anlagen 191

zur guten Konversation zeige. - So etwas erfreut auch den Missmtitigen.' (.643) .

Kreisler, by contrast, is a conscious ironist. He uses irony to expose the pretentiousness of court etiquette and the meaninglessness of courtly existence. A most tell­

ing example of Kreisler's irony occurs in the park in K3 where, with only the expression on his face, Kreisler is able to deflate Hedwiga*s pretention:

Der Fremde hatte sich, sowie die Prinzessin zu sprechen begann, rasch zu ihr gewendet, und schaute ihr jetzt in die Augen, aber sein ganzes Antlitz schien ein andres worden. - Vertilgt war der Ausdruck schwermtitiger Sehnsucht, vertilgt jede Spur des tief im Innersten aufgeregten Gemtits, ein toll verzerrtes Lclcheln steigerte den Ausdruck bitterer Ironie bis zum Possierlichen, bis zum Skurrilen. - Die Prinzessin blieb, als trSfe sie ein elektrischer Schlag, mitten in der Rede stecken, und schlug, blutrot im ganzen Gesicht, die Augen nieder (342).

Like the irony of the Abraham Liscov of Kreisler's youth,

Kreisler's irony humiliates, lacerates the heart— Benzon herself calls Kreisler's irony "herzzerschneidend." For example, when Hedwiga— one of Kreisler's favorite victims— interrupts his fantasizing at the piano to effuse about the beauty of Sieghartshof (."'Gibt's wohl einen reizendern

Aufenthalt weit und breit, als unser Sieghartshof?'"). ,

Kreisler answers with a biting irony designed to humiliate and mock her: 192

"In der Tat", sprach der Kapellmeister, "in der Tat, gn&digste Prinzessin, der Park ist herrlich, und ganz-besonders ist es mir lieb, dass s&ntliche BSume grtines Laub tragen, welches ich tiberhaupt an alien BcLumen, Strfluchern und Gr&sern sehr bewundere und verehre, und jeden Frtlhling dem Allm&chtigen danke, dass es wieder grtln worden, und nicht rot, welches in jeder Landschaft zu tadeln, und bei den besten Landschaftern, wie, z.B. Claude Lorrain oder Berghem, ja selbst bei Hackert, der bloss seine Wiesengrtinde was weniges pudert, nirgends zu finden" (427).

Kreisler has not achieved the level of benign humor which the older and wiser Meister Abraham embodies. Irony is

Kreisler's protective shield which he uses to conceal his soul and true feelings from public view and ridicule by the philistines— much as Murr uses hypocrisy to shield himself from ridicule and to "save face." In almost every instance where Kreisler does become serious and reveals something of his inner self, he invariably switches to an ironic stance to make fun of or to reverse precisely what he has just revealed about himself or the artist in general. In the above example, Kreisler turns on Hedwiga because she has interrupted him in a moment of musical inspiration and creativity to bore him with her banal rhapsodies about the beauty of the park. Her absorption in the view from the window makes Kreisler acutely aware that she has not even been listening to his music, and he conceals his wound with the ironic parody of the paint­ er's attempt to create on canvas what God has created in 193 nature. After lie bares his soul to Benzon (who had once been his friend and protector) about his terrible experi­ ence as ''Kapellmeister" at the Duke's residence, Kreisler switches to irony and, in effect, takes back everything he has just said: "'0 beste RStin', fiel Kreisler der Benzon ins Wort, indem er, so ernst und tiefbewegt er zuvor gesprochen, plfltzlich den besondern Ton der Ironie wieder aufnahm, . . 'Ja, Verehrte, Sie glauben nicht, was ich w&hrend meiner Kapellmeisterschaft profitiert, vorztlglich aber die schflne tfberzeugung, wie gut es ist, wenn

Ktinstler fttrmlich in Dienst treten . . (365f.).

Kreisler's irony is mirrored in a distorted way in

Murr's hypocrisy. Both attitudes are two-faced but in dif­ ferent ways; both are an expression of a basic schizophre­ nia, whether genuine (as in Kreisler's case) or imagined

(as in Murr's). An important manifestation of the differ­ ence between Murr's hypocrisy and Kreisler's irony is their changing facial expression. Kreisler's face assumes a totally different look when he is being ironic, his features become bizarrely distorted. The passages in which the biographer describes the changes in Kreisler's facial expression, i.e. where Kreisler dons the mask, signal

Kreisler's switches to an ironic stance and run like a

"Leitmotif" through the Kreisler-strand. For example, when the abbot suggests that Kreisler become a monk, the biographer reports: "Da begann aber auf Kreislers 194 Antlitz jenes seltsame Muskelspiel, das den Geist der

Ironie zu verkhnden pflegte, der seiner m&chtig worden"

(54 2). Kreisler prefers the disguise of the monk's

habit to actually becoming a monk, since the robe would

then no longer be a mask, a form of freedom, but would become a prison from which there would be no escape. The

artist prefers masks— just as Hoffmann himself dons many masks in this novel. Murr, by contrast, never seems to

change his facial expression— or at least there are no in­ dications of this in the text. Murr's hypocrisy conceals

the truth from himself and others, Kreisler's irony exposes the truth, i.e. the truth about philistine society.

When Murr sounds likes Kreisler, he is being hypo­

critical; when Kreisler sounds like Murr, he is being

ironic. For example, when Murr talked about the artist's

fate to be alienated from society he was being hypocritical

in plagiarizing words of Kreisler's, as the editor points out: "Kommen alle diese Betrachtungen mit denen du dich

so brilstest nicht geradehin aus dem Munde des

Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler und ist es (iberhaupt mSglich, dass du solche Lebensweisheit sammeln konntest,

um eines menschlichen Schriftstellers Gemiit, das wunder-

lichste Ding auf Erden, so tief zu durchschauenI" (640).

When Kreisler sounded like Murr with, the "Tiermetaphorik"

he used to "praise" the Lieutenant's play, he was being

ironic. Thus, Murr sounds like Kreisler when he 195

hypocritically and vainly elevates himself into the realm

of genius; and Kreisler sounds like Murr when he ironical­

ly describes and chastizes the social conventions of the world in the artist must live. Notes XXI.1

^■Negus' attempts to find mirrorings between every set of adjacent sections are often strained and unconvinc­ ing. He also ignores the more numerous mirrorings between non-adjacent sections (Kenneth Negus, "Thematic Structure in Three Major Works of E.T.A. Hoffmann," Diss. Princeton 1957).

^Natalia Reber classifies Murr and Kreisler as "Gegensatzdoppelg&nger": "Wie der Kater Murr als Spiegelbild des Philistertums zum gleichgerichteten satirischen Doppelg&nger des Menschlich-Allzumenschlichen im allgemeinen wird, so bildet er anderseits als absoluter Gegenpol zur EinzelpersdJnlichkeit Kreislers dessen in- dividuellen Gegensatz-DoppelgSnger, indem er in seiner idyllisch-behaglichen Komik des prometheische Ungentigen, das verzweifelte Ringen der leidenschaftlich-gltihenden, tiberreizten, phantastischen Ktlnstlernatur nach dem Ideal, nach Licht noch unterstreicht. So sind im Kater Murr und in seinem Gegenspieler Kreisler zwei extreme MSglichkeiten des Menschseins verkflrpert, was eine Art sich ergSnzenden KomplimentSr-DoppelgSngertums ergibt. Denn Murr symbolisiert denjenigen Teil im Gesamptplan des Lebens, der in Kreislers vereinzelter Kiinstlerexistenz keine Verwirklichung gefunden hat" [Natalia Reber, Studien zum Motiv des DoppelgSngers bei Dostojevskij und E.T.A. Hoffmann (Giessen: Schmitz, 1964), p. 179]. This seems to be an accurate description of the Murr-Kreisler dichotomy as far as it goes, but the relationship is really more com­ plex. Murr and Kreisler reveal decisive polarities that would tend to make them appear as opposite doubles ("Gegensatz-Doppelganger") as well as complementary doubles ("sich ergSnzende Komplimentar-DoppelgSnger"), but there are also many significant analogies between the two figures. Therefore, in Reber's terms, it would be more accurate to classify Murr and Kreisler as parallel-opposite doubles.

According to Schelling, artistic creation consists of the fusion of two opposite elements: the unconscious and the conscious, the unconscious element being artistic inspiration and the conscious element the deliberate act

196 197 of giving form to this inspiration. Hoffmann himself terms this latter aspect "Besonnenheit" (V, 37).

4Negus, p. 162: "Kreisler’s tragic flaw, as sug­ gested in the above quotation, lies in his inability to discipline his 'fire'— which in Abraham's admonishment is restricted to the meaning of the driving force of the artist. This elemental power is creative when kept pure and restrained, and is destructive when it rages out of control."

^Singer p. 313: "Mit Kreislers Auftreten wird die leblose Ruhe des kleinen Hofes beendet. 'Die seltsamsten Ereignisse', so raisonniert die Rfltin, 'scheinen sich durchkreuzen zu wollen in diesem einsamen Familienkreise, den eine kleine Stadt und ein paar Dutzend Menschen mehr, als eben darin wohnen, Hof zu nennen gewohnt sind.' Bei aller Verachtung dieses Hofes identifiziert sie sich doch mit dessen Spielregeln und bekSmpft darum das fremde Element, das Kreisler hineinbringt; denn ftir sie sind die 'konventionellen Verh<nisse' und 1 iiblichen Formen. . . durch die richtige Ansicht des wirklichen Lebens bedingt und als unsere Zufriedenheit begrtindend anerkannt'. Diese Identifikation von Konvention und Wirklichkeit verweist sie aber, bei all ihrer Intelligenz, in dieselbe Kategorie wie den ttirichten Ftlrsten und den platten Autor der Katermemoiren."

6Hutto agrees and says that "the artist comes to be seen as a disturber and demasker of false pretention, a person who is able to distinguish what is real from what is not" (Hutto, p. 139) .

^An interesting sidelight which helps support my argument for the ambiguity of this passage when taken out of context is the fact that Ute Sp&th in her stylistic study of Murr uses this exact passage out of context to illustrate a different stylistic point and incorrectly attributes it to MurrI [Ute Sp&th, Gebrochene IdentitSt. Stilistische Untersuchung zum Parallelismus in E.T.A. Hoffmanns ,rLebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr” (G6ppingen: Kilmmerle, 1970) , p. 33] ^

^Wolfgang Preisendanz, Humor als dichterische Einbildungskraft (Mflnchen: Eidos, 1963) , p. 81f.: ^Gewiss trifft alles zu, was v. Schenck tlber Murr als Gegenstand der Selbstbiographie sagt, ilber den Btlrger und Philister, iiber seine Selbstbezogenheit und akosmische Beschr&nktheit auf die alltSglichen profanen Bedilrfnisse, Uber die Borniertheit im ordin&ren Kreislauf zwischen alien Formen des 'Appetits' und der Saturiertheit, tiber ein Dasein, das 198 vftllig im Bemilhen urn schlechte Selbstbewahrung aufgeht. Aber gilt dies auf Murr als Sujet der Lebens-Ansichten Zutreffende auch filr Murr als Schreiber? Es muss doch auffallen, aus welcher Distanz dieser Kater sich selbst sieht, wie ironisch sich das ErzShlte im ErzShlen bricht, so dass man sich in der Tat oft an Felix Krull erinnert ftihlen kann. Murr erzShlt nicht naiv, was er erlebt, erfahren, getan und erlitten hat/ er gestaltet, wie die Diktion beweist, virtuos die distanzierende Perspektive/ das VerhcLltnis von dargestelltem und darstellendem Ich mit, und anstatt ahnungslos zu sein, durchschaut sich dieser an- gebliche Philister grtindlich und mit der grtissten SagazitSt. Nun gehOren solche Perspektive, solche Spannung und Distanz zwischen dargestelltem und darstellendem Ich zum Wesen der Autobiographie. Aber wie l&sst sich das VerhSltnis von darstellendem und dargestelltem Ich im Falle Murrs genauer kennzeichnen? . . . Vielmehr bleibt das Verh<nis des Autors Murr zum Leben Murrs geradezu zynisch, weil in einem Atem vttllig durchschauend und vttllig zustimmend. Die SelbstgefSlligkeit, die jeden Augenblick des eigenen Lebens approbriert, kommt keineswegs aus philistrfiser Borniertheit, sie bleibt ironisch, denn sie vollzieht den Gedanken an die Anfechtbarkeit der eigenen Maximen und Verhaltensweisen implicite stSndig mit, aber sie heisst uneingeschrSnkt gut, was nun einmal als Folge eines charakterlichen Soseins zur KontinuitSt eines Lebens ward." For my very different evaluation of the re­ lationship between Murr the narrator and Murr the character in his autobiography, see Part II of this study. Singer seems to take it for granted that Murr is being ironic: Singer juxtaposes an ironic Kreisler passage with a seem­ ingly similar Murr passage, which Singer takes to be ironic, but which Murr himself means very seriously. Cf. Singer, p. 317: "In beiden FSllen wird das Banale durch die Aufbl&hung seiner Bedeutsamkeit zu unangemessener Griisse entstellt und vernichtet. Doch dies ist ironisches VorgeplcLnkel. Die entscheidende Waffe wird die Ironie dann, wenn sie das Einzelne und Endliche an der Idee der Unendlichkeit misst."

^Thomas Cramer, Das Groteske bei E.T.A. Hoffmann (Mtlnchen: Fink, 1970), p. 62: "Nicht etwa nur der bornierte Philister, sondern auch der wirklichkeitsfremde TrSumer hat keinen Teil an der Erkenntnis. So wird Serapions Wahnsinn gerade damit bestimmt, dass ihm 'die Erkenntnis der DuplizitSt alles Seins' verlorengegangen sei, nicht also damit, dass er! Visionen hat, sondern dass er diese Visionen ftir die alleinige Wirklichkeit h<, ohne die Wirklichkeit eines 1htiheren Seins' anzuerkennen." In a later article, Preisendanz himself admits that the philistine cannot recognize this dualism because for him 199

the inner life remains only a function of the outer life (Cf. "Eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels," p. 428f.). So in order to conclude that Murr is capable of irony— as he does in Humor als dichterische Einbildungskraft— Preisendanz would have to believe that Murr is really not a philistine, which would contradict all the evidence in the text.

•^Singer views Murr's inflated and extravagent style as irony. After quoting two "examples" of Murr's "irony," Singer concludes: "In beiden FSllen wird das Banale durch die Aufbl&hung seiner Bedeutsamkeit zu unangemessener Grdsse entstellt und vernichtet." Murr him­ self, however, does not recognize "das Banale" as such— a recognition that would in Singer's terms be fundamental to any ironic intent on Murr's part. As Murr himself admits—^ and as his whole autobiography proves— for him there is no such thing as the banal: "Es ist nflmlich wohl hiichst merkwilrdig und lehrreich, wenn ein grosser Geist in einer Autobiographie tiber alles, was sich mit ihm in seiner Jugend begab, sollte es auch noch so unbedeutend erscheinen, recht umstSLndlich [sich] ausldsst. Kann aber wohl einem hohen Genius jemals Unbedeutendes begegnen? Alles, was er in seiner Knabenzeit unternahm oder nicht unternahm, ist von der htichsten Wichtigkeit, und verbreitet helles Licht tlber den tiefern Sinn, tiber die eigentliche Tendenz seiner unsterblichen Werke" (319). Chapter 2. Meister Abraham. Unity in Two-ness

One of the uniquely unifying elements in the double structure of Hoffmann's Kater Murr is the figure of Meister

Abraham, a third major character who functions significantly in both narrative strands and seems to be equally at home in both narrated worlds. Abraham plays surprisingly paral­ lel roles in the lives of the two protagonists: he is

Murr's master, trainer, and companion? he is Kreisler's teacher, mentor, and friend. As a character mediating the two narrative strands, Abraham performs a structural func­ tion vital to the cohesion of this double novel. In this chapter, I will examine Abraham both in his function as a persona in each strand and as a structural device between the two.

As a character in this novel, Abraham is unique: he is the only character who appears as a significant figure in both strands and, as a result, we see him portrayed from two very different perspectives. The Murr-strand offers a one-dimensional portrait of Abraham from the limited per­ spective of a, first-person autobiographer whose perspective is further limited because he is a cat, not a human being.

To the cat, Abraham is, naturally, little more than his

200 201

"lieber Meister." and Murr's portrayal of Abraham forms a backdrop for his own life and opinions. Conversely, in the

Kreisler-strand, the portrayal of Abraham shares the foreground with that of Kreisler. The one-dimensional sketch of Abraham from Murr's narrow perspective in the

Murr-strand is counterbalanced in the Kreisler-strand by the multi-dimensional portrait from the broader perspective of the Kreisler-biographer who synthesizes the perspectives of several different sources (Kreisler, Benzon, Iren&us, the townsfolk.)

Let us compare the two portrayals of Abraham using Ml and K1 as our points of departure. The reader's first en­ counter with Abraham in the novel is from Murr's perspective in Ml, where Abraham is first described by Murr as the

"hand" that frees him from a narrow container, throws him to the floor, and metes out his so-called "physische und moralische Erziehung." Later, in Kl, Abraham himself fills in the gaps in Murr1s account, adding an inner perspective on these seemingly cruel actions. He describes how he rescued Murr from the river and carried him home in his pocket (the narrow container of Murr's description).

Abraham relates that Murr scratched him when he reached into his pocket to free him. Thus, the same actions that seemed cruel from Murr's narrow perspective, are shown from the perspective of the Kreisler-strand as humane (his saving 202 Murr) and justified (he threw Murr to the floor because

Murr was scratching him!).

Murr goes on to describe the first visual impression

in his life; appropriately, Abraham is the first thing

Murr sees, which emphasizes the central role Abraham plays

in Murr's life— whether Murr fully recognizes it or not.

Murr portrays Abraham as a comfortable bourgeois in his

yellow "Schlafrock," leading a peaceful domestic life with

his pet cat;

Sogleich erschien ein kleiner hagerer alter Mann, der mir unvergesslich bleiben wird, da ich meiner ausgebreiteten Bekanntschaft unerachtet keine Gestalt, die ihm gleich oder auch nur Shnlich zu nennen, jemals wieder erblickt habe. Es trifft sich hSufig bei meinem Geschlecht, dass dieser, jener Mann einen weiss und schwarz gefleckten Pelz tr>, selten findet man aber wohl einen Menschen der schneeweisses Haupthaar haben sollte und dazu rabenschwarze Augenbraunen [sic], dies war aber der Fall bei meinem Erzieher. Der Mann trug im Hause einen kurzen hochgelben Schlafrock, vor dem ich mich entsetzte und daher, so gut es bei meiner damaligen Unbehiilflichkeit gehen wollte, von dem weichen Kissen herab, zur Seite kroch (306).

Murr's portrait of Abraham as a comfortable bourgeois (but,

in some ways frightening to the cat), is reinforced through­

out the Murr-manuscript by the details Murr records of

their life together; from Abraham's care, feeding, and

training of the kitten to his preparations to rescue his

china and Murr— in that order!— from a fire next door.' 203

Murr considers Abraham a "philistine" for his opposi­ tion to Murr's devotion to science and letters. Although

Abraham does not really believe Lothario's accusation that

Murr can read and write, he is outraged at the mere sug­ gestion that Murr could be so corrupting his simple animal nature:

"Kater, wenn ich wiisste dass du, deine ehrliche natfirliche Natur ganz und gar verleugnend, dich wirklich darauf verlegtest, solche vertrackte Verse zu machen, wie sie der Professor vorgelesen, wenn ich glauben kdnnte, dass du wirklich den Wissenschaften nachstelltest, statt den Mclusen, ich glaube, ich ktinnte dir die Ohren wund zwicken, oder gar - " (365).

Even worse, in Murr's view, is Abraham's contempt for Murr's

sonnets, and his idea of locking Murr in a cage like a cir­ cus animal to display his talents to the world:

Ich gedachte, als ich des Meisters verfllngliche Worte vernahm, der Warnung meiner unvergesslichen Mutter Mina, und wohl mich hiltend, auch nur durch das geringste Zeichen zu verraten, dass ich den Meister verstanden, nahm ich mir fest vor, auf das sorgf<igste meine Bildung zu verbergen (384).

Ironically, the same character, who in the Kreisler-strand defends that artist when he is attacked for being different,

is the spokesman for "normality" and the status quo— but for animals!— in the Murr strand! 204

In Ml, Murr sums up his knowledge of Abraham, indica­ ting that Abraham must be learned in art and science be­ cause he receives two distinguished-looking visitors who treat him with great respect— FIArst Iren&us and R&tin

Benzon:

tiberhaupt weiss ich von meinem Gfinner nur wenig zu sagen. So viel ist aber gewiss, dass er in vielen Dingen geschickt - in Wissenschaften und Klinsten hocherfahren sein musste, denn alle die zu ihm kamen (.ich bemerkte Leute darunter, die gerade da, wo mir die Natur einen gelblichen Fleck im Pelze beschert hat, d.h. auf der Brust, einen Stern Oder ein Kreuz trugen) behandelten ihn ausnehmend artig, ja zuweilen mit einer gewissen scheuen Ehrfurcht, wie ich sp&terhin den Pudel Skaramuz, und nannten ihn nicht anders, als mein hochverehrtester, mein teurer, mein gesch&tztester Meister Abraham 1 - Nur zwei Personen nannten ihn schlechtweg "Mein Lieber!" Ein grosser dttrrer Mann in papageigrhnen Hosen und weiBseidenen Strilmpfen und eine kleine sehr dicke Frau mit schwarzem Haar und einer Menge Ringe an alien Fingern. Jener Herr soli aber ein Fttrst, die Frau hingegen eine jiidische Dame gewesen sein (306f.).

Murr has been referring to Abraham as "mein Meister,” now, however, the reader learns that there are others— and human., beings, at that— who also call him "Meister." Murr senses that there is another dimension to Abraham of which he has no direct knowledge, and from the evidence given naively by Murr, the reader suspects that there is more to

Abraham's "Meisterschaft" than the Murr-strand alone can reveal. Kl, of course, confirms the suspicions aroused in 205

Ml. In view of the entire novel, Ml represents a fore­

shadowing of, or a preparation for Abraham's appearance

in the Kreisler-strand as a highly complex figure, and even,

at times, as a powerful and imposing one. Murr's naive

description contains hidden implications for and connections

to the Kreisler-strand apparent only to the reader who has read the entire novel and is in command of all the perspect­

ives. Such clues are contained elsewhere in the Murr-strand

as well. For example, in a passage already quoted in an

earlier chapter, Murr naively mentions a book by Johannes

Kunisperger that Abraham left open on his desk:

Mein Meister hatte heute den ganzen Vormittag hindurch in einem schweinsledernen Quartanten gelesen, als er sich endlich zur gewtihnlichen Stunde entfernte, liess er das Buch aufgeschlagen auf dem Tische liegen. Schnell sprang ich herauf, um neugierig, verpicht auf die Wissenschaften, wie ich nun einmal bin, zu erschnuppern, was das wohl ftir ein Buch sein kOnne, worin der Meister mit so vieler Anstrengung studiert. Es war das schtine herrliche werk des alten Johannes Kunisperger, vom nattlrlichen Einfluss der Gestirne, Planeten und zwttlf Zeichen (449).

Though Murr himself does not draw the conclusion, the read­

er recognizes in this passage the Abraham of the Kreisler-

strand, the master magician, scientist, and astrologer who reads nature's language.

In Kl, the foreshadowings of Ml are fulfilled, and

Abraham appears in his story of the "Namensfest" at the

height of his powers as a master artist, magician, 206 and scientist. In Kl, we learn from Kreisler that the superstitious townsfolk regard Abraham as a "Hexenmeister," an impression reinforced in their minds by his performance at the "Namensfest":

"HiSre" , unterbrach hier, den Meister Abraham, Johannes Kreisler, "hbre Freund, noch jetzt, unerachtet es schon ziemlich lange her ist, spricht man von dem Geburtstage der Ftirstin, dessen Feier du angeordnet hast, wie von einem dunklen Geheimnis, und gewiss hast du nach deiner gewBhnlichen Art und Weise viel Abenteuerliches begonnen. Hielt das Volk dich schon immer flir eine Art von Hexen­ meister, so scheint dieser Glaube durch jenes Fest noch urn vieles starker geworden zu sein. Sage mir nur geradezu wie sich alles begeben. Du weisst, ich war damals nicht hier (309).

Abraham is portrayed throughout the Kreisler-strand as a powerful "Meister" of the arts, the sciences, and the occult. The "Hofmarschal" and his brother view Abraham as a threat to their power at court because his

"Satanskilnste" would impress the old "Ftirst" (IrenSus' father) who liked to dabble in the occult:

"Der Mensch muss fort, ehe der Ftirst etwas von ihm erfShrt, denn sonst behalten wir den verfluchten Hexenmeister auf dem Halse, der uns mit seinen Satansktinsten alle ins Verderben sttirzt" (.329) .

Iren&us too, in moments of child-like awe, believes Abraham to be "ein tiberirdisches Wesen" possessing mysterious powers over both the natural and the supernatural realms: 207

Es gab Augenblicke in denen dem Ftirsten Iren&us zumute wurde, als sei Meister Abraham ein tiberirdisches Wesen, fiber alles was menschlich erhaben, stehe es auch noch so hoch. Man sagt, dass diese ganz besondere Empfindung von einem kritischen unvergesslichen Moment in der Jugendgeschichte des Fdrsten herrfihre (331) .

The Kreisler-biographer not only reports these characters'

views, but seems to concur with them— as does the court historiographer, his main source of information— in their belief that Abraham is in alliance with the dark powers; mainly because of his accoustical and oracular marvel,

"das unsichtbare Mcldchen":

Dasjenige Kunststfick, welches aber der Historiograph ftir das wunderbarste von alien h<, ja von dem er behauptet, dass es hinl&nglich beweise, wie Meister Abraham offenbar mit fremden unheimlichen M&chten in bedrohlichen Bunde stehe, ist indes nichts anders, als jenes akustische Zauberspiel, das spSter unter der Benennung des unsichtbaren M&dchens so viel Aufsehen gemacht, und das Meister Abraham schon damals sinnreicher, fantastischer, das Gemtit ergreifender, aufzustellen wusste, als es nachher jemals geschehen (330).

The Abraham of the Kreisler-strand is a much more

complex figure than he appears to be in the Murr-strand, not only because of the limitations of Murr's perspective

already discussed, but also because of the time-contraints of the Murr-strand; the Murr-strand spans only a few months.

The Kreisler-strand, too, spans only a short time: the

"present" time covers the few weeks that Kreisler is at Sieghartshof and part of the time he is at the monastery.

There are, however, several time levels in the Kreisler- strand in addition to the narrated "present," namely the undercurrent of the past that runs through the whole nar­ rative and the many flashbacks, both Kreisler's and

Abraham's as well as the historical summaries by the

Kreisler-biographer. Whereas the Murr-strand presents a static Abraham, namely a single stage in his life, the

Kreisler-strand presents a panorama of the dynamic, maturing Abraham. In K1 we see Abraham at the peak of his development, and in the other sections, we get a glimpse of his development over a period of years, from his youth to his old age, via the many flashbacks. Abraham's development is important to consider because of his changing significance in Kreisler's life and because of the striking parallels between Kreisler and the younger Abraham which help us to understand Kreisler better. Moreover, there are some ironic parallels between Murr's and the young

Kreisler's way of perceiving Abraham.

As a young man, Abraham had two different and seemingly incompatible reputations: as an ironic prankster and as a great organ-builder. Before ever meeting Abraham, the boy

Kreisler learns of Abraham's reputation as a prankster and forms a mental image of him as a bizarre-looking figure.

Kreisler's image of Abraham changes, however, when he hears the beautiful organ built by Abraham for the "Hauptkirche." 209

In his childish simplicity, Kreisler is convinced that an

artist capable of creating such profound beauty must be a

good and admirable person, physically beautiful, and fanci­

fully dressed. Ironically, Kreisler imagines the artist as

a handsome bourgeois dressed in the costume of a

Councillor of Commerce— the very antithesis of the true

artist as portrayed in Hoffmann's poetic world, but very

like the Abraham of Murr's perspective already discussed:

Dieses Interesse des Knaben ftlr den unbekannten Herrn Liscov steigerte sich aber bis zur htichsten anstaunenden Ehrfurcht, als er in der Hauptkirche, die der Oheim in der Regel nicht zu besuchen pflegte, zum erstenmal die mSchtigen TOne der grossen schdnen Orgel vernahm, und als der Oheim ihm sagte, niemand anders, als eben Herr Abraham Liscov, habe dies herrliche Werk verfertigt. Von diesem Augenblick an, verschwand auch das Bild, das Johannes sich von Herrn Liscov entworfen, und ein ganz anderes trat an seine Stelle. Herr Liscov musste nach des Knaben Meinung ein grosser schdner Mann sein, von stattlichem Ansehen, hell und stark sprechen, und vor alien Dingen einen pflaumfarbnen Rock tragen, mit breiten goldnen Tressen, wie der Pate Kommerzienrat, der so gekleidet ging, und vor dessen reicher Tracht der kleine Johannes den tiefsten Respekt hegte (391f.).

As it happens, Kreisler's original conception of Abraham as

a bizarre figure was more accurate. And when the boy comes

face to face with the bizarre creature of his original fan­

tasy, he reacts with a horror ironically not unlike Murr's

"Entsetzen" at first setting eyes on Abraham in his yellow

"Schlafrock": 210

Als eines Tages der Oheim mit Johannes am offnen Fenster stand, kam ein kleiner hagerer Mann die Strasse herabgeschossen, in einem Roquelaur von hellgrtinem Berkan, dessen offne Armelklappen seltsam im Winde auf und nieder flatterten. Dazu hatte er ein kleines dreieckiges Htltchen martial- isch auf die weissgepuderte Frisur gedrilckt, und ein zu langer Haarzopf schlSngelte sich herab ilber den Rticken. Er trat hart auf, dass das Strassenpflaster drdhnte, und stiess auch bei jedem zweiten Schritt mit dem langen spanischen Rohr, das er in der Hand trug, heftig auf den Boden. Als der Mann vor dem Fenster vorbeikam, warf er aus seinen funkelnden pechschwarzen Augen dem Oheim einen stechenden Blick zu, ohne seinen Gruss zu erwidern. Dem kleinen Johannes bebte es eiskalt durch alle Glieder, und zugleich war es ihm zumute, als milsse er tiber den Mann entsetzlich lachen, und kdinne nur nicht dazu kommen, weil ihm die Brust so beengt (392).

Whereas Murr had no preconceived notion of what Abraham should look like, Kreisler reacts with horrified confusion at the uncanniness of this fantastic creature from his imagination finding its double in reality. Kreisler is also confused by Abraham's cruel pranks, such as pulling the piano stool out from under the boy and then laughing at him when he falls to the floor. Kreisler perceives the incon­ gruity between Abraham's reputation as an artist and his bizarre appearance and behavior: "'Ei, lieber Onkel, das ist nicht der geschickte KiAnstler, der die schfine Orgel gebaut hat, er kann es nicht sein, denn dieser hier ist ja ein alberner Mensch, der sich betrflgt, wie ein ungezogner

Bube!"' (393).1 211

Like his historical namesake, Ludwig Liscov (1701-1760),

Abraham is a satirist. Abraham revels in "verhtthnender

Spott" and has not yet achieved the level of "versiJhnender

Humor" which characterizes his later years:

Ein durchdringender Verstand, ein tiefes Gemtit, eine ungewShnliche Erregbarkeit des Geistes, alles das waren anerkannte Vorzttge des Orgelbauers. Was man aber Humor zu nennen beliebte, war nicht jene seltne wunderbare Stiimnung des Gemilts, die aus der tieferen Anschauung des Lebens in all seinen Bedingnissen, aus dem Kampf der feindlichsent Prinzipe sich erzeugt, sondern nur das entschied ene Gefilhl des Ungehttrigen, gepaart mit dem Talent es ins Leben zu schaffen, und der Notwendigkeit der eignen bizarren Erscheinung. Dies war die Grundlage des verhdhnenden Spottes, den Liscov ilberall ausstrfimen liess, der Schadenfreude, mit der er alles als ungehttrig Erkannte rastlos verfolgte bis in die geheimsten Winkel (394) .

The young Abraham Liscov is very much like the adult

Kreisler in this regard— but unlike Abraham, Kreisler never is able to achieve true humor.2

In spite of Kreisler's initial horror and shock, or perhaps because of it, Abraham is able to win Kreisler's affection and open up a whole new world to him; from the moment of their first meeting Abraham has a special affec­ tion for the boy: "Seit diesem Augenblick zeigte sich des

Orgelbauers entschiedene Vorliebe filr den Knaben. Beinahe t&glich kam er ins Haus, und wusste den Knaben bald ftir sich zu gewinnen, indem er ihm eine ganze neue bunte Welt erschloss, in der sich sein reger Geist mutiger und freier bewegen konnte" (393f.).3 Abraham not only nurtures

Kreisler's creative spirit, but also initiates Kreisler into the mysteries of "das Seltsame" with the gifts that he was in the habit of bringing the boy on each visit:

"Schon, als Johannes noch ein Kind, pflegte Liscov bei jedem Besuch ihm irgend etwas Seltsames mitzubringen" (39 5) .

Under Abraham's tutelage Kreisler also studies "natural magic"— which for the Romantics included such mysterious natural phenomena as Mesmerism and optical and accoustical illusions— by having him assist in certain experiments in optics and alchemy: ". . .so wurde der erwachsene Knabe bald mit diesem, bald mit jenem (iberraschenden Kunststiick aus der nattlrlichen Magie erfreut, so half der Jilngling optische Maschinen bauen, sympathetische Tinten kochen u.s.w." (395). In short, "der wunderliche Orgelbauer"

(394) expands Kreisler's world to include the realm of the fantastic, "das wunderlich Wunderbare," to exercise the artist's vision, "das serapiontische Schauen."

Eventually, however, Abraham is forced by his failing health to give up organ building.^ To make a living, he leaves GOnittnesmtihl and Kreisler to travel " 'tiberall als

Mechaniker aufzutreten, und den Leuten die artigsten Kunst- stiicke vorzumachen1 " (440). Abraham becomes an apprentice to the magician Severino, but never fully abandons his art; he builds Severino a "Wasserorgel." After Severino's death

Abraham destroys most of his machines and discovers the 213 gypsy girl Chiara, the secret of Severino’s greatest trick,

"das unsichtbare McLdchen," whom Abraham frees and leaves with trusted friends. Abraham changes his name to Severino and travels to Naples exhibiting his own mechanical and accoustical marvels (635).5 This stage of Abraham's life parallels his earlier period as a journeyman organ-builder— only now his art is magic and his "Kunststiicke" are not organs but equally wonderful mechanical, optical, and accoustical machines.

When Abraham decides to return to GflniiJnesmilhl and resume his career as an organ-builder, fate again compells him to do otherwise; he is forced by circumstance to remain a "Taschenspieler":

Ein Jahr war vergangen, ich wollte zurtlck nach Gftnitinesmiihl, wo der Hochlttbliche Magistrat die Reparatur der Stadtorgel von mir verlangte, aber der Himmel hatte ein besonderes Wohlgefalien daran, mich als Taschenspieler hinzustellen vor den Leuten, und gab daher einem verfluchten Spitzbuben die Macht, meine BiJrse, in der mein ganzer Reichtum befindlich, zu stehlen, und mich so zu zwingen, noch als berdhmter mit vielen Attesten und Konzessionen versehender, Mechaniker, Kiinste zu machen des ntttigen Proviants halber - Das geschah an einem firtchen unfern Sieghartsweiler (445f.).

Upon her return to Abraham, Chiara gives him Severino's magic book and offers to play "das unsichtbare M&dchen" for him. With the mastery of this "trick" Abraham achieves a higher level of "Zauberkunst" than he, or even Severino himself, had ever attained. Severino had used artificial means, i.e. the inflicting of pain through operations similar to those of Mesmer, to put Chiara in her clair­ voyant trances. Abraham, by contrast— enhancing his own knowledge with that contained in Severino's magic book— practices natural magic: he has Chiara herself tell him when she would be able to enter her trance, and only then does he present the wonder to his audience: "'Sie deutete mir selbst Zeit und Stunde an, wenn sie sich f&hig filhlte, oder vielmehr ftthlen wtirde, die Rolle der Unsichtbaren zu spielen, und nur dann sprach mein Orakel'" (447). Abraham' conception of "das Wunderbare" differs from Severino's, or even Kreisler's view. Years later, in the single instance in the novel where Abraham puts into words his knowledge of "das Wunderbare, he tells Kreisler that nothing in the world occurs naturally; there are secret underlying causes for all seemingly natural phenomena which remain forever in explicable. Abraham reacts in anger at Kreisler's disap­ pointment that what he thought was his "Doppelg3nger" was really "only" one of Abraham's "tricks," the "Astrallampe."

Abraham explains to Kreisler that his best "Kunststtick"

"das unsichtbare Mcldchen" is really more than just a

"trick," that even the simplest mechanism can align itself with the most mysterious wonders of nature and produce effects which are unexplainable: 215

"Natilrlich! - natilrlich", rief Meister Abraham, "als ein Mann von ziemlichen Verstande, solltet Ihr doch einsehen, dass nichts in der Welt natilrlich zugeht, gar nichts! - Oder glaubt Ihr, werter Kapellmeister, dass deshalb, weil wir mit uns zu Gebote stehenden Mitteln eine bestimmte Wirkung hervorzubringen ver- mfigen, uns die aus dem geheimnisvollen Organism str&mende Ursache der Wirkung klar vor Augen liegt? - Ihr habt doch sonst vielen Respekt vor meinen Kunststilcken gehabt, unerachtet Ihr die Krone davon niemals schautet." - "Ihr meint das unsichtbare Mfldchen", sprach Kreisler. "Allerdings", fuhr der Meister fort, "eben dieses Kunststilck - es ist wohl mehr als das - wilrde Euch bewiesen haben, dass die gemeinste am leichtesten zu berechnende Mechanik oft mit den geheimnisvollsten Wundern der Natur in Beziehung treten, und dann Wirkungen hervorbringen kann, die unerklflrlich - selbst dies Wort im gewfihnlichen Sinn genommen, bleiben milssen" (4 39) .

"Das unsichtbare M&dchen" becomes Abraham's

"Meisterstiick"; he gives up the name Severino and becomes renowned as Meister Abraham. He goes to Sieghartshof where he is made "maitre de plaisir” at the court of IrenSus" father. After a time, however, Abraham longs to return to

Gfiniilnesmilhl to live with Chiara, who has become his wife, and devote his life to organ-building. For a third time, however, fate upsets his plans: Chiara disappears without a trace and so Abraham in his grief is unable to return to his art. He remains in Sieghartshof as the court magician, where he gains his reputation as Meister Abraham. 216

Abraham's role in Murr's life is generally a parodistic or humorous parallel of his role in Kreisler's early life.

Abraham's educating the young artist Kreisler is humorously paralleled in the training and care of his pet cat Murr.

Abraham nutures Kreisler's creativity and tries to disci­ pline Kreisler to control his creative fire which threatens to consume him and perpetuate his alienation from society; as he teaches Murr to control his natural instincts that are intolerable to human beings, such as scratching, so

Abraham's training of the artist Kreisler is likened, in a humorous irony, to the domestication of a cat. Abraham attempts to direct the destiny of both his proteges: he re­ directs Murr's activities when they seem detrimental to his simple and uncorrupt feline nature. For example, Abraham encourages Murr to abandon his "unnatural" (i.e. for a cat) solitary life to socialize with other cats. Abraham inter­ cedes on Kreisler's behalf at critical moments in his crea­ tive life. For example, Abraham writes Kreisler urging him to resign his post as Legation Councillor when Abraham senses that this position is stifling Kreisler's creativity.

Whereas Abraham inititated the young Kreisler into the realm of creative spirit, the realm of "das Wunderbare," he tries to prevent Murr's access to the same realm because Murr is a cat. Recall Abraham's outrage at Lothario's claim that

Murr can read and write and his subsequent barring of Murr

from his study. Abraham nurtures Kreisler's spiritual life 217 and Murr's physical life. He sees to it that each culti­ vates his individual nature: Kreisler his artistic nature,

Murr his animal nature. To Abraham's way of thinking, a cat who reads and writes is a corruption of nature.

Thus, we see that not only is Abraham1s portrayal in the two strands very different— in the Murr-strand as a one-dimensional and static figure; in the Kreisler-strand as a multi-dimensional, complex and changing character— but his role in the lives of the two protagonists is often an­ tithetical— there are many parallels, but the contrasts are more numerous than the similarities. Abraham is portrayed as a "Meister" figure in both strands, but a "Meister" of very different sorts. In the Murr-strand, we see him only in his function as an animal's master. In the Kreisler- strand Abraham appears as a master in the fullest sense of the term: as a master artist, scientist, and magician.

But, and here is the irony, Abraham succeeds as master in

Murr’s world in that he rescues Murr and controls his life, but he fails in his most important undertaking, as master of

Kreisler's world— he can neither control Kreisler's destiny nor save Kreisler from his seemingly inevitable insanity.

The "Namensfest" represents Abraham's final attempt to mold Kreisler's destiny. Abraham orchestrates the

"Namensfest" to be the turning point in Kreisler's life— either his salvation or his destruction, as Abraham tells 218

Kreisler in Kl:

"Erfahre es jetzt Johannes, ich hafae tief in dein Inneres geschaut und das gef&hrliche - bedrohliche Gemeimnis erkannt, das darin ruht, ein g&render Vulkan, in jedem Augenblick vermttgend loszubrechen in verderblichen Flammen, rticksichtslos alles um sich her verzehrend! - Es gibt Dinge in unserm Innern, die sich so gestalten, dass die vertrautesten Freunde dartiber nicht reden dttrfen. Darum verhehlte ich dir sorglich was ich in dir erschaut, aber mit jenem Fest, dessen tieferer Sinn nicht die Filrstin, sondern eine andere geliebte Person und dich selbst traf, wollte ich dein ganzes Ich gewaltsam erfassen. Die verborgensten Qualen sollten lebendig werden in dir, und wie aus dem Schlaf erwachte Furien mit verdoppelter Kraft deine Brust zerfleischen. Wie einem zum Tode Siechen sollte Arznei, dem Orkus selbst entnommen, die im stSrksten Paroxysmus kein weiser Arzt scheuen darf, dir den Tod bereiten Oder Genesung! - Wisse Johannes, dass der Ftlrstin Namenstag zusammentrifft mit dem Namenstag Julias, die auch wie sie Maria, geheissen" (309f.).

Kreisler, recognizing Abraham's hubris in trying to usurp the power of fate, reacts with rage and mocking irony:

"'Ha!' rief Kreisler indem er, zehrendes Feuer im Blick, aufsprang, 'ha! - Meister! ist dir die Macht gegeben mit mir freches htthnendes Spiel zu treiben? - Bist du das

Verh&ngnis selbst, dass du mein Inneres erfassen magst?"'

(310). Abraham intended the "Namensfest" to be the turning point in Kreisler's life, but instead it becomes, as a re­ sult of Kreisler's absence, the turning point not only in

Murr's life, as already shown in Part One, but in Abraham's 219 life as well. After narrating the events of the

"Namensfest" to Kreisler, Abraham reveals an insight similar to Kreisler's initial horrified reaction to Abraham's description of his plan for the "Namensfest"; Abraham is able to analyze and evaluate his experience. The shock at the failure of the "Namensfest" prepares Abraham for his moment of insight. At the "Namensfest" Abraham finally experiences the limitations of his power and, in narrating the experience to Kreisler several months later in Kl,

Abraham is able to acknowledge openly his own human limita­ tions. Abraham had overreached his power, committed an act of hubris, and, in his failure to mold Kreisler's destiny, comes to the painful realization that he is not omnipotent, that he cannot assume the role of fate in the life of another human being. The very fact that Abraham is capable of narrating these events indicates that he has matured and changed since the "Namensfest." Abraham tells Kreisler that only after the "Namensfest" did he recognize the danger of his undertaking. Abraham was horrified that he could have even attempted such a dangerous project:

"Du, mein Johannes, erftilltest mein Inneres so ganz und gar, dass ich glaubte, du wilrdest gleich von mir aufsteigen aus dem Grabhtigel verlorner Hoffnungen, unerftillter TrSume, und an meine Brust sinken. Nun in der Stille der Nacht kam der Gedanke, was ftir ein Spiel ich unternommen, wie ich gewaltsam den Knoten, den das dunkle Verhclngnis geschlungen, zerreissen wollen, aus meinem 220

Innern herausgetreten, fremdartig, in anderer Gestaltung, auf mich los, und indem mich kalte Schauer durchbebten, war ich es selbst, vor dem ich mich entsetzen musste" (316).

The distance gained through the act of retrospective narra­ tion allows Abraham to observe himself and his plan with critical detachment. The ’'Namensfest,'’ the event central to the structure of the novel itself, never occurs directly on the level of the narrated events, but rather is narrated by one of the fictional characters on a detached level (a nar­ rated time within the narrated time), as a conscious artistic device: Abraham's own subjective, retrospective analysis of the "Namensfest" establishes its significance for the lives of all three characters.

When he could not save Kreisler, instead of breaking out in bitter irony as he would have done as a young man,

Abraham performs an act of humanity: he saves a kitten g from drowning, an act which makes the novel possible.

This discrepancy in levels of actions and events, from

Abraham's wanting to save Kreisler, to the level of saving a drowning kitten has a generally humorous effect. And the fact that Abraham is capable of saving Murr after his bitter defeat shows him to be a much more mature "Meister" who has a sense of modesty and true humor. Thus, as a re­ sult of the failure of the "Namensfest," Abraham has attained wisdom and true humor. The "verhfihnender Spott" which characterized the young Abraham Liscov is replaced by 221

"versfihnender Humor," which becomes all the more evident in light of Abraham's humorous remarks about Murr— remarks which in view of the entire novel possess an irony of which even Abraham is unaware:

"Der Kater Murr", unterbrach Meister Abraham den Freund, "tr&umt nicht allein sehr lebendig, sondern er gerS.t auch, wie deutlich zu bemerken, h&ufig in in jene sanfte Reverien, in das trSumerische Hinbrtiten, in das somnambule Delirieren, kurz in jenen seltsamen Zustand zwischen Schlafen und Wachen, der poetischen Gemtitern fiir die Zeit des eigentlichen Empfanges genialer Gedanken gilt. In diesem Zustande sttthnt und Schzt er seit kurzer Zeit ganz ungemein, so, dass ich glauben muss, dass er entweder in Liebe ist, oder an einer TragdJdie arbeitet" (319) .

To summarize: Abraham undergoes a development from a bizarre, bitterly sarcastic and ironic figure to a wise and humorous artist; from an ironist who deals in discordances

to a humorist who seeks to establish harmony in his own life and in Kreisler's and Murr's as well. Abraham's development

is mirrored in his name changes: from Abraham Liscov the

satirist, to Severino the "Taschenspieler," to Meister

Abraham the master in the arts, as well as in natural magic; who before his encounter with Murr, overestimates his power, and in his failure to solve the Kreisler-enigma, achieves

the liberating realization of his own limitations, and with

this insight grows in wisdom and in humor.

That Hoffmann aligns Meister Abraham with the other master-figures who try to play the role of destiny in another person's life is corroborated by Abraham's attire.

As mentioned already, Murr describes Abraham wearing "einen kurzen hochgelben Schlafrock" (306). Although this image of the burgher in his "Schlafrock" contrasts sharply with the wrathful, god-like figure sounding the trumpet in the midst of the thunderstorm that ends the "Namensfest" in chaos, they are not as incongruous as they seem. The

"Schlafrock" is the typical vestment of the "Mclrchenmeister" and at least one other figure who plays destiny, Councillor

Krespel. In several of the tales, the master figures wear a brightly colored "Schlafrock" which at times magically turns into a "Kfinigsmantel." As Vitt-Maucher maintains with reference to Archivarius Lindhorst, Magus Hermod, and

Prosper Alpanus: "... alle drei als Vertreter eines hOheren Prinzips mit tibermenschlicher Macht ausgestattet, tragen verschiedentlich— sogar zu recht feierlichen 8 Anlclssen— einen eindrucksvollen Schlafrock." An association arises between the "Schlafrock" and the powerful figure clothed in it, and the "Schlafrock" becomes a symbol of the character's intermediary position bridging the supernatural and the natural realms. Where Councillor Krespel and

Meister Abraham— both mere mortals— fail in their attempt to control destiny, the "Marchenmeister" succeed. Krespel and

Abraham are limited by their human nature, and the ironic parallel between them and the "Marchenmeister" becomes clear: 223

Die ironische Parallele zu Krespel ergibt sich daraus, dass auch diese mSchtigen Zauber-Gestalten leitend und helfend in menschliche LebenslcLufe eingreifeny bei diesen hohen Herren gehdrt es jedoch gewissermassen zum 'Metier', Schicksal zu spielen. Im Falle des Kilnstler-Juristen Krespel hingegen, der als menschliches Wesen notwending in der Begrenzung des Irdischen befangen ist, bedeutet das Spielen dieser Rolle Anmassung und Verwegenheit.°

Even the length of Abraham's "Schlafrock" has a deeper sig­ nificance: unlike the omnipotent "Marchenmeister," Abraham wears "einen kurzen Schlafrock," possibly symbolizing the

limitations of his power.

Another important difference between Meister Abraham and

the "Marchenmeister" concerns his relationship to the pro­

tagonist. Meister Abraham and the "Mflrchenmeister" have very different reasons for exerting influence on the hero.

The "Marchenmeister" attempt to draw the hero deeper into

their magic realm, or the so-called "neue Welt";^ Meister

Abraham, by contrast, does not try to draw Kreisler deeper

into "die neue Welt" to which he had introduced him as a

child, but, among other things, to intercede in the old world, the realm of everyday, empirical reality in order to

restructure things so that Kreisler can exist in harmony

with himself and society, as^ well as in the realm of crea­

tive spirit, without succumbing to the dark forces within

him. And as already shown, Abraham tries to bar Murr1s 224 admittance to this spiritual realm by preventing his reading and writing.

By way of summary: Abraham performs a structural function vital to the cohesion and unity of this "divided” novel. Abraham functions significantly— both thematically and structurally— in both narrative strands and in the novel as a whole: He orchestrates the "Namensfest," the structural nucleus of the novel from which the dual spatial-temporal planes evolve. At the "Namensfest," Abraham saves the kit­ ten Murr's life, the act that ultimately makes the novel possible. ^ Finally, after narrating the story of the

"Namensfest," to Kreisler in Kl, Abraham gives Murr to

Kreisler; thereby introducing Murr into the Kreisler-world, bringing Kreisler face to face with his alter-ego, and, through this meeting, reconciling and synthesizing for a brief moment the two diverse narrative worlds. Abraham thus effects the consecutive, or causal connection necessary to the unity of any double novel, as defined earlier. More­ over, Abraham's appearance as a significant character in both narrative strands and his surprisingly parallel role in the lives of both protagonists forms a single and constant thread that runs through the entire novel, knitting together the two discrete narrative strands.

Abraham is the single character who bridges the two narrated worlds in every way. Abraham represents the inner solution to the schizophrenic split in the novel. He manages 225 to live in both worlds, in both the world of everyday reality and the realm of artistic creativity. Whereas the juxtaposition of the characters Murr and Kreisler results in an overall ironic tension, within Abraham1s character these extremes are reconciled in humor. Abraham has achieved the level of humor which reconciles and harmonizes

TO opposites. Even though Abraham experiences deeply "die

Duplizitht alles Seins" as does Kreisler, unlike Kreisler

Abraham makes the compromises necessary to establish a semblance of harmony in his life and being: he marries

Chiara and becomes a "Naturkilnstler." But he ultimately pays a tremendous price: he gives up his art of organ- building and loses his wife Chiara as a result of court in­ trigue. Unlike Murr, whose grasp on empirical reality is so firm as to preclude the "other world," and Kreisler, who like Serapion is in danger of losing contact with reali­ ty and becoming lost in the realm of creative fantasy,

Abraham discovers the realm of spirit in nature. Kreisler1s artistic medium is the most spiritual of art forms: music,

Abraham's medium is the most tangible: nature. In a sense,

Abraham is a more profound artist figure than Kreisler— he opts for existence in the real world while serving both worlds. He gives up music but not art altogether. His art is "Zauberkunst," natural magic. His optical and mechanical illusions serves as windows to "das Wunderbare"; he can read the hieroglyphics of nature. 226

Kater Murr represents Hoffmann's final pessimistic statement on the artist's condition. The artist is doomed by his very nature to suffer under "die Duplizit&t seines poetischen Seins" (520) and to be alienated from and misun­ derstood by society, like Kreisler. To achieve some sort of inner peace the artist must pay a great price; he must sac­ rifice his art and allow himself to be used by society, as Abraham does as court magician. The artist can either attack society with bitter irony as Kreisler does, or learn to laugh, to react with humor, albeit a pessimistic humor, at the impossibility of existing harmoniously in both the empirical realm and the realm of creative spirit, as Abraham does. Abraham finds a modus vivendi, not an ideal solution, but a way of coping in which humor is the vital ingredient.

By means of the "Namensfest," Abraham hoped to help Kreisler achieve salvation through the love of Julia, but his plan fails; the artist remains beyond true salvation.

In the description of his masterplan for the

"Namensfest,” Abraham's choice of words contains hidden implications for Hoffmann's masterplan for the novel itself, a description which could be applied to Abraham's own func­ tion in the novel's structure:

"Den Moment des lclppischen Blumenbewerfens hatte ich gew&hlt, um den unsichtbaren Faden festzukntifpen, der sich nun durch das ganze Fest ziehen und, wie ein elektrischer Leiter, das Innerste der Personen durchbeben sollte, die ich mit 227

meinem geheimnisvollen geistigen Apparat, in den sich der Faden verlor, mir in Rapport gesetzt denken musste" (Kl, 313).

Abraham's image of his securing "den unsichtbaren Faden" that runs through the whole "Namensfest" anticipates the biographer's remarks in K3 about the structure of the

Kreisler-biography, in which he maintains that all the parts are held together by "ein fester durchlaufender Faden":

Wie es eigentlich mit der Mitteilung dieser Nachrichten herging, sollst du, sehr lieber Leser! noch vor dem Schlusse des Buchs erfahren, und dann wirst du vielleicht das rhapsodische Wesen der Ganzen [sic] entschuldigen, vielleicht aber auch meinen, dass, trotz des Anscheins der Abgerissenheit, doch ein fester durchlaufender Faden alle Teile zusammenhalte (K3, 336).

The fictitious editor, too, at the very beginning of the novel, as we already saw, implies that there is an under­ lying unity and coherence to this seemingly chaotic novel:

Keinem Buche ist ein Vorwort nfitiger, als gegenwclrtigem, da es, wird nicht erkl&rt, auf welche wunderliche Weise es sich zusammengeftigt hat, als ein zusammengewttrfeltes Durcheinander erscheinen dtirfte (297) .

This motif of the inherent order in seeming chaos is thus repeated on several levels in the novel. Abraham, not on the level of narrating, but in his own life, displays inten­ tions similar to those of the narrators (and Hoffmann him­ self) : to find the principle that lends order to chaos. The way he organizes the "Namensfest," whose surface chaos conceals hidden structure and meaning, aligns him with the structural procedures of the novel itself; and, within the structure of the novel, Abraham himself is one of the unifying elements, "der feste durchlaufende Faden, der alle Teile zusammenhalte." Notes to III. 2

1 Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 526: "Sein Betragen dem jungen Johannes Kreisler gegentiber ist grob-komisch und dissoniert scharf mit seinem Ruf als geschickter Ktinstler."

^Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 526: "In Meister Abraham— einer der bedeutendsten Figuren in Hoffmanns Gesamtwerk— ziegt Hoffmann Wesen und Weg zum wahren Humor als konstruktive Lebenshaltung fiir den innerlich zerrissenen Menschen."

•^With Meister Abraham, Hoffmann has fictionally transfigured an historical person, his own music teacher Christian Podbielski, the organist of the "Domkirche," into a figure who has dominion and power over both the world of reality and the realm of creative spirit.

^Abraham later explains to Irendus why Hector had called him "Severino": "'Unter diesem Namen. . . liess ich in Neapel meine optische und mechanische Kunststticke sehen1" (635).

5Art has become a life-threatening phenomenon for Abraham just as it is for Antonia (Rat Krespel) whose sing­ ing ultimately causes her death.

®See Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 527: "Der reife Abraham kann deshalb am Ende in echt humorvoller Gefasstheit den Misserfolg jenes von ihm sorgfclltig orchestrierten Festes ertragen und erzMhlen, durch welches er Johannes zu erlttsen, ihm 'Tod oder Genesung' zu bereiten hoffte. Mehr noch: es erwflchst ihm aus diesem Fehlschlag die entscheidende, befreiende Erkenntnis, dass er ein gef&hrliches, anmassendes Spiel unternommen hatte, mit der Absicht, 'gewaltsam den Knoten, den das dunke Verh&ngnis geschlungen,' zuzerreissen. Diese schmerzliche Erkenntnis menschlichen Ungentlgens endet nun nicht mehr in schneidend bitterem Ausbruch des Spottes, sondern in einer triistlichen wunderbaren Stimmung des Gemttts und in einem Akt mensch- licher Gilte, die als komischer Antiklimax in den warmen Farben des echten Humors leuchtet: Rettung einas er- trinkenden K&tzchens . . . Das Misslingen seines anmassenden

229 230

ErlSsungsprojektes verweist ihn zurilck in die Schranken menschlichen Rettungsvermttgens. Wunderbar sinnvoll-und ein subtiles Beispiel filr das Wirken romantischer ktlnstlerischer Xronie— ist diese anscheinend unbedeutende Tat ausschlaggebend mit der Struktur des Gesaratromans verwoben: denn die erst ermiJglicht es dem K&tzchen, als Kater Murr seine Lebensansichten der Nachwelt zu iibergeben."

7See Vitt-Maucher, "Welt," p. 526: "In Meister Abraham— einer der bedeutendsten Figuren in Hoffmanns Gesamtwerk— zeigt Hoffmann Wesen und Weg zum wahren Humor als konstruktive Lebenshaltung ftir den innerlich zerrissenen Menschen." g Vitt-Maucher, "Hoffmanns Rat Krespel und der Schlafrock Gottes," Monatshefte, 64 (1972) 1, p. 52.

9Vitt-Maucher, "Rat Krespel," p. 52f.

l^For an excellent study of Hoffmann's "Mclrchen- meister," see Christa Maria Beardsley, E.T.A. Hoffmann. Die Gestalt des Meisters in seinen MSrchen (Bonn: Bouvier, 1975): "Die Studie zeigt, dass die Meister jeweils bestrebt sind, den Schiitzling tiefer in die neue Welt, von der sie ihnen mit Hilfe des Mittels anfangs eine Probe gaben, hineinzulocken. Sie wollen, dass sie diese neue Welt genauso ernst nehmen und als RealitSt annerkennen, wie ihre eigene Person als Meister" (p. 85).

^See note 6.

12Cf. Terras, p. 558: "Der fiir Hoffmann speziell bezeichnende Zug ist die Art und Weise, in der die Ironie als kontrapunktisches Kompositions- und Stilprinzip wirkt. Die Dissonanzen seiner Ironie sollen sich— wie die seines Dualismus!— letzten Endes in der hiiheren Harmonie des Humors auflflsen." Conclusion

As we have seen, Hoffmann's works, from the beginning, reflect a tendency to describe the world in terms of double phenomena; and the double novel Kater Murr represents the climax in Hoffmann's tendency to divide a total problem into two seemingly related problems. There were other Romantic novelists prior to Hoffmann whose works reveal a dualistic vision. Schlegel's Lucinde (1799), Brentano's Godwi oder das steinerne Bild der Mutter. Ein verwildeter Roman von

Maria (i801), and Jean Paul's Fleqeljahre. Eine Biographie

(1804/05), for example, deal with double phenomena and, although not double novels as such, have a double structure.

Each of these novels in its own way breaks the ground for

Hoffmann's experimental novel, Kater Murr.

With Lucinde, Schlegel was one of the first major writers to break with the traditional epic form of narration exemplified in Goethe's Wilhelm Meister. Lucinde is not a continuous and chronologically structured narrative, but a collection of many non-epic pieces: letters, philosophical tracts, reflections. Unlike Wilhelm Meister, where the non­ epic elements are integrated into the whole, the non-epic pieces in Lucinde stand on their own.^ Lucinde exemplifies

231 232

Schlegel's conception of art as "kilnstlich geordnete

Verwirrung"; it is an arabesque novel, a double structure 2 in which opposites are combined. The outer structure of

Lucinde is double: the novel consists of a framework and an inner piece that mirror each other thematically and formal­ ly: the middle piece, an epic narrative "Die Lehrjahre der

M&nnlichkeit" framed on both sides by six non-epic pieces each. Double structures occur within the frame as well: ten of the twelve pieces comprising the frame consist of two parts.

A subtler form of double structure manifests itself in the inner structure of the novel. Lucinde is a "novel of the novel." In other words, it is both a novel and a theory of the novel. As Schlegel maintains in Der Brief tiber den

Roman, a valid theory of the novel must itself be a novel:

"Eine solche Theorie des Romans wtlrde selbst ein Roman sein miissen, der jeden ewigen Ton der Fantasie fantastisch wiedergS.be, und das Chaos der Ritterwelt noch einmal verwirrte." In Kater Murr, the narrators reflect on their own act of narration, but, unlike Lucinde, with the result

that their methods of narration are ironically called into question. The influence of Lucinde on Hoffmann's structuring

technique in Kater Murr is clear in Julius' letter to

Lucinde that opens the novel. He announces his decision

to transform the "accident" that prevented his narrating 233 the story "in klaren und wahren Perioden” into a conscious narrative technique:

Doch will ich als ein gebildeter Liebhaber und Schriftsteller versuchen, den rohen Zufall zu bilden und ihn zum Zwecke gestalten. Fiir mich und fiir diese Schrift, filr meine Liebe zu ihr und ftir ihre Bildung in sich, ist aber kein Zweck zweckm&ssiger als der, dass ich gleich anfangs das was wir Ordnung nennen vernichte, weit von ihr entferne und mir das Recht einer reizenden Verwirrung deutlich zueigne und durch die Tat behaupte. Dies ist urn so nfltiger, da der Stoff, den unser Leben und Lieben meinem Geiste und meiner Feder gibt, so unaufhaltsam progressiv und so unbiegsam systematisch ist. . Ich gebrauche also mein unbezweifeltes Verwirrungsrecht und setze Oder stelle hier ganz an die unrechte Stelle eines von den vitien zerstreuten BIHttern die ich aus Sehnsucht und Ungeduld . . . anfUllte oder verdarb, und die du Gute, ohne dass ich es wusste, sorgsam bewahrtest.4

Schlegel thus— as does Hoffmann after him— elevates the will of the poet ("mein unbezweifeltes Verwirrungsrecht") and the

Romantic mode of perceiving the world to a formal narrative principle.^

Godwi, too, is a novel whose highest law is the will or whim of the poet, as indicated in the subtitle: "Ein verwildeter Roman von Maria." Godwi divides into two dis­

tinct parts, one a non-epic narrative and the other an epic one: the first half is an epistolary novel and the second a first-person novel. The second part mirrors and, in some ways, ironically undercuts the first part by expanding and correcting it. Part one opens with a dedication and a foreword by the fictitious author Maria. Part two opens with a second foreword that forms the midpoint and the transition between the two novels. In this foreword,

Maria describes the genesis of part one— Godwi's friend

Rftmer engaged Maria to arrange the letters thematically for publication— and of part two— Maria wanted to continue the novel from the point where the letters left off, so he goes to Godwi for help. Part two has an inner double structure: it is a novel about writing this novel, i.e. it is both the story of Godwi's life and of the writing of the novel: Godwi and Maria discuss part one, Godwi critiques Maria's character portrayals, and Godwi reads to him from his personal papers and shows him the places and things mentioned in part one.

When Maria dies, the main character, Godwi, takes over writing the novel, just as the fictitious editor of Kater

Murr intervenes upon Murr's death announcing the continuation of the novel— even though he never carries out his plan.

Similar to Murr and Kreisler, the two main characters of Godwi, Godwi and RiJmer, relate to each other as opposites.

Godwi is an artist and a dreamer; Rflmer a merchant and a realist. Neither understands the other: RiJmer criticizes

Godwi for being an adventurer (4th letter) and Godwi chides

RiJmer for being a philistine: "Bleibe nur immer auf deiner geehrten Mittelstrasse, schneckenfttrmig und schneckenlangsam windet sie sich, wie die Langeweile durch eure Freundschaft, um die Berge und Teller eurer Laufbahn."^ As Godwi implies, 235 their antithetical relationship effects a tension and seeming lack of coherence between their letters— and within the structure of part one: "'Unsre Briefe kdJnnen sich nicht mehr beantworten, denn wo du glilhst, starre ich, und bin ich n nur erwcLrmt, so schmilzst du schon."

Like Schlegel and Brentano, Jean Paul works with con­ trasting structural elements and double phenomena. In Die

Vorschule der Aesthetik, Jean Paul theorizes on the dual- istic technique of combining extreme opposites in art, and in his novel Flegeljahre, he illustrates this idea. The inner double structure of Flegeljahre derives in part from the contrast-harmony of the opposite characters Walt and

Vult.® Walt is a poet and a dreamer; Vult a musician and an ironic realist. The twins Walt and Vult decide to write a novel together, a "Doppel-Roman" called "Flegeljahre Oder

Hoppelpoppel Oder das Herz." In keeping with their opposite personalities, Walt writes the lyrical parts of the

"Doppel-Roman" (e.g. his "Streckverse") and Vult writes the satirical digressions, his so-called "Schwanzsterne." In their effort to synthesize their opposite talents, they move in together while working on the double novel. Vult soon realizes that they are unable to live together in har­ mony because neither comprehends the other— an insight he expresses in a letter to Walt that sounds similar to ^the letter from Godwi to RiJmer quoted above: 236

Wir beide waren uns einander ganz aufgetan, sowie zugetan ohnehin; uns so durchsichtig wie eine Glastilr; aber Bruder, vergebens schreibe ich aussen ans Glas meinen Charakter mit leserlichen Charakteren: Du kannst doch innen, weil sie umgekehrt erscheinen, nichts lesen und sehen als das Umgekehrte. Und so bekommt die ganze Welt fast immer sehr lesbare, aber umgekehrte Schrift zu lesen.^

Vult moves out, and their "Doppelroman" remains a fragment.

Flegeljahre is thus two stories in one: the story of the fulfillment of the testament and the story of the relation­ ship of Walt and Vult and the writing of their "Doppel-

Roman ."

With its fuller exploitation of the double novel form,

Kater Murr represents the climax in the tendency toward double structures in the history of the Romantic novel.

Lucinde, Godwi, and Flegeljahre with their own peculiar double structures are forerunners of the double novel form exemplified in Kater Murr, the first true double novel in

German literature. In conclusion, two questions must be answered: Why did

Hoffmann choose the form he did for his last major work, and what does the use of the double novel form enable the artist to express which a more conventional novel form is not capable of expressing? Perhaps part of the answer can be

found in a technique Jean Paul used in writing Flegeljahre.

Jean Paul worked on Flegeljahre and Titan (1800/03) simulta­ neously "urn sich durch solche 'Wechselschreiberei' zu erholen und zu stclrken.1,10 He even considered combining 237 these two very different novels and publishing them as a single work. 3-1 Jean Paul later abandoned this idea, how­ ever, and published the two novels separately. Perhaps

Hoffmann too used this technique of "Wechselschreiberei" and, unlike Jean Paul, actually published the two novels as one work. Hoffmann's correspondence shows that he clear­ ly intended to write two different novels: a novel about his cat Murr and a novel about a musician. Curiously,

Hoffmann does not mention the Kreisler-strand when he describes his plan for Kater Murr in his correspondence.

It is possible that the Kreisler-strand was not part of his original plan for Kater Murr. In Hoffmann's diaries and letters from 1812 to 1815 there appear indications of a plan for "ein musikalischer Roman" with the artist's love as one of its themes, and Johannes Kreisler and Julia as the two protagonists. Hoffmann intended to call the novel "Lichte

Stunden eines wahnsinnigen Musikers, ein Buch fiir Kenner."

Klaus Gtinzel observes that the theme of Kreisler-Julia does 12 not appear until Kater Murr. In March of 1818, around the time Hoffmann began work on Kater Murr, he indicates in a letter to Kunz: "Das Buch ist ganz anders worden [sic] als ich im Sinne hatte. Es ist mir damit so ergangen wie mit dem ersten Bande der Elixiere des Teufels, den ich

1 “5 nicht [vor dem zweiten] hcLtte drucken lassen sollen." J

What could Hoffmann mean since the novel "Lichte Stunden" was never published at all. Or was it, but under a 238 different name?: Perhaps Hoffmann worked on the musician novel and the Murr novel simultaneously, using Jean Paul's method of "Wechselschreiberei," and decided to combine the 14 two into one work. When Hoffmann states that "Lichte

Stunden" is completely different than originally conceived, could he be alluding to a decision to combine this musician novel with the cat novel? It seems plausible since no novel of this title ever appeared and the Kreisler-strand seems

strikingly similiar in content to the projected novel.

Aside from his actual procedure in writing Kater Murr, what was Hoffmann's ultimate purpose in choosing the double novel form, or what advantages did this form seem to offer?

Again, Jean Paul comes to mind since he was the first to describe the double novel form; in fact, he coined the term

"Doppel-Roman" in Flegeljehre. As Vult, the fictitious in­ ventor of the "Doppel-Roman" implies when he tells Wale his reason for undertaking this project, the double novel form affords the poet a unique means to present simulta­ neously two antithetical and independent perspectives on the same story:

"Was kann ich nun dabei machen? Ich allein nichts; aber mit dir viel, nflmlich ein Werk; ein Paar Zwillinge mtlssen, als ihr eigenes Widerspiel, zusammen einen Einling, ein Buch zeugen, einen trefflichen Doppel-Roman. Ich lache darin, du weinst dabei oder fliegst doch— du bist der Evangelist, ich das Vieh darhinter— jeder hebt den andern— alle Parteien werden befriedigt, Mann un Weig, Hof und Haus, ich und du." 5 239

Hoffmann himself expresses a similiar view in his notebooks.

Although he does not specifically state in his notebooks or

letters the purpose for Murr's double structure, his charac­

terization of the structure conceived for his projected

novel "Schnellpfeffer" could be read as a statement of the

advantages of the double novel form in general. Hoffmann

implies that the double novel form enables the artist to

create an artistic work that serves a dual function, or

ironic cross-purposes, i.e. both to edify the reader and to

poke fun at the critics:

(Wegen der Einschiebsel kann das Bild eines langen Spazierganges gebraucht werden durch einen Garten, und rechts und links gibt's Schmollwinkelchen - Lauben - Dornbtische pp., z.B. Jasminlaube ftir Liebende - Dornbusch fttr Rezensenten - eingebildete Autoren u. dgl.).16

Hoffmann accomplishes this dual purpose in Kater Murr: the

Kreisler-strand provides the "Jasminlaube" that edifies the

reader with the tragic story of the tormented artist; the

Murr-strand the "Dornbusch" that pokes fun at the critics

and Philistines in general. The double novel form is,

thus, the most effective medium to serve the antithetical

purpose of both writing a Romantic artist novel and, at the

same time, parodying it.

With the division of Kater Murr into two distinct yet

related novels, Hoffmann is able ironically to contract and

interweave— in a more sophisticated way than ever 240 before— the two ways of perceiving the world that charac­

terize his earlier works: the mode of the sober philistine, exemplified in Murr; and that of the creative artist,

exemplified in Kreisler. At the same time, the double novel

form enables Hoffmann to set the philistine Murr up as the alter-ego of the artist Kreisler, and vice versa. By means of the double novel's two independent narrators whose perspectives are structurally of equal significance, the animal's perspective (Murr's) is ironically placed on a par with the human narrator's {the Kreisler-biographer's). In this way, Hoffmann can illustrate and "prove" Kreisler's conviction, expressed in Kl, that animals do indeed have an inner life (a typically Romantic concern). Moreover, the double novel form allows Hoffmann to extend the Romantic motif of the "DoppelgSnger" to its limits by placing these two parallel-opposite figures into two completely different times and spaces, two separate yet intertwined poetic worlds governed by two different sets of temporal, spatial, and narrative laws.

The double novel form also affords the poet the unique opportunity to portray the only fairly well-balanced charac­ ter in the novel, Meister Abraham, from two radically dif­ ferent and independent perspectives, graphically illustra­ ting the two different modes of perceiving the same reality discussed earlier. Not only do the two protagonists view the world in opposite ways, but so do the two narrators, as 241 demonstrated in their very different ways of portraying

Abraham. Murr as a narrator displays unwavering certitude and knowledge of the story and the world; even though the

Kreisler-strand undercuts some of his views. He firmly be­ lieves in his own ability to present the world mimetically.

The Kreisler-biographer, by contrast, displays uncertainty and expresses doubts about his ability to narrate the story.

He vacillates between knowing and doubting, and seems to I share the conviction of the narrator of Per Sandmann that it is impossible to present the world mimetically but only in

"eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels dunkler Widerschein," to quote the narrator of Per Sandmann. The Kreisler-bio­ grapher, however, uses his creative poetic vision to com­ pensate for his lack of "facts," illustrating the artist's

17 mode of perception.

An illustration of the ironic dual purpose of this double novel can be found within the poetic world of Kater

Murr, in the Kreisler-strand: The "Namensfest," the struc­ tural nucleus from which the two spatial-temporal systems of the Murr- and Kreisler-strands evolve, not only unifies the double novel, but it mirrors in microcosm the novel it­ self. The "Namensfest" is really two "Feste" in one: it celebrates the nameday of the "Fttrstin" Maria and of

Julia— who is also named "Maria." The "Namensfest" is a double "Schauspiel": by means of his "magischer Spiegel"

Abraham superimposes over the play intended for the 242 "Ftirstin" a "Geisterschauspiel" intended for Julia and

Kreisler. The first play, a rather ludicrous skit conceived for "die guten Leute," mirrors the essence and the concerns of the Murr-strand; and the second, the "Geisterschauspiel" conceived for the artist, mirrors the concerns of the

Kreisler-strand:

"Ich will dir nur sagen Johannes, dass wShrend die Schauspieler das alberne Zeug vorne auf dem Theater hertrahierten, ich mittelst magischer Spiegel und anderer Vorrichtungen hinterw&rts in den Ltlften ein Geisterschauspiel darstellte, zur Verherrlichung des Himmelskindes, der holden Julia, dass eine Melodie nach der andern, die du in hoher Begeisterung geschaffen, ertiinte, ja dass oft ferner, oft n&her, wie banger ahnungsvoller Geisterruf, der Name: Julia, erklang" (313f.).

Thus, in the double "Schauspiel" of the "Namensfest," in which one strand concerns the philistine world and the other the artist world, we see a fictitious counterpart of the double novel, and the structure of the double novel is mirrored on another level within the poetic world of the novel itself. And Abraham, the mastermind of the

"Namensfest," is the fictitious counterpart of Hoffmann, the mastermind of the novel: Just as Abraham creates and orchestrates the double "Schauspiel," Hoffmann creates and orchestrates the double novel Kater Murr. The external chaos of the "Namensfest" that hides a deeper meaning mir­ rors the ironic tour-de-force of the novel itself. 243 Like Abraham's double "Schauspiel," the Kreisler-strand offers a serious statement on the artist's life and vision; the Murr-strand a parodistic and humorous one. Though

Murr does not intend to be funny, the contrast with

Kreisler effected by the form causes the reader to view Murr as a comic figure. Murr, like the characters Meister Floh and Klein Zaches before him, is "ein Wechselbalg des 1 ft Humors."xo Murr is the humorous reflection of the human society whom he imitates, and Murr's world becomes the 19 humorous and parodistic mirror of the Kreisler-world.

By means of the alternation of the Murr pieces with the

Kreisler pieces, Hoffmann is able to counterbalance the tragedy of the Kreisler-strand with the humor of the Murr- strand— providing comic relief.

This overt double structure in which serious pieces alternate with humorous ones is really the fulfillment of an already established narrative theory of Hoffmann's: 20 "serapiontisches Erz&hlen." Recall Ottmar's reply in

Die Serapionsbrtlder to Theodor's apology for intending to tell a serious tale which could destroy the gay mood that opened their conversation: "'1st es', erwiderte Ottmar,

'ist es denn nicht eben recht serapionsmSssig, dass Ernst und Scherz wechsle?'" (Ill, 406). The interweaving of the two radically different perspectives and heterogeneous narratives, and the contrast and parallel between the two opposite characters result in an overall ironic tension between the two strands of the novel, an ironic tension never completely resolved within the novel. With Kater

Murr Hoffmann creates the ultimate narrative tour de force whose seeming chaos reveals a highly intricate, underlying structure and unity. Kater Murr represents the climax of the "romantisch verwirrter Roman" and an­ ticipates the structural concerns of the twentieth- century novel. Notes to III. 2

See Hudgins, p. 45: "Die 'Lehrjahre', sowie ein Teil der Briefe, kttnnen als Beispiele epischen Berichtens angesehen werden, die allegorischen KomiJdien und der Dialog 'Treue und Scherz' als die dramatischen Elemente, w&hrend der Dialog 1Sehnsucht und Ruhe1, der zum grossen Teil im jambischen Rhythmus verfasst ist, sowie die Metaphorik der 'Metamorphosen', den lyrischen Beitrag liefern. Natilrlich haben eine ganze Anzahl von Romanen, vorztiglich der grosse Anreger Wilhelm Meister, lyrische Oder dramatische Einlagen. Das Neue der Form der Lucinde muss also darin gesehen werden, dass die nicht-epischen Abschnitte nicht in das Handlungsgerilst integriert erscheinen, sondern ein absolutes Eigenleben ftthren." 2 For an excellent study of the arabesque, see Karl Konrad Polheim, Die Arabeske. Ansichten und Ideen aus Friedrich Schleqels Poetik (Mttnchen, Paderborn, Wien: Schttningh, 19 66). Also Polheim, afterword to Lucinde. Ein Roman von Friedrich Schlegel (Stuttgart: Reclam, 1963), p. 113: "Diese Arabeske stellte sich Schlegel als eine Vereinigung von Ftille und Einheit, Chaos und System, Realem und Idealem vor, als eine Poesie, welche 'in jeder ihrer Darstellungen sich selbst mit darstellen und (iberall zugleich Poesie und Poesie der Poesie' sein solle, als einen in jenem weiten Sinn gemeinten Roman des Romans."

•^Friedrich Schlegel. Charakteristiken und Kritiken vol. II of Kritische Friedrich-Schlegel-Ausgabe, ed. Hans Eichner (Mttnchen, Paderborn, Wien: Schttningh, 1967), p. 337.

^Friedrich Schlegel. Dichtungen, vol. V of Kritische Friedrich-Schlegel-Ausgabe, ed. Hans Eichner (Mtlnchen, Paderborn, Wxen: Schiiningh, 1962), p. 9.

^See Hans Heinrich Borcherdt, Der Roman der Goethe- zeit (Urach and Stuttgart: Port, 1949), p. 443: "Gewiss hat Schlegel selbst die WillktLr des Dichters zum Grundgesetz romantischer Weltanschauung erhoben. Aber die Willkilr ist hier zugleich zum Kunstgesetz gemacht, der Verfasser will eine neue Kunstform finden, urn so 'eins der ktinstlichsten

245 246

Kunstwerkchen' zu gestalten, die man habe. Die Form ist also nicht bloss durch die Willkilr des Dichters bestimmt, sondern zugleich durch die Rttcksicht auf eine Kunsttheorie, die wie ein Gesetz wirkt." g Clemens Brentano. Werke, ed. Friedhelm Kemp (Mttnchen: Hanser, 1963) II, 39.

^Brentano. Werke, II, 183.

^See Hildegard Emmel, Geschichte des deutschen Romans (Bern and Mttnchen: Francke, 1972) I, 275: "Das beziehungsreiche Wechselspiel zwischen diesen beiden Figuren macht- die Struktur des Romans aus."

9Jean Paul. Werke, ed. Gustav Lohmann (Mttnchen: Hanser, 1959) II, 1058. See also Lohmann, afterword, p. 1148: "Die Lebensbahnen der beiden mttssen auseinandergehen. Jeder lebte nur in sich und konnte den anderen gar nicht auffassen; auch im Lieben blieb jeder in seiner Art befangen."

10For a complete history of the genesis of Flegel- jahre, see Eduard Berend, Introd. to Jean Pauls Sttmtliche Werke, vol. I, sec. 10 (Weimar, 1934). See also Emmel, p. 275: "W&hrend der Arbeit am Titan beschttftigte Jean Paul sich mit einem zweiten Roman: Flegeljahre (1804-05). Zeitweilig schrieb er an beiden Romanen zugleich, 'urn sich durch solche 'Wechselschreiberei' zu erholen und zu stttrken.' Er dachte sogar daran, sie miteinander zu verknttpfen, obwohl Oder gerade weil sie von ganz entgegengesetzter Art sind."

■^See note 9.

12Cf. Schnapp, Dichter, pp. 42-46 for the letters and diary entries mentioning "Lichte Stunden." Cf. Gttnzel, p. 211: "Auf dem Htthepunkt der Bamberger Julia-Krise— im Jahre 1812--tauchte in den Tagebttchern Hoffmanns Plan zu dem Roman 'Lichte Stunden eines wahnsinnigen Musikers' auf. In den wenigen erhaltenen Notaten steht der Gedanke 'die Liebe des Kttnstlers' programmatisch an erster Stelle. Schon damals also, noch fast am Beginn von Hoffmanns Laufbahn als Schriftsteller, war beabsichtigt, das Julia- Erlebnis in einem grossen Roman gleichsam zu objektivieren und mit der Figur des Kapellmeisters Kreisler aufs engste zu verknttpfen. Dies sollte jedoch erst viel spttter, im grossen Murr-Kreisler-Doppelroman aus des Dichters letzter Schaffensphase, gelingen." 13 Schnapp, Dichter, p. 118. 247

Finger makes an interesting observation that seems to support my idea that Hoffmann worked on these two novels simultaneously, like Jean Paul, to relieve the tedium of working on the one by switching back and forth between the two: "The levity of the Murr narrative offered him the needed release from the ponderous consideration being weighed in the Kreisler papers. Whenever his personal por­ trayal threatened to become excessively grave, he was able to regain his equilibrium by returning to the comic vein of the partner narrative" (Finger, p. 191). 15 Jean Paul. Werke, II, 655.

16Gttnzel, p. 422. 17 See my chapter II. 2 for the analysis of the biographer. This creative way in which the biographer compensates for his lack of "facts" shows that he is not the "etwas betulicher Biedermann" that Hudgin's claims him to be (Hudgins, p. 126).

^•^See Walter Mttller-Seidel, afterword to E.T.A. Hoffmann. Werke (Mttnchen: Winkler, 1969) IV, 842: "Denn eigentlich sind die sonderbaren Geburten der humoristischen Phantasie im Sp&twerk Hoffmanns allesamt humoristische Wechselb&lge: der Kater Murr so gut wie Klein Zaches oder Meister Floh. Sie sind Verkttrperungen des humoristischen Prinzips und ntthern sich eben damit der Allegorie an."

■^See Mtiller-Seidel, Afterword, II, 684f.: "Die Gestalt des liebenswttrdig-selbstgefttlligen Katers ist nicht die Satire selbst, sondern nur der Hinweis auf sie, beziehungsweise auf die Umgebung, die er kopiert. . . Wenn das Angelernte der Satire verfttllt, so weist es auf die Umgebung zurttck, auf die kunstferne und kunstfeindliche Welt, die damit indirekt getroffen werden soil. Der Kater Murr ist vom kttnstlerischen Gesichtspunkte her nur das Spiegelbild der Gegenwelt, aber er ist es auf liebenswttrdige Weise . . . Der Umwelt, die der Kater imitiert, gelten Ironie und Satire. . . Was sich an Kontrasten zwischen der Welt des Kapellmeisters und seiner Gegenwelt darbietet, bricht sich in der Spiegelbildlichkeit der Katerwelt, aber auf humorvolle Weise."

^For a fine study of "das serapiontische Prinzip," see Siegfried Schumm, Einsicht und Darstellung. Untersuchung zum Kunstverstttndnis E.T.A. Hoffmanns (GGppingen: Kttmmerle, 1974). Appendix. Plot Summary of Kater Murr

In view of the complexity of Kater Murr, a brief plot summary should aid the reader of this dissertation. The novel consists of alternating sections of Murr's autobiog­ raphy and Kreisler’s biography {17 sections of each) and is divided into two volumes with two chapters in each. Each chapter consists of five sections of each narrative; with the exception of the last chapter which contains only two sections of each.

The first chapter "Gefiihle des Daseins. Die Monate der

Jugend'1 serves as an introduction and background to both strands. The "Namensfest," the central event of the novel and chronologically the first event for Murr and the last for Kreisler, is described in the opening segments of each strand. In the Murr-segments, Murr relates his earliest experiences after his rescue at the "Namensfest," intro­ duces himself as a poet and describes his master, Abraham.

Murr describes how he taught himself to read and write in

Abraham's study, and how Abraham barred him from the study when Lothario showed him the manuscript Ponto stole from Murr. In the Kreisler-segments, background is given for the Kreisler story: the narrator introduces Abraham,

248 249 describes the court at Sieghartshof and gives a short his­ tory of how Abraham came to court. Kreisler's sudden ap­ pearance in the park and his first meet Prince Iren&us' daughter Hedwiga and her friend Julia is presented.

Hedwiga, Kreisler and R^tin Benzon discuss the past, and

Kreisler recounts his first meeting with Abraham. During a performance of a dilletantish play by a lieutenant at court, Kreisler has flashbacks to his youth, which he later describes to the Privy Councillor.

In the second chapter, "Lebenserfahrungen des

Jtinglings. Auch ich war in Arkadien," Murr falls asleep in a chaise and awakens in a strange, new world only a few blocks from his front door. Ponto teaches Murr the ways of the world and helps him find his way home. Murr falls in love with Miesmies, they marry and separate after

Miesmies falls in love with the cat in uniform. In the

Kreisler-segments, the biographer describes Kreisler's first meeting with Abraham, another scene from his youth that

Kreisler related to the Privy Councillor. Iren&us and

Abraham discuss Kreisler's appearance at court and the effect of his presence on society. Julia and Kreisler sing a moving love duet. During Hedwiga's singing lesson

Kreisler theorizes on love and Hedwiga tells him the tragic story of the road artist Ettlinger. She explains that

Kreisler's resemblance to Ettlinger caused her strange reaction on their first meeting in the park. Kreisler fears 250 that Ettlinger's fate will ultimately be his own. He imagines he sees Ettlinger in his reflection in the lake.

Kreisler thinks his "DoppelgcLnger" is pursuing him and he runs to the "Fischerhchischen" where Abraham explains the optical trick that caused this illusion. Abraham tells

Kreisler the story of Chiara. Prince Hector arrives at

Sieghartshof to court Hedwiga, but he is attracted to

Julia. When he tries to seduce her by the lake, Kreisler frightens him away by showing him the incriminating miniature that Abraham gave him. Hector's adjutant follows Kreisler into the woods, a shot is heard, and

Kreisler disappears.

The third chapter, "Die Lehrmonate. Launisches

Spiel des Zufalls" traces Murr1s "Burschenleben" and

Kreisler's life in the monastery as well as the events in Sieghartshof during his absence. In the Murr-segments,

Muzius persuades Murr to give up his reclusive life and join the "Katzenburschgesellschaft." Murr fights a duel with his rival, the cat in uniform. Murr's

"Burschenleben" ends abruptly when some dogs chase them away. Muzius dies and, at his memorial service, Murr tries to seduce his daughter Mina. In the Kreisler-strand,

Hedwiga falls ill at the sound of the shot, Benzon confronts

Abraham about Kreisler's disruption of her plans for

Hedwiga to marry Hector and Julia to marry Ignatius,

Iren^us' mentally retarded son. Abraham receives a letter 251

from Kreisler describing the circumstances of his disappearance. While Abraham contemplates his past,

Hedwiga awakens from her catalepsy. The inner peace

Kreisler experiences in the monastery is destroyed when the

Abbot suggests he join the order. Kreisler soon realizes that the Abbot is in league with Benzon and that the monastery is involved in the intrigues that engulf

Sieghartshof. Kreisler recognizes Hector in the painting of the miracle hanging in the Abbot's room. When Kreisler sees the monk Cyprianus, who has come to reform the monastery, he recognizes him as the youth in the Abbot's painting and in the miniature Abraham gave him.

In the fourth chapter, "Erspriessliche Folgen hiiherer

Kultur. Die reiferen Monate des Mannes," Ponto tells Murr about his life with his new master, the Baron von Wipp.

Murr tries unsuccessfully to fit into the "high society" of dogs at Badine's. The Murr-strand breaks off after

Murr reports that Abraham is going out of town and sending him to live with Kreisler while he is away. In the

Kreisler-strand Abraham chides himself for bemoaning his fate. He tries to summon up his oracle, "das unsichtbare

MSdchen," and communes with Chiara's spirit (according to the fiction, the pages where their reunion actually takes place have been omitted by Murr). Benzon reveals that

Hector is the mysterious figure who has been living in the pavillion since Kreisler's disappearance. Abraham 252 warns Hector that he will remain silent about the secret

of the miniature only if Hector leaves Julia and Kreisler

in peace. In the monastery Kreisler confronts Cyprianus with the miniature. Cyprianus reveals the secret of the double murder: he murdered Angela Benzoni (the

illegitimate daughter of Benzon and Irenclus) and his brother Hector stabbed him but a miracle restored him to

life. The miniature contains proof of the murders.

Cyprianus leaves the monastery and life there returns to

normal. Kreisler receives a letter from Abraham urging him to return for the "Namensfest," which is intended to

effect Kreisler’s salvation or destruction; and the novel

turns full circle. Selected Bibliography

I. Primary Sources

A. Texts, Editions, Letters

Clemens Brentano. Werke. Ed. Friedhelm Kemp. Vol. II. Mttnchen: Hanser, 1963.

E.T.A. Hoffmann. Sttmtliche Werke in 5_ Einzelbttnden. Ed. Walter Mttller-Seidel, Friedrich Schnapp, Wolfgang Kron and Wulf Segebrecht. 5 vols. Mttnchen: Winkler, 1960-1965.

------. E.T.A. Hoffmann Werke. Ed. Herbert Kraft and Manfred Wacker. Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1967.

------. Tagebttcher. Ed. Friedrich Schnapp. Mttnchen: Winkler, 1971.

------. E.T.A. Hoffmann in Aufzeichnungen seiner Freunde und Bekannten. Eine Sammlung. Ed. Friedrich Schanpp. Mttnchen: Winkler, 1974.

------Dichter ttber ihre Dichtungen. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Ed. Friedrich Schnapp. Mttnchen: Heimeran, 1974.

------. E.T.A. Hoffmann im persttnlichen und brieflichen Verkehr. Ed. Hans von Mttller. Berlin: Paetel, 1912.

------E.T.A. Hoffmanns Briefwechsel. Ed. Hans von Mttller and Friedrich Schnapp. 3 vols. Mttnchen: Winkler, 1967.

------. Leben und Werk in Briefen, Selbstzeugnissen und Zeitdokumenten. Ed. Klaus Gttnzel. Berlin: Claasen, 1979.

Friedrich Schlegel. Charakteristiken und Kritiken I (1796-1801). Ed. Hans Eichner. Vol. II of Kritische Frledrich-Schlegel-Ausgabe. Mttnchen, Paderborn, Wien: Sch6ningh, 1967.

253 254

Friedrich. Schlegel. Dichtungen. Ed. Hans Eichner. Vol. V of Kritische Fr iedrich-S chlege 1 - Au sgabe. Mttnchen, Paderborn, Wien: Schttningh, 19 62.

Jean P a u l . W e r k e . Ed. Norbert Mttller. Vol. V. Mttnchen: Hanser, 19 63.

Schellings Werke. Ed. Manfred Schrttter. Vol. II. Schriften zur Naturphiiosophie 1799-1801. Mttnchen: Beck and Oldenbourg, 1927.

B . Biographies

Bergengruen, Werner. Die Dichter der Deutschen. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Stuttgart: Cotta, 19 39.

Harich, Walther. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Das Leben eines Kttnstiers. 2 vols. Berlin: Reiss, 1920.

Helmke, Ulrich. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Lebensbericht mit Bildern und Dokumenten. Kassel: Wenderoth, 1975.

Hitzig, Julius Eduard. Aus Hoffmanns Leben und Nachlass. 2 vols. Berlin: Dtimmler, 1823.

Wittkop-Menardeau, Gabrielle, ed. E.T.A. Hoffmanns Leben und Werk in Daten und Bildern. Frankfurt: Insel, 1968.

------. E.T.A. Hoffmann in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Hamburg: Rowolt, 1966.

C . Bibliographies

Kanzog, Klaus. "Grundzttge der E.T.A. Hoffmann-Forschung seit 1945. Mit einer Bibliographic." MHG, 9 C1962)., 1-30.

------. "E.T.A. Hoffmann-Literatur 1962-1965. Eine Bibliographie.11 ' M H G , 12 (1966} , 33-38. 255

------. "E.T.A. Hoffmann-Literatur 1966-1969. Eine Bibliographie." M H G , 16 (1970), 28-40.

Voerster, Jtirgen. 160 Jahre E.T.A. Hoffmann-Forschung 1805-1965. Eine Bibliographie mit Inhaltsverfassung und ErlcLuterungen. Stuttgart: Eggert, 1967.

II. Secondary Sources

A. Works on Kater Murr

Cerny, J. "Zu E.T.A. Hoffmanns Kater Murr." Euphorion, 16 (1909), 512-13.

Erne, Nino. "Neues vom Kater Murr." MHG, 20 (1974), 76-81.

Fcihnrich, Hermann, "Kater Murr. Eine musikalische Variation." Musical 18 (1964), 10-12.

Findlay, Charles. "The Opera and Operatic Elements in the Fragmentary Biography of Johannes Kreisler." GL&L, 27 (1973/74), 22-34.

Finger, Homer Ellis. "Experiments in Chaotic Form. The Structuring of Self-Portraiture in the German Romantic Novel." Diss. Princeton 1973.

Frye, Lawrence 0. "The Language of Romantic High Feeling. A Case of Dialogue Technique in Hoffmann's Kater Murr and Novalis1 Heinrich von Ofterdingen." DVLG, 49 (1975), 520-45.

Hutto, Robert Arnal. "The Dear Reader: A Study of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Techniques of Confusion, his Attitude Toward his Reader, and his Readers." Diss. Washington Univ. 1975.

Jones, Michael. "Hoffmann and the Problem of Social Reality. A Study of Kater Murr." Monatshefte, 69 (Spring 1977) 1, 45-57.

Loevenich, H. "Einheit und Symbolik des Kater Murr. Zur Einftihrung in Hoffmanns Roman." DU, 16 (1964) 2, 72-86.

Marcuse, Herbert. "Der deutsche Ktinstlerroman." Diss. Freiburg 1922. 256

Mttller, Hans von. Gesammelte Aufs3tze ttber E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Friedrich Schnapp. Hildesheim: Gerstenberg, 1974.

Negus, Kenneth. "Thematic Structure in Three Major Works of E.T.A. Hoffmann." Diss. Princeton 1957.

Rosen, Robert S. E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Kater Murr", Aufbauformen und Erztthlsituationen. Diss. NYU 1968. Bonn: Bouvier, 1970.

Rotermund, Erwin. "Musikalische und erz&hlerische Arabeske bei E.T.A. Hoffmann." Poetica, 2 (1968), 48-69.

Scher, Steven P. "Kater Murr and Tristram Shandy." ZDP, 75 (Nov. 1976), 24-42.

Singer, Herbert. "Kater Murr." In Der deutsche Roman. Vom Barock bis zur Gegenwart. Ed. Benno von Wiese. Dttsseldorf: Bagel, 1963. Vol. 1, pp. 301-28.

Spttth, Ute. Gebrochene Identitttt. Stilistische Untersuchungen zum Parallelismus in E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Lebensansichten des Katers Murr.71 Gttttingen: Kttmmerle, 1970.

Steinecke, Hartmut, afterword to Lebensansichten des Katers Murr. by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Ed. Hartmut Steinecke. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1972.

------. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns Kater M ur r. Zur Modernitttt eines 'romantischen' Romans." Jahrbuch des Wiener Goethe-Vereins 81/82/83 (1977/78/79), 275-89.

Vail, Van Horn. "E.T.A. Hoffmann's Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler. A Comparative Analysis of the Early Kreisler Works and the Kreisler Biography." Diss. Princeton 1964.

Vitt-Maucher, Gisela. Review of E.T.A. Hoffmanns "Kater Murr." Aufbauformen und Erztthlsituationen, by Robert S. Rosen. GQ, 46 (1973), 105-09.

Wiese, Benno von. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns Doppelroman Kater Murr. Die Phantasie des Humors." In Von Lessing bis Grabbe. Studien zur deutschen Klassik und Romantik. Ed. Benno von Wiese. Dttsseldorf: Bagel, 1968, pp. 248-67. 257

B. Works on Hoffmann

Beardsley, Christa-Maria. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Die Gestalt des Meisters in seinen Mttrchen. Diss. Indiana 1973. Bonn: Bouvier, 1975.

Binger, Norman Henry. "Verbal Irony in the Works of E.T.A. Hoffmann." Diss. Ohio State 1942.

Boss, Bettina. "Die Rolle des ErzShlers bei E.T.A. Hoffmann." Diss. Univ. of New South Wales (Australia) 1978.

Cramer, Karin. "Bewusstseinsspaltung in E.T.A. Hoffmanns Roman Die Elixiere des Teufels." M H G , 16 (1970), 8-18.

------"Die Fragwttrdigkeit der menschlichen Identitttt." MHG, 14 (1968), 31-38.

Cramer, Thomas. Das Groteske bei E.T.A. Hoffmann. 2nd ed. Mttnchen: Fink, 1970.

Daemmrich, Horst. The Shattered Self. E.T.A. Hoffmann's Tragic Vision. Detroit: Wayne State Univ., 1973.

Dahmen, Hans. "Der Stil E.T.A. Hoffmanns." Euphorion, 28 (1927), 76-84.

Deshalm, Elli. "E.T.A. Hoffmann und das Groteske." Diss. Bonn 19 30.

Egli, Gustav, E.T.A. Hoffmanns Persfinlichkeit. Diss. Zttrich 1926. Zttrich: Orell-Fttssli, 1926. (rpt. as E.T.A. Hoffmann. Ewigkeit und Endlichkeit in seinem Werk).

Eilert, Heide. Theater in der Erztthlkunst. Eine Studie zum Werk E.T.A. Hoffmanns. Tttbingen: Niemeyer, 1977.

Elling, Barbara. "Der Leser E.T.A. Hoffmann." JEGP, 75 (1976), 546-58.

- . Leserintegration im Werk E.T.A. Hoffmanns. Diss. NYU 1972. Bern and Stuttgart: Haupt, 1973.

Fife, R.H. "Jean Paul Friedrich Richter and E.T.A. Hoffmann. A Study in the Relations of Jean Paul to Romanticism." PMLA, 22 (1907), 1-32. 258

Fischer, Otokar. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns Doppelempfindungen." Archiv, 63 (1909), 1-22.

Griiner, Gustav. "Notes on the Influence of E.T.A. Hoffmann upon E.A. Poe." PMLA, 19 (1904), 1-25.

Gtinzel, Klaus. "Zu E.T.A. Hoffmanns Entwicklung als Schriftsteller." M H G , 18 (1972), 17-32.

Hewett-Thayer, Harvey. Hoffmann. Author of the Tales. Princeton: Princeton Univ., 1948.

------. "Hoffmann's Approach to Literature." GR, 16 (1941), 60-67.

------. "Hoffmann's Conception of the Romantic." GR, 14 (1939), 277-83.

Himmel, Hellmuth. "Schuld und SUhne der Scuderi." MHG, 7 (1960), 1-15; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 215-36.

Holbeche, Yvonne Jill Kathleen. Optical Motifs in the Works of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Diss. Univ. of Sydney. GOppingen: Kiimmerle, 1975.

Just, Klaus Gtinther. "Die Blickfilhrung in den MSrchennovellen E.T.A. Hoffmanns." WW, 14 (1964), 389-97.

Kanzog, Klaus. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns Erz&hlung Das FrSulein von Scuderi als Kriminalgeschichte." MHG, 11 (1964). 1-1 1 .

Ktihn, Lothar. Vieldeutiqe Welt. Studien zur Struktur der ErzShlungen E.T.A. Hoffmanns und zur Entwicklung seines Werkes. Ttlbingen: Niemeyer, 1966.

Kolb, Jocelyn. "E.T.A. Hoffmann's Kreisleriana. a la recherche d'une forme perdue?" Monatshefte, 69 (Spring 1977) 1, 34-43.

Kroll, Erwin. "Uber den Musiker E.T.A. Hoffmann. Zur hundertsten Wiederkehr seines Todestages (25. Juni 1822)." Zeitschrift ftir Musikwissenschaft 4 (Oct. 1921-Sept. 1922), 530-52? rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buch­ gesellschaf t, 1976, pp. 89-121. 259

Lawson, Ursula Dersch. "The. Temporal Structure of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Fiction." Diss. Vanderbilt 1966.

Lippe, George B. von der. "Beyond the House of Usher. The Figure of E.T.A. Hoffmann in the Works of Poe." MLS, 9 (Winter 1978-79} 1, 33-41.

Maasen, Carl Georg von. "Verschollene Zeichnungen E.T.A. Hoffmanns." Die Bttcherstube 4 (.1925} , 170-83; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 122-40.

Martini, Fritz. "Die MSrchendichtungen E.T.A. Hoffmanns." DU 7 (1955}, 57-58; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 155-84.

Maucher, Gisela. "Das Problem der dichterischen Wirklichkeit im Prosawerk von E.T.A. Hoffmann und E.A. Poe." MHG, 12 (1966), 31-32.

Mayer, Hans. "Die Wirklichkeit E.T.A. Hoffmanns. Ein Versuch." In Hoffmann. Foetische Werke, ed. Manfred Wacker. Frankfurt am Main: Insel, 1967., pp. 461-501.

McGlathery, James M. "'Bald dein Fall ins Ehebett?' A New Reading of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Goldner Topf■" GR, 53 (Summer 1978) 3, 106-14.

Miller, Norbert. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns doppelte Wirklichkeit. Zum Motiv der Schwellenttberschreitung in seinen M&rchen." In Festschrift ftir Wilhelm Emrich, ed. Helmut Arntzen et al. Berlin: DeGruyter, 1975, pp. 357-72.

Mollenauer, Robert Russell. "The Three Periods of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Romanticism. An Attempt at a Definition." SIR, 2 (Summer 1963) 4, 213-43.

Moos, Paul. "E.T.A. Hoffmann als MusikSsthetiker." Die Musik 6 (19Q6/071, 67-84; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt; Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 8-25.

Mtthlher, Robert. "Prinzessin Brambilla. Ein Beitrag zum Verstttndnis der Dichtung.11 M H G , 5 (1958)., 5-24; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 185-214.

Mttller, Dieter. "Zeit der Automate. Zum Automatenproblem bei Hoffmann." MHG, 12 (19661, 1-10. 260

Negus, Kenneth.. E.T.A. Hoffmann* s Other World. The Romantic Author and his "New Mythology." Philadelphia: Univ. of Penn., 1965.

Ochsner, Karl. E.T.A. Hoffmann als Dichter des Unbewussten. Ein Beifrag zur Ge i s tes g e s chi c hte der Romantik. Prauenfeld, Leipzig: Huber, 1936.

Olbrich, Karl. "Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann und der deutsche Volksglaube." MHG, 12 (1910), 121-49; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 56-88.

Peters, Diana Stone. "E.T.A. Hoffmann. The Conciliatory Satirist." Monatshefte, 66 (.1974) , 55-73.

Pikulik, Lothar. "Das Wunderliche bei E.T.A. Hoffmann. Zum romantischen Ungentlgen an der Norm." Euphorion, 69 (1975) 3, 294-319.

Pitman, Ruth Marion. "The Structure of E.T.A. Hoffmann's Kunstmclrchen. A Study of their Recurrent Patterns and Shifting Values." Diss. Univ. of Toronto 1976.

Prang, Helmut, ed. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Wege der Forschung, 485. Darmstadt! Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976.

Preisendanz, Wolfgang. "'Eines matt geschliffnen Spiegels dunkler Widerschein.1 E.T.A. Hoffmanns ErzShlkunst." in Festschrift ftir Jost Trier zum 70. Geburtstag. Ed. William Foerste and Karl Heinz Borck. K&ln: Bfihlau, 1964. Reber, Natalie. Studien zum Motiv des Dot3pelg3ngers bei Dostojevskij und E.T.A. Hoffmann. Giessen: Schmitz, 1964 . Sahlin, Johanna C. and Leonard J. Kent, introd. Selected Letters of E.T.A. Hoffmann. Ed. & tr. Johanna C. Sahlin. Chicago and London: Univ. of Chicago, 1977.

Schemmel, Bernhard. "Die E.T.A. Hoffmann Sammlung der Staatsbibliothek Bamberg." Bibliotheksforum Bayern, 6 (1978) 3, 167-87.

Scher, Steven Paul. "Hoffmann and Sterne. Unmediated Parallels in Narrative Method." CL, 28 (.19761 , 309-25. 261

Schnapp, Friedrich.. "Korrekturen und nachtr&gliche Bemerkungen zur Neuausgabe des Hoffmannschen Briefwechsels." MHG, 17 C1971), 36-49.

Schumm, Siegfried. Einsicht und Darstellung. Untersuchung zum Kunstiversf ctndnis E.T.A. Hoffmanns. Gflpprngen: Kttmmerle, 1974.

Scott, Walter. "On the Supernatural in Fictitious Compo­ sition; and Particular on the Works of Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann." The Foreign Quarterly Review, 1 (1827) 1, 61-98.

Segebrecht, Wulf. "E.T.A. Hoffmann." In Deutsche Dichter der Romantik. Ihr Leben und Werk. Ed. Benno von Wiese. Berlin: Schmidt, 1971, pp. 391-415.

------. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Autobiographie und Dichtung in seinem Werk. Diss. Mttnchen 1964, Stuttgart: Metzler, 1967.

------. "Heterogenitttt und Integration bei E.T.A. Hoffmann." In Romantik heute. Friedrich Schlegel. Noval'is. E.T.A. Hoffmann. Ludwig Tieck. Bonn, Bad Godesberg: Inter-Nationes, 1972, 48-59 and 87-88; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 381-97.

------. "Hoffmanns Todesdarstellungen." MHG, 12 (1966), 11-19.

SOlle, Dorothee and Wolfgang Seifert. "In Dresden und in Atlantis. E.T.A. Hoffmann und die Musik." Neue Zeitschrift fttr Musik, 124 (1963) , 260-73; rpt. E.T.A. Hoffmann, ed. Helmut Prang. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976, pp. 237-69.

Steinecke, Hartmut. "Zur E.T.A. Hoffmann-Forschung." ZDP, 89 (1970) 2, 222-34. Taylor, Ronald. Hoffmann. New York: Hillary House, 1963.

Terras, Victor. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns polyphonische Erztthlkunst." ' GQ, 39 (1966), 549-69.

Vitt-Maucher, Gisela. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns Ritter Gluck und E.A. Poes The Man of the Crowd. Eine Gegenttberstellung.ir~ GQ, 43 (.1970) , 35-46. 262

------"Hoffmanns Rat Krespel und der Schlafrock Gottes." Mohatshefte, 64 (1972), 51-57.

------Die Wunderlich, wunderbare Welt E.T.A. Hoffmanns." JEGP , 75 (Oct. 1976). 4, 515-30.

Walter, Jtirgen. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns MSrcIien Klein Zaches genarint Z inhober. Versuch einer soz ialgeschichtlichen Interpretation." M H G , 19 (1973), 27-45. ■

Werner, Hans-Georg. E.T.A.' Hoffmanns Darstellung und Deutung der Wirklichkeit im dIcht erischen Werk. Weimar: Arion, 19 62.

Winter, Use. Untersuchungen zum serapiontischen Prinzip E.T.A. Hoffmanns. Diss. Rutgers 1971. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 197b.

Wittkowski, Wolfgang. "E.T.A. Hoffmanns musikalische Dichtungen Ritter Gluck, Don Juan, Rat Krespel." Aurora, 38 (1978)“, 54-74.

C. Works on Romanticism

Belgardt, Raimund. Romantische Poesie. Begriff und Bedeutung bei Friedrich Schlegel. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1969.

Blackiston, H.B. "A Study in the Ethics of the Early Romantic School in Germany." Diss. Pennsylvania 1920.

Eilert, Heide. "Romantik. Forschungsbericht." WW, 27 (Mar./Ap. 1977) 2, 132-42.

Heinisch, Klaus. Deutsche Romantik. Interpretationen. Paderborn: Schdningh, 1966.

Huch, Ricarda. Ausbreitung und Verfall der Romantik. Leipzig: Haessel, 1902.

------. pie Romantik. Bltttezeit, Ausbreitung und Verfall. Ttibingen: Leins, 1951.

Kapitsa, Peter. Die frtihromantische Theorie der Mischung. tfber den Zusammenhang von romantischer Dichtungstheorie und zeitgenflssischer Chemie. Mdnchen: Hueber, 1968. 263

Kluckhohn, P. Das Tdeengut der deut.sch.eii Romantik. 3rd ed. Ttibingen: Niemeyer, 1953.

Korff, Hermann. Hochromantik. Vol. IV of Geist der Goethe-Zeit. Leipzig: Koehler and Amelang, 1953.

Leopoldseder, Hannes. Groteske Welt. Kin Beitrag zur Entwickiungsgeschichte des Nachtsttt'ck'es in der Romantik. Bonn: Bouvier, 1973.

Nivelle, Armand. Frtthromantische Dichtungstheorie. Berlin: DeGruyter, 1970.

Petrich, Hermann. Drei Kapitel vom romantischen S til. Osnabrttck: Zeller, 1964 (.rpt- of the 1378 edition) .

Polheim, Karl Konrad. Die Arabeske. Ansichten und Ideen aus Friedrich Schlegels Poetik. Mttnchen, 1966.

Prang, Helmut. Die romantische Ironie. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1972.

Silz, Walter. Early German Romanticism. Its Founders and Heinrich von Kleist. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. 19 24.

Strohschneider-Kohrs, Ingrid. Die romantische Ironie in Theorie und Gestaltung. Hermaea NF. 6. Tttbingen: Niemeyer, 1960.

Terras, Rita. "The Doppelgttnger in German Romantic Litera­ ture." In Symposium on Romanticism. An Interdisci­ plinary Meeting (Connecticut College, April 21-26, 1975). Eds. Pierre Deguise and Rita Terras. New London: Connecticut College, 1975.

Thalmann, Marianne. The Romantic Fairy Tale. Seeds of Surrealism. Tr. Mary B. Corcoran. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan, 1964.

------. Romantiker als Poetologen. Heidelberg: Stiehm, 197.0. Romantik in kritischer Perspektive. Heidelberg: Stiehm, 1976.

----- . zeichensprache der Romantik ■ Mit 12 Strukturzexchnungen. Stiehm, 1967.

Walzel, Oskar. Deutsche Romantik. Eine Skizze. Leipzig: Teubner, 1908. 264

D. Works on Theory and History of the Novel

Anderegg, Johannes. Fiction und Kommunikation. Ein Beitrag zur Theorie der Prosa. GOttingen: Vandenhoeck, 1973.

Bakhtin, M. "The Problem of the Text. An Essay in Philosophical Analysis." Soviet Studies in Literature, 14 (Winter 1977-78) 1, 3-33.

Baumgart, Reinhard. Aussichten des Romans Oder hat Literatur Zukunft? {Frankfurter Vorlesungen). Neuwied and Berlin: Luchterhand, 19 68.

Bausch, W. Theorien des epischen Erzdhlens in der deutschen Frtihromantik. Bonn: Bouvier, 1964.

Becker, Eva D. Der deutsche Roman urn 1780. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1963.

Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. 11th ed. Chicago Chicago: Univ. of Chicago, 1975.

Borcherdt, Hans Heinrich. Geschichte des Romans und der Novelle in Deutschland. Leipzig: Weber, 1926.

------. Der Roman der Goethezeit. Urach and Stuttgart: Port, 1949.

Brace, Gerald Warner. The Stuff of Fiction. New York: Norton, n.d.

Brauneck, Manfred, ed. Theorie und Soziologie des Romans. Vol. I of Der deutsche Roman im 20. Jahrhundert. Bamberg: Buchners, 1976.

Buell, Lawrence. "Observer-Hero Narrative." TSLL, 21 (Spring 1979) 1, 93-111.

Cassirer, Ernst. "Mythischer, Ssthetischer und theoretischer Raum." In Landschaft und Raum in der Erz£hlkunst. Ed. A. Ritter. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975.

Emmel, Hildegard. Geschichte des deutschen Romans. 2 vols. Bern and Mttnchen: Francke, 1972.

Forster, E.M. Aspects of the Novel. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1927. 265

Frey, John R. "Author-Intrusion in the Narrative. German Theory and Some Modern Examples.” GR, 23 (.1948) , 274-89.

------. "Bibliographie zur Theorie und Technik des Romans. 1910-1938.” MLN, 54 (Dec. 1939) 8, 557-67.

Friedemann, Kclte. Die Rolie des Erz&hlers in der Epik. Leipzig: Hessel, 1910.

Friedmann, Norman. "Point of View in Fiction. The Development of a Critical Concept.” PMLA, 70 (Dec. 1955) 5, 1160-84.

Garrett, Peter K. "Double Plots and Dialogical Form in Victorian Fiction." N C F , 32 (June 1977) 1, 1-17.

Garvey, James. "CHaracterization in Narrative." Poetica, 7 (1978) 1, 63-78.

Gorp, H. van. Rev. of Per Doppelroman. Efne Literatur- systematische Studie fiber dupirkative Er zdhl'struktur, by Frank C. Maatje. Leuvense Bigdragen, 53 (1964) 4, 176-79.

Grimm, Reinhold, ed. Deutsche Romantheorien. 2 vols. Frankfurt: Athen&um, 1968.

Hahl, W. Reflexion und Erzdhlung. Ein Problem der ROmantheorie von der S p&taufklMrung bis zum programmatischen Realismus. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1971.

Hamburger, K&te. Die Logik der Dichtung. 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Klett, 1968.

------. "Zum Strukturproblem der epischen und dramatischen Dichtung." DVLG, 25 (1951), 1-26.

Hardy, Barbara. The Appropriate Form. An Essay on the Novel. London: Athlone, Univ. of London, 1964.

------, "Towards a Poetics of Fiction. An Approach through Narrative." Novel, 2 (Fall 1968} 1, 5-14.

Heimrich, Bernhard. Fiktion und Fiktionsironie in Theorie und Dichtung der deutschen Romantik. Tubingen: Niemeyer, 1968. 266 Hempfer, Klaus W. Gattungstheorie. Information und Syn these. Mflnchen: Fink, 1973.

Hernadi, Paul. Beyond Genre. New Directions in Literary Clas s'if1c a tlon. Ithaca and London: Cornell Univ., 1972.

Hillebrand, Bruno. "Poetischer, philosophischer, mathematischer Raum." rpt. Landschaft und Raum in der Er z cthlkuns t. Ed. A. Ritter. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975, pp. 417-63.

------. Theorie des Romans. Vol. I. Von Heliodor bis Jean Paul. Mtinchen: Winkler, 1972.

Holthusen, Johannes. Rev. of Per Doppelroman. Eine literatursystematische Studx'e fiber duplikatlve Erzcthl'struktur, by Frank C. Maatje, Monatshefte, 16 COct. 1966J 4, 441-43.

Hudgins, Esther. Nicht-Epische Strukturen des romantischen Romans. The Hague, Paris: Mouton, 1975.

Hunter, J. Paul. "Response as Reformation. Tristram Shandy and the Art of Interruption." Novel, 4 (Winter 1971) 2, 13 2-4 6.

Ingarden, Roman. Das 'liter arIsche Kurtstwerk. Haale, Saale: Niemeyer, 1931.

Iser, Wolfgang. Der Akt des Lesens. Mhnchen: UTB, 1976.

Jacobs, Jiirgen. Frosa der Aufkl&rung. Moralische WochenschrIften. Autobrographie. Satire. Roman Kommentar zu einer Epoche. Munchenl Winkler, 1976.

------. Wilhelm Meister und seine Brtlder. Untersuchungen zum deutschen Bildungsroman. Miinchen: Fink, 1972. Jauss, H.R., ed. Nachahmung und Illusion. (Kolloquiiam Giessen Juni 1963. Vorlagen und Verhandlungen). Mtinchen: Eidos, 1964. Jehmtlller, Wolfgang. Pie Gestalt des Biographen bei Wilhelm Raabe. Miinchen: Fink, 1275.

Kahler, E.v. "Die Verinnerung des ErzShlers." Pie Neue Rundschau, 70 C1959) 1, 501-46. 267

Kayser, Wolfgang. "Die Anfclnge des modernen Romans im 18. Jahrhundert und seine heutige Krise." DVJL, 28 (1954), 417-45.

------. Entstehung und Krise des modernen Romans. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1955.

------"Das Problem des Erzdhlers im Roman." GQ, 29 (1956) 4, 225-38.

------. "Wer erzShlt den Roman?" Die Neue Rundschau, (1957), 444-59.

Kermode, Prank. Novel and Narrative. Glasgow: Univ. of Glasgow, 1972.

Killy, Walther. Romane des 19. Jahrhunderts. Wirklichkeit und Kunstcharakter. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 19 67.

Kimpel, Dieter. Der Roman der Aufkl£rung. 1670-1774. 2nd ed. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1977.

------and Conrad Weidemann, eds. Spdtaufkl&rung, Klassik und Frtihromantik. Vol. II. of Theorie und Technik des Romans im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert. Ttibingen: Niemeyer, 1970.

King, Holly Beth. "Convenient Fictions. The Novel within the Novel in the Works of Doris Lessing, Andre Gide and Flann O'Brien." Diss. UCLA 197 5.

Klotz, Volker, ed. Zur Poetik des Romans. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1965.

Krispyn, Egbert. Rev. of Per Doppelroman. Eine literatur­ systematische Studie hber duplikative Erzclhlstruktur, by Frank C. Maatje. MLN, 83 (April 1968) 3, 501-04.

L&mmert, Eberhard. Bauformen des Erz&hlens. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1955.

------, et al., eds. Romantheorie. Dokumentation ihrer Geschichte in Deutschland 1620-1880. Ki51n: Kiepenheuer and Witsch, 1971.

Lange, Victor. "Erzdhlforxnen im Roman des 18. Jahrhunderts." Anglia, 76 (1958), 129-44. 268

Leggett, H.W. The Idea in Fiction. London: Allen and Unwin, 1934.

Lehman, 5.H. "Of Time, Personality, and the Author. A Study of Tristram Shandy: Comedy." In Essays on the Eighteenth Century Novel. Ed. Robert Donald Spector. Bloomington and London: Indiana Univ., 1965, pp. 165-84.

Levenson, E.A. "Narrative Technique in Ulysses: A Stylistic Comparison of 'Telemachus' and 'Eumaesus1." Lang&S, 5 (Fall 1972) 4, 260-75.

Lubbock, Percy. The Craft of Fiction. London: Cape, 1921; rpt. New York: Viking, 197 6.

„ Lukacs, Georg von. Die Theorie des Romans. Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch (lber Formen der grossen Epik. 2nd ed. Neuwied am Rhein, Berlin- Spandau: Luchterhand, 1963.

Maatje, F. C. Der Doppelroman. Eine literatursystematische Studie ttber duplikative Erzclhlstruktur. 2nd ed. Groningen, 1968.

------. "Versuch einer Poetik des Raumes." Rpt. Landschaft und Raum in der ErzcLhlkunst. Ed. A. Ritter. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975, pp. 392-416.

Martini, Fritz, ed. "Probleme des ErzShlens in der Weltliteratur." In Festschrift ftir Kclte Hamburger zum75. Geburtstag. Stuttgart: Klett, 1971.

Mendilov, A.A. Time and the Novel. London: Nevill, 1952.

Meyer, Hermann. "Raumgestaltung und Raumsymbolik in der ErzShlkunst." Studium Generale, 10 (1957). Rpt. Landschaft und Raum in der Erzdhlkunst. Ed. A. Ritter. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975, pp. 208-31.

- . "Von der Freiheit des ErzShlers." In Festgabe flir L.L. Hammerich. Ed. Hermann Meyer. Kopenhagen: Naturmetodens Sproginstitut, 1962, pp. 181-90.

- . Das Zitat in der ErzShlkunst. Zur Geschichte und Poetik des europaischen Romans. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1961. 269

Miller, Norbert- Per empfindsame Erz&hler. Untersuchungen an Romananfclrtgen des 18. Jahrhunderts. Miinchen: Hanser, 19 68.

Milller, Andreas. Landschaftserlebnis und Landschaftsbild. Studien zur deutschen Dichtung des 18. Jahr Plunder t s und der Romantik. Hechingen: Kohlhammer, 1955.

Miiller, Giinther. "AufbaUformen des Romans." Neophil, 27 (1953), 1-14.

------Die Bedeutung der Z'eit in der Erzdhlkunst. Bonn, Bad Godesberg: Athenlum, 1947.

------. "Erz&hlzeit und erz&hlte Zeit." In Festschrift filr P.‘ Kl'uckhohn und H. Schneider. Thbingenl Mohr, 1948., pp. 195-212.

------. MorphOlogische Poetik. Eds. Elena Miiller and Helga Egner. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1968. ------"Ober das Zeitgerilst des Erz&hlens." DVLG, 24 (195$, 1-32.

Muir, Edwin. The Structure of the Novel. 6th ed. London: Hogarth, 19 54.

Nivelle, Armand. FrUhromantische Diclitungstheorie. Berlin: DeGruyter, 1970.

Pabst, W. "Literatur zur Theorie des Romans." DVLG, 34 (1960), 264-89.

Pascal, Roy. "Narrative Fictions and Reality." Novel, 11 (Fall, 1977) 1, 40-50.

Petersen, Jilrgen H. "Kategorien des Erzdhlens. Zur systematischen Deskription epischer Texte." Poetica, 9 (1977) 2, 167-95. Petsch, Robert. "Der epische Dialog." Euphorion, 32 (1931), 187-205. ------. "Epische Grundformen." G RM, 16 (.1928) , 379-99..

------. Weseri und Form der Erz&hlkunst. Halle and Saale: Niemeyer, 1934. 270

Poser, M. v. Der abschweifende ErzShler. Rhetorische Tradition und deutscher Roman im 18. Jahrhundert. Bad Homburg: Gehlen, 1969.

Pouillons, Jean. Temps et Roman. 4th ed. Gallimard: Nouvelle Revue Francais, 1946.

Ritter, Alexander, ed. Landschaft und Raum in der ErzShlkunst. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1975.

Roberts, Thomas J. When is Something Fiction? Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern 111. Univ., 1972. London and Amsterdam: Fiffer and Simons, 1972.

Romberg, Bertil. Studies in the Narrative Technique of the First-Person Novel. Stockholm: Almqvrst and wiksell, 1962.

Rutten, M. Rev. of Der Doppelroman. Eine 1iteratursystem- atische Studie tlber duplikative Erzflhlstruktur, by Frank C. Maatje. De Nieuwe Taalgids, 58 (1965), 333-37.

Scheidweiler, Paula. Der Roman der deutschen Romantik. Leipzig: Teubner, 1916.

Scholes, Robert. "The Contributions of Formalism and Structuralism to the Theory of Fiction." Novel, 6 (Winter, 1973) 2, 134-51.

------. Elements of Fiction. New York: Oxford Univ., 1968.

------and Robert Kellogg. The Nature of Narrative. New York: Oxford Univ., 1966.

------. Structuralism in Literature. An Introduction. New Haven: Yale Univ., 1974.

Schramke, Jtlrgen. Zur Theorie des modernen Romans. Milnchen: Beck, 1974.

Schulze, Joachim. "Histoire, Discours, Ersetzungsregeln. Zu einer 'Tiefenstruktur des Narrativen*." Poetica, 7 (1977) 2, 196-216.

Spector, Robert Donald. Essays on the Eighteenth Century Novel. Bloomington and London: Indiana Univ., 1965. 271

Stanzel, Franz K. "Second Thoughts on Narrative Situations in the Novel. Towards a 'Grammar of Fiction'." Novel, 11 (Spring, 1978) 3, 247-64.

------Typische Formen des Romans. GOttingen: Vandenhoeck, 1964.

------. Die typischen ErzShlsituationen im Roman. Dargestellt an "Tom Jones," "Moby Dick," "The Ambassadors,11~"Ulyssestt u.a. Wien and Stuttgart: Braumllller, 1955.

Steinecke, Hartmut. Romantheorie und Romankritik in Deutschland. Die Entwicklung des Gattungsverstclndnisses von der Scott-Rezeption bis zum programmatischen Realismus. Vol. I. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1975.

------. Theorie und Technik des Romans im 19. Jahrhundert. Tiibingen: Niemeyer, 1970.

Stresau, Hermann. "Raum und Zeit in der Epik." Die Neue Rundschau, 46 (1935), 551-59.

Vogt, Jochen. Aspekte erzflhlender Prosa. Dttsseldorf: Bertelsmann, 197 2.

------. "Bauelemente erz&hlender Texte." In Literaturwissenschaft. Vol. I of Grundzilge der Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaft. Ed. Heinz Ludwig Arnold. Mflnchen: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1973, pp. 227-42.

Volek, Emil. "Die Begriffe 'Fabel' und 'Sujet' in der modernen Literaturwissenschaft. Zur Struktur der 1Erz&hlstruktur." Poetica 9 (1977) 2. 141-66.

Wahrenburg, Fritz. Funktionswandel des Romans und Ssthetische Norm. Die Entwicklung seiner Theorie in Deutschland bis zur Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1976.

Walther, Elisabeth. "Zur Sprache des modernen Romans." Lang&S, 1 (Spring 1968) 2, 109-14.

Winter, Hans-Gerhard. Dialog und Dialogroman in der AufklSrung. Mit einer Analyse von J.J. Engels Gesprachstheorie. Darmstadt: Thesen, 1974. 272

E. Miscellaneous

Adelung, Johann Christoph.. Grammatisch-kritlsches Wtirterhuch der hochdeutschen Mundart mit bestctndiger Vergleichung der ttbrigen Mundarten, besonders aber der Oberdeutschen. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1793-1801.

Babb, Howard S., ed. Essays in Stylistic Analysis. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1972.

Bach, Adolf. Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. 8th ed. Heidelberg: Quelle and Meyer, 19 65.

Bosse, Heinrich. Theorie Und Praxis bei Jean Paul. Bonn: Bouvier, 1970.

Campe, Joachim Heinrich. Wflrterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 3 vols. Braunschweig: Schulbuchhandlung,- 1808-1813. rpt. Hildesheim: 01ms, (.1964-19701 .

Clayborough, Arthur. The Grotesque in English Literature. Oxford: Clarendon, 19 65.

Eifler, Margaret. Thomas Mann. Das Groteske in drei Parodien. Bonn: Bouvier, 1970.

Elkhadem, Saud. The York Dictionary of English, French, German, Spanish Literary Terms and their Origins. Fredericton: York, 1976.

Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm. Deutsches Wflrterbuch. 16 vols. in 32. Leipzig: Hirzel, 1854-1960.

Hayes, Curtis W. "A Transformational-Generative Approach to Style. Samuel Johnson and Edward Gibbons." Lang&S, 1 (Winter 1968) 1, 39-48.

Hough, Graham. Style and Stylistics. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. New York: Humanities Press, 1969.

Jennings, Lee Byron. "The Grotesque Element in Post- Romantic German Prose. 1832-1882." Diss. Univ. of Illinois 1955.

------. The Ludicrous Demon. Aspects of the Grotesque in German Post-Romantic Prose. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UCLA, 1963. 273

Kayser, Wolfgang. Das Groteske. Seine Gestaltunq in Malerei und Dichtung. Oldenburg: Stalling, 1957.

- . Das sprachliche Kunstwerk. Eine Einfflhrung in die Literaturwissenschaft. Bern: Francke, 1948.

Martini, Fritz. Deutsche Literaturgeschichte von den Anfflngen bis zur Gegenwart. 15th ed. Stuttgart: Krfiner, 1968.

Murray, Sir James A.H., ed. A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society. Vol. 8. part 1. By W.A. Craigie. Oxford: Clarendon, 1910.

The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically. 3rd print­ ing. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford Univ., 1971.

Pinloche, A. Etymologisches Wflrterbuch der deutschen Sprache. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1922.

Preisendanz, W. Humor als dichterische Einbildungskraft. Miinchen: Eidos, 1963.

Preminger, Alex et al., eds. Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton Univ., 1965.

Schubert, G.H. Ansichten von der Nachtseite der Naturwissenschaft. 4th ed. Dresden and Leipzig: Arnold, 184 0.

Shipley, Joseph Twadell, ed. Dictionary of World Literature. Criticism, Forms, Techniques. New York: Littlefield, Adams, 1943.

Sinclair, John. "A Technique of Stylistic Description." Lang&S, 1 (Fall 1968) 4, 215-42.

Sperber, Hans and Wolfgang Fleischhauer. Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. 4th ed. Berlin: DeGruyter, 19 63.

Spitzer, Leo. Linguistics and Literary History. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1948. 274

Staiger, Emil. Grundbegriffe der Poetik. Ztirich: Atlantis, 1946.

Steig, Michael. "Defining the Grotesque. An Attempt at Synthesis." JAAC, (Winter, 1970), 253-60.

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