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The aesthetics of everyday life: An analysis of morality in the novels of Giinther de Bruyn

Rider, Nancy Ann, Ph.D.

The Ohio State University, 1992

Copyright ©1992 by Rider, Nancy Ann. All rights reserved.

UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106

THE AESTHETICS OF EVERYDAY LIFE;

AN ANALYSIS OF MORALITY IN THE NOVELS

OF GUNTHER DE BRUYN

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University

By

N. Ann Rider, B.A., M.A.

****

The Ohio State University

1992

Dissertation Committee: Approved by

Prof. Helen Fehervary

Prof. Gisela Vitt

Prof. Donald Riechel Adviser Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures Copyright by N. Ann Rider 1992 For my grandmother Mary Ruprich Klein

11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish foremost to thank Prof. Helen Fehervary for guiding me to and through this project and for her scholarly and personal wisdom. Thanks go also to

Profs. Gisela Vitt and Donald Riechel for their keen reading and helpful comments. The Institute for Inter­ national Eduction provided the Fulbright-Hays research grant to the GDR, which made much of the work on this dissertation possible. The technical assistance of

Susan Farquhar and Treva Sheets is also greatly appreciated. Finally, I am grateful to Ralph Leek for his critical comments and to him and Samuel for their love and support.

Ill VITA

July 3, 1957 ...... Born - Mt. Clemens, Michigan

1979 ...... B.A. , Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

1983 ...... M.A. , Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

1987-1988 ...... Fulbright Scholar, Berlin, German Democratic Republic

Present ...... Assistant Professor of German, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field: Germanic Languages and Literatures

Studies in 20th-Century German Literature and Culture, East German Literature, Women's Literature and Theory.

IV TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION ...... Ü

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... iii

VITA ...... iv

INTRODUCTION ... 1

CHAPTER PAGE

I. FROM TAGEBUCH TO ENTWICKLUNGSROMAN: DER HOHLWEG ...... 20

Der Hohlweg ...... 21 "Der Holzweg" ...... 61

II. AN EXAMINATION OF SOCIALIST MORALITY IN EVERDAY LIFE: BURIDANS ESEL ...... 64

Introduction ...... 64 De Bruyn's Further Development as a W r i t e r ...... 66 The Cultural Climate and the Struggle to Dominate "Truth" ...... 70 Truth in Everyday L i f e ...... 81 Precursors to Buridans Es e l ...... 83 Constructing Legitimacy through the Narrator ...... 88 Erp and Self-deception ...... 94 Erp, the B o u r g e o i s ? ...... 112 The Contrast of Positive Development . . 124 C o n c l u s i o n ...... 129

III. SOCIALIST MORALITY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE REALMS: PREISVERLEIHUNG .... 133

Irene Overbeck ...... 138 Paul Schuster ...... 146 Teo Overbeck ...... 151 C o n c l u s i o n ...... 164

IV. ERAS OF CONTRADICTION: DAS LEBEN DES JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER AND MARKISCHE FORSCHUNGEN ...... 170

Essays on Realism ...... 170 Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter ...... 182 Markische Forschunqen ...... 196 C o n c l u s i o n ...... 225

V. CONCLUSION: WELCHE HERRLICHKEIT? ...... 228

Summary of Preceding Chapters ...... 230 Neue Herrlichkeit...... 239

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 245

VI INTRODUCTION

Fast ieder 1st ein Leben lana damit beschâftiqt. Vorurteile loszu- werden. die man ihm in seiner Juqend antrainiert hat. Jede Generation bekommt von der voriqen Verhaltensmafireqeln für eine Welt, die ihre nicht mehr 1st. Selbst zukunftsbewufite Erziehunq qewinnt den Wettlauf mit der Zeit nie, da sie mit Materialien der Verqanq- enheit arbeiten muB.

Giinter de Bruyn, Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

The following study attempts to broaden the scope of the analysis of social critique postulated in Giinter de Bruyn's work by exploring its moral dimension.^

De Bruyn's novelistic work is situated within a moral dimension that forms the tension between inherited bourgeois values, the political and aesthetic dictates of socialist ideology in the GDR and de Bruyn's charac­ terization of a critical morality. By analyzing the value hierarchies and moral decision-making of the characters in his novels, I attempt to highlight the tension between these competing, though sometimes

^This study is limited to de Bruyn's novelistic work since the thematic relationship among them is strong. However, de Bruyn's short fiction has gained recognition as well as his work as an editor, espe­ cially for the series Markischer Dichterqarten (along with Gerhard Wolf), which highlights Berlin writers. complementary, moral dimensions. While I demonstrate how the political-aesthetic dictates of the SED engendered tropes of literary legitimation and influenced de Bruyn's choice of genre, the intention of this study is not to interpret his novels as simple mirrors of socialist aesthetics. Rather, I am particu­ larly interested in analyzing the critical potential, e.g. the critical morality, manifest in de Bruyn's novels.

As a socialist country, the GDR set itself the task of evaluating moral standards for their applica­ bility to contemporary socialist life. However, that evaluation was often limited to revealing the economic interests behind the moral systems that were created by bourgeois classes. The mentality and many of the values of the historical German bourgeoisie remained entrenched in the GDR Mittelstand. a result of the introduction of socialism "from above."2 The initial task of instituting an antifascist-democratic order was approached through the existing hierarchical struc­ tures.3 In addition, the "Volksfront" program of the

2 The term Mittelstand might be appropriate in the GDR context, since it describes a unity not of economic class but of "aspiration and fear for the future." The term was delineated by Herman Lebovics (4).

3 See Wolfgang Emmrich. "Alte Strukturen, durch die hindurch der Faschismus sich taglich-alltaglich verwirklicht hatte, wurden dergestalt nicht zerschlagen, sondern beibehalten, auch wenn der Austausch der Personen oft den gegenteiligen Eindruck SED/KPD coalition, which created a "Zwischenetappe" wherein the democratic consciousness of the people could be developed, often suppressed socialist goals in favor of actions that would influence a broader spec­ trum of people (Mayer-Burger 31-39). Later, once the

SED had established power, the move away from the previous antifascist-democratic path in favor of socialist humanism was often only gradual: in the cultural realm an abstract moral humanism continued to be tolerated even as the bogeyman called formalism was being rooted out. Guided by the call of the First

Soviet Writers Congress for cultural continuity and by the theories of realism postulated by Georg Lukacs in the 193 0s, GDR cultural adjudicators looked to German bourgeois humanism to find an acceptable historical tradition to link to their socialist idealism. That this tradition was bourgeois never seemed to cause con­ cern, since its teleology was perceived to be socialist. Even during the period of the heaviest

Stalinist influence, 1949 to 1953, bourgeois conscious­ ness was not dismantled (Mayer-Burger 77). Rather the

Verbiirqer 1 ichuncf of Soviet society only strengthened

erweckte. Auf hoherer staatlicher Ebene wurde dement- sprechend als Struktur die parlamentarische Republik (unter kommunistischer Domane) restauriert, nicht aber eine sozialistische Volksdemokratie geschaffen" (11). the bourgeois values already accommodated in the newly forming GDR (Timasheff).^ In other words, while the bourgeois-humanist past was resuscitated as a socialist precursor, the unintended effect was to breathe life again into bourgeois values.

The contradiction between the rhetoric of new socialist values and the regressive substantiation of bourgeois values eventually created a crisis of legiti­ mation in the GDR. As de Bruyn described it, he con­ tinued to find "falsche Konventionen, Unehrlichkeit,

Heuchelei, Privilegien — moralische Fragen . . . , deren soziale Wurzeln man aufdecken muB," within the

GDR itself (Zipser, II, 34). The subtext of his major novels is the exploration of this gap between official rhetoric and everyday practice.

De Bruyn's work explores the effect of this con­ tradiction in the moral identity of GDR citizens. In

1965, Johannes Bobrowski asked, "Wie muB eine Welt für ein moralisches Wesen beschaffen sein?"; de Bruyn's work seems to pose the question from another angle, asking not only about the world, but about the charac­ teristics of the moral person in this

4 Timasheff's theory of the "great retreat" in socialist ideology during the Stalin era identifies how Soviet society reverted to a bourgeois society. Überqancfsqesellschaft?^ The behavior of individuals is

the primary focus of de Bruyn's scrutiny, yet that

behavior is viewed as symptomatic of the influence of

social relations. Born in 1926 in Berlin, de Bruyn

grew up during the Third Reich, spent his teenage years

in the military and entered adulthood as the East German state was founded. Behind his critique of both

individual behavior and GDR society lay the fear that

the social roots that led to fascism and later the

blind acceptance of Stalinism had not been properly

evaluated or uprooted. Instead, de Bruyn found that

the propensity toward accommodation and non-reflective

integration into the postulated community of fascism was further fostered by the ideology of state socialism

in the GDR, especially during the period of Ankunft in the 1950s. Against such non-reflective morality of social integration de Bruyn's work seems to postulate a critical morality.

The notion of a critical morality assumes a reflective, self-conscious relationship of the social self to socialist society. It is not a set of empiri­ cal guidelines or norms nor is it a Kantian categorical imperative; rather, it is a stance from which critical

^ A common term of the earlier period of the GDR that took on ironic meaning in the play of the same name by Volker Braun. moral decisions can be made. It is created through

appropriation, evaluation and conscious choice among

the many possibilities that the given social norms

offer. A society composed of such individuals would be

characterized by multiple and competing visions of

socialist morality. Such a stance is in contradistinc­ tion to the attitude of non-reflective social integra­ tion or accommodation which de Bruyn found to be prevalent in the GDR. Consequently, each of his novels reflects thematically and stylistically the tension between a non-reflective morality of social integration and critical moral decision-making.

The proving ground for a critical morality is everyday life, as de Bruyn observed;

[Hier] ist das, was die weitere Entwicklung [der Gesellschaft] beeintrachtigt oder bes- chleunigt, sehr genau ablesbar, und die Ver- haltensweisen, die hier praktiziert werden, haben ihren EinfluB auch auf die Handlungen, die mehr im Licht der Offentlichkeit stehen (Topelmann, "Interview" 1172).

Thus, the observation of everyday life became the framework around which de Bruyn built his work.

De Bruyn's credo was: "die oberste Pflicht beim

Schreiben [besteht] darin, die Wahrheit zu sagen, im

Kleinen wie im GroBen, in Teilen wie im Ganzen" ("Gris- cha" 3 70). This responsibility to truth is evident in de Bruyn's descriptions of the minutiae of quotidian existence, in the traces in the environment in which people live, work, love and die. The limitations of the sphere of daily life facilitated concentration on precise detail.

In her book. Everyday Life. Agnes Heller comments that everyday life is the realm in which "the whole man takes part; or to put it another way, everyday activities are those in which the whole man takes shape" (4 7 ).G Heller's observation is shared by de Bruyn. In this dissertation, I use Heller's theory of everyday life to analyze de Bruyn's aesthetics of everyday life. My choice of Heller is far from arbitrary. Like de Bruyn, Heller was an Eastern Euro­ pean who turned to the sphere of everyday life in an attempt to highlight the neglect and misrepresentation of that sphere under Soviet-style Marxist regimes.

Both Heller and de Bruyn identified the sphere of everyday life as the locus for defetishizing social and economic institutions by tracing their genesis to human action. Filling in where Lukacs left off in his

Aesthetics. Heller defines the structure of everyday life in terms of conventionality, repetition, stereotypes of the mundane, and social and psychological alienation. She prescribes individual

G I use the English translation of the original Hungarian work since, unlike the German translation, it was edited and abridged by the author herself. 8

agency in everyday life as crucial to an unalienated existence.

Heller demonstrates how everyday living is objec­ tification, but has consistent patterns that narrow the possibilities of personal action.? She makes the dis­ tinction between two personality types: particularity and individuality. Though each person is particular and develops a particular viewpoint, the extent to which one's actions are motivated by this viewpoint constitutes particularistic motivation. Such motiva­ tion can also be identified as self-interest, which is not only economic, but characteristic of the multiple spheres that constitute everyday life. Choice is the primary realm of development for Heller; the kinds of choices that are made indicate the development of the ego. The particularist ego selects from the world only that which upholds its self-interested point of view.

Thus, such a person develops no critical distance to

? Heller delineates the common properties to species-essential objectifications "in-itself" in everyday life, such as repetition, normativity and the "rule character," its sign system and economy. Then she explores how these properties are learned through probability, imitation, analogy, over-generalization; that is, the content of everyday knowledge. Finally she studies everday contact as a mirror of social rela­ tions and how the human being relates to this structure in different ways depending on the degree of particu­ larity or individuality in one's approach. She is then able to reject the notion that everyday life is neces­ sarily alienating. oneself nor to the world. Individuality, on the other hand, is development, "it is the coming-to-be of an individual," wherein particularity is overcome and choice (to be sure, within a narrow field of options determined by context) is exercised as autonomy (15).

That is, "when the individual chooses between alterna­ tives and places the imprint of his own individuality on the fact of choosing, on its content, its contours, etc." (22). Unlike the traditional use of the term,

Heller's "individualist" is characterized by distance to itself and to the world, by consciousness of its own life as object and subject.

It is clear that Heller's concept of the "individ­ ual" is the contingent person in her later theory of morals. That "individual" is capable of choosing itself ethically and, according to Heller, "[cjhoosing ourselves ethically means to destine ourselves to become the good persons that we are" (Heller,

Philosophv of Morals 14). In her theory of everyday life, it is this "individual" who is capable of chang­ ing the patterns of everyday life "in a humanistic, democratic, socialist direction" (Heller, Evervdav Life x ) . Heller's "individual" is indeed a social self.

Yet, she gives value to individual experience and 10

action in a way that previous Marxist theory had not.B

By insisting on using the term "individual," she sub­

verts the traditional notion of individuality as self-

interest and redeems for Marxism personal agency that

is not solely determined by economic and class inter­

ests.

The working hypothesis of this dissertation is

that de Bruyn's work postulates the notion of a social

self similar to Heller's vision of the "individual."

Each work places its protagonist in a position to make

choices that will test their resolve as social selves.

A character like Karl Erp in Buridans Esel fails this test miserably, and, by way of negative example, con­

firms what the notion of social self is not. Other characters, like Teo Overbeck in Preisverleihunq or

Ernst Potsch in Markische Forschunqen. are neither heroes nor anti-heroes, but struggle to make the best decision under the circumstances. Thus, unlike Christa

Wolf's protagonists who still fit in the literary

^Here one finds a close kinship to the second existential Marxism of Sartre (Critique de la raison dialectique appeared in 1960) in that they both charge the subject with responsibility for individual action that dogmatic Marxist critics condemned as pure sub­ jectivism. Both Heller and Sartre take into account that every moral decision has a concrete content; it is up to the individual to create a value-structure wherein a choice can be made. For Sartre, that value- structure is based on freedom; for Heller, on species- essentiality (GattunqsmaBiqkeit). This is her indebtedness to Marx and to the later Lukâcs. 11

tradition of the exceptional character who provides an example of possibility (which may or may not be realizable within their given historical context), de Bruyn's protagonists are figures representing the norm, unexceptional in every way. And it is this norm that constitutes the state, as the collapse of the GDR proved.

Like Heller, de Bruyn also recognized that the social self is not free of self-interest or social determination. This recognition allowed de Bruyn to practice a kind of fairness toward his characters that is expressed in a balance between critical and sympathetic perspectives. His artistic figures are never insulted by a one-sided determination of their character. This fairness toward his characters is also a result of a deep understanding of the limits of his own subjectivity.

Die Tatsache, daB jeder Erzahler, woven er auch immer erzahlt, letztendlich von sich erzahlt, ist mir so bewuBt, daB mir die Moglichkeit, mein Erleben auf den Leser iibertragen zu konnen, bei jedem Buch aufs neue fraglich erscheint. Immer wieder fiirchte ich, daB das, was ich erzahle, auBer mir nur wenige interessiert ("Zur Entstehung einer Erzahlung” 174).

His self-consciousness is even more important since this is exactly what he demanded of his charac­ ters: that they be conscious of themselves as objects as well as subjects in the world. He expected of himself as a writer what is expected of his characters. 12

Mit Bemühen, das Erlebnis auf Litera- turtauglichkeit zu untersuchen, beginnt schon seine Veranderung. Denn Literatur Tauglich- keit hei&t ja auch: Bedeutung über den sub- jektiven Fall hinaus, und um die beurteilen zu kônnen, ist der Autor gezwungen, seinen Fall sozusagen von auBen ansehen zu lernen, ihn zu objektivieren, sich also von ihn zu entfernen ("Zur Entstehung einer Erzahlung" 180) .

The distance of which de Bruyn spoke is not that of the objective observer, but of the very committed observer, one who is committed to the authenticity that allows truth to be seen, if only for a moment. The descrip­ tive methods he employed explore every facet of a character or situation, yet embody an appreciation of the divergence of their moral consciousness. His nar­ rative style strikes a balance between a critical and a sympathetic perspective. The critical potential of de Bruyn's work lies precisely in this balance, which

Bernd Allenstein attributes to "eine dialektische

Erzahlweise" capable of expressing the "Offenheit,

Mehrdeutigkeit und Vieldimensionalitat" of de Bruyn's subject (8).

In virtually all the secondary literature about de Bruyn there is reference to his moral impulse.

Sonja Hilzinger rightfully recognizes that this impetus in de Bruyn's work comes from personal brushes with the dangers against which he warns. Referring to de

Bruyn's rejection of his first novel, Der Hohlweg. she notes: "Moralische Unglaubwiirdigkeit durch Anpassung 13

und Verzicht auf Authentizitat . . . hat er als mogliche Gefahrdung für sich selbst frUhzeitig gesehen"

(87). Werner Liersch, too, is struck by the integrity of the man who rigorously rejected his early work and the ideological conception from which it was written.

Sich von einem Buch zu trennen, kann heiBen, sich von einer ganzen Lebensetappe zu tren­ nen. GewiB gibt es beschadigte Wahrheiten, die demjenigen, der entschlossen ist, sich an ihrer Wiederherstellung zu beteiligen, Komplizierteres abverlangen. Doch wie klein Oder groB die Angelegenheit ist, sie braucht eine fest auf das Wirkliche gerichtete Haltung, den EntschluB, bei der Wahrheit zu bleiben. Oder was man dafür halt. So einen konnte man schon einen Moralisten nennen (408).

Liersch identifies de Bruyn as a moralist precisely because of his determination to maintain honesty and authenticity in his writing after Der Hohlweq. These general observations on de Bruyn's moral impetus point to the need for the rigorous analysis of the moral dimension in his work that this dissertation seeks to offer.

In addition to and closely related to de Bruyn's moral impulse, most secondary literature focuses on his realism. Gabrielle Schlichting attempts to situate de Bruyn's work within the literary tradition of realism. She suggests that de Bruyn's favoring of con­ ventional realist narrative techniques and especially

"das Festhalten an der Darstellung des Gewohnlichen, des Alltaglichen" is reminiscent of nineteenth-century 14

realism (204). However, she concludes that de Bruyn's work remains formally within the realm of socialist realism without herself problematizing the concept of socialist realism. Instead she sees de Bruyn breaking its boundaries only through the content of his work.

Bernd Allenstein, on the other hand, finds that de Bruyn's use of traditional styles and techniques is a keen attempt at actualization that creates a dynamic relationship to the past. "Nicht statische Klas- sikeranbetung, nicht formale Adaption, nicht Form- spielerei als stilistisches Novum, sondern das In-

Beziehung-Setzen von Vergangenheit und Gegenwart im

Konkreten werden zum wesentlichen Movens des

Schreibens" (4). He cites particularly the numerous literary allusions in de Bruyn's texts as methods by which de Bruyn expands the possibilities of realist depiction.

Karin Hirdina finds de Bruyn's realism in a dialectical narrative strategy that is based in irony.

De Bruyn himself viewed irony as "eine sehr menschliche

Betrachtungsweise (. . .) die den Menschen allseitig zeigt: in seinen Starken und Schwachen, Erhabenheiten und Lacherlichkeiten" (Hirdina, "Interview" 18). Hir­ dina finds in de Bruyn's irony that which keeps his works from being trivial milieu portraits that are a pleasure to read but easily forgotten. It is not an 15

irony based in cynicism or the feeling of superiority of the author toward either his reader or his subjects.

Weisheit ist darin, eine Heiterkeit, die sich auf tiefe Einsicht und Liebe griindet, auf Freundlichkeit und Sympathie. Eine Ironie, die nicht vor dem Ich des Erzahlers aufhort, die Selbstironie einschlie&t und damit das Wissen urn eigene Schwachen und Grenzen, um Menschliches, die auf Toleranz baut" (104- 105)

My analysis will show the moral principle behind the balance that de Bruyn's narrative strategies create.

Wolfgang Emmerich counts de Bruyn along with

Loest, Hein and Braun as the creators of "eine eigentümliche neue Heimatliteratur" in the GDR.

Obwohl sie ihr Objektiv auf die nachste Nahe des DDR-Alltags eingestellt hat, vermag sie gleichzeitig Wesentliches iiber die gesellschaftliche Verfassung als ganze und iiber den historischen ProzeB, in dem die jeweiligen Momentaufnahme steht, auszusagen— wie alle gute Provinzliteratur, die auch Weltliteratur sein kann fKleine Literaturqes- chichte 307).

Fritz Raddatz found de Bruyn's aesthetics of everyday life unsuccessful in Buridans Esel; "Jene winzige

Drehung, die geschilderte Banalitat vom Banalen unterschieden macht, ist nicht gelungen" (348) .

However, from a later historical vantage point that includes de Bruyn's most accomplished work, particu­ larly Markische Forschunoen and Neue Herrlichkeit.

Emmerich is able to recognize de Bruyn's artistic talent as "ein Meister ihrer [der Anpassung] psychologischen Darstellung" (Kleine 16

Literaturqeschichte 3 09). All of these critics, even

Raddatz, recognize the critical potential of de Bruyn's aesthetics of everyday life.

Nonetheless, de Bruyn's aesthetics have not

inspired a great amount of secondary literature. Many

of the standard Western introductions to GDR literature mention him only cursorily.9 Karin Hirdina suggests this might be so because his works have never generated much controversy. However, "die ruhige Oberflache und der garende Untergrund," a motif in Neue Herrlichkeit. might aptly describe both de Bruyn's work and its reception. Backstage maneuvering has taken place in the publication of practically all of his works.10 But de Bruyn himself was uncomfortable with the equation of controversy with the quality of literature coming from the GDR (Waijer-Wilke 175) . Within the GDR de Bruyn's works were widely read and quite popular; even Der

Hohlweq was a best-seller. The réévaluation of GDR

9 For example, Jager's Sozialliteraten. Schmitt's Einfiihrunq in die Theorie, Geschichte und Funktion der DDR-Literatur. Sander's Geschichte der Schonen Litera- tur in der DDR.

10 In 1984 de Bruyn even cancelled his contract with Mitteldeutscher Verlag over the withdrawal from publication of Neue Herrlichkeit. which had been adver­ tised in the June 1984 issue of Neue Deutsche Literatur and had already appeared in the West. The contract was later reinstated and the book allowed to appear in the GDR in 1985. In a 1987 interview, de Bruyn mentioned "interne Schwierigkeiten" with the publications of other works as well (Waijer-Wilke 175). 17

literature that is occurring in the wake of unification is not likely to elevate de Bruyn into the ranks of the premier German writers of the twentieth century. But it will perhaps reaffirm the strength of his realism and commitment to the aesthetics of everyday life within the larger tradition of realism in German liter­ ature.

The titles of the following chapters give insight into the relationship of de Bruyn's narrative to the moral dimension in each novel that is examined. In the first chapter, concerning the novel Der Hohlweq. the emphasis is on the development of the individual. The title, "From Tagebuch to Entwicklungsroman" indicates de Bruyn's progression as a writer from the naive but honest journals of the young soldier to dependence on the strict form of the Entwicklungsroman. brought about in part by the social climate of the 1950s. It is a progression that in many ways mirrors the literary development of the GDR itself in the 1950s. The novel, too, reflects this progression internally, both in structure and in the attempt to reconcile the divergence between de Bruyn's standard of honesty and the ideologically charged genre he forced himself to work within.

The next two chapters are titled "An Examination of Socialist Morality in Everyday Life: Buridans Esel" 18

and "Socialist Morality in Public and Private Realms:

Preisverleihuncf." While all of de Bruyn's novels are thematically related, these two novels can be viewed together because daily socialist life is most important in them; they are closest thematically and stylisti­ cally as a result. Both rely on the report form as a frame for the plot action and as a stylistic vehicle for lending legitimacy to the text. The novel Preis- verleihunq picks up where Buridans Esel breaks off, taking the basic ethical conflict into the public realm, without, however, forsaking the realm of every­ day life. One detects in both works a belief in the possibility of change, of moral human agency in the

GDR, and an attempt, "die versteinerten Verhaltnisse durch den Nachweis ihrer Grundlagen im menschlichen

Handeln ins Wanken zu bringen," which Hans Joas says characterized the fundamental philosophical impetus behind the theoretical emphasis on daily life in East­ ern Europe during the 1960s (Joas 3). This belief diminishes appreciably in de Bruyn's later works.

The fourth chapter adds an historical dimension to de Bruyn's work, thus the plural in the title "Eras of

Contradiction: Das Leben Jean Paul Friedrich Richter and Markische Forschunqen." De Bruyn's interest in and the influence of Jean Paul is briefly explored, as well as his relationship to other writers of the German 19

realist tradition. From Jean Paul's life and work de Bruyn learned to battle the practice of overvaluing one perspective to the detriment of another. The biography is characterized by de Bruyn's attempt to present a multifarious perspective of Jean Paul's life and work. De Bruyn then applied what he learned to fiction in Markische Forschunqen. where the battle against "Einkrâftigkeit" takes place in the realm of literary history. Though the novel implies that dualistic thinking and a hegemonic world view in prac­ tice impeded the moral development of individuals within the GDR, future possibility is indicated tex­ tual ly through an amalgam of romantic and realist motifs.

In addition to a summation of the previous chap­ ters, the conclusion of this dissertation contains a brief analysis of de Bruyn's last published novel, Neue

Herrlichkeit. There we find an implicit rejection of

GDR state socialism and any possibility for the social self to be nurtured in such an environment. CHAPTER I

FROM TAGEBUCH TO ENTWICKLUNGSROMAN; DER HOHLWEG

Hirdina: Herr de Bruvn. Ihre Absaae an Ihren ersten Roman. Der Hohlweq. ist bekannt. 1st das eine Absaae gleichzeitig an eine ganze Etappe unserer DDR-Literatur. an die Literatur der fünfziger Jahre. zu der ich Hohlweg fast noch rechnen wiirde fobwohl erst 1963 erschienen)? De Bruvn: Manchmal neige ich dazu. Aber ich weiB theoretisch. daB das nicht geht. Weil in diesen Jahren auch der Grund gelegt wurde fur das, was ich als die Leistung der DDR-Literatur ansehen wiirde: ihren Realismus. Giinter de Bruyn & Karin Hirdina, "Interview."

Der Hohlweg is the product of two historical peri­ ods: 1945/46, when de Bruyn wrote the war diaries that form the experiential core of the novel; and the late

1950s and early 1960s in the GDR, when the novel took its final form. As de Bruyn has admitted, the literary realism developed during the immediate post-war period was an essential part of overcoming twelve years of fascist abuse of literature as a tool for the manipula­ tion of public consciousness. However, the creative impulse itself was footbound in the 1950s by a peda­ gogical aesthetic designed to legitimate the ruling party through its hegemony of the antifascist

20 21

tradition. Der Hohlweg lives the contradiction between the spirit of these two time periods thematically and structurally, and it suffers aesthetically as a result. An examination of the moral dimension of the novel reveals not only a struggle to find guiding value structures among the mo' al scraps of the immediate post-war period but also the author's struggle to write within the parameters proscribed by GDR cultural adjudicators on the socialist Entwicklungsroman.

Der Hohlweg

In Frage gekommen ware der Tvpus des Don Ouiiote oder des Hamlet, vielleicht sogar der des Hvperion. des Josef K. oder Schweik. Ich aber wahlte den Wilhelm Meister. Denn ich hatte mir einreden lassen. da8 ein Roman Entwicklungsroman sein, positiv enden und Totalitat geben müsse. Giinter de Bruyn, "Der Holzweg."

Despite de Bruyn's own misgivings about the novel,

Der Hohlweg holds a not unimportant place in a tradi­ tion of GDR war literature. The following section will situate Der Hohlweg within this tradition and examine the effects of the imposition of the Entwicklungsroman on the novel.

The impetus to write developed early on for de Bruyn: writing was as much a part of his 22

adolescence as reading.1 The adolescent who tries his pen on such topics as "Eine Chronik der

Indianerschlacht bei Tippecanoe 1811" and "eine

Biographie des Kaisers August," without the inspiration of the teacher's gradebook, is rare and the inner motivation likely to continue ("Holzweg" 327).

Diaries, too, were a part of his early oeuvre: of the two that de Bruyn mentioned, the first was written from

1940 to 1941; the second was begun in a military hospi­ tal in 1945. De Bruyn claimed to have spent 17 years on this first book, years during which the diary became autobiography, then reportage, then novel.

As de Bruyn wrote later, the immediate motivation was a self-imposed moral injunction to recount the hor­ rors of war for those who had survived but had not experienced direct participation in the fighting

("Holzweg" 331). The protagonist of the novel takes over this injunction; "die Überlebenden hatten die Auf- gabe, das Gewissen der Welt zu sein" (Der Hohlweq 80).

The description of events would come from an unwilling participant "der seine Leiden durch kritische

Registrierung produktiv zu machen versuchte" ("Holzweg"

3 31). As the years passed, other interests were added

1 As a youngster, de Bruyn was a voracious reader, devouring all 65 volumes of Karl May, only to become disillusioned with all literature following the revela­ tion that May's works were entirely fiction. 23

to the original motive, not all of which were compatible: fear of rearmament, anti-Stalinism, dis­ illusionment, and the desire to be published.

The psychological need to work through the events of the war that was a determinant of the diaries bore little influence on the later form of the novel. But once written, the author seemed perhaps emotionally unable to part with any aspect of the psychological labor. Pressed into the structure of the Entwick- lunqsroman. details, events and figures, devoid of any formal relationship to the whole, ball up and clog the narrative flow where structural sutures are drawn the tightest. Christa Wolf described resorting to a similar damming process in her own fledgling work,

Moskauer Novelle:

Anscheinend wurden da aus Angst vor schwer kontrollierbaren Sprengkraften eindâmmende Erfindungen zu Hilfe geholt, Bauteile, die zu einer Geschichte verkniipft werden konnten.("Über Sinn und Unsinn von Naivete" 61) .

Two energies are visible behind the dams that Wolf described: the volcanic pressure of historical repres­ sion and the dilating creative impulse. Both forces threatened to explode through the vent that writing allowed. Inexperienced writers like de Bruyn, over­ whelmed by the power that might be unleashed, turned to literary tradition for help. But what literary tradi­ tion was available that could account for the needs of 24

the generation whose formative years were spent under the enforced determinants of fascism and world war?

The earliest works in the German language to be published in the Soviet Zone came from exile writers and those who had participated in the antifascist resistance, among them Willi Bredel, Bertolt Brecht,

Anna Seghers, Johannes R. Becher and Friedrich Wolf.

Works like Die Prüfung (1946), Das siebte Kreuz (1946), and Professor Mamlock (1945) provided the first impetus for a reorientation to humanitarian thinking by depict­ ing the work and the struggles of the antifascist move­ ment, thus fulfilling the important function of enlightening and educating the populace. As influen­ tial as these works were, the experiences of the exiles were rarely those of the Germans who had remained in fascist Germany, who had participated, whether will­ ingly or not, in the catastrophe of war, who had lived daily fascism. The one-time exile writers were con­ cerned with working through their own exile experiences and were frequently criticized in the 1950s for their perceived inability to break from the autobiographical to incorporate the experiences of the new socialist individual.2 Authors who had lived daily fascism, on

2 For example, Anna Seghers published Transit, another in her important oeuvre of exil experiences, in 1951. Among the exil writers, only Eduard Claudius, Trommler notes, had published a work focused on the contemporary situation in the GDR, his Betriebsroman. Menschen an unserer Seite (1951) (Trommler, "Von Stalin 25

the other hand, attempted to exorcize fascist deeds in their writing during this period and into the early

1950s, describing their own disillusionment and attempts to break free from fascist ideology.3 They perceived themselves as the deceived ones, seduced by a war machine that damned the individual to impotence.

Consequently, their writing rarely stretched beyond emotionality and didacticism; adaptation to the new socialist system and its values was a foregone conclu­ sion posing no problems for the hero, nor for the reader. Political conversion became a salvation. Few of the war novels overcame these deficits. The excep­ tion was perhaps Theodor Plivier's 1945 documentary novel, Stalingrad.

The founding of the GDR in 1949 precipitated a desire for literature that focused on the present.

Immediately thereafter, war novels were f e w . 4 Therese

zu Holderlin" 27).

3 The East German Geschichte der Literatur der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik cites as examples Georg Holmsten's Der Brückenkopf (1948) and Heinz Rein's Finale Berlin (1947). Though these novels are evaluated positively, the authors are critiqued for an inability to transfer their own experiences into a literary concept "die den zweiten Weltkrieg und seine Ausgang als geschichtlichen Wendepunkt erfassen konnte" (171).

4 No new war novels were even published during 1952 and 1953. Hornigk, "Kriegserlebnis" 232. 26

Hornigk cites the publications of the Schrifstellerver- band. which show that readers were tired of "Elendsges- chichten" and supported cultural policy directives for a more optimistic literature focusing on the problems and solutions of the present ("Kriegserlebnis" 232-33).

However, the founding of the NATO alliance and the War­ saw Pact in 1955 and the accompanying remilitarization made the theme of war once again a current issue.

Almost ten years of cultural-political policy was being put into guestion at this time, opening the doors for a resurgence in literature about World War II.

Following Stalin's death in 1953, writers in the Soviet

Union initiated a critigue of literary schematism resulting from Communist Party and state control of authorship. The critique was quickly taken up in the

GDR as well, blending with the voices of discontent that followed the June 17, 1953 uprising, and culminat­ ing in the sharp criticism leveled by respected authors, such as Seghers, Bredel, Eduard Claudius,

Stefan Heym, and Bodo Uhse at the IV. Schriftstel- lerkonareB (1 9 5 6 ).5 At issue were not only the

"Schonfarberei und Verkleisterung der Widerspriiche" that resulted from strict adherence to Zhdanovian

^ The "discussions", which began in Neues Deutschland in 1955, are often refered to as the "Schematism debates." 27

tenets of socialist realism (Emmerich, Kleine Litera- turqeschichte 106); intellectuals like Hans Mayer and

Wolfgang Harich railed as well against the cultural isolationism such policies forced upon the GDR, creat­ ing ignorance of its contemporaries in the West. In a

Sonntaq article reconstructing previously unpublished lectures, Mayer pointed out the absurdity and the danger of such "Sektierertum":

Will man . . . das literarische Klima bei uns andern, so muJ5 die Auseinandersetzung mit der modernen Kunst und Literatur in weitestem Umfang endlich einmal beginnen. Es muG aufhoren, daB Kafka bei uns ein Geheimtip bleibt und daB das Intéressé für Faulkner Oder Thornton Wilder mit illegalem Treiben gleichgesetzt wird. . . . Die fehlenden Be- schaftigung . . . mit den Tendenzen und wichtigsten Erscheinungen der modernen Künstler und Schriftsteller wird sich in jedem Falle als Stagnation und Sterilitat auswirken (Mayer, in Schubbe 449).

However, the greatest evil was the ignorance created of the its own past. According to David Bathrick:

Mit dem Angriff gegen den Schematism war namlich das offene Eingestandnis verbunden, daB die Betonung der Gegewartsliteratur nicht nur aus einer schematischen Sicht der Gegen- wart resultierte, sondern auch jede echte Auseinandersetzung mit der Vergangenheit unmoglich gemacht hatte (Bathrick, "Ge- schichtsbewuBtsein" 288).

Critical discussion was focused on the need for further evaluation of the war years and also on the form that the second wave of war literature would take.

Frank Trommler cites a 1955 essay by Marianne Lange that had already pointed to the deficit in works by 28

younger writers attempting to confront the past

(Trommler, "Von Stalin zu Holderlin" 30). Numerous voices joined the discussion prompted by her essay, some in support of reexamining the past and others questioning the need for such a reexamination.6 The liberal atmosphere that seemed to ebb and flow in the

GDR during the mid-1950s could not help but bring the influence of West German literature, which was experi­ encing a resurgence of war literature as well, influenced by the "harte Schreibweise" of American authors (especially Norman Mailer and Ernest Heming­ way) . The new documentary-descriptive style of pro­ jecting a more personal version of war realism, espe­ cially its horrors, found its way into the GDR as well.7 Novels displaying such influences were

^ Trommler documents the great interest that was inspired in this discussion: Frank Wagner, "Der Weg zur Erkenntnis. Gedanken zum deutschen Roman über den zweiten Weltkrieg," Neues Deutschland 11.9.55; Ludwig Renn, "Weshalb keine Literatur über den Kreig?" Neue Deutsche Literatur 1 (1956): 126-29; Otto Braun, "Brauchen wir Kriegsromane?" Neues Deutschland 8.1.56; Hermann Kant & Frank Wagner, "Die gro&e Abrechnung. Problème der Darstellung des Krieges in der deutschen Gegewartsliteratur," Neue Deutsche Literatur 12 1957): 124-39; and the entire March issue of Neue Deutsche Literatur was devoted to war literature.

7 Novels such as: Herbert Otto, "Die Lüge" (1956), Kurt David "Die Verführten" (1956), Werner Steinberg, "Als die Uhren stehenblieben" (1957), Egon Günther, "Der kretische Krieg" (1957), Horst Beseler, "Im Garten der Konigin" (1957), Günter Spranger, "Stützpunkt Rokitno" (1957), and Harry Thürk, "Stunde der toten Augen" (1957). 29

themselves often quite popular. However, they were criticized as a much too individualistic return to the

"Remarque-tradition," which was understood as a natu­ ralistic, apolitical tradition lacking a critique or understanding of the greater economic and social forces behind war.^ This criticism was leveled by Alfred

Kurella in 1957 at a conference of the Schriftsteller- verband specifically on the theme of war literature.

As much as the SED would have liked for writers to abandon the past and concentrate on the present and future, Kurella thought he had found a way to put war literature to use by encouraging authors to depict

World War II as a battle against imperialism and fas­ cism. 9

Kurella's attempt to steer from above the course of a war literature tradition in the GDR highlights the uneasiness with which party and state bureaucracies

^ Hans-Harald Müller found that Remarque's apolitical defense of Im Westen nichts Neues was true as far as authorial intent, but that the novel could nonetheless be read politically. In his analysis of the reception of the novel, he found hardly a positive reaction from the KPD press. The novel was criticized for its bourgeois pacifism on one hand, and as Aufrüstuncfsliteratur on the other.

^ The GDR socialist perspective focuses on the "Doppelcharakter" of World War II, "der nicht nur ein imperialistischer Raubfeldzug, sondern gleichzeitig ein antiimperialistischr, von der socialistischen Sow- jetunion geführter Befreiungskrieg war" (Geschichte der Literatur der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 172). 30

faced the subjective nature of the themes at hand.

Clearly, attempts to reckon with individual participa­ tion in fascism were of a deeply personal nature and were necessarily autobiographical. In his article,

"Writing What— for Whom? Veraangenheitsbewaltiqunq in the GDR," Marc Silberman reminds us that the act of

Verqanqenheitsbewaltiqunq would have required new forms of writing, the modernist tradition for which the SED had effectively suppressed in its anti-formalism campaigns.It would also have required deep psychological investigation into the guilt of the indi­ vidual and of the masses. The official denial of the

"emotional content and subjective perception of events" by insistence on forcing them into formulaic prose reflected political denial on other psychic levels

10 silberman notes that the novel as genre may have been the ideal form for Verqanqenheitsbewaltiqunq to take, but in its 1950s form in the GDR had been amputated of the very characteristics of narrative that might have done so:

Yet GDR literature, in the wake of Socialist Realism as the officially sanctioned literary method and with its Lukacsian view of modern­ ism, had excluded as bourgeois decadence most of the formal advances associated with the modern novel. Consequently writers found themselves without the structural techniques of psychological analysis needed to extend their reflection in the most obvious direc­ tions: the pyscho-social examination of col­ lective guilt and the coupling of personal and social conscience (Silberman 532). 31

(Silberman 530). The party and the state were steeped in their own denial, masked by public deception con­ cerning the true scope of the so-called Stalinist cult of personality. Further, the pacifist nature of much of the earlier war literature was at cross currents with the process of remilitarization necessitated by the new alliances. The scare of June 17th and the criticism by respected writers and intellectuals during the so-called Tauwetter of 1956/57 seemed to cause all the more cultural-political entrenchment, even with the supposed implementation of a New Course in 1953.

The New Course did not affect any real changes in the realm of literature. The literary theory of Georg

Lukacs remained a dominant force within the GDR until well into the 1960s, despite the fact that he himself was persona non grata following his participation in the provisional Hungarian government.H The lingering of his influence can be attributed to the fact that his writing during the 1930s formed the basis of Soviet socialist realism as theorized by Zhdanov and fulfilled several purposes of the state and the SED: Lukacs' emphasis on education and change served the need to

Margaret Eifler calls Lukâcs' Deutsche Litera­ tur im Zeitalter des Imperialismus and Fortschritt und Reaktion in der deutschen Literatur "the definitive works for the future cultural policy of the GDR" (Eifler 40). 32

reeducate the German populace and provide positive

examples of integration into the socialist community;

further, while instigating a form of literature that would encompass changes in society and the individual and anticipate the future socialist path, Lukacs relied heavily on tradition and continuity, not the upheaval and revolution of Brecht or the Soviet Proletkult.12

As Stephen Bock makes clear, the SED supported the for­ mer as a means of generating the Popular Front towards the antifascist-democratic way for Germany (Bock 27).

The Lukacsian approach continued to be a useful tool against what the Party considered to be leftist revisionism even after Lukâcs had distanced himself from his own dogmatism.

The official theme then for the late 1950s, culturally and politically, continued to be the idealistic notion of transformation, Wandlunq, though it was underpinned by a need for continuity. But that continuity did not include an active evaluation of the previous two decades as anything other than the black- on-white struggle against fascism. As Anna Seghers had

12 Underlying this Lukâcsian approach was the statement of Lenin in 1921: "Not the invention of a new proletarian culture, but the development of the best models, traditions and achievements of existing culture from the standpoint of the Marxist world view and of the living and fighting conditions of the proletariat in the epoch of its dictatorship" (Lenin 373). 33

said at the IV. Schriftstellerkongrefi. the "Ent- trümmerungsproze/3" of the individual from the ruins of bourgeois ideology was still progressing at a slower pace than this legend would allow for ("Die groGe

Veranderung" 91). She saw the previous 10-year hiatus from the memory of World War II as "nicht nur eine

Lücke in unserer Literatur, sondern auch im BewuGtsein der Menschen" ("Die groGe Veranderung" 108). However, the emerging war literature was officially labeled as autobiographical, open-ended "Generationsanklage."

Inherent within the official reaction was the critique of the influence of western literature as well as an attempt to separate critical realism from socialist realism, which incorporated the simplified antifascist legend. There was no desire on the part of cultural functionaries to explore a GDR alternative war litera­ ture, since their design was for writers to write about the present. Christa Wolf summarized the writer's dilemma at the 1957 war literature conference of the

Schriftstellerverband;

Hier wurde verlangt, die Parteinahme für den Sozialismus solle der ganzen Konzeption der Bûcher den Stempel aufdrUcken, sie solle den Autor befahigen, die Sympathien des Lesers auf die 'andere Seite' zu lenken. Wie ist das zu machen? Wird hier nicht der Begriff 'Kreigsbuch' fragwürdig? MuG nicht, um das zu erreichen, der groGe Gesellschaftsroman geschrieben werden, welcher den Krieg als 'Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln' in die Konzeption einbezieht? 1st nicht der Ruf nach dem Kriegsbuch eigentlich die 34

Forderung nach einem von subjektiven Zufalls- ergebnissen gereinigten, auf Materialstudien gestützten groBen historischen Roman, der — wie Zweig's Grischa-Zyklus — Front und Hinterland, den Generalstab und den Schiitzengraben, den einfachen Soldaten und den Offizier, kurz: die Totalitat der Gesellschaft darstellt? ("Vom Standpunkt des Schriftstellers" 123).

In order to fulfill the conflicting desires and responsibilities, the genre of choice for the war lit­ erature of the "Flakhelfergeneration" became the

Entwicklungsroman. as postulated by Lukacs in his essay on Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehriahre (193 6) and in

"Der kritische Realismus in der sozialistischen

Gesellschaft" (1956). It had the formal potential to fulfill both the SED directive for the depiction of integration of the individual into the socialist com­ munity and address the younger writers' need to come to terms with their own past before turning to the pre­ sent. Three novels bear the stamp of this theoretical decision: Max Walter Schulz' Wir sind nicht Staub im

Wind (1962), Dieter Noll's Die Abenteuer des Werner

Holt (Volume I, 1960, Volume II, 1963) and Günter de Bruyn's Der Hohlweg (1963).

Taking refuge in the "increasing collectivization of an already anonymous authorial self" of the socialist Entwicklungsroman perhaps alleviated the fears of these young writers at exposing their own selves, a personally difficult task made all the more 35

so because it was publicly unwelcome at the time

(Fehervary 170) . The Entwicklungsroman also provided a proven way to tame the untamable energies. Yet there are signs throughout Der Hohlweg that the genre was not appropriated uncritically by de Bruyn. The presupposi­ tions of the genre, however much they determined the novel structure, deconstruct in the novel's content.

In other words, the morality of social integration inherent in the structure of the socialist Entwick­ lungsroman is not uncritically affirmed in the novel.

The narrative time period of Der Hohlweg spans from the end of the war to approximately one year later. The first half of the novel is devoted to the war's final days and the months required for the soldiers to return home. Only the last half of the novel, the period of reintegration into civilian life, bears the obvious attempts to create a socialist

Entwicklungsroman. The inability to carry the genre through the entire novel suggests that Christa Wolf was correct in wondering to what extent actual war experi­ ences could be adequately addressed within this genre

("Vom Standpunkt des Schriftstellers" 123).

According to Wolfgang Weichmantel, the main protagonist of Der Hohlweg. the war could not be the

"entwicklungs-fordernde Katastrophe" that it was for the writers of earlier war literature or as demanded by the model of the socialist Entwicklungsroman. 36

"Der Krieg macht keinen reifer, glaube ich. Vielleicht primitiv oder zynisch. Aber er entwickelt einen nicht, er halt nur auf. Ich glaube, dafi das für jeden Entscheidende jetzt erst beginnt." "Für viele war der Krieg das Entscheidende!" "Ja, auch für mich vielleicht, aber ich meinte es anders," sagte Weichmantel stock- end. "Im Krieg geschah etwas mit uns, gegen unseren Willen— jetzt erst beginnt die Moglichkeit, selbst etwas aus dem Leben zu machen" (Der Hohlweq 206-207).

The disillusionment that first overcame the protagonists of earlier war novels as they faced the realities of war is not a factor for the young protagonists of this novel since they are unwilling victims from the beginning. Thus, there is no pos­ sibility of development in terms of an enlightening experience wherein the protagonist sees the error of his/her ways and is "saved" by new socialist values.

Even the most valuable of the earlier works of this kind, Franz Fühmann's Die Kamaraden (1955), relies on the structural device of the enlightening experience.

The device, however, requires the initial guilt of com­ plicity that is absent for the "Flakhelfergeneration."

As de Bruyn himself noted, "Was sie auszeichnete, war, daB sie noch keine Gelegenheit gehabt hatten, schuldig zu werden" ("Holzweg" 329). Instead, these protagonists perceive themselves as victims from the very beginning of the novel.

In addition to suggesting that the war as an his­ torical event was not a developmental force, the novel 37

further shows that war could not provide models or heroes for this generation. All attempts to hold up the past as a model for future action are shown to be either unattainable or corrupt and regressive in the novel. The novel opens with a reportage-like descrip­ tion of the dishonorable retreat of German officers on the eastern front in the final days of the war.

Der General war ohne Aufenthalt nach Wien weiter-gefahren, das, wie er hoffte, die Amerikaner besetzen wiirden. Der Stab hatte das Stadtchen verlassen, als die ersten sowjetischen Panzer an der Grenze gesichtet worden waren. Der Regiments-kommandeur war noch einige Minuten geblieben, um eine kurze, schneidige Rede zu halten, die vom Gefechtslarm in den Dorfern heroisch untermalt worden war (5).

They leave behind a leaderless, rag-tag band of

3 0 soldiers with orders to defend to the last man a tactically indefensible position. The two protagonists, Weichmantel and Gert Eckart, are fully aware of the betrayal, as are some of the more seasoned veterans among the soldiers. They know that their only hope of escaping a truly senseless death during the final hours of the war lies in desertion. But Weich­ mantel is unable to bring himself to make the decision to desert. De Bruyn made indecision the hallmark of

Weichmantel's character; he is "gefühlvoll, sentimental und tatenarm." On one hand, the intensive interiority of this character keeps him from taking action; it must be overcome through education as the 38

Entwicklunqsroman-model suggests. But the inability to

act also stems from the lack of a model for action.

The betrayal of the German officers is only part of the larger sense of abandonment by authority figures that Weichmantel and the characters of the novel expe­ rience. The feeling of abandonment for Weichmantel begins with his father. "Mein Vater muB gewuBt haben, wie schlimm der Krieg ist. Warum hat er nie etwas gesagt?" (47). Weichmantel's accusations are not focused so much on his father's inaction, but on his unwillingness to instill in his son a critical perspec­ tive concerning the war. Throughout the novel, fathers and figures of authority are incapable of providing leadership; they betray their sons and daughters with their silence, their fear, their retreat. The sense of abandonment breeds distrust in all tradition for this generation. The nihilistic Thea, daughter of a dis­ possessed count, laments;

Wir kennen die Lüge gut. Wir kennen sie bes- ser als allés andere. Aber kennen wir die Wahrheit? Wer soil uns die Wahrheit sagen? Unsere Vater vielleicht? Die Leute, die lieber sterben als kapitulieren wollten und jetzt feige davonrennen, unrasiert, die Angst im Nacken? (198).

Only in a few of the characters did de Bruyn allow the past to provide a positive model for the future.

It does for the youth organizer, Hella Hoff, whom

Weichmantel meets upon his return to Berlin. Her 39

parents, SPD members martyred by the fascists, provided positive parental role models for her. But for Weich­ mantel they are at the most to be admired and mourned as is the Czech partisan, Maria, whose death in an attempt to help him desert he vows to avenge. The martyrs do not provide a useful model of action for

Weichmantel, in part because he cannot measure up to their legend. In a recent interview, Christa Wolf too noted the problems of identification typical for her generation following the war.

Wir muBten diejenigen entdecken, die Opfer geworden waren, die jenigen, die Widerstand geleistet hatten. Wir muBten es lernen, uns in sie einzufiihlen. Identifizieren konnten wir uns natürlich auch mit ihnen nicht, dazu hatten wir kein Recht. Das heiBt, als wir sechzehn waren, konnten wir uns mit niemandem identifizieren (Hornigk, "Gesprach" 11).

Further, the antifascist martyrs are problematic models because the historical situation no longer calls for martyrs. While they stood in opposition to fascist society, the younger generation searches for a morality of integration into their society.

The problem of identification with tradition expe­ rienced by the characters applied to literary precur­ sors of the novel as well. Though de Bruyn set up a deliberate parallel between the Turmqesellschaft in

Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehriahre and leftist politi­ cal organizations (the unification of SPD and KPD takes place during the novel), that identification was left 40

incomplete. Neither they nor Hella can offer Weich- mantel something that addresses his own experience. In terms of the tradition of the Entwicklunosroman. de Bruyn rejected the Goethean concept of an all­ knowing elite without at the same time rejecting the humanism that they stand for. This is a further

indication that de Bruyn's understanding of pedagogical praxis differed from the standards of the socialist realist novel. De Bruyn's novel rejects a morality of social integration based on the imposition of an ideal from a paternalistic authority as the model of the

Entwicklunasroman suggests.

For this reason, the paternalistic socialism of the SPD/KPD platform is also portrayed as a problematic model for this generation. While sympathetic to the antifascist goals of the leftist position, Weichmantel is skeptical of their rhetoric. Dennis Tate calls this a "resistance to grofie Worte" that is characteristic of all three of the war time Entwicklungsromane written at this time (Tate 78). Having experienced the bastar­ dization of meaning of words like "Treue, Verrat,

Verantwortung und Kollektiv," the protagonists of these novels experience an involuntary shudder when they are used by leftist organizations. Weichmantel's mother explains the conflict to Hella as follows.

Warum vergiBt du immer wieder, daB Wolfgang schon einmal Begeisterung erlebt hat, auch 41

begeisterte Massen und begeisterte Madchen? In dieser Stadt, in denselben StraBen! Ich will dich nicht mutlos machen, aber in eure FDJ, glaub mir, wird er nicht mehr 'reinwach- sen! Ihr werdet wieder gleich-farbige Hemden tragen und Fahnen und Troitimeln, fur eine gute Sache diesmal, ich wei6, aber Menschen wie ihn werdet ihr damit nicht gewinnen. Ich hoffe von Herzen, daB er nicht ein Gegner wird, daB er einsieht, wo das Gute zu Hause ist, aber wenn, dann trotz der Hemden, trotz der Trommeln und Fanfaren und trotz der Begeisterung (516).

Frau Weichmantel sees the unsettling proximity of the appeal of National Socialism to that of the SPD/KPD program, namely both utilize strategies that encourage a nonreflective integration into the group. Further, her description broaches an even deeper issue. The shirts, the drums, and the fanfare are indications of a total world view that disallows the opportunity for critical reflection. The veteran KPD member, Blaskow, represents a communist morality that recognizes the value of this critical reflection.

Begeisterung ist leichter zu heucheln als klare Überzeugung, es kann als Maske dienen, als bunte Verkleidung. Wiirden die Zweifelnden, Suchenden, Lernenden nicht schlieBlich doch bessere, sichere Kampfgefâhrten werden als die bedenkenlos schnell Entflammten? (517).13

That Blaskow's view represents a fringe of the party is evidenced by his own personal marginalization.

13 Such passages show that the critique was not necessarily of socialism, but of its Stalinist incarna­ tion in the GDR. 42

De Bruyn portrayed Hella Hoff's pedagogical enthusiasm sympathetically, but ultimately critically, because it springs from a position of having absolute truth. "Vielleicht sind deine Wahrheiten nicht meine,"

Weichmantel says to Hella. "Ich glaube, daB man sie

sich selbst erwerben muB und nicht servieren lassen kann. Ich mag keine Speisen, die in einer Zentrale gekocht und von begeisterten Madchen weitergereicht werden" (528). Weichmantel alludes to one of the cruder perceptions of socialist collectivization.

However, his serious emphasis is on the need for self- direction and the exercise of "gesunde Skepsis" (288) .

He sees a critically reflective social integration thwarted by the totalizing vision and paternalism of the socialists. The critique of paternalism cor­ roborates Christa Wolf's later perception of one of the failings of their generation. As they entered public life, communists and antifascists became more than just their mentors.

Beeindruckendere Leute als sie konnte es für uns damais nicht geben. Natürlich übernahmen sie eine Vorbildrolle, es bildete sich ein Lehrer-Schüler-Verhaltnis heraus, sie waren die absolut und in jeder Hinsicht Vorbild- lichen, wir diejenigen, die in jeder Hinsicht zu horen und zu lernen hatten. Dies konnte wohl nicht anders sein, wie die Verhaltnisse einmal lagen, aber ich glaube, auf die Dauer hat es beiden Teilen nicht gutgetan. . . . Wir damais Jungen waren zu lange in Vater- Sohn, Mutter-Tochter-Beziehungen eingebunden, die es uns schwer machten, mündig zu werden. Ich glaube, viele meiner Generation haben 43

sich nie richtig davon erholt (Hornigk, "Gesprach" 10-11).

The critique is prophetic in light of the events of

1989; the so-called Wende came as much from the desire of the populace to cast off state paternalism as from economic factors. The "gesunde Skepsis" that Weich­ mantel has won in part through his wartime experiences, rules out acceptance of a predetermined telos. In fact, this skepticism is capable of undermining the integrative certainty of the Entwicklunasroman form by questioning the degree of reflective integration actually allowed the individual by its own emphasis on homogeneity.

Paradoxically, while de Bruyn appeared to tie him­ self stylistically to the Lukacsian model of the

Entwicklunasroman in this novel, the ethical issues of the modernism debates, specifically Brecht's and

Seghers' fear of the cultural dictatorship that charac­ terized Lukacs' writing of the 1930s, are clearly delineated. It is only when examining the novel from the period of its writing, the late 1950s, that the hegemony of the socialist Entwicklunasroman deconstructs. The Stalinist terror that influenced

Lukacs' writing during the 1930s had already been exposed. While the structure of the Entwicklunasroman cast the socialism of the SPD/KPD program as monolithic, de Bruyn undermined its monolithic basis of 44

cultural hegemony by reviving the heterogeneous pos­ sibilities in Lukacs' theory.

Since each father, each authority figure, each organization proves a disappointment to them, the young people of the novel have the sense of needing to create their own moral order in the face of the corruptness that surrounds them. But there seems to be an inability (or unwillingness) to fathom something entirely new. As much as they feel the need to reject the past, their vision of the future is based on choos­ ing structures from the past. This is entirely in keeping with the cultural-philosophical climate of the

GDR of the 1950s, where the amalgam of concepts of transformation and continuity meant that the historical forms such as the Entwicklunasroman were supposed to address the concerns of the present and affirm the leadership of the party. While de Bruyn may have sub­ verted the genre itself, the theoretical basis for Der

Hohlweg can still be traced to Lukacs, but it is his earlier, pre-Marxist, Theorie des Romans (1920) that was influential. What de Bruyn apparently found useful and less problematic than the form of the Entwick­ lunasroman in the earlier Lukacs was a literary model of the social self.

This model, which Lukacs termed the "problematic individual," balanced interiority and action in the world (Lukacs, Theorv of the Novel 132). 45

[T]he soul in such a novel carries within itself, as a sign of its tenuous, but not yet severed link with the transcendental order, a longing for an earthly home which may cor­ respond to its ideal— an ideal which eludes positive definition but is clear enough in negative terms. Such an interiority represents . . . a widening of the soul which seeks fulfillment in action, in effective dealings with reality, and not merely in con­ templation. . . . The content and goal of the ideal which animates the personality and determines his actions is to find responses to the innermost demands of his soul in the structures of society (Lukacs 132-133).

De Bruyn accepted explicitly this model of the social self, a model wherein varieties of moral possibilities for action are still present and it is incumbent on the problematic individual to choose possibilities in keep­ ing with the demands of the self. But implicitly the novel works against the 1950s incarnation of that social self, namely, the reification of morality as proletarian consciousness. Like the Wilhelm Meister of

Lukâcs' analysis, de Bruyn's protag-onist Weichmantel is "gefühlvoll, sentimental und tatenarm" at the beginning of the novel and travels a path of education that leads to active participation in his social world.

However, the Wilhelm Meister championed by the socialist Entwicklunasroman is characterized by a non­ ref lective social integration; that is, a hegemonic moral ideal imposed by a higher authority is the telos of individual development in such a novel. Development of this kind is rejected in Der Hohlweg; it emphasizes 46

choice among a variety of possibilities rather than movement toward a narrowly defined telos.

The social self capable of choice must be a criti­ cally reflective self. What Lukâcs called the "prob­ lematic individual," Agnes Heller defines as the "con­ tingent person." For such a person, a critical per­ sonal morality is the best means by which to live in the world. It is created through appropriation, evaluation and conscious choice among the many pos­ sibilities that the given social norms offer. In A

Theorv of Feelings. Heller develops a theory of feel­ ings on the basis, at least in part, of observation of the "bourgeois world of feelings" (183). Through observation of feeling the hierarchy of values that each person follows, whether consciously self-created or unconsciously socially imposed, is unveiled. The hierarchy of values reveals the extent to which the person has created a value system commensurate with their own "world of feelings." It reveals whether an understanding of the self and the self in the social realm is the motivating factor in moral decisionmaking, indicating a critically reflective relationship to the world, or whether particularist motivations are at work, indicating a personality with no critical dis­ tance to itself or the world.

Der Hohlweg provides a panorama of characters and their struggles in the post-war moral morass. 47

Feelings, their expression and repression, play a large role in establishing each character on the ethical proving grounds of the novel. Sympathetic characters are shown to be emotionally vibrant. The test comes in how they choose to display (or not display) these emo­ tions. Weichmantel's endeavor to find for himself a system of values in an amoral historical situation at the end of the war is labeled by de Bruyn as his

"eigenen Weg." It comes in the conscious evaluation of feelings, in putting inwardness into action in the social realm.

The final days of the war provide a kind of prov­ ing ground, an ethical "Niemandsland," wherein the characters are repeatedly faced with the necessity of action (often a life-threatening necessity) without the ethical guidelines that had governed their actions previously. The narrative strategy of focusing on one character in each section makes it possible to portray different approaches to dealing with moral questions.

In the first half of the novel, desertion and betrayal.

Verrat. are moral actions that each character wrestles with and defines anew in light of a changing historical situation. The Oberleutenant Krell will serve as an example. It is Krell's men who have been left behind by Major von Brietzow with the command to defend the

Hohlweg to the last man. Krell had been separated from 48

his company as the front shifted; his attempts to reach them again and lead them to safety have failed. Left alone he finds no strength to continue. As throughout the novel, the single narrative voice describes the character's thoughts. "Ein Krieg hat Regeln, wie ein

Schachspiel. Die wurden jetzt verletzt, waren von den

Politikern dauernd verletzt worden in diesem Krieg. Da machte ein anstandiger Soldat nicht mehr mit" (4 0).

Eventually the narrator reveals another motivation at work: Krell no longer has a role to play. Without orders to give and above all, without an audience, fur­ ther action seems pointless. He deserts. However, his

Russian captors try to evoke from him the ethical basis for his decision. To the question, "Why have you deserted?" the narrator relates, "Für das, was er heute getan hatte, hatte er das Wort noch nicht gedacht. Ich mache SchluB, hatte er gedacht, mir reicht es. Er muBte sich jetzt erst mUhsam erinnern, welche Gefühle das Wort vor wenigen Stunden noch bei ihm ausgelost hatte" (74). When the Russian officers continue to question his motivations, he is at a loss.

Die Formel über die Regeln eines aussichtlos gewordenen Krieges hatte er für sich selbst zurechtgelegt und nie die Absicht gehabt, darüber mit jemandem zu diskutieren. Falls die Frage der Russen nicht reiner Hohn war, erwarteten sie jetzt anscheinend von ihm eine detaillierte Erklarung seiner Formel, eine systematische Darstellung seiner Einstellung zum Krieg (76). 49

Krell is unable to provide detail because his system was established on the basis of a value system that no longer corresponds to the existing reality. The German war machine to which he had pledged his allegiance was defeated. The leadership in whose name the military acted had been exposed as moral barbarians.

Through other scenes with Krell, de Bruyn made it clear that Krell's system of values was originally chosen on the basis of virtuous feelings and not blind acceptance of the military order. Thus, his system of values ultimately provided him the means for correct action. But Krell had not taken the time to put his

"emotional household" in order, as Agnes Heller terms it; that is, his feelings and value hierarchy no longer coincide, particularly because his task as a German officer has been put into question (Feelings 199).

In his desperate confusion he can only respond, "Ich bin deutscher Offizier . . . und nicht zustandig für politsche Fragen. Sie verlangen zu viel von mir" (77).

Heller makes an analogy with the economic aspects of domestic housekeeping; i.e. one "spends" feelings on those objects that have the greatest sig­ nificance within one's values hierarchy and "saves" them in the case of objects that have a lesser value in this hierarchy. When the individual selects tasks and values for itself in the world, feelings must be in accordance with these values and tasks in order for them to be met. Emotional housekeeping, among other things, requires self-analysis and self-reflection (Feelings 213). 50

This statement does not represent an indictment of

Krell's irresponsibility, for through his actions he is shown to be a responsible man. Rather it is a criticism of the unreflected distance between his value system and his moral feelings. As a prisoner of war,

Krell finds a new task and consciously chooses a new value system that corresponds to his emotional world.

A similar process is narrated in several of the characters whose paths cross Weichmantel's, the lone survivor of the final battle at the Hohlweg. Weich­ mantel has the same injury that we know befell de Bruyn himself: a head wound inflicted by shrapnel which affects his center of speech. While the protagonist lies semi-conscious, transferred between field medical units and makeshift accommodations, the narrative shifts attention between the people who come into con­ tact with him. The semi-conscious Weichmantel only observes their processes of choosing values systems while he himself remains inactive (and indecisive). In the post-war section of the novel, the characters sym­ bolize the various social movements of the reconstruc­ tion period. Their interactions with Weichmantel are intended to ground his choices among the post-war moral systems.

The character of Eckart exerts the most influence over Weichmantel, and Weichmantel's relationship to 51

this childhood friend is a sign post for his develop­ ment in the novel. Where his father fails him, Weich­ mantel has a model of a critical relationship to the world in Eckart. While Weichmantel's "viele unbestimmbare, ihm selbst nicht ganz bewufîte Gefühle ihm klare Entscheidungen erschwerten" (22), Eckart observes from a distance, calculates and carries out his next move. Through his ironic, often sarcastic commentary the reader too must withdraw from Weich­ mantel 's emotional befuddlement. Eckart's clear head and ironic wit are admired by Weichmantel; he is able to exercise a great deal of control over Weichmantel because he understands how to counteract his friend's emotionality. Thus, their relationship is one of teacher to student.

Though Eckart's example is a useful counterweight to Weichmantel's indecision during the war, he is lack­ ing as a model of a critically reflective self. Eck­ art 's personality has a gaping hole; his rational observation has been bought at the price of repressing his own feelings in favor of "the Cause." The Cause may change— at first it is the Faustian pursuit of pure knowledge, then pursuit of "geistige Macht" through the establishment of a cultural journal in post-war

Berlin— but it is always the focal point of Eckart's existence, all other aspects of his life being sub­ servient to it. 52

The sublation of feeling to a Cause is not a model that the novel champions. When the Cause is virtuous,

Heller calls such a personality an enthusiast and con­ trasts it with the bourgeois personality driven by

Süchte (Feelings 215-226). Hella Hoff's "fanatic enthusiasm" focuses on a Cause, with the result that her feelings for Weichmantel that go beyond her peda­ gogical interests are never expressed. Her character is not lauded for her selflessness, but rather shown to be deficient. Eckart, however, displays a further dimension of the enthusiast personality that puts him in the tradition of Thomas Mann's character, Naphta.

Heller notes, "Naphta's enthusiasm, however, is not nurtured by bourgeois values. . . . By placing himself outside the par excellence bourgeois principles, he likewise places himself outside Virtue— hence his enthusiasm is demonic" (Feelings 225). Though Eckart is critical of Ibsen and Nietzsche for losing all touch with morality in their battles against "die doppelte

Moral" of the Bourgeoisie, he himself later follows the same path, ready to accommodate all moral values to the

Cause. According to Heller, the enthusiast can revert to the bourgeois again with lightning speed.

For enthusiasm does question the drive char­ acteristic of the Süchte but, since it is incapable of forming the world of feeling concretely and individually, exposes people to these same drives. Thus ultimately egoism and altruism, desire for possession and 53

enthusiasm for the idea belong together. Bourgeois enthusiasm may in principle trans­ cend the bourgeois era, but it can never transcend it in its personality structure, in its world of feeling (Feelings 224).

Thus, though Eckart believes he has a humanitarian

Cause, he ends up merely an individualist who has abandoned all moral values. He justifies working with the same man who is responsible for the deaths in the

Hohlweg. his sworn enemy, in order to gain his own small personal victory as cultural editor of the journal he has helped to found. It is clear to others that his actions amount to collaboration with the powers that want to lead the journal on a revisionist course. Eckart rationalizes his actions by fancying himself the general officer who brings the bomb into the Wolfsschanze. But the earlier comparisons of Eck­ art to Faust give way to allusions to Mephistopheles.

He has abandoned his earlier humanitarian goals and irretrievably "sold" his soul to the revisionists.

While Weichmantel has learned a certain kind of critical reflection from Eckart, his feelings warn him about the manipulative potential of Eckart's hyper­ rationality. He distances himself slowly from Eckart as he begins to question his friend's values and uncover his own. Since they were parted on the front,

Weichmantel has been exposed to other figures who wrestled in the moral morass of the post-war days. 54

Upon returning to Berlin, he expects to resume his relationship with Eckart, only to find that the old teacher-student relationship is no longer viable for him. Weichmantel's mistrust of Eckart is at first unclear to him: "Ich weiJi nicht, woran es liegt . . . aber mir ist nicht wohl dabei. Ich . . . habe ein ungutes Gefiihl dabei" (303). Though on several occa­ sions he retreats again into his "Gefiihlssumpf " (304) , his feelings, once identified and reflected upon, are the foundation on which his personal morality will be based.

Weichmantel's journey, if we can call it that, is along the path of the various forms of individualism of the period. His development is in his ability to choose for himself a value system that facilitates his social integration. However, the structure of the socialist Entwicklunasroman does not allow for heterogeneity in that choice. The Hohlweg-scenerio

("Warum hockst du in deinem Hohlweg und tust nichts?" says Hella to Weichmantel, "Zwei Wege fiihren nur heraus: Brietzows Weg und unserer.") offers a mere simplistic d u a l i s m . 15 stuck as the novel structure is

15 Liersch recognizes the possible influences of the post-war milieu: Kaufmann's liberalism, Oyst- Winterfeld's noble conservatism and Eckart's individu­ alism. However, he too wants to see them reduced to just two possibilities: socialism or restauration (Liersch, "Die Stunde Null" 172). 55

in this dualism, between communist antifascism and revisionism, the author struggles awkwardly for a dialectical resolution (for the socialist Entwick­ lunasroman leaves no doubt as to which path is the appropriate one to take). The dualism of the 1950s superimposed on the period 1945/46 appears bland to the point of ridiculousness. However, Weichmantel's choice to become a Neulehrer is a device that at once fulfills the demands of the genre while allowing the protagonist to opt for neither alternative; he chooses his own path through his learned understanding of humanism.

Other attempts to portray cultural heterogeneity are similarly foiled by the novel's structure. Der

Hohlweg is composed of five major chronological sec­ tions each consisting of subsections that encapsulate specific events. The narrator brings one of the protagonists into the foreground in each of these smal­ ler sections. Uniting the characters are the intersec­ tions of their paths; events which they experience in common are narrated from the different angles that each of the characters represent. During the war novel, this technigue works well to create a panorama of the war experience. But in trying to merge the heterogeneity of the war experiences with the peda­ gogical intention of the socialist Entwicklunasroman in the post-war half of the novel, the possibilities 56

displayed among the many characters become too diffuse, the conventions needed to pull them together too deliberate. The novel becomes schematic.

The final scene redeems the novel partially from this schematism and the dualism that I described ear­ lier. It stands apart from the rest of the novel stylistically: the anonymous narrator is replaced by a character, Weichmantel's mother. As a female figure her presence at this point in the narrative is sig­ nificant in a number of ways. She appears as the voice of common sense, the female who embodies "'sensible' feelings of a high order," as Heller describes the image of women in bourgeois comedy (Feelings 211). The bourgeois literary tradition of the intimate realm (the family) where feelings are nurtured as the domain of women is recalled here. Simultaneously, the proletarian tradition is called upon, wherein the workers are endowed with abilities and insight into everyday life that cut through theories and get to the point. The communist Blaskow notes :

. . . die landlaufige Meinung, die Miitter- lichkeit mit fürsorglicher Zartlichkeit gleichsetzt, [ist] insofern einseitig, als unbedingt auch Sinn furs Praktische, Tatkraft und Energie dazu gehoren. Wie hatte seine und die nachfolgende Generation den Kohlriibenwinter, die Nachkriegszeit, die Inflation und Weltwirtschaftskrise iiberstehen konnen, wenn die Millionen energischer Mutter nicht gewesen waren (514). 57

Further, as his mother this narrative voice is entrusted with an understanding of Weichmantel's character that no other character can have. In other key places in the novel it is her voice that directs the reader to the crux of Weichmantel's emotional con­ flict. She says of him: "Er kommt sich immer sehr logisch und klug vor, dabei sind doch immer Gefühle für ihn entscheidend" (515). Thus, as a woman and as his mother, her assessment of Weichmantel's situation in the final scene of the novel is endowed with a legitimacy that even the narrator cannot compete with.

The stylistic change to the mother as narrator supports de Bruyn's subversion of the genre. Weich­ mantel 's decision to become a Neulehrer is, on one hand, a sign of integration into the community requisite of the socialist Entwicklunasroman; on the other hand, it is a grudging one. In a first person narrative reminiscent of the letter form. Mutter Weich­ mantel describes to Hella how Weichmantel leaves to become a Neulehrer in the village where von Brietzow's family once ruled an estate. Hella, the representative character of the socialist realist ideology, sees his decision as a victory for her socialist Cause, since she has repeatedly encouraged him in this direction.

The early GDR reviews of the novel take this for 58

g r a n t e d . 16 However, Mutter Weichmantel anticipates

Hella's propensity to find a happy ending and tempers it with reality. Weichmantel does not go off into the socialist sunset, confident of his goal, at one with the system he is joining. As Mutter Weichmantel relates; "... mit Stolz, Freude oder Zuversicht ist es nicht weit her bei ihm. Er hat einen EntschluG gefaGt, und so lange es gedauert hat damit, so tief sitzt es auch."(551) She notes further that his vita makes any claim of Hella's to victory doubtful:

[er hat geschrieben], daG er nicht von Kindesbeinen an hat Lehrer werden wollen und daG durchaus nicht Begeisterung für unsere Politik ihn zu seinem EntschluG getrieben hat, sondern einzig und allein die Erfahrung, daG hier am besten und ehrlichsten gegen einen Rückfall in die braune oder graue Krankheit der Deutschen was getan wird (552).

To this she adds that the school director, an obdurant careerist of the type that is criticized on other occa­ sions in the novel, had to be convinced by Blaskow to give Weichmantel the position. The positive ending imputed on the novel by socialist realist ideology is cast in the light of critical realism and presented by

Mutter Weichmantel as not unambiguous.

16 Representative is Liersch's assessment: "Weich­ mantel, gepragt vom Schicksal seiner Generation und seines Volkes, hat durch Blaskow und Hella die von ihm gesuchte Antwort auf den Faschismus gefunden. . . ." ("Die Stunde Null" 176). 59

"[G]efühlvoll, sentimental und tatenarm" at the beginning of the novel, de Bruyn's protagonist comes to emotional maturity in choosing for himself a task and a value system commensurate with his "world of feelings."

Weichmantel ultimately follows his earliest feelings about how he can best actualize humanist inclinations.

Closely following his return to Berlin he revealed his inclinations to Eckart:

Wenn ich konnte, wie ich wollte, würde ich was Padagogisches anfangen, denn was ich bisher mit den Leuten erlebt habe, ist grauenhaft. An die Ruinen hat man sich gewohnt, von den Toten schweigt man, von den KZs hat man nichts gewuBt, man geht zur Arbeit oder schiebt, und wenn die Russen nicht waren, auf die man schimpfen kann, und der Hunger, dann würde man weiterleben wie vorher, den Krieg vergessen und seine Begeisterung für ihn auch (302).

The influence of others leads him away from these ear­ liest of inclinations. The decision to become a

Neulehrer suggests that Weichmantel has reached a level of interiority praised by Lukacs as a "widening of the soul," and can finally seek fulfillment in the social realm for the "innermost demands of the soul."

The novel champions a far different notion of development of the individual than that portrayed in other socialist realist novels of the 1950s. It is based much more on the fulfillment of individual poten­ tial within the social realm than on accommodation of individual potential to the greater social system. 60

Weichmantel's integration is a critically reflective one, rather than an non-reflective assimilation of its values. He has decided to be true to his own feelings and abilities with the belief that he can only be effective in society doing work that he is truly suited for and believes in. De Bruyn's pedagogy includes the

individual in a way that earlier GDR literature does not.

In his autobiographical work, Abendlicht. Stephan

Hermlin noted that as a young man he had misread the famous Marx quote from The Communist Manifesto, "die freie Entwicklung eines jeden [ist] die Bedingung für die freie Entwicklung aller" (Hermlin 21). His mis­ reading was clearly a conditioned response to the ideological climate of the period; the GDR policy reflected a transposition of the two phrases as "die freie Entwicklung aller [ist] die Bedingung für die freie Entwicklung eines jeden." De Bruyn's understand­ ing of development in the novel is an attempt to set the phrase right again. The emphasis on feelings within the novel points to the importance de Bruyn placed on the subjective element as the source of indi­ vidual action. By looking specifically at how feelings are expressed, explored and suppressed in Der Hohlweg, the moral realm of the novel is opened up revealing de Bruyn's concerns for both the post-war period and 61

for the late 1950s. Namely, the importance of placing the source for moral action not outside the individual in the ideological realm, but within the social self.

"Der Holzweq”

The Hohlweg-pedagogy of development that I have uncovered is buried beneath the socialist realist structure to which it is antithetical. Consequently, the reader perceives no forcefulness, no strength of commitment from the author either for the socialist realist message or for his own. Commitment only appears in the war-novel segment; this is what makes it engaging. Unable to be true to his own intent the author mirrors ironically his own protagonist, a fact that was not lost on de Bruyn himself. In his 1974 essay, "Der Holzweg," de Bruyn^s vehement condemnation of his first novel took on a confessional nature. He admitted that naivete and the influence of others led him to betray his own intentions. The essay is a rejection not only of socialist realism as a hegemonic construct, but also of the bogeyman that was the

Stalinist period in the GDR. Unlike Christa Wolf, who sympathetically (though apologetically) recounted the self-doubts of the young female writer in her assess­ ment of her own fledgling work, Moskauer Novelle. 62

de Bruyn was as merciless with himself as he was with the negative influences on him: those who would manipu­ late literature to maintain political and cultural hegemony. This theme, a further dimension of de

Bruyn's moralism, stuck with him and figured promi­ nently in several of the novels that follow Der Hohlweg.

In the Holzweq-essay. de Bruyn revealed a much different intent for the novel than that which resulted. He described the experience of the immediate post-war days as a release from estrangement from his environment.

Der Jugendtraum vollkommener Freiheit: hier schien er verwirklicht. Man war nicht nur aus dem Militarzwang entlassen, sondern aus jeder Ordnung, aus jeder Tradition auch. Es war eine Entlassung aus der Geschichte ("Holzweg" 169).

Outside of history; outside of ideology; a brief "anti- oedipal" sojourn wherein the body was freed of every material burden, the mind freed of the weight of the past. What others experienced as chaos, de Bruyn described as "das Gluck der Anarchie": a non-oppressive anarchy that was replaced only too soon by the new beginning of a teleological world view ("Holzweg" 169).

The historical imposition of this telos is represented by de Bruyn's decision to employ the

Entwicklunasroman. Structurally the form insists on a social integration that is essentially non-reflective 63

because a hegemonic moral ideal is imposed. In this way, the socialist Entwicklunasroman affirms the lead­ ership of the party. De Bruyn subverted the form in order to allow choice among a variety of possibilities, specifically, socialist possibilities. For de Bruyn, socialist morality should not be a hegemonic construct, but rather a personal morality chosen by a critically reflective social self from a heterogenity of socialist possibilities. The reification of morality as proletarian consciousness is deconstructed by de Bruyn's use of Lukacs' earlier (pre-Marxist) model of the problematic individual.

The utopian vision of the post-war period, "ein

Mythos vom verlorenen Paradies," lies implicitly at the foundation of each of de Bruyn's later works ("Holzweg"

169). The developing ideological climate in the GDR kept him from writing about it explicitly until 1974.

Thus, the inability to evaluate feelings and use them as a guide for action resulting from the hegemony of a teleological world view in the 1950s is both the sub­ text of Der Hohlweg and a failure of its author.

According to de Bruyn, "Die Begriffe, mit denen das geschehen konnte (obenan der der Freiheit), sind ideologisch vorbelastet und deshalb untauglich zur Bezeichnung eines BewuBtseinszustandes, dessen Wesen gerade in der Abwesenheit von Idéologie bestand. Offentlich artikuliert wurde dieser Zustand nie, weil keine Offentlichkeit an ihm Intéressé hatte" ("Holzweg" 168) . CHAPTER II

AN EXAMINATION OF SOCIALIST MORALITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE:

BURIDANS ESEL

Introduction

The focus on social change and the development of the individual that was the basis of Der Hohlweg shifted from the past to the present in de Bruyn's sec­ ond novel, Buridans Esel. The novel is set in the GDR of the 1960s where the official political and cultural discourses concentrated on social stabilization and the anchoring of Ulbricht's "sozialistische Menschen- gemeinschaft." A recurrent theme from 1964 to 1968, when Buridans Esel first appeared, was the necessary participation of all GDR citizenry in the development of the so-called Volkskultur. It was here that the

Party hoped socialist (re)education would take deeper root. According to Ulbricht:

. . . sie [die sozialistische Kultur] laBt sie [die Masse] den Kampf zur Überwindung von Schwierigkeiten und das standige Lernen als normale Verhaltensweise des tatigen Menschen empfinden und gewohnt sie daran, ihr Ver- halten den anderen Menschen gegeniiber am Arbeitsplatz, in der Familie und im gesellschaftlichen Leben nach den Normen der sozialistischen Moral zu gestalten (Ulbricht, in Schubbe 1251).

64 65

In Buridans Esel. the scope of that social stabi­ lization and establishment of a socialist morality is probed by focusing on the primary realm of human inter­ action: everyday life.

With its panoramic sweep the Entwicklungsroman was an unlikely candidate for capturing the heterogeneity and multifarious factors affecting human behavior at this specific juncture in time. The clash of cultures and value systems that characterized Germany in 1945/46 could no longer be spoken of in the GDR during this period. The GDR hosted an amalgam of vestiges, ruins and monuments of culture, some to be embraced and revitalized, some to be pushed aside; histories, cul­ tures and traditional values influenced and interacted with newly acquired histories and values.! As de Bruyn observed, a new socialist morality did not spring directly from new social or economic conditions as the materialist vision assumed (Plavius, "Gegenwart" 11).

Rather, it coexisted in ideological form next to con­ crete and abstract values and norms from previous his­ torical periods that had become habitual parts of everyday life. The representation of this cultural

Unqleichzeitiqkeit. using Bloch's term, required a literary form devoid of hegemonic constructs of

! How and which traditions are appropriated is the theme of de Bruyn's 1978 novel, Markische Forschunqen. 66

morality. "Die Alltaglichkeit einer bestimmten gesellschaftlichen Situation/' that de Bruyn sought to probe required a literature of "kleine Schritte" that explored change through the incremental development in daily life.2 The following section will describe de Bruyn's artistic path to the narrative style of Buridans Esel.

De Bruvn's Further Development as a Writer

Where Der Hohlweq appears schizophrenic as de Bruyn's differing allegiances pull at its seams,

Buridans Esel is rock solid and emotionally stable.

The transformation in de Bruyn's writing from vacilla­ tion to artistic sovereignty came about during the mid-

1960s. The cultural turbulence of the time in the GDR weakened the hegemony of socialist realist formalism and ultimately motivated writers like de Bruyn to become more autonomous as artists.

It was an extremely prolific period for de Bruyn in which he broadened both his artistic technique and his narrative vision. Numerous parodies and stories

2 De Bruyn himself stated, "fur eigentlich wichtig halte ich nicht das Konstante im taglichen Leben, und wenn, dann interessiert mich daran, woher es kommt und warum es sich halt. . . . Vielleicht ware besser: Veranderung mit sehr geringem Tempo." (Topelmann, "Interview" 1172). 67

appeared while earlier pieces were reworked, tightened and strengthened, then published again. He also expe­ rimented with genre, including a radio play, "Aussage unter Bid," which appeared in 1965. Most of this work deals with the immediate post-war period. Many are sad, desolate short stories that explore the broken spirit and destruction of illusions ("Eines Tages ist er wirklich da," "Keine Herberge," "Fedezeen"); the earlier contributions to the cycle later entitled

Traumstationen depict in a Kafkaesque manner the help­ lessness of the individual before the cruelty of post­ war reality. People prove mostly to be a disappoint­ ment, concerned first and foremost with self- preservation or the satisfaction of needs long since met that have become obsessive because of their previous denial ("Raub der Europa"). The "little people" who require only a warm hand or a smile must go without; a comforting word to a grieving woman is only a fabrication designed to avoid her gaze ("Vergi/3- meinnicht").3 The bleak and desperate mood is similar to de Bruyn's stories of the late 1950s ("Renate,"

"Bozenna" and Der Hohlweq). But the redemptive female

2 "Eines Tages ist er wirklich da," "Fedezeen," "Raub der Europa," and "VergiBmeinnicht" appeared in the second edition of the collection Ein schwarzer, abqrundtiefer See (1966). "Keine Herberge" appeared in the collection Hochzeit in Weltzow (1960). 68

figure of these earlier works is missing, and the hope that she represented, however naively and sentimentally depicted, is lost. At the same time, however, the appearance of such bleak writing was tempered by the decidedly ironic humor of de Bruyn's collection of parodies entitled Maskeraden and his first story,

"Hochzeit in Weltzow," a farcical post-war Tauqenichts.

All the writing of this period showed de Bruyn's increasing depth as an artist; the added artistic expe­ rience came through in an authorial poise that earlier works lacked. Practice in method came most notably from de Bruyn's dabbling in parody. Maskaraden (1966) is a collection of de Bruyn's own parodies of the con­ temporary literature of the p e r i o d . 4 They show a keen eye for minute detail, an intimate understanding of the form and content of that which is being imitated and often a subtle wit; critique is always the upshot of his parody, even when it is good-natured. Hardly any of de Bruyn's contemporaries escaped his nudging: from

Grass, Boll, Walser and Johnson to Schulz, Fiihmann,

Wolf and Bobrowski. His own work is parodied as well.

"Renata oder die Rührseligkeit," brings to light de Bruyn's consciousness of extreme sentimentality and

4 De Bruyn edited a later volume of German parodies of literature. Das Lasterkabinett. Deutsche Literatur von Auerbach bis Zweig in der Parodie (1970). 69

naivete in his own earlier works. His later observa­ tions about himself and his work seem to have taken hold at this time.

Von Natur aus bin ich ein sentimentaler Mensch und neige beim Schreiben zu Sentimentalitaten, zu einer Überbetonung des Gefühls. Ich versuche das abzubauen, indem ich diese Sentimentalitat durch Genauigkeit aufweiche. Aber auch die Ironie ist fur mich ein Mittel, mich davon freizumachen, ein Dariiberstehn vorzutauschen (Waijer-Wilke 177) .

The authorial confidence that Maskaraden exudes reached its first most developed and public form as the narrative voice in Buridans Esel. but not before years of reflection and work concerning the possibilities of prose. De Bruyn's disillusionment with his first novel cannot be overestimated. Though he received the prestigious Heinrich-Mann-Preis for Der Hohlweq in

1964, the lack of authorial autonomy that the novel represented continued to haunt him through this decade and into the n e x t . 5 The form of the Entwicklungsroman. especially its breadth and traditionally omniscient

^ In the Waijer-Wilke interview, de Bruyn admits that his third novel, Preisverleihung. was written in the 1960s (when the novel action takes place) but could not be published until 1972 (Waijer-Wilke 170). It is not beyond the realm of possibility to suggest that the award of the Heinrich-Mann-Preis for Der Hohlweg was the inspiration for Preisverleihung. The plot centers around a Germanist who must give a speech at an award ceremony praising a book that he himself finds unworthy of the honor given it. 70

narrator, had proven bankrupt for him.® The concept of totality that had fostered the unwieldy panorama of

Hohlweq begot half-truths and overgeneralizations.

Working in smaller forms, where the talent for descrip­ tion displayed in Hohlweq could be enhanced, de Bruyn gained artistic and theoretical control of his art.

The budding theoretical foundations of his work, however, were constantly jostled by the prevailing cultural winds.?

The Cultural Climate and the Struqqle to Dominate

"Truth"

The official GDR cultural policy in the early

1960s probably had less of an effect on de Bruyn's writing than the impulse that it spawned to critique everyday life in socialist society. A new Kultur- politik. the Bitterfelder Weq. was initiated in 1959, designed to steer an alternative course to the cultural

® The break with the German tradition of the GroBroman in the GDR was already evident in the turn toward shorter forms influenced by the Soviet Union, where the short form tradition was stronger (Trommler, "Prosaentwicklung" 295).

? De Bruyn mentions the problems involved in writ­ ing Buridans Esel during a time in which "mehr als sonst darüber geredet wurde, wie heutige Literatur sein Oder nicht sein soil." (Plavius, "Gegenwart im Roman" 9) . 71

development of the West. In one sense, the tenets set down at what had begun as a small writer's conference were meant to turn the arts into a branch of production subject to similar governance by the party. Though adorned with all the trappings, the Bitterfelder Weq never turned into a mass popular movement, nor was it meant to, as has been pointed out (Mayer-Berger 167-

69).8 Before the second Bitterfeld conference in 1964, the popularist aspects had been abandoned by its theoreticians in favor of the classical literary tradi­ tion. De Bruyn was not directly influenced by the mandates of the Bitterfelder Weq; he was employed as wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter in the Zentralinstitut fur Bibliothekwesen in Berlin and, therefore, did not spend time in a factory as so many other authors were asked to do. However, the work milieu that he knew best, the library and the intellectual sphere, served as the background for Buridans Esel and influenced later works as well.

While Bitterfeld represented an official policy for the direction of literature, it stimulated

8 Mayer-Burger dismisses any attempts to make com­ parisons with the Maoist cultural revolution (167). I would add also that the same reasons for abolishing the Proletkult movement and its German counterparts by the BPRS apply here. Bitterfeld was a means of further control of art by the SED, not a lessening of it as a mass popular movement would imply. 72

important changes in literary production in the GDR and had far-reaching influence on the content of literature beyond the vision of its architects (Bathrick, "Ge- schichtsbewuBtsein" 291). In effect, Bitterfeld created a literary means by which to put life in the socialist state under more intense scrutiny. First, the literary efforts of workers themselves opened up previously forgotten or ignored genres, such as the diary (Brigadentaqebuch), the report, and the portrait, among others (Emmerich, Kleine Literaturgeschichte

110). Inherent in the use of these forms was a rejection of ideal constructs, both literary and ideological, and an embrace of descriptions of life as it was experienced. Developing from this cultural movement were the Protokolle; a familiar genre in GDR literature (especially as literature by women began to flourish in the 1970s), they offered valuable insight into the psychological mood of the people as well as their daily lives.9 Second, the major tenet of the

Bitterfeld period, the notion that professional writers should get to know and write in detail about the lives of workers, "Schriftsteller an die Basis," gave writers

9 Later influential works were Sarah Kirsch's Die Pantherfrau (1973), Maxie Wander's Guten Morgen, du Schone (1977) and Gabriele Eckart's Mein Werderbuch (which was published only in the West as So sehe ick die Sache. 1984). 73

more direct access to the critical potential of litera­ ture. For example, the Ankunfts1iteratur that began to appear in the early 1960s increasingly concentrated on the details of daily life within the securely bordered state.10 It described conflict, contradiction, even alienation in its attempts to portray adjustment and accommodation to the socialist state.H A further incentive for critique was the revelations of the XX.

Party Congress of the Soviet Union and the awareness that the so-called Stalinist cult of personality was indeed a factor in the GDR, a fact denied at the time by the SED leadership. Such revelations inspired a healthy skepticism of the state and a push toward réévaluation of previously held hegemonic beliefs; they also signaled an end to the period of revolutionary idealism which had so dominated literature of the 1950s.

The literary trend toward introspection within the newly enclosed state was further encouraged by a cultural policy increasingly dominated by economic

10 Though the borders of the East German state had already been delineated in 1949, they were formally secured by the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.

11 The trope Ankunft encompassed a broad spectrum, including "die Festigung der sozialistischen Gesellschaft, die Verwirklichung ihrer Hoffnungen, die Integration der Zogernden," as well as the arrival of writers in the world of the workers (Trommler, "Prosaentwicklung" 293 & 304). 74

influences. The Neues Ôkonomisches System der Planunq und Leitunq (NOS), measures enacted to counteract the disaster of the previous 7-year plan, simultaneously ushered in a new cultural ideology. While economic policy was designed to make private interests a more productive part of the overall economy, literary policy included increased emphasis on the relationship between private and public interest, i.e. their harmonious relationship and the ever-decreasing gap between them

(Mayer-Berger 199). However, the concomitant increased economization and technologization of all aspects of life, a systematic approach to progress, prompted later literary examinations and criticism of the effect of such instrumentalization on the individual. The offi­ cial policy of positing the socialist Menschenoemein- schaft as inherently harmonious left the door wide open for criticism that pointed to the gap between public ideology and private reality. The influence of the student movement in the West on the GDR should not be overlooked in this regard. Through its investigation of the politics of the personal, the relationship between the private and the public was held up to scru­ tiny.

The closing of the borders in 1961 was the most significant contributor to literary introspection and a critical perspective on socialist life. The resultant 75

literature was clearly not solely, as Fritz Raddatz saw it, a retreat from the political adversity of socialist reality (317). As Emmerich notes:

. . . das Augenmerk aller DDR-Bürger— einschlieBlich der Intellektuellen und Schriftsteller— [wurde] notgedrungen starker auf ihre eigenen, ortlichen, sehr konkreten Lebensumstande und -verhaltnisse gelenkt. Ein Abschweifen des Denkens und Vorstellens nach drauBen wurde zwecklos, jedermann war regelrecht gezwungen, sich mit den Alltags- problemen und Widersprüchen an Ort und Stelle auseinanderzusetzen. Das konnte gerade in der Literatur nicht zu einem weniger kri- tischen Verhaltnis des DDR-Bewohners zu seinem Land beitragen, im Gegenteil (Kleine Literaturgeschichte 163).

Moreover, Emmerich notes that the building of the Ber­ lin Wall also marked the end in the GDR of the notion of a united German culture (163). The official focus on a purely socialist culture and its German tradition led to a further prescriptive narrowing of the defini­ tion of that culture. Such a policy could not help but alienate and evoke criticism from some writers by divorcing them from their aesthetic roots. Modernism came under attack again, as well as the "outside" influences of Western M a r x i s t s . ^2 peter Huchel was asked to step down as editor of Sinn und Form in 1962,

12 jost Hermand speaks of a front against "ideologischer Koexistenz" that was not political, but cultural. He notes that Ulbricht used it to attack the so-called opponents of socialist realism who, he said, were taking advantage of the consequences of the revelations about the Stalin era to condemn socialism in general (Hermand 79-80). 76

and the works of Western authors were no longer pub­ lished there. The narrowing of culture went further in the official condemnation of the 1963 Kafka conference in Prague as being the catalyst for internal attacks on the GDR by its critical writers. The government feared

Eurocommunist influences since leading Western Marxists like Roger Garaudy and Ernst Fischer also took part.

Ultimately, the closing of the borders and the official concentration on internal affairs were also attempts to ward off the influence of the réévaluation of Communism taking place on the broader European theater and espe­ cially in Czechoslovakia under Dubcek.

The government campaign to stem the critical tide took on a moral character since the arena for critigue had been established in everyday socialist life. The campaign culminated in the recriminations of the 11.

Plenum of the Central Committee of the SED in 1965, wherein some of the GDRs most notable authors were accused of infecting the country with their skepticism, anarchism, nihilism, modernism, liberalism and finally pornography. A speech made by Erich Honecker at the time is now renowned for its display of socialist prudery. With repeated accusations of "spiel3- biirgerlicher Skeptizismus" aimed at Wolf Biermann,

Stefan Heym and others, Honecker capitalized on bourgeois moral codes to attack them. "Unsere DDR ist 77

ein sauberer Staat. In ihr gibt es unverrückbare

Mafistabe der Ethik und Moral, für Anstand und gute

Sitte" (Honecker 1076). With repeated appelations for

"Sauberkeit" in GDR literature and film, he coupled condemnation of authors critical of the state with a diatribe against the "obszone Details" of Werner

Braunig's fragment "Rummelplatz," "starke pornographis- che Ziige" in Biermann's work and "die von den

Imperialisten betriebene Propaganda der Unmoral," by which he meant Western television programming and rock music (the Beatles). Even personal lives were open for his attack (Honecker 1 0 7 7 ).13 what should be emphasized here is that recriminations on personal moral grounds were symptomatic of the general turn inward within the country, since the moral superiority of antifascism usually aimed beyond the wall could not easily be used against citizens of the GDR. However, by implication the charge of cultural "deviation" was linked to support for Western ideas.

Behind the moral rhetoric, however, lay the more fundamental issue of a claim to the truth and thus, the legitimation of power. Words like "Wahrheit," "unsere Wirklichkeit" and "in Wirklichkeit" abounded in the

Honecker made reference to "[die] Anhanger dieser Idéologie, die halbanarchistische Lebens- gewohnheiten vertreten ..." (1077). 78

polemic of the period while modifiers like

"illusionar," "abstrakt" and "westlich orientiert" were used to characterize the arguments of party opponents.

The SED had faced a crisis of legitimation since

Khrushchev's revelations about the Stalin era. Funda­ mentally the population, including Party supporters, felt duped. Party policy sought damage control through a static notion of dialectics: problems could be dis­ cussed openly, but only in so far as the answers for their resolution were at hand; past problems considered resolved were to be left in the past; literary depic­ tions of contradictions were acceptable, but were not to include doubt, since doubt demoralizes (Honecker

1076-81). However, critics like Stefan Heym called the

Party's paranoia by name:

Die Taktik des Verschweigens, die Forderung: Bitte nur harmlose Debatten! sind in Wahrheit ein Mittel der Konservativen, ihre Politik des Nichtstun fortzusetzen und angstlich auf dem Deckel des Topfes hocken zu bleiben, in dem es so unheimlich brodelt. . . . Die Wahrheit ist immer revolutionary wo ihr untrüglicher Zeiger scheinbar gegen die Revolution ausschlagt, deutet er an, daB etwas fehlerhaft ist, nicht an der Idee der Revolution, wohl aber an der Art ihrer Durch- führung ("Rede," in Schubbe 1010).

The official whitewash of the Stalin era highlighted how under the increasing control of the SED the public realm had become a mechanism for the crea­ tion of public opinion and the manipulation of 79

historical fact (Bathrick, "Kultur" 5 7 ) . Yet, as

Bathrick has shown, literature held a special place in the public realm wherein the critical function could still be activated. For writers like de Bruyn, a search for a language for alternative "truths" and per­ spectives began with a serious réévaluation of concepts of literary realism. The number of theoretical books and articles by authors that appeared in the early

1970s gives evidence to this preoccupation during the mid- to late 1960s.

Caught between the Western depictions of a world filled with disparity and "der hartnackige fest- gehaltene Totalitatsgedanke Hegelscher Provenienz"

(Emmerich, "Verlorene Faden" 159), de Bruyn was com­ pelled to reassess the concept of totality at the foun­ dation of socialist realist theory in the 1974 essay,

"Der Holzweg." The essay describes de Bruyn's experi­ ence with his first novel as "das gewaltsame Erfassen- wollen sozialer Totalitat," which led him into schematism, to "Flucht in die Breite," instead of depth

Such "manufacture of consent" in the public realm functioned to give the illusion of popular sup­ port for GDR participation in the invasion of Prague in the Spring of 1968.

15 To name just a few, Christa Wolf, Lesen und Schreiben; Giinter Kunert, Warum Schreiben; Heinz Czechowski, Spruch und Widerspruch; Franz Fiihmann, Erfahrunoen und Widerspriiche; Volker Braun, Notate; and Karl Mickel, Gelehrtenrepublik. 80

("Holzweg" 3 3 0-31). The use of the Entwicklungsroman form for Der Hohlweg was influenced by the GDR dis­ course of totality, which was dominated by the preeminence of method over facts. The Entwick­ lungsroman . as we have seen, provided one formula for proper socialist method in the GDR. However, once the validity of the reality projected by such method was questioned, since it failed to reproduce experiential truth, the primacy of method over fact became suspect.

While Christa Wolf, for example, explored human percep­ tion, especially memory, to find a foothold in the relationship between truth and literature, de Bruyn appeared on the surface to take a less subjective path.

Echoing the Lukacs of Theory of the Novel, he reminded that Welttotalitat of the type of the Homeric epic was no longer a possibility (Plavius, "Gegenwart" 9).

Since the goal was wholeness, completeness, and the term totality had become something entirely different, i.e. a political term indicating appropriate

Parteilichkeit. de Bruyn was content to do away with it altogether, without, however, losing sight of the goal.

His theoretical answer was quite simple: writing as truthfully and as accurately as possible about the lowest common denominator, the minutiae, would lead to the validity of the whole. "Die Wahrheit zu sagen, im 81

Kleinen wie im Groften, in Teilen wie im Ganzen," became his credo ("Grischa" 370).

Truth in Everyday Life

As I have shown, a number of factors came together at this historical juncture that contributed to making daily life the new wellspring of literature in the GDR.

The impetus among Marxists throughout Europe to reevaluate fundamental assumptions through the study of daily life followed the eventual failure of Eurocom­ munist movements in the West after 1968. In the early to mid-1970s, a number of sociological and philosophi­ cal texts on daily life appeared.In the foreword to the German edition of Agnes Heller's Das Alltaosleben.

Hans Joas suggests that two moods inspired such

To name a few influential works: Agnes Heller, A mindennapi elet (Budapest, 1970); German edition. Das Alltaqsleben. Versuch einer Erklarunq der indivi- duellen Reproduktion. transi. P. Kain, ed. H. Joas (Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp, 1978); Henri Lefebvre, Kritik des Alltaqsleben (Munich, 1974/5); Lefebvre, Das Alltaqsleben in der modernen Welt (Frankfurt/M, 1972); Arbeitsgruppe Bielefelder Soziologen, eds., Alltaqswis- sen. Interaktion und qesellschaftliche Wirklichkeit (Reinbek, 1973); E. Weingarten, F. Sack, J. Schenkein, eds. Ethnomethodoloqie. Beitraqe zu einer Sozioloqie des Alltaqshandeln (Frankfurt/M, 1976. The latter works were perhaps inspired by 1960s radicalism in Europe with its investigation of daily life for an understanding of personal politics. Since only Hel­ ler's work was informed by life in a socialist country, I confine my comments to her work. 82

research: "Die Hoffnung auf umfassende geschichtliche

Veranderung oder die Enttauschung über deren Aus- bleiben" (Joas 7). Included was the recognition that such change reguired a fundamental change in human attitudes which had not been addressed adequately in socialist society or Marxist thought.

The sphere of daily life was a logical locale for de Bruyn's work. First, it accommodated his new method for achieving truthfulness. The limitation to the sphere of daily life facilitated the concentration on detail that would yield an accurate depiction of the whole. Secondly, the sphere of daily life facilitated an evaluation of the extent to which the norms and values of socialist society had become "schon fester

Bestandteil des gewohnlichen Lebens des Menschen"

(Topelman, "Interview" 1174). One theme of Buridans

Esel. as de Bruyn described it, is "das Problem von

Stehenbleiben und Entwicklung der Personlichkeit"

(Topelman, "Interview" 1174). By focusing on the realm of everyday life, this theme does not remain the sub­ jective problem of the individual person, but becomes general in its ramifications for the development of society as a whole. As Walter Benjamin asserted in the prologue of his Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels. the individual fragment is a monad in which the general is contained (Benjamin 208-209). In this way, everyday 83

life, as Heller points out, "depicts the reproduction of a current society in general" (Everyday Life 4).

Precursors to Buridans Esel

"Zwei Frauen itiachen ihren Weg, ein Mann bleibt auf der Strecke." Thus de Bruyn characterized his own

"Liebes-, Frauen-, Ehe-, Moral-, Bibliothekars-,

Sitten-, Gegenwarts-, Gesellschafts-, Berlin-Bericht

(Oder im Verkaufsinteresse auch: -Roman)" (Buridan

230). Karl Erp, 40ish, successful director of a large library, married, two children, has reached a mid-life crisis. Inspired by the quest for the heart of a young, emancipated female library apprentice, he for­ sakes comfort and security and strikes out with her to rejoin the revolutionary path of his youth. Or so he believes. The narrative reveals that his earlier path was perhaps not so revolutionary as he would like to believe and that Erp is no more capable of decisive action now than he was then. The reader discovers this; Erp does not, for the salient feature of his character is deception— specifically, self-deception.

He returns to his family, expecting to return to things as they were. His wife, however, has been forced by circumstances to make the personal transformation that he could not. 84

Buridans Esel is a radical move away from the panoramic historical novel and toward a form similar to the novella in the nineteenth-century poetic realist tradition of storm, Stifter, Keller and Raabe.^^

However, the clearest influence on content is from the nineteenth-century Ehebruchsroman; Flaubert's Madame

Bovary, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and Fontane's Effi

Briest. De Bruyn's novel is "a deliberate continuation of a literary tradition," as A. R. Wightman notes (76).

This tradition depicts the non-synchronous nature of moral norms as they clash and frequently destroy those caught between them. As in the nineteenth-century

Ehebruchsroman. adultery (and the subsequent breakdown of a marriage) is not the sole focus of the narrative in Buridans Esel. but is seen as a symptom of larger societal inconsistencies.

In an earlier story, "Ein schwarzer, abgrundtiefer

See" (1962), de Bruyn worked on two of the major literary concerns of Buridans Esel: utilizing a form that would bring prose closer to socialist reality and addressing the individual caught between colliding

Fritz Raddatz alluded to this influence nega­ tively saying, "[d]er Irrtum, über kleine Leute zu schreiben, mache aus jedem Ort Seldwyla, ist bei Günter de Bruyn evident" (Raddatz, Traditionen 346). Nonethe­ less, the positive influence of the poetic realists, especially Keller, in GDR prose of the late 1950s and early 1960s has been documented (Trommler 307). 85

cultures and norms. Deliberate attention was drawn to the parallels with Fontane's Effi Briest by the choice of the protagonist's name: Eva Breest. It is perhaps the first work to appear within the GDR to deal with the subject of suicide.With Uwe Johnson's Mutmas- sunqen über Jakob (1957) as a further model, de Bruyn used multiple perspectives in the story to illuminate the motivation behind the actions of the already deceased protagonist. Although de Bruyn did not approach the Joycean style of Johnson, modernist tech­ niques are evident. While the cultural situation in the GDR of the 1960s was unique, and the cultural clashes of the late nineteenth century not so evident and politically determined, Eva Breest and Effi Briest are both the victims of contradictory social demands stemming from competing cultures. For de Bruyn's character, these are the socialist values which she tries to accommodate but which do not always recipro­ cate; and the bourgeois values of her childhood.

But Karl Erp is not the tragic hero that Effi and

Eva are. Unlike Effi, Erp is a man, and as such he enjoys both the traditional condonation of his adultery

Christa Wolf's Geteilte Himmel is usually cited as the first. Only recently has de Bruyn publically acknowledged the suicide of a friend during this time, suggesting to me the importance of the motif for him ("Zur Erinnerung" 453-58). The protagonist of the short story might be seen as a precursor to Wolf's Christa T. 86

and socialist support of his quest for self- fulfillment. In the nineteenth century, adultery was charged to the woman, not to the man, for whom the dou­ ble standard worked in his favor. The heroines of novels of adultery, victims of moral norms whose func­ tion was only to maintain the status quo, bored and unfulfilled in marriages arranged supposedly on their behalf, radically broke from their social confines through the outlet that adultery offered them.

However, adulterous love in the nineteenth-century novel was a symbolic attack on the social and economic systems that subjugated women, and true to reality

(though the authors often made their heroines the ves­ sels of humanistic values), they were destroyed by society (Wightman 75). While Ehebruch was to the nine­ teenth century a vehicle for breaking from social con­ vention, for Erp it is the vehicle for breaking from conventions of his own making. Though the manifesta­ tions of a clash of cultures are apparent in Erp's character, he does not go down to defeat because of society's disparate demands, as Eva does, but because of his own inability to live up to the image of himself he has created.

The heavy influence of the nineteenth-century

Ehebruchsroman. especially Anna Karenina and Effi

Briest. might lead one to speak with Harold Bloom of 87

"literary revisionism" in Buridans Esel. a "creative

misreading" of the text, implying a struggle between

father and son to overthrow the domination of the for­

mer .19 However, it is most instructive to emphasize

the productive relationship that de Bruyn had created

with his predecessors, Fontane and Tolstoy. An

appropriate comparison would be to Brecht's relation­

ship to tradition (even though Brecht himself found no

allies in the nineteenth century). Especially in his

later understanding of appropriation of tradition,

Brecht sought to work out "den urspriinglichen

Ideengehalt" of a classic work, admiring what was use­

ful to him and unafraid to be critical of its weaknesses. 20 Like Brecht, de Bruyn was keenly aware of his own audience, therefore he learned from his predecessors but was by no means interested in writing

"etwas Epigonale[s]," as Schlichting has suggested

(64). In this regard, de Bruyn has stated:

Lernen kann man iiberall, aber immer nur in bestimmten Grenzen. Das trifft für Joyce genauso zu wie für Tolstoy oder Fontane, deren schone Geschlossenheit der Characktere einem heute auch schon einseitig erscheint.

Such a method was used by Valerie Greenberg to compare de Bruyn's Neue Herrlichkeit to Thomas Mann's Der Zauberberg.

20 cited by Werner Mittenzwei (Brechts Verhaltnis zur Tradition 186). 88

well sie bestimmte Diinensionen des Mensch- lichen vermissen lassen (Topelman, "Inter­ view" 1181),

De Bruyn's productive relationship with his predeces­ sors allowed him to create Erp from an amalgam of char­ acteristics adapted from the calculating husbands of the nineteenth-century tragic heroines of adulterous novels. Further discussion of Erp will illuminate the significance of the influence of these characters.

Constructing Leqitimacv Through the Narrator

That the narrative voice of Buridans Esel calls the work a Bericht and itself a Berichterstatter shows de Bruyn's attempt to distance the work from schematic and cliched GDR fiction and lend legitimacy and believability to his narrative. Indeed, like a report the action is followed faithfully and chronologically, while facts and information important to the events being reported are carefully elucidated by the nar­ rator. De Bruyn capitalized on the assumption of socialist ideology that objectivity and "truth" are possible by borrowing the written form of the tech­ nocracy. But even while utilizing the legitimacy of the form, de Bruyn did not uncritically adopt its 89

objective h e g e m o n y . 21 Quite unlike a written bureaucratic or scientific report, which requires the writer to dispense with personal style and subjective intrusion in the text, the narrator here plays an active and visible role in its rendition.

In many ways the narrator seems to have been drawn from the oral t r a d i t i o n . 22 Like a story-teller, this narrator frequently digresses from the storyline with tidbits of information or observations that are both useful to the reader and also lend color to the narra­ tive. But at the same time, it is not a persona given to exaggeration or embellishment that might put the narrative into question. The intrusion of the narra­ tive voice more often than not serves to affirm the believability of the narrative because it has

21 similarly, in Selbstversuch. Traktat zu einem Protokoll. Christa Wolf capitalized on the objective legitimacy of the technical form to undermine its hegemony and vindicate subjective experience. The title reveals the complexity of the problem of sub­ jectivity versus objectivity by showing its dependence on the manipulation of the observer. Traktat may mean appendix or addendum (supplementary material relating, but not essential to the main body of work), wherein the subjective nature of the narrator's description of experience is admittedly outside the scientific realm. But it may also mean treatise, which emphasizes the didactic quality of the narrator's work. By utilizing the scientific term. Wolf insisted on the legitimation of subjective experience in the scientific world.

22 The narrator of Johannes Bobrowski's Lewins Miihle certainly served as an early example in the GDR, influencing Christa Wolf as well. 90

established itself as a trustworthy witness to the events. It is an omniscient narrator that has not only information about the events, but also detailed psychological knowledge of some of the characters, especially of Erp. However, omniscience is not portrayed as an all-knowing authoritative voice, a metaphor for the authority and truth claims of the state. The use of a narrator/story-teller removes power from interactions with the reader and assumes narrator-reader interaction to be necessary for the portrayal of realism.

The narrator is not only an active participant as the narrator of events, but also assumes responsibility for the manner in which the narrative is presented.

The distance between the narrator and the author is narrow, which tends to undermine the fictive nature of the narrator, again with the result of underscoring the validity of the report. For example, the narrator and the author are both students of reader psychology. 23

23 De Bruyn entered library training school in Potsdam in 1949 and after its completion worked in Ber­ lin at various locations as a librarian. In 1955, while employed as Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter in the Zentralinstitut fur Bibliothekwesen. de Bruyn wrote an essay in response to Christa Wolf's criticism of the abundance of "Stella-Romane" and other forms of "Schundliteratur" in the GDR (Wolf, "Achtung" 136). The essay showed de Bruyn's interest in promoting new psychological methods to address the interests and motivations of GDR readers. Erp, too, was interested early in his career in studying reader expectations and interests, but his work was never promoted because of the 1950s taboo against psychology and sociology as 91

Throughout the report the narrative voice second- guesses the mood and questions of its reader: "Was hat

Paschke eigentlich in dieser Geschichte zu suchen?"

(32); "Wer offnet? Fraulein Broder. Wer ist das?"

(32). It delights in recognizing the possible readers, addressing them directly and playfully exposing their reading habits in passages like the following:

Den Diagonal- (will heiBen: Vorn-Mitte-Ende-) Lesern, also die Bibliothekaren, Biblio- graphen, Dokumentaristen, Buchhandlern, Kulturfunktionaren, Zeitungskurzrezensenten . . . soil zur Belohnung dafiir, daB sie schon hier (und nicht erst auf den letzten drei Seiten) mit dem SchluB-Lesen beginnen, ein Hinweis zum Verstandnis des wichtigen 26. Kapitels . . . gegeben werden. Der Hinweis lautet: Das wichtigste ist das, was fehlt: die Erwahnung des gesellschaftlichen Boten Fred Mantek namlich, der (was der Ober- flachenleser nicht weiB) im 23. Kapitel geritten kam. . . . (230-31).

Likewise, the narrative voice establishes validity for the text by distinguishing the report form from other genres. For example, the narrator comments here on the various possible artistic treatments of the love scene.

. . . aber wenn es ein Film gewesen ware, hatten Geigen das leise und lieblich untermalen miissen, eine Oper ware hier ohne PosaunenstoB nicht ausgekommen, und ein Roman hatte wenigstens eines neuen Kapitels bedurft, um auf das Schwerwiegende dieses Augenblicks hinzuweisen— und den Schwierig- keiten bei der Schilderung folgender Stunden zu entgehen. Auch fur diesen Bericht ware es ein Ausweg, mit einem Sprung das 14. Kapitel

bourgeois (71). 92

ZU erreichen, es mit den Worten "Als sie am nachsten Morgen erwachten . . ." zu beginnen und das andere den Lesern zu iiberlassen. Aber . . . (134-35).24

Further, the narrator's treatment of characters as real-life witnesses again underscores the attempt by the author to portray the report as an actual event.

At one point, the narrator makes reference to several characters, "die dabei waren und urteilen konnen," in order to distinguish what are portrayed as actual events from the wishes of the "happy-end-süchtige

Leser" (140). This insistence on distancing the narra­ tive from forms of fiction also keeps the narrative itself in the realm of everyday life.

While the genre and the narrator as reporter are both mechanisms for endowing the text with believability, there is an ironic element to these choices as well. They both travel under the guise of objectivity, however the posturing of the narrator actually underscores its own fictionality. Further, the notion of a privileged objective position is undermined. Implicit in the narrator's duty to uncover motivation from the perspective of each character is

24 Raddatz found such passages to underscore his contention of de Bruyn's "Hilflosigkeit;" they further weigh down the novel by highlighting compositional problems rather than overcoming them. However, this is typical of Raddatz' bad faith in evaluating GDR work in general (Raddatz, Traditionen 348). 93

the understanding that true objectivity is unattainable: the narrator also conveys a perspective.

The assertion that multiple perspectives are required to reach an understanding of the general becomes the hallmark of literature of this p e r i o d . 25

The narrative style also assumes the active parti­ cipation of an engaged r e a d e r . 26 interjections and appelations attempt to engage the reader often as if in a dialogue, which cannot be but an illusion. However, the narrator expresses the desire to present the report in such a way that the reader must participate by com­ ing to his/her own conclusions. It is true, the nar­ rator by its very nature cannot be objective; the nar­ rative structure leads to a critical judgment of Erp.

But the exact nature of his sin might be interpreted differently by each reader (and has been so, as we shall see from the secondary literature). Paramount to the narrative style is the interweaving of description, indirect speech, interjection and commentary. Not only is this style more engaging for the reader, it peppers

2 5 other texts from this period that introduced multiple perspectives through the narrator are Christa Wolf's Nachdenken über Christa T.. Erich Neutsch's Auf der Suche nach Gatt. and Volker Braun's Das unqezwunaene Leben Kasts.

2 6 The actual study of reader reception in the GDR began about this time with the first work, Gesellschaft— Literatur— Lesen. appearing in 1975. 94

the report with more than topical information about the events. It is essential for distinguishing action and possible motivations, both those given by the charac­ ters and those apparent to a distanced observer (as the narrator sees itself). In this way the story itself, while important, is surpassed by the psychological portraits of the characters. It is at this level that the reader discovers Erp's fatal flaw; his self- deception.

De Bruyn strove for believability in his text both by utilizing the legitimacy of the report form and by undermining its supposed hegemony on objectivity by modifying the form itself through the narrator. Thus, the narrative structure reflects its subject, namely

Erp's self-deception and thus, his construction of truth.

Erp and Self-Deception

The Presentation of Erp's Self-Deception

Erp's construction of the truth is laid bare in the narrative and shown to be based on self-deception.

Textual analysis of the opening pages of Buridans Esel will reveal the nature of Erp's self-deception. It will also show the way in which the narrative structure 95

functions to uncover this self-deception through a blending of the perspectives of the narrator and the protagonist.

"Angefangen hat es so: Karl Erp lachelte beim

Erwachen und wuBte nicht, warum"(5). In order to uncover Erp's self-deception, the narrator calls into question Erp's perception of his awakening. That the event, the smile, has an origin unknown to Erp is syntactically equal to the event itself. This fact only becomes significant in the following paragraph where the narrator enters and calls the event into question. "Sagen wir lieber: Nachtraglich schien ihm, daft er an jenem Morgen lachelnd erwacht sei"(5). It is only through Erp's recollection that the reader is able to substantiate the occurrence of the event. The questioning of the narrator creates an interpretive dilemma: if the event did not take place, but Erp believes it did, what are we to think of the notion that he did not know the cause of the event? That must be in question as well.

Self-deception is further uncovered as Erp's romanticization of the event. The narrator allows Erp to continue with his version of events, giving the reader a concrete example. The next sentence reads as follows: " (Und so erzahlte er es Fraulein Broder auch:

'Es war seltsam, weiftt du. Ich spiirte deutlich meine 96

zum Lacheln verzogenen Lippen, und erst Augenblicke spater war dein Bild da. Ja, so hat es bel mir angefangen)" (5). Here a direct impression of Erp is given. He is a well-educated, articulate man, probably given to impressing people with his command of the lan­ guage. The smile is for him a mysterious event with a life of its own, beyond his control ("meine zum Lacheln verzogenen Lippen"), which takes hold of him sensually, as if he were a medium to another realm. Erp is parodied as a great romantic. Just moments later, he recalls, the vision of his loved one was before him.

The narrator has already told the reader of Fraulein

Broder, "Erst spater, nicht viel spater, aber doch erst danach, fiel ihm Fraulein Broder ein" (5). For the narrator, Erp's recognition was not in the form of a vision. Also, a time discrepancy is set up between the narrator's "spater, nicht viel spater, aber doch erst danach," and Erp's more romantic "Augenblicke spater."

For the moment the reader can leave the discrepancy to a difference in style— a harmless difference. However, the next sentence pulls the rug from under that good will. "Er glaubt heute wohl selbst an diese Version, weiB nicht mehr, daB ihn an diesem Morgen, wie an jedem sonst . . . " (5). Here the narrator reveals Erp's romantic interpretation of the event as self-created.

That he no longer knows what happened implies that he 97

did once know; what he tells Fraulein Broder is a romanticized "version" of what actually happened.

Further description of Erp's daily life calls into question his own perception of himself. The next page and one-half are devoted to a chronological, precise description of Erp's morning routine, which graphically shows the reader the space of time between the

"erwahnte[s] Mundverziehen," (for which Erp chastises himself as being idiotic behavior, compensated by rigid adherence to his morning ritual) and the point in the morning when he attempts to give a face to his "Unmut."

The rigidity of his morning ritual suggests that he relishes structure more than the dreamy abandon of his romantic vision. Erp is given to viewing reality in a manner that suits him: embellishing on the truth. The nature of the event, namely the blossoming of Erp's love, is thus put into question as well.

Though in the first two pages the reader has been directed by the narrative structure to form a picture of Erp that is not flattering, the narrator attempts to forestall hasty conclusions about Erp in the next para­ graph .

An diesem Morgen, mit diesem Lacheln, mit dem Versuch, sich ein Bild zu machen, hat es angefangen! Das zu betonen ist wichtig, um Karls Charakter nicht gleich in falsches Licht zu riicken, in Zwielicht oder gar in giftiggrünes des Eigenutzes, um ihn also nicht, mit einem Minuszeichen versehen, in das Buch hineinspazieren zu lassen (6-7). 98

The narrator claims to want to be fair and by emphasiz­

ing the narrative moment it recalls that this level too

is but one perspective. The claim of fairness serves two purposes: first, it attempts to further lend

legitimacy to the narrative; and second, it elicits reflection on presumptions and prejudices brought to the text by a reader.

The narrator's plea for fairness however, points to a further factor of Erp's self-deception, namely, his justification of his actions. In the rest of the paragraph the narrator defends Erp by suggesting that, if he had known about the smile before hand, his actions on the previous evening could be condemned as hypocritical. However, the subjunctive mood evokes discomfort because, although Erp has not been accused

(no, the narrator appears to be defending him), the hypocritical scenario is played out fully by the nar­ rator as the subjunctive blends into the preterite nar­ ration of what did transpire on the evening before.

The minus signs are adding up! This is underscored by the next paragraph: "So etwas fangt nicht mit einem morgenlichen Lacheln und iiberhaupt nicht plotzlich an"

(7). The narrator interjects here as the voice of experience. Carefully it moves through the paragraph from the general to the specific, from "allgemeine

Weisheit" to Erp's personal situation, and from the 99

narrator's perspective to the interior monolog of Erp's perspective. The closer the narrative comes to Erp's interior voice, the more the description of what transpired becomes a justification of Erp's actions: namely, Erp has recommended that Fraulein Broder be hired in his department instead of another promising candidate. She is hired despite the misgivings of

Erp's colleagues who suspect his infatuation with her.

Thus, within the first two pages we have a picture of Erp and the moral conflict and, via the narrator, the reader has also been initiated into the intricacies of self-deception. The moral conflict is not a dilemma for Erp, since he maintains that his feelings for

Fraulein Broder did not materialize until after the decision had been made to hire her. As Heller sug­ gests, the person who has not chosen autonomously the norm system by which s/he acts is thought to be partic­ ularistic, i.e. s/he "maneuvers" between values to satisfy particularistic needs. The particularist per­ sonality needs to defend his/her particularity and does so either consciously or unconsciously; either as deliberate deception of others or as self-deception.

Both kinds of deception often result in the rationalization of particular motivations through moral rationalization (Evervdav Life 89). Erp heaps his 100

decision with factual justifications that bear no rela­ tion to the moral problem.

Ihre Kenntnisse waren enorm, das konnte keiner bestreiten, ihre Arbeitsmoral über jeden Zweifel erhaben, und daB sie in dieser Stadt geboren und aufgewachsen war, durfte doch wohl auch berücksichtigt werden. Oder nicht? . . . Und war ihre Katalogarbeit nicht einzigartig? Sie war es, na also!" (7)

The narrator has shown how easily Erp manipulates the facts through memory in order to justify the decision itself.

De Bruyn found literary models for this kind of self-deception in the nineteenth century. The opening lines of Buridans Esel recall the first chapter of Tol­ stoy's Anna Karenina where the focus is significantly not on Anna, but on her brother, Oblonsky. Like Erp,

Oblonsky awakens from a pleasant dream and continues his daily routine until reality invades. A smile, too, is significant for Oblonsky: when his wife confronts him with her knowledge of his adultery, he can only respond with a silly grin. It is this grin that he blames for the strife with his wife, not the act of adultery itself. Thus, he extricates himself from responsibility for his actions through rationaliza­ tions. This pattern is evident, too, in the husbands of Anna and Effi. 101

Self-Deception and Sympathy of the Reader

Sympathy with the protagonist was a key to believability for de Bruyn. He sought to create this sympathy through the psychological, historical and geographical precision of his writing. Moreover, the narrative voice shelters Erp from outright condemnation in order to facilitate this sympathy. The facts imply that Erp is guilty of hiding the self-interest of his decision through self-deception and moral justifi­ cation. However, judgment of Erp is forestalled because his self-deception appears to be unconscious.

Early twentieth-century theories of the subject allowed the reader to sympathize with Erp's self- deception because of its unconscious nature. Such theories, for example, Freud's theory of the uncon­ scious, conceived of self-deception as a fact of modern existence. For Freud, the subject is practically a victim of the Id, and only intensive analysis can unlock the hidden truth from its repression. The Ego works not only as a censor, but also as a guardian; repression is the self-defense mechanism of the E g o . 27

27 However, the Ego as "a repressive, censoring agency, capable of erecting protective structures and reactive formations" is really only one aspect (Freud 45) . 102

Therefore, the self-deception that repression represents in Freudian theory is both a condition of human existence and a mechanism of self-defense. Until the patient is aware of the unconscious origin of their decisions, so-called perverse and immoral behavior is delineated from the realm of conscious moral responsibility. Marxist philosophy, too, makes self- deception a condition of twentieth-century existence.

It is related to the false consciousness brought about by a hegemonic ideology that both creates and conceals alienation.

In a sense, each of these theories makes self- deception the fundamental human condition and each seeks a "solution" for self-deception. Twentieth- century readers are the heirs to these traditions.

Outright condemnation of the protagonist is forestalled because the twentieth-century reader is familiar with the non-conscious forces that create self-deception.

However, de Bruyn's construction of this identi­ fication also demands critical reflection. He faulted the socialist realist dogma that only positive charac­ ters would elicit reader identification.

Es wird oft so getan, als konnte der Leser sich nur mit dem Guten und Anstandigen, dem Mutigen und Konsequenten identifizieren. Aber das ist doch wohl ein Irrtum. Da steckt einfach Unehrlichkeit drin oder mangelnde Selbsterkenntnis. Ich glaube, daB Identifizierung beim Leser nur produktiv wer­ den kann, wenn sie ehrlich ist. Und dazu muB 103

ich das weniger Sympathische, das weniger Schmeichelhafte soweit wie moglich mitliefern (Topelmann, "Interview" 1182). Throughout Buridans Esel there is never a one-sided determination of Erp's character; his strengths and his weaknesses are portrayed. Instead of the socialist hero, Erp is often labeled the "miide Held;" he is the kind of character one could meet on any street (not just in the G D R ) . 2 8 we find an early example of protagonists portrayed in this manner in Johannes

Bpbrowski's Lewins Mühle. There the moral integrity of the grandfather is clearly compromised. Similar to the characters of Bobrowski, de Bruyn's characters reflect not only the contemporary reality, but also the his­ torical reality.

Critical reflection is further facilitated by the distancing mechanism of the narrator, as was demonstrated in the analysis of the opening pages of the novel. The more critical reflection comes into play, the more the harmful nature of Erp's self- deception becomes apparent; it must be observed criti­ cally and judged on moral grounds. The possible absolution of Erp's moral guilt on the grounds that his self-deception is unconscious is negated by the moral

28 The title of "miide Held" was first coined by Thomas Feitknecht in Die sozialistische Heimat. Zum Selbstverstandnis neuerer DDR-Romane (37). 104

implications of his actions and by recognition of the source of his self-deception in interpersonal self- interest. Thus, identification with the protagonist serves the further purpose of prompting self-reflection in the reader in regard to his/her own self-deception.

The Nature of Erp's Self-Deception:

Self-Reflection Incapacitated

Erp's self-deception makes itself apparent as an egoism that rules out critical self-reflection. This is the hallmark of the particularistic personality, as

Heller defines it. We first see manifestations of such a personality in Erp's interactions with his family.

By maintaining a patriarchal structure within his nuclear family, Erp is assured that daily familial life revolves around him, his needs and dictates. His wife,

Elisabeth, gave up her career to tend to house and children. The children's lives are structured around the routine that Erp has dictated. He is not a ruth­ less despot, but a sense of intimacy is missing, and he could easily imagine life without them. Erp says of his son, "Er war verantwortlich fur ihn, juristisch, moralisch, er hatte sich an ihn gewohnt, das war allés"

(14). The relationship to the daughter is closer, yet ultimately narcissistic. This, too, he is able to 105

justify. "In seiner morgendlichen Neigung zur

Wahrhaftigkeit gestand er sich das ein, fand allerdings gleich eine Entschuldigung dafiir: Jede Liebe ist dem

Egoismus verwandter als der Nachstenliebe" (14).

Moreover, if Erp is sympathetic only to his own characteristics reflected in his daughter, in his wife he appre-ciates those qualities that render her without character. He loves her, "weil sie ihm nie lastig wurde, sich ihm nicht aufdrangte, ihn nicht einengte, weil sie sich erstaunlich gut auf ihn und seine Arbeit eingespielt hatte" (15). While Erp recognizes the egoism involved in his feelings for Elisabeth, he deceives himself about the interpersonal consequences of his emotional self-interest: if it has negatively affected her, he muses, she has never made it known to him (ergo, it is not a problem). In this way he absolves himself of complicity in the detrimental character of their relationship, even in its deteriora­ tion. That Erp knows actually very little about his wife's feelings does not cause him concern; rather he idealizes his ignorance as mystery. "Die fur sie pas- sende Aufgabe ware die einer Fee: gestaltlos Gutes tun"

(78). In effect, Erp avoids access to knowledge that would anchor his own complicity in the lives of the people around him.

The lack of compassion demonstrated in Erp's familial relationships emanates from an inability to 106

distinguish other people from himself, which is

integrally bound to his unwillingness to engage in

serious self-reflection. It continues in his new rela­

tionship where he refuses to delve deeper into his

attraction to Fraulein Broder, "da er (mit den meisten

Romanschreibern) glaubte, daB der Versuch, Griinde fiir

die Entstehung von Liebe . . . zu suchen, ihre

Profanierung bedeutet" (69). Thus, Fraulein Broder,

too, remains to him "ein Ratsel," and the ambiguity

surrounding their relationship is part of the attrac­ tive mystique.29

In all of these examples of Erp's unwillingness to

see beyond his own particularistic needs, the narrator

is quick to identify for the reader missed chances for

self-reflection. This leaves little opportunity for

the reader's sympathy with Erp to obstruct judgment

about his actions. About his fanciful description of

his wife, the narrator comments: "Aber was sagt das

schon? Doch hochstens was über ihn. DaB er es sich

29 That Erp prizes the mysterious identity of the two women may also have been determined by gender rela­ tions in the GDR. Though women were treated as equals constitutionally, in actuality the women's sphere (especially, the household) continued to exist along side of their entrance into the work force. Further, their access to the public domain was often limited to lower-level jobs. The myth of women's mystery main­ tained the legitimacy of the continued existance of two spheres; one in which women had limited access and one in which men denied their responsibility. 107

namlich im warmenden Schein ihrer Liebe wohlsein lieJJ und nicht an das rührt, was er ihr Ratsel nannte" (78).

Though de Bruyn said he began the novel with the premise that he was addressing an engaged reader, the narrator actually leaves little to chance. The ironic tone of the narration on the one hand, and the diffi­ culty of the moral dilemma on the other offer the greatest challenge to the reader.

A further level of Erp's self-deception reveals itself in the value that Erp places on honesty. His self-righteous insistence on telling the truth (or what he takes to be the truth) is merely a means to assuage his guilt by extricating himself from responsibility for the pain he causes others. The "truth" exists as an objective construct that lies somehow outside of his control, according to this reasoning. Yet, honesty is also a mask for his manipulation of the truth. His is always a self-interested honesty that makes generous use of filing and polishing material to make the truth palatable on one hand, and to affect his wishes on the other. Following his first liaison with Fraulein

Broder, Erp is overcome with the need to confess to his wife. The narrator of course highlights the motivation for such honesty: "der simple Drang nach seelischer

Entleerung, das Beichtbedürfnis zur Reinigung des

Gewissens, die Sorge um Beunruhigung ehefraulichen 108

Gemüts, die Angst vor Vorwürfen" (53). Again the reader is likely to identify with such motivation, is perhaps ready to forgive him as is his wife (again).

However, when Erp's honesty becomes cruelty that serves only his own purpose, and which he morally and rationally justifies as being the "truth," that sympathy is guickly undermined. Erp declares to

Elisabeth that he has never really loved her. The nar­ rator uncovers his motivation.

DaB sie sich geliebt hatten, durfte nicht stimmen. Er hatte sonst zugeben miissen, daB die Liebe irgendwann unterwegs gestorben war, ohne Absicht, aber nicht ohne Schuld. Das hatte die GroBe seiner neuen Liebe ver- kleinert, auch seine Ehrlichkeit, die er anerkannt sehen wollte und um derentwilien er liigen muBte (107).

Thus, for Erp honesty is a relative term whose value lies in utility. Ironically, Erp's manipulation allows him to justify lying in order to serve his goal, namely to legitimize his adultery by proving he is an honorable and honest person. This issue will become important in the later discussion of the moral con­ sequences of Erp's behavior for GDR society at large.

In his relationship to Fraulein Broder, Erp's self-deception again takes the form of conscious decep­ tion of another. Erp wants Fraulein Broder to see him as he would like to be, not as he is. To this end, he leaves out details or modifies them on several occa­ sions during his conversations with her about himself. 109

These "white lies," are perhaps excusable to the

reader: who would not want to put their best foot for­ ward in the advent of a new relationship? There is a

certain amount of sympathy awakened for the bumbling

awkwardness of the would-be "Troubadour," and

"Abenteuerer" (44). However, again the good will of the reader is shaken by the ever more serious nature of his deception. The white lies (that he has applied for a divorce) become direct lies (that only bureaucracy keeps him from going with her to the provinces) affect­

ing both him and Fraulein Broder.

The Nature of Erp's Self-Deception: The Mask

Erp's self-deception is further characterized with the image of the mask. It is a very specific mask that

is identified, the creation of historical tradition as well as of Erp himself. Behind it he strives to show the world the image of what he thinks a man should be.

It is the mask of authority, of sovereignty over all situations, people and things. Fraulein Broder recog­ nizes it immediately as she has come across such masked men before: "Ritter ohne Furcht vor Tod und Teufel,

Zyniker aus Angst vor dem eigenen Gewissen, Roboter ihres Ehrgeizes, Melancholiker im Suff, Souverane im

Frauengemach" (70). However, unlike Erp, she shows 110

interest in understanding others, and her compassion is spurred whenever his mask slips. "Sie wufite, da/3 er ihr eine Maske zeigte, ahnte aber nicht, was sich dahinter verbarg. Sie trug keine Maske . . . " (70).

It is only when Erp can set aside the mask of self-deception that the relationship becomes possible.

The necessary honesty required of love and sexual union, the reciprocity and envelopment of the whole human being is highlighted in what has been called

"die schonste Liebesszene in unserer Literatur" (Kauf- mann 151). In this scene, the vocabulary of domination that had characterized their previous meetings is gone.

The love scene presents Erp as a figure capable of change. Further, the intimacy with Fraulein Broder has shown Erp that he can have a relationship without recourse to his defense mechanisms, namely the mask of authority. The relationship gives Erp the opportunity to be honest about himself.

Though Erp's adultery might have been morally condemned by society in the past, it now must be viewed as opening the possibility for self-examination and moral action to which Erp had closed himself off previously. The possibility to break constraints which

Ehebruch represented to nineteenth-century heroines is allowed the possibility of fruition here, and the moral stigmatism of adultery has been reversed. Almost all Ill

reviewers note the removal of societal obstacles to

Erp's relationship with his lover and, consequently, to his continued development. Not only did GDR marriage laws ensure the painless severing of ties that had become shackles to the personality, de Bruyn went so far as to provide a clichéd "Reitender Bote." The announcement of Erp's transfer clears away the final technical obstacle to his continued happiness with

Broder. The East German reviewer, Martin Reso, extols the fertile ground for Erp's development that GDR society provided.

Sie [die in der Gesellschaft wirkenden Krâfte und Antriebe] setzen die Menschen in den Stand, die Moral- und Lebensbegriffe entweder als Norm zu akzeptieren oder zu durchbrechen, wenn die Konsequenz in einer Bereicherung der Personlichkeit besteht ..." (907).

Thus, no outside force is allowed to interfere with the possibility of Erp's change. Erp's inability to con­ tinue the relationship with Broder is thus seen as his personal moral failure for several reasons. First, because he reverts to self- and other deception to end the relationship; second, because of his inability to utilize the opportunities for self-development that society offers him; and finally, because by not chang­ ing, Erp has chosen his particularity over the pos­ sibility of becoming a responsible social self. 112

Erp. the Bourgeois?

How Erp's failure is characterized both within the text and by reviewers is critically important for our analysis of morality in the text. The following sec­ tion will explore some of the possible critiques of Erp in order to facilitate the discussion of possible socialist moralities in the GDR.

The East German reviewer Martin Reso sees Erp's failure as a problem between social success and per­ sonal stagnation, success bringing with it a self- satisfaction that facilitates absence of engagement.

As I have shown, Erp's mask of authority precludes most serious forms of debate and extricates him from the need to change. However, Reso's critique merely represents a general lament of the waning of youthful radicalism as the rationality of maturity sets in. As one character put it, "Karls Elan hatte mit seiner

Jugend geendet, er war miide geworden, hatte sich zur

Ruhe gesetzt, jeden Ehrgeiz aufgegeben und sich jetzt zu Haus und Auto die Geliebte angeschafft" (166).

Similarly, the suggestion that the failure of Erp's relationship with Broder is a generational problem implicitly excuses Erp while leaving deeper problems 113

untouched.30 De Bruyn's text does not exclude either of these possibilities as being influential in Erp's failure since each one in fact provides a justification that Erp himself might have used. But they ignore the narrative critique of Erp and, therefore, avoid the more serious implications of his failure.

The popular critique of Erp having become bourgeois deserves further consideration because it addresses the larger issues of morality in de Bruyn's work. In this argument, the house in a desirable

Spree-village, the finely manicured lawn, the nice car and telephone, all acquired either through his marriage or his successful career, have corrupted Erp, the once active socialist, with bourgeois inclinations.31

The specific history of the term bourgeois in the

GDR makes criticism of Erp as a bourgeois by GDR critics problematic. As was shown in the chapter on

Der Hohlweq. accommodation to and acceptance of the new

30 One would have to question the observation of Thomas Feitknecht that Erp (whom Feitknecht identifies with the author1) displays "ein resignativer Zug" by not overcoming the generational conflict with a happy end (4 0). Feitknecht implies that change is impossible for the older generation which doesn't understand the newer one. De Bruyn makes no such claim.

31 This is Feitknecht's entire thesis. GDR reviewers like Christel Berger and Peter Gugisch related Erp's personal failure to succumbing to the temptations of his Wohlstand. a bourgeois character­ istic. 114

socialist order in the late 1940s and early 1950s,

often portrayed as an awakening or a conversion in lit­

erature, came at the expense of an understanding of the

immediate past. This kind of conversion allowed East

Germans to separate themselves from the "Other," making

the bourgeoisie, symbolized by the West Germans, the

scapegoat for all previous ills and exonerating East

Germans as members of the progressive class. There are

several problems with this world view. One, the definition of bourgeois as an ethical category is vague, that is, the bourgeois exists only in opposition to what is good, namely the socialist. Second, as Tate noted, " [t]he separation of the bourgeois 'them' from the socialist 'us' may seem the way to salvation, but

it fails to take account of the organic continuity of personality" (154). Namely, the East German per­ sonality is inextricably shaped by its own history, which culturally was constituted in the twentieth century by both bourgeois and fascist values.

Thus, for the argument to be legitimate, one would have to assert that Erp does not become a bourgeois; rather he maintains vestiges of bourgeois values from his past. The association of Erp with the husbands of nineteenth-century heroines of Ehebruch- romane supports this continuum. Erp's values are manifest in the doctrine of self-interest which had not 115

been uprooted in German cultural consciousness by the introduction of socialist economic or political reforms. It was perhaps further nurtured in the GDR through the model of the Soviet Union. If we ascribe to Nicolas Timasheff's theory of the Stalin era as the

"Great Retreat" in socialist ideology to a Verbürqer- lichung of Soviet society, we must also recognize the effect of this reestablishment of bourgeois values on the newly-forming GDR of the 1950s. Namely, such values are part of the historical foundation of the

GDR. Moreover, the Verbürgerlichuna that many critics identify in Erp's character should not be reduced to the reemergence of the morality of economic individu­ alism as the result of material gain.3% De Bruyn took pains to show other characters who benefited materially by their position in GDR society without sacrificing moral integrity or socialist ideals (for example, Fred

Mantek, Erp's boss).

De Bruyn's text actually makes use of the bourgeois designation on two fronts. First, the

32 Feitknecht, Berger, Gugisch assert this above all. Although the achievement principle of GDR society supports success and the prosperity that comes with it, Berger admitted that prosperity could encourage "eine verspieBerte, kleinbiirgerliche Lebensweise" (162). She described chameleons able to accomodate to and make personal use of the socialist system of society; in other words, a criminal element that needed to be rooted out. 116

identification of Erp with the "otherness" of bourgeois morality highlights his self-deception and lack of self-reflection, which otherwise would not be spoken of since such false consciousness no longer exists, according to the ideology, in socialist society.

However, the critical reader sympathy with Erp created in the text actually rules out a treatment of Erp as

Other. In fact, the identification facilitates reflec­ tion by the socialist reader on her/his own implication in such self-deception. Second, the text's focus on everyday life to critique Erp's interpersonal self- interest shows Erp to be a product of his social con­ text. To label Erp a bourgeois is to criticize the society that continues to constitute him. The text balances on a critical tightrope since the socialist reader was surely capable of both interpretations.

GDR proponents of the bourgeois critique of Erp confuse a non-reflective integrationist morality with

Western bourgeois economic self-interest. In doing so, they remove the problem of Anpassung from the GDR social agenda by making it the problem of an isolated individual. By stifling reflection on the past in order to facilitate conversion to the new socialist order, the period of Ankunft and Aussohnung with socialist life in the 1950s encouraged this 117

non-reflective integrationist morality. The effects of that necessary Anpassung on the development of the individual and on society are never problematized by a critique that singles Erp out as Other. Critics like

Christel Berger lauded the implied message of the novel to be on the look out for the Kleinbürger. But since

Berger clearly saw such types as Other, she missed the incentives in the text to look within, both within the self and within the social structure, to find the insidious roots. She ended up championing a manhunt rather than critical reflection.33 De Bruyn's text does not speak of Other, but of the GDR "Us."

If one consequence of the necessary Anpassung of the 1950s was to cut off the individual from her/his own past, a further and related result was, in Heller's terms, the crippled development of individuality. 34

The demands of the community required denial of the self, acceptance of the status quo and conformity, in

3 3 Here she looked to Kurt Hager for support, who said: "... ein offentliches Intéressé, eine gesellschaftliche Atmosphare der Unduldsamkeit gegenüber moralische-sittlichem Fehlverhalten [ist] eine wesentliche Vorausetzung, um alle ethischen Vorzüge des Sozialismus zur Wirkung zu bringen" (Hager in Schubbe 43).

34 I remind the reader that Heller's use of the term "individuality" is easily confused with a concept of self-interested individualism. Rather, she means a self-reflective personality capable of choosing for a socialist morality. 118

the name of social change. This theme was repeatedly addressed in the literature of the late 1960s and early

1970s, notably in Fritz Rudolf Fries' Der Wecr nach

Oobliadooh. Christa Wolf's Nachdenken tiber Christa T..

Brigitte Reimann's Franziska Linkerhand. and later

Ulrich Plenzdorf's Die neuen Leiden des iunaen W. The most urgent expression of this danger comes from Wolf's

Christa T., who sees the inheritance of the Stalin era as "die neue Welt der Phantasielosen. Der Tatsachen- menschen. Der Hopp-Hopp-Menschen" (Wolf, Nachdenken

52). Particularist self-interest demanded this con­ formity. Unlike Christa T., Erp refuses to display outwardly the tension caused by the necessity to acquiesce and fit in. At the one point where Erp is able to convey his earlier enthusiasm for his work

(reader psychology and sociology) to Fraulein Broder, he disguises the disappointment then felt when his work was officially set on the back burner.

"Und Sie haben aufgegeben?" (she asks)— "Ja" (im Martyrerton) und dazu ein Witzchen, das weises Dariiberstehen andeuten soli, die Maske sitzt wieder, und nichts von dem, was jetzt (unbeabsichtigt) in ihm sich meldet und zur Sprache kommen will, kommt heraus. Wie stünde er da vor ihr, wenn er die Tiefe der Enttauschung (besonders iiber sich und seine Unfahigkeit und Lauheit) zugabe, den Schmerz bei Erkenntnis von Mittelmafiigkeit, Energielosigkeit, Feigheit. . . , den Abbau alien Ehrgeizes, die Scham iiber auBere Erfolge (die zum Teil nur kommen, weil er nie unbequem wird), die lahmende Passivitat und schlieBlich den Riickzug auf Behagen im Wohlstand, auf Haus, Garten, Auto? (71-72). 119

Thus, it is accommodation that has necessitated the mask.

Erp's father provides a textual counterweight to

Erp's integrationist morality. Father Erp did not accommodate to the new socialist culture. As a charac­ ter he brings to the report an historical dimension that is restorative in nature. As Hirdina noted, he is one of many whose private morality made them resistant to the compromising ideologies after World War I

(De Bruvn 42-43). The narrator describes him as fol­ lows;

Das wird erzahlt wie ein Sonderfall, war aber kaum anders als bei anderen in seiner Lage, als bei Leuten also, die wegtauchten unter den Sturmfluten der Weltgeschichte, sich schiittelten wie gebadete Hunde, wenn sie voriiber waren und weiter lebten wie zuvor in ihrer engen Welt, in der drinnen und drauBen immer Gegensatze sind, weil Weltmoral mit den StraBenschuhen abgelegt, mit den Pantoffein Hausmoral in Kraft gesetzt wird, die sie fur die wirkliche Moral halten, weil sie ihr Ent- stehen nicht miterlebt haben, sondern in sie hineingewachsen sind wie in die Natur (die sich ja auch nicht oder nur wenig verandert), weil sie nicht begreifen konnen, nicht begreifen wollen, daB das, was den Vatern Luge und Unrecht scheint, den Sohnen schon Tradition sein wird (192).

For father Erp, the Prussian, the good old morality of

Kant still applies, and he sees his son's choice as one between Schiller's "Pflicht" and "Neigung." The reader can have respect for the elder Erp even as the fal­ lacies of his moral rigor are exposed (because Erp's moral decision cannot really be characterized as one 120

between duty and desire— the course that could lead to

Erp's personal development is with Fraulein Broder).

This respect allows some of his observations about his son to gain validity. In his view, the younger Erp has always dismissed "Pflicht" by fleeing his father, "ein

Ausbruch aus der vaterlichen Kalte in die Warme der Begeisterung, aus der aufgezwungenen Pflicht in die selbstgewahlte . . . in die Verantwortungslosigkeit der

Gemeinschaft" (194). Erp's father makes the connec­ tion, for example, between Erp's youthful enthusiasm first for the Hitler Juaend and then for the Freie

Deutsche Juqend. He rightfully sees accommodation to both groups as negating personal responsibility. What

Karl took for "Rebellion" was really "Anpassung," according to the father. Though these observations may be correct. Father Erp does not recognize what his son was running from, namely a morality that denies the interrelatedness of personal and public morality. Par­ ticipation in the group may have allowed these two to come together, however, individual critical reflection is then lost as the integrationist morality emerges.

However, Erp's rebellion did not allow escape from the history that constituted him as self. As we have seen in an earlier quote, Erp believed, as was common of the earlier socialist period, that unwanted tradi­ tion could be shed like molted skin. But in fact, Erp 121

is like his father; he continues the tradition of sepa­ rating "das Drinnen und DrauBen," and this enables him to maintain a particularist morality in his private life while accommodating to, even becoming successful in the socialist community. De Bruyn's work was extremely important for the 1960s because it showed how

"Hausmoral" frequently continued to be unaffected by the "Weltmoral" of the new socialist order. The ramifications were important not only for the cause of women, who continued to live their private lives under patriarchal domination even while the constitution guaranteed them social and economic equality. It also signaled the extent to which the new socialist values in some ways accommodated the old bourgeois values.

Erp, after all, is a socially successful man.

The avenue of escape for Erp from the contradic­ tions between the socialist ideal and the old morality of self-interest (which socialism under Stalin tacitly accepted) became self-deception and hypocrisy. Self- deception and the mask are defense mechanisms designed to cover up the result of Erp's accommodation, namely his inability to deal with true conflict and the need to take a stand or make a self-reflective decision.35

35 Karin Hirdina stated, notably fifteen years later, "[n]ur: Aus der durchaus begründeten prinzipiel- len Übereinstimmung mit der Gesellschaft ist die Unfahigkeit geworden, Konflikte auszuhalten" (De Bruvn 42) . 122

To do so requires an individual in Heller's sense of the term, a person with an understanding of self and with a self-determined set of values. Erp is none of these.

The text further substantiates this character flaw by portraying Erp as a static figure. "Erp ist der geformte Mensch, ist Ergebnis," observes Schlichting

(65). Though the possibility for change is presented,

Erp does not make the transition within the boundaries of the report. Nor is the reader privileged to scenes of development from Erp's past. There are moments of reflection in the narrative, but since they come from

Erp, the reader becomes skeptical of their content.

The narrator instills this skepticism:

Die Erinnerungsbrille legt man besser beiseite; die war auf der ersten Reise schwarz, auf der zweiten rosa gefarbt (denn Erinnerung verschont nicht immer, sondern nur in traurigen Zeiten, in gliicklichen schwarzt sie ein) und also unbrauchbar zur Markierung von Entwicklungskurven, oder vorsichtiger gesagt, zum Versuch dazu . . . (188).

Erp himself blames his wife and her inheritance for the bourgeois life-style that has taken him away from his earlier plans to work in the provinces, "wo ich ohne

Belastung durch Traditionen aufbauen kann, wo Kultur- revolution wirklich revolutionar ist" (17). In fact,

Erp's supposed martyrdom on Elisabeth's behalf proves 123

to have been motivated more by a lack of resolve to carry out his own plans. The narrator does not directly judge Erp for choosing comfort, — "Wer hatte nicht wie Karl entschieden?"— but only for placing the blame for his ineffectuality outside of his own con­ trol. However, the rhetorical form of the question does not necessarily condone his choice either. "[Er hatte] jeden Schritt in die Gleichformigkeit mit

Enthusiasmus begrü&t . . . bis zu diesem Morgen, an dem er plotzlich wehmiitig einer Unabhangigkeit nachtrauerte, um deren Erhaltung er sich nie bemüht hatte" (16). The blending of narrative and protagonist perspectives creates on one hand sympathy with the litany of responsibilities that Erp recounts that limit his freedom. But ultimately this is shown to be fur­ ther rationalization on his part since they do not truly limit the boundaries of possibility for him. He can and does try to cast them off. The inability to do so lies in Erp's character alone.

Though Erp's failings are shown to derive primarily from his own personality structure, I have shown too how de Bruyn explored the origins of such a personality in the GDR. To suggest, as Feitknecht does, that Erp provides a model of the Verbürgerlichuna of the entire GDR social system would be to retrospec­ tively second-guess the course of de Bruyn's work 124

(Feitknecht 40). There is no question, as I will show in the following chapters, that de Bruyn finally did come to this view. But Feitknecht is correct in noting that de Bruyn's apparent unwillingness to focus primarily on the social causes of Erp's failure should be attributed to the possible ramifications of such a position. "Erschiene namlich Erps Saturiertheit als

Konformismus und Anpassung an gesellschaftliche Kon- ventionen, dann stünde der revolutionare Charakter des

Sozialismus in der DDR in Frage" (Feitknecht 40). The text, however, evades an interpretation that would close off all socialist possibilities. The positive socialist characters of the novel bear this out.

The Contrast of Positive Development

The two female characters, Fraulein Broder and

Elisabeth, provide moral contrasts to the figure of

Erp. Much has already been written about these two women, especially because they are seen to represent the emancipatory impulse of women in the GDR.36

Fraulein Broder has already achieved a personal sense of worth that makes equality to male colleagues for her

3 6 See especially Patricia Herminghouse, "Wunsch- bild, Vorbild oder Portrat? Zur Darstellung der Frau im Roman in der DDR" 281-334; also Schlichting 74-89 and Hirdina 118-22. 125

a matter of course. Elisabeth is in the process of gaining that sense as the novel closes.

In the character of Fraulein Broder, de Bruyn brought to life the cliché of the emancipated socialist woman. De Bruyn frequently began with a character cliché, showed the reality behind the cliché, but also dismantled it so that a personality emerged. Fraulein

Broder, who lacks even a first name, is first sketched as the cold intellectual. Only slowly in Erp's contact with her does her personality emerge in the portrayal of her working class background and through her emo­ tional struggle to understand Erp. She has the intellectual capacity and similarity of interest to stand as Erp's equal. On an interpersonal level, she is his superior. For example, where Erp relies on rationalization, she displays a clear logic and reflexivity in her thinking, an integrity that Erp lacks. She appears willing and capable of attaining the ideal of a relationship set out in the book:

"Gemeinschaft ohne Abhângigkeit"(1 6 0 ).37 it is Erp who proves incapable of reaching this goal.

37 Historically socialist theory since Engels and Bebel maintained that such a relationship would result when women entered the work force, thereby gaining eco­ nomic equality. The economic equality never material­ ized for GDR women. However, the Erp-Broder relation­ ship shows that economic independence was not the sole basis of equality in interpersonal relationships. 126

As Martin Reso argues, both women participate in uncovering the illusion that Erp has created for him­ self (Reso 905). However, Elisabeth had previously participated herself in this illusion. Whereas Erp continues in denial, Elisabeth recognizes her own com­ plicity in her subjugation and sets out to find the personality that she had given up early in her mar­ riage. Elisabeth, too, had succumbed to accommodation.

In examining the causes, de Bruyn explored the private realm of the family where Erp donned his patriarchal mask. Elisabeth is portrayed as an artistically sensi­ tive woman; her character has been compared to Wolf's

Christa Far from the cliché of a simply sub­ servient wife who does not reflect on her situation, in her diary Elisabeth questions the inconsistencies between socialist ideology and practice in her own mar­ riage and in that of her parents. Yet she is unable to publicly express her feelings, least of all to her hus­ band. De Bruyn shows clearly how Elisabeth's fragile nature and gifts are slowly beaten down by a husband who does not recognize them (and as I have shown, does

38 Schlichting notes that Elisabeth's tuberculosis makes her also appear sensitive and vulnerable to her environment. "Wie ihre Generationsschwester Christa T. kann sie beim Anblick eines Eisvogels in dreissig- minutiges Schweigen verfallen, 'die Schwane im Winter,. . . den Igel im Garten, . . . den Herbst am Meer' heraufbeschworen"( 82-83). 127

not really care to look). Finally, her self-confidence

is undermined. For example, an earlier talent for writing and drawing is abandoned, "denn sie fiirchtete seine Belehrungen, denen sie nichts entgegenzusetzen hatte" (77). Erp possessed knowledge and understanding of those things that were encouraged by the new social order. Since Elisabeth's talents lay elsewhere, she relied on Erp to teach her. Consequently, she felt herself incapable of becoming his equal and succumbed to a feeling of complete helplessness, except in the area where Erp could not outdo her; she could carry a child. In all other areas she became silent.

Forced into self-reflection by Erp's threat to end their marriage, she recognizes what Erp never does;

"Bei den Moglichkeiten, die wir heute haben, ist

Unbildung fast eine Schande, aber ist es nicht eine groBere, iiber das eigene Ich nicht Bescheid zu wissen?"

(82) Armed with this recognition, she sets out to reclaim her own life, first by returning to her previous profession as a librarian, then by forging into a new field closer to her own inclinations as an art historian.

Thus, both women display the strength of personal character that Erp is missing: Fraulein Broder, the integrity, and Elisabeth the capacity for self­ reflection and change. Both can be measured positively 128

against the standard that the novel champions. This standard is portrayed in the ideal marriage of Ella and

Fred Mantek. However, it is presented cynically by another "Meister der Anpassung," the "Bestseller- und

Flirtgenie" Baumgartner (160).

Ja, so ist es, und sie haben entsetzlich an sich arbeiten müssen, um es zu diesem aufreibenden Zustand einer Ehe-Demokratie zu bringen, der nicht nur der Natur wider- spricht, sondern auch der Vernunft, die doch aus ist auf hochstmogliche Bequemlichkeit (161).

This "working on oneself" that Baumgartner views so cynically is really a conscious and critical approach to norms and habits in order to avoid the debilitating tendencies of everyday life. The structure of everyday thinking, of necessity, is based on repetitivity, gen­ eralization and pragmatism (Heller, Evervdav Life 163-

68). In the novel it is identified as the tendency toward Anpassung. However, the individual, according to Heller, knows when to suspend everyday thinking by virtue of a conscious relationship to the hierarchy of values s/he has chosen (Everydav Life 259-61). Thus, de Bruyn finally centers Erp's flaw not only in his personality, not only in the structure of socialist society of the 1950s, but also in the structure of everyday life.

Everydav Life is Heller's attempt to show how the latter can be overcome. 129

Conclusion

The open-ended conclusion of the novel precludes reduction of the ethical problems in Buridans Esel to a schema with formulaic answers. The narrator first paints the illusion of Erp's return and Elisabeth's steadfastness. But the supposedly "real" ending is not so clear cut, and the reader is left to wonder if

Elisabeth will have the strength to continue on her path of self-development even while allowing Erp back into her house "wegen der Kinder." De Bruyn's attempt to achieve believability in writing requires the open- endedness that comes with the inability to second-guess the actions of an individual. Because de Bruyn labels his story a Bericht. the illusion is created that only the actions that have already taken place are being narrated. The narrative stops where the present meets the future.

Critics are often disturbed by this ending and the charge of "Konsequenzlosigkeit" leveled at Erp in the novel has also been directed at de B r u y n . ^0 The final comment of the narrator, "Vielleicht. Wer kennt sich in Elisabeth aus!" is frequently seen as an example of

Identified by Schlichting, Berger, Raddatz and Feitknecht, and to a lesser extent by Tate and Gugisch. 130

de Bruyn's lack of rigor. However, by shifting the narrative focus from Erp to Elisabeth, de Bruyn opened possibilities that had been closed off by Erp's charac­ ter. The stasis of Erp's character leaves no possible momentum for the future. Like the ass who cannot choose between two stacks of hay in the parable of

French medieval philosopher, Jean Buridan (1295-1356),

Erp, metaphorically, starves. Symbolized in the choice between two women, Erp proves incapable of choosing himself, that is, choosing who he is going to be; he is unwilling to engage in the critical self-reflection necessary to create himself anew. He starves himself developmentally, and socialist society suffers as well.

Instead, the possibility of development is manifest in

Elisabeth's character. This is the practical level of the narrative. On another level, the narrative shows that the impetus for a society of individuals, in Hel­ ler's use of the term, is indeed present in the two female figures. But true to de Bruyn's distaste for concepts of totality, there is no telos toward which the novel moves. There is no recourse to an inevitable future utopia as in communist ideology. Rather, the constitution of the future is dependent on the action of the individual. Therefore, the reader is denied the satisfaction of seeing both women succeed where Erp fails. In the final scene of Fraulein Broder, she is 131

left to her own professional future, but emotionally she has been scarred. "Sie versuchte schon, ihre neue

Lage zu begreifen, ein Gegengift in sich zu entwickeln,

Hornhaut wachsen zu lassen . . . " (241). The reader of the 1990s cannot help but be reminded of the fate of

Christoph Hein's female protagonist in Der fremde

Freund (1982).41

The success of Buridans Esel was in its ability to prompt the socialist reader to critical reflection through the creation of a protagonist that inspires both sympathy and critical distance. The focus on everyday socialist life brought about this sympathy and also legitimized the narrative. Critical distance was facilitated by the narrative uncovering of both the source and the consequences of Erp's self-deception.

Further, by using the East German understanding of bourgeois as a foil, de Bruyn's work explodes the socialist myth of the bourgeois Other and exposes how socialist ideology deceived itself by ascribing self- interested values solely to a class-based, capitalist society.

Critical reflection also opens the reader to other possibilities in the text. The emphasis on legitimacy

41 In fact, the title of the West German edition is Drachenblut. This title places emphasis on the stilted emotional development of the protagonist, Claudia. 132

and believability in the construction of the narrative through the use of both the report form and the omnis­ cient narrator reflects the mistrust of claims of

"truth" as constructed both by socialist realism and socialist ideology. Consequently, the relativisation of truth that occurs with Erp's rationalization and justification of his actions is projected against an historical backdrop of legitimizing actions of the state.

Finally, the text questions fundamental assump­ tions about socialist morality. The focus on everyday life exposes a heterogeneity of values which undermines a notion of socialist morality as a hegemonic con­ struct. The abolition of such a construct opens the door for a critically self-reflective morality of the social self. Ill

SOCIALIST MORALITY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE REALMS:

PREISVERLEIHUNG

The social consequences of patterns of deception and nonreflective integration that are not completely explored in Buridans Esel are played out in de Bruyn's next novel, Preisverleihuna (1972). The realm of everyday life is still the environment in which the themes are explored and wherein the insidious nature of nonreflective integration is exposed as accommodation.

The social consequences of accommodation are depicted in the novel as the perpetuation of a repression of reality. Moreover, the novel contains what at the time of its publication was one of the most direct public critiques of the workings of the GDR literary estab­ lishment and of accommodating authors. However, the text is not only a social critique. Preisverleihuna should also be seen as a self-critique wherein de Bruyn sought to address the consequences of his own accom­ modating literary disposition in the writing of Der Hohlweg.

The novel examines the complex workings of accom­ modation by focusing on everyday life, reflecting again not only Bitterfeld aesthetics but also de Bruyn's

133 134

interest in the micro-politics of everyday life.

Preisverleihunq depicts one day in the life of the protagonist, Teo Overbeck; his wife, Irene; their daughter, Cornelia; and Paul Schuster, a journalist and

Irene's former lover. Teo, who is a Dozent at the university in German literature (specializing in German Romanticism), must give the key-note address at an award ceremony celebrating the first novel of Paul

Schuster.1 Without having first read the novel, Teo consented to participate in the ceremony, perhaps out of a feeling of guilt. He had been Paul's first literary mentor in the 1950s. Paul had rejected the literary accommodation necessary to have his book pub­ lished at that time. However, the current version of the novel reflects a schematism that Teo believes has since been overcome in GDR literature. Teo spends the course of the day struggling with his conscience about lauding a novel unworthy of the honor to be bestowed on it. Meanwhile, his wife anxiously awaits the unavoidable reunion with Paul, who is the biological but unacknowledged father of her daughter.

1 De Bruyn's allusion to romanticism should be taken seriously though it is not elaborated on; on one hand, the cliched image of the blurry-eyed romantic mourning the lost justice of the sensual world is pur­ posely evoked; on the other, the rebellious outsider jousting the bourgeois status quo. 135

Thus, despite the concentration of the action to a single day, this day is overladen with moral com­ plexity. It is characterized by the Unqleichzeitiqkeit of the multiple relationships defining the protagonist.

In each of his roles, both in the traditional (i.e. occupational) socialist definition of self, and in his complex interpersonal relationships. Overbeck's deci­ sion about whether to praise the novel will have moral consequences. The drama of daily life no longer resem­ bles the epic moral struggles of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The focus on everyday life allows the reproduction of the banality of accommodation on one hand, while also showing the complexity of moral issues woven deeply into everyday socialist life on the other.

As with Buridans Esel. de Bruyn established legitimacy for this exploration of the morality of everyday socialist life through the narrative voice.

The opening lines of the novel invite the reader famil­ iar with Buridans Esel to believe that that gregarious narrator has returned. Like the narrator of Buridans

Esel. this narrator attempts to win for the text legitimacy by characterizing the narrative as a report.

"Man hat mich aufgefordert, eine vorbildliche Ehe zu beschreiben und mir ein Modell dafiir gezeigt" (5). The narrator suggests that this report 1) is the result of an Auftraq. and 2) is based on observation of a model 136

chosen by the Auftraqqeber. The concept of a literary

Auftraq is an important reference to the supposedly popular commissioning of socialist work both in prac­ tice and through ideological proscription. The sugges­ tion that Preisverleihunq is a commissioned work func­ tions as an ironic rejoinder to the criticism leveled at Buridans Esel that marriage is portrayed solely in a negative light in that text. Acceptance of the commis­ sion gives the reporter license to probe this realm and report findings regardless of their nature. Thus, the commission becomes a kind of disclaimer that Buridans

Esel lacked; namely, should a critique result, it can no longer be blamed on the whim of the writer. Offi­ cial legitimacy may then serve as the basis for criti­ que of the official, integrative vision of socialist morality as accommodation.

Once legitimacy is established, however, the nar­ rative voice of Preisverleihunq fulfills a different role in establishing identification with the protagonist than the narrator of Buridans Esel. After the initial attempt to situate the novel in a believ­ able framework, the narrator sinks quickly into the flow of the n a r r a t i v e . 2 There are no longer the direct

2 Schlichting finds it necessary to distinguish this style from that of the first-person novel (90). De Bruyn's allusion to the report in the opening lines, as in Buridans Esel, puts his style in two realms simultaneously; Schlichting identifies it with the "Frühzeit des Romans," while the report suggests 137

incitements and comments from the narrator that create

awareness of its presence throughout the novel as in

Buridans Esel. Therefore, the illusion of collabora­

tion between reader and narrator is missing. This fact

points to a thematic difference from Buridans Esel as

well. No longer is identification of the socialist

reader with the protagonist complicated by the

portrayal of the bourgeois "Other." Despite Christel

Berger's claim that all of the characters in this novel

live their lives according to bourgeois principles, the

narrative portrays the degree of accommodation to

socialist ideology of each character (Berger 169).

Further, the characteristic most highlighted in the

protagonist Teo is his honesty. The identification

established is clearly with a sympathetic protagonist

who fits within the concept of a socialist member of

society, albeit one who is in some ways on its fringes,

as will be shown.^

The identification facilitated by the narrative

voice allows accommodation to be exposed in several

incarnations and through several characters.

modernist roots.

2 This sympathy is produced in subtle ways. For example, unlike the narrator of Buridans Esel. who always refers to its protagonist by his last name, Erp, the narrator of Preisverleihunq always refers to its protagonist by his first name, Teo. 138

Stylistically, Preisverleihunq is reminiscent of Der

Hohlweg in its method of focusing each section on an individual character. But here, the method is control­ led by the reduction in scope. Novella-like in size and content, the brief 164 pages of the novel are divided into sections, each of which focuses on one of a small circle of protagonists. Such a structure invites further investigation of the novel through character analysis. The following sections will pro­ vide analyses of three of the major characters and the forms of accommodation they portray.

Irene Overbeck

In a portrait of Christa Wolf, de Bruyn once wrote:

Vielleicht haben Natur und Geschichte . . . die Frauen dazu pradestiniert, Humanitat zu bewahren. Durch Unterdriickung der Erziehung zum Unter-driicken, zur Brutalitat, zum Toten entgangen, kann ihre Befreiung zur Befreiung der Menschlichkeit werden ("Fragment eine Frauenportats" 415-16).

While de Bruyn tended previously to idealize women as teachers of humanity for the men in their lives, the character of Irene verges on a parody of that ideal.

Woman are the carriers of new, socialist values in

Buridans Esel. where the man, Erp, is the subject of critique. However, the morality that Irene defends is 139

one characterized by projection of living the philosophical "good life" through manners and good graces; Sitte rather than Sittlichkeit, She sees it as her role in life to delight others with her good looks and mannerisms that convey the assurance that all is right with the world.

Ihr Seelenmeer ist immer licht und glatt; schwarze Gedanken versinken in ihm, die schweren natiirlich schneller. Obenauf bleibt Freudiges, Leichtes. . . . In ihr ist Ruhe und Frohlichkeit genug, um anderen davon abzugeben. Darin sieht sie ihre Pflicht, eine, die sie erfiillen kann, die sie gern erfüllt (6).

And as a rule of decorum, Irene expects the same from others. "Wer schon nicht frohlich sein kann (und wer kann das nicht in dieser Zeit, in diesem Land), kann sich wenigstens frohlich geben," is her motto (10).

Irene's morality of projecting happiness and harmony derives from the internalization of the Neues

Okonomisches System (NOS) ideology of the 1960s.

Modified in 1967 as Okonomisches System des Sozialismus

(OSS) to reflect emphasis on the socialist aspects of that system, it stimulated economic productivity by allowing a degree of decisionmaking to enterprises, instituting a system of incentives and emphasizing profit. The economic growth brought about a con­ comitant rise in the standard of living. However, the ideology of NOS swept past problems by focusing solely on solutions and successes. Projecting confidence in 140

the ability of the state to overcome all obstacles required the assertion of harmony within the state.

This projection of harmony, accompanied with pride over the actual economic achievements of NOS, allowed the propagation of the image of a Model1 DDR. According to

Mike Dennis:

Non-antagonistic social relations, a true human community (Menschenqemeinschaft) and the economic and social benefits of the scientific-technical revolution were pre­ sented by Ulbricht as the fundamental charac­ teristics of the model (33).

As Mayer-Burger notes further, a complicated cultural policy emerged wherein contradictions between the model and reality were discounted by admission of their existence. "In klassischer Entlastungsstrategie wird dem Kritiker als unrealistischer schematischer Anspruch unterschoben, was man selbst als realisierte Errungen- schaft propagandistisch behauptet" (203). In litera­ ture this had the effect of allowing the unveiling of contradictions only in so far as their solution was addressed. According to Ulbricht:

Eine Literatur und Kunst, die bloB Wider- sprüche feststellen will, geht in die Irre. Intéressant und erregend ist die Losung der Widerspriiche in der bewuBten, organisierten Arbeit von Partei, Staatsfiihrung und Volksmassen. Fur den Sozialismus, in dem es keinen Klassenantagonismus mehr gibt, ist nicht schlechthin die Existenz von Wider- spriichen charakteristisch, sondern ihre 141

praktische Lôsbarkeit und Losung durch die Menschen (In Schubbe 810).4

The internalization of this ideology makes Irene

wary of ripples in her environment that threaten to

disturb the harmonic totality that she believes

ultimately exists. She sees her husband lost in con­

fusing (and ultimately damaging) concepts of ethical

integrity that are far removed from her social reality.

Teo's turmoil over the speech is thus beyond her com­

prehension. The correct moral action in her mind is

clear; namely, Teo should do that which is expected,

that which does not disturb harmony. His dilemma con­

cerns her only in so far as an unsatisfactory perform­

ance on his part could have detrimental consequences

for the further progression of his career. Her own

accommodation precludes an understanding not only of

Teo's dilemma, but also of his inability to accommodate

as she does.

The social elitism propagated by NOS ideology to

which Irene falls prey is also the focus of critique in

Preisverleihunq. The NOS period had the effect of

broadening the number of GDR elites. To institute the

system, a new caste of management, planners and

^ Ulbricht's emphasis. Typical for this period, Ulbricht's speech is further peppered with references to the beauty of life in socialism (the word schon appears countless times) and admonitions to artists, such as "Gestaltet das Leben schoner als je zuvor!" 142

directors, was developed at an intermediate level between the workers and party directors. In Irene's

internalization of this ideology, progress for the elite demands furthering one's position within this caste. That Teo has not advanced further profes­ sionally she attributes to his "gefahrliche Skrupel," which keep him from accommodating (30). Though she appears to be motivated by the material goods and gains that her husband would have access to if he were to attain full professorship, she is not a conniving

Streber nor is she fixated on luxury. Success to her is equated with the acquisition of those social privileges that belong to the professional level attained (in this case, a car and a new apartment).

She wants only what society has guaranteed her as a member of its elite. That she measures success in this way is merely an internalization of surrounding social values. Thus, Irene can be portrayed sympathetically as she functions within the social norms of her society. However, the caste structure with which she identifies is condemned for promoting conformity and elitism that excludes the kind of ethical reflection Teo engages in.

Because she has internalized the dominant values to such a degree, Irene considers herself the mediator between her family and social standards. Both her 143

accommodation and mediation guarantee harmony within the family for her, the actual focal point of her life.

Bisher war es so: Es gab einen Mittelpunkt, der feststand und der Kern war des Glucks, der Gemeinsamkeit, der Sicherheit: die Familie. Von dort ging allés aus, dorthin kehrte allés zuriick, ihm diente allés, auch Schule und Arbeit. Was drauBen auch ge- schehen mochte, den Kern beriihrte es nicht (144).

However, internalization of the myth of social harmony allows Irene to deceive herself and others about the turbulence that underlies the bucolic nature of her private life. At the center of this familial universe is deception about Teo's paternity of their daughter,

Cornelia. Internalization of NOS ideology allows Irene to engage in a kind of self-deception wherein unpleasantness is suppressed, not, she believes, because of her own fears, but because social convention and the welfare of her family demand it.

Thus, for the sake of her family and the preserva­ tion of harmony, Irene has created a standard of honesty that masks feelings and conflict. Particularly telling in this regard is a scene with a flirtatious

Polish client (Irene is an interpreter). Irene enjoys a harmless flirt not only as part of social courtesy, but as a necessary part of Nachstenliebe. "wichtig wie tagliches Brot" (37) . But for her the rules require that it remain in the realm of a game. When her young 144

client begins to take the game seriously, Irene is dis­ turbed foremost because he has broken the rules.

"Sie mi&verstehen mich," sagt Jan Kaminski und zeigt mimisch, welche Qualen ihm das bereitet. "Spielen heifit tun als ob," antwortet Irene, "ist also mit Kunst verwandt." "Mir ist es ernst!" "Das eben werfe ich Ihnen vor" (37).

Irene is opposed to this honest expression of feelings.

Her interactions with others are based primarily on this maxim; correct is not what is true, but what is acceptable. And what is acceptable is based on what is pleasing and maintains harmony, not on what one actually feels or knows to be true. The lines between this ideal and actual socialist existence have become blurred enough so that even when incongruence is per­ ceptible, Irene is able to look past it.

Irene Overbeck gehort nicht zu den von Tragik umwitterten Gestalten, die an der Inkongruenz von Ideal und Wirklichkeit zu zerbrechen drohen. Sie hat die Fahigkeit, sich ihrer Vorstellungen von der Wirklichkeit auch zu erfreuen, wenn diese ihnen nicht entspricht (75) .

And Irene is rewarded socially for this behavior.

Everyone likes and admires her.5

5 Everyone, that is, except the reviewers. Many were disturbed by the model of the socialist woman that Irene might represent. But clearly de Bruyn did not mean Irene as a model any more than other characters in the novel. She is not a good mother, she is not even a good socialist. Hirdina notes that Irene is perhaps the cliche of a woman, "wie (klischeehafte) Manner sie wollen: hiibsch, treu, heiter, ausgeglichen, praktisch" (Giinter de Bruyn 68) . 145

De Bruyn located Irene's accommodating personality in her dysfunctional relationship with Paul. She learned early in their relationship that her feelings were unwelcome and were to be suppressed. For example, when Paul asked her opinion about his writing, her duty lay in successfully calculating what he wanted to hear.

However, her interpersonal life mirrors her social relations. Namely, her relationship to society is a dutiful capitulation to conventional expectations. In the 1990s, Irene would be identified as a co-dependent personality; suppressing personal insecurity and fear of what could happen, she accommodates herself and her entire life to an illusion of harmony that no longer knows what is the truth.& The strength that makes her socially endearing is the co-dependent's capacity to anticipate and accommodate the desires of others.

However, this characteristic does not give her the strength of the "individual" in Agnes Heller's use of the term. Such a person is capable of freely choosing a value system of its own. Irene is not. Therefore, she has little patience or understanding of Teo's

^ Schlichting hits the mark when she says of Irene's "Seelenmeer": "In diesem dunklen Bereich hat Irene ihre Vergangenheit verbannt und die Rolle gespielter Sicherheit übernommen" (119). The allusions to the GDR national consciousness in the 1960s should not be overlooked. 146

dilemma. Moreover, locating the source of accommoda­ tion in the private realm does not limit the con­ sequences for the public realm. De Bruyn was clearly conscious of their interrelatedness. The co-dependent construction of her personal life reproduces the moral co-dependency of the individual on the socialist state.

Paul Schuster

The character of Paul Schuster is a model of accommodation for profit. However, de Bruyn centered the source of his behavior both within his personality and in the 1950s pressure to accommodate. Paul began his literary endeavors as a young fisherman interested in capturing his experiences in writing. Upon meeting

Teo, who was employed as the cultural director in his small town, he was encouraged to continue with his autobiography. It was Teo's job to impose the correct interpretation of Paul's reality, as defined politi­ cally in the 1950s, on the text.? Faced with the

? Teo's later critique of himself is telling. "Anstatt die chaotische Welt, die er entworfen hatte, zu ordnen, baute ich ihm eine andere auf, eine vorgeformte, in der allés aufging. . . . Allés wurde glatt und richtig, langweilig und farblos" (84). It also shows how the NOS period projection of harmony and beauty was merely a coverup for the monotony of such strictures. 147

knowledge that not his talent, but the political cor­

rectness of his novel was what was being accepted, Paul withdrew the novel from publication and threw himself

into an accustomed drunken numbness. The once critical

and enthusiastic writer succumbed in the ensuing years,

however, to his bitterness and drive for personal suc­

cess. The earlier "Fieber der Emporung" over editorial

changes to his journalistic work was cooled by the new drugs of praise and money. He learned to use his ear­

lier victimization to his own advantage. He learned to write what was desired.

PreuB [his editor] hatte immer weniger zu streichen, zu bearbeiten, da es Paul gelang, zwischen sich als Beobachter und sich als Schreiber ein Sieb zu schieben, das nur Erwünschtes durchlieB. Spater wurde das Sieb iiberflüssig, da er fur bestimmte Seiten der Wirklichkeit erblindete (109).

This accommodation brought him social success as a journalist and later as a novelist when he picked up the old novel.

But Paul's success has been bought at the price of his talent and his own integrity. All aspects of his

life have been subsumed by the principle of success.

For example, where he once judged people on the basis of sympathy and antipathy, now he judges them on their future use value. He has even chosen his present wife based on these criteria. In his "Kiichenvortrag" fol­ lowing the award ceremony, Teo himself confronts Paul 148

with the connection between the personal and literary

consequences of his accommodation.

Schon schreiben, das kann man erlernen, das Entscheidende aber lernt man nicht, das lebt man, das ist man, und deshalb sind Entscheidungen, die man im Leben trifft, auch Entschiedungen iiber die Bûcher, die man schreiben wird (135).

Paul's personal accommodation is condemned not only in and of itself, but also for the inevitable reproduction of his moral degeneration in his future writing.

Self-deception is also a factor in Paul's accom­ modation. However, Paul's self-deception differs from

Karl Erp's in one aspect; since Paul's sole pursuit is personal success (he is a careerist, whereas this can­ not be said of Erp), he can concede certain truths to himself that relate to the use value of his actions to his final goal. He is aware of having taken the easiest route. But he justifies it to himself with the belief that he is capable of and will write a better novel. He recognizes his accommodation, however, without looking too deeply into it. Self-deception takes place at this deeper level, since he is unwilling to recognize the addictive nature of accommodation. The decisions he has made for his life preclude pos­ sibilities for writing a better novel.

The critic Jürgen Engler saw Paul's character as the product of both environmental and personal determinism (157). The literary and social theory of 149

the 1950s that forced accommodation to schematic for­ mula bearing little relation to socialist reality is criticized throughout the novel. However, Paul is not portrayed solely as a victim. The indictment of Paul's moral character comes when he jeopardizes his own integrity for personal gain. The presentation of environmental and personal determinants in Paul's per­ sonality keeps Paul from being judged out of hand.

However, the narrative makes clear that Paul must be held accountable for his actions, regardless of the determinants. This is the double-edged sword that forms the basis of all of de Bruyn's moral critique.

He both does not presume to judge the motivations of others, and demonstrates this stance in his fairness in the depiction of his characters; yet de Bruyn insists that the social self must be judged for the moral con­ sequences of those actions.

Preisverleihunq points the accusing finger at the crippling cultural ideology of the 1950s and at the moral integrity of writers who succumbed to it.8 The

8 Reich-Ranicki saw only the critique on the 1950s, without evaluating the further effect of de Bruyn's critique of the present ("Zwei verschiedene Schuhe"). Schlichting, on the other hand, finds the critique of the 1950s "in entscharfter Form," because the problems have been overcome. Though Preisver- leihunq appeared in 1972, after the ascent of Honecker, it was written in the 1960s, the period in which the action of the novel takes place. This fact cannot be overlooked in assessing de Bruyn's critique. 150

moralizing tone is tempered both by de Bruyn's attempt to portray many facets of the personalities of his characters, the weaknesses and the strengths, and the social determinants of their actions and by the recog­ nition that de Bruyn counts himself as one of the transgressors.9 Further, the novel is critical of the propagation of these standards within the literary institution itself and their perpetuation into the

1960s. That literary officials could still bestow a national honor on Paul's novel suggests stasis within that institution. It also raises the question of the distance in literary expectation between them and less powerful arbiters of culture, namely, the readers.10

This critique of inconsistencies between levels of art­ istic achievement and the passé criteria of cultural adjudicators in the 1960s sat perhaps deeper in de Bruyn. The award of the Heinrich-Mann-Preis in 1964

9 Hirdina would dispute this since she finds the portrayal of Paul to be, for de Bruyn at least, uncustomarily "[eindeutig] widerlich." That de Bruyn does show how Paul was indeed a victim of literary tyr- rany must at least be said in both de Bruyn's and Paul's favor (69).

10 ipeQ himself points out, "Wir sind weiter heute, wir, die Leser. Und wir, die Kritiker, wollen das nicht zur Kenntnis nehmen? Wollen nicht zugeben, daB solche Bûcher den gehobenen Anspriichen nicht mehr genügen?" (63). 151

for Der Hohlwea was clearly a source of embarrassment

threatening to undermine de Bruyn's integrity as an

artist.

Teo Overbeck

In the character of Teo, de Bruyn showed his under-standing of the complexity involved in issues of accommodation. Teo's interpersonal relationships depict the many forms of pressure to accommodate.

However, they are not just pressures of an external nature. Surely the social self, too, desires harmony, unity, and integration into the community. The multi­ ple demands of socialist life as well as Teo's own value system present moral ambiguity that cannot be avoided.

In order to underscore the universality of Teo's dilemma, de Bruyn portrayed him as an antihero. He is described as, "[e]in durchschnittlicher Mensch also mit

Manglen und Vorzügen, einem groBen, dem FleiB, und noch einem, der Ehrlichkeit"(116). The ironic addition of the characteristic Ehrlichkeit creates ambiguity as to whether this Ehrlichkeit is a positive or negative trait. Honesty is an unwelcome virtue in Teo's social environment, where the utility of social harmony is 152

valued above all else.11 The hallmark of Teo's charac­ ter is his self-conscious wrangling with the concept of honesty and his search to find what constitutes a vera­ cious action.

What separates Teo from other characters is his capacity for critical self-reflection. The text des­ cribes how he has created a value system for himself after a long struggle to overcome the dominant values of the 1950s that had proven contradictory and even dangerous. For example, he is able to accept cul­ pability for his own perpetuation of the literary standards of the 1950s. "Er war damais von einer Lit­ eratur beeindruckt, die den Zugang zur Wirklichkeit mehr verbaute als eroffnete, umgab sich mit Leuten, die wie er Wunschvorstellungen fur Realitat, Realitat fur

Schonheitsfehler hielten . . . (41). A self-imposed sojourn to the provinces as Kulturhausleiter during the

1950s forced him to come to terms with the consequences of the behavior and world view he had acquired. "Dabei

H According to Schlichting, "... diese Gesellschaft huldigt nicht der Moral, sondern dem Nut- zen" (107). This is tantamount to pronouncing GDR society as amoral, which I don't agree to be de Bruyn's conclusion. Utility itself is not the issue to be judged, for what society does not in some way organize itself around this maxim? If, as I argue, de Bruyn's ideal morality is characterized by reflective choice (sittliche Entscheidung), then a choice for utility could indeed be moral. What GDR society did not countinence was that personal reflective choice could simultaneously be a social moral choice for the good. 153

lernte er die Gefahrlichkeit des Erfolgdenkens

fürchten"(42); he learned how easily outright lies

could be (and have been) justified by this mentality.

The reflection on the mistakes of the past does not

function as justification as it might have for a

character like Erp, or as self-aggrandizement, as it might for the moral zealot. Rather, Teo simply

acknowledges his own guilt and fallibility. Nor does he spare himself in his assessment of his own role in the corruption of Paul's "Naturtalent." The guilt that he feels toward Paul inspires much of his indecision about the speech. Plavius noted that Teo's conflict concerning the speech is both of a social and private nature ("Gefragt: Wirklichkeit" 152). By focusing his narrative on everyday life and the multiple relation­ ships influencing Teo's decision, de Bruyn reproduced the a priori interrelatedness of the personal and the public realms that defy their separation into one or the other.

"1st Overbeck ein Moralist?" Schlichting asks

(106). The characters who surround him think that he is. But they do not value this characteristic. His insistence on turning the speech into a morally ambiguous decision is countered at every turn both by an environment that does not share his values and by pressure to accommodate to the dominant values. 154

Teo's values place him on the fringes of the

academic institution he serves. Within this institu­ tion conformity and an ethic based on use value are

encouraged. Teo observes the effect of such values

systems in his students.

Sie haben in der Schule Literaturwissenschaft wie Mathematik zu treiben gelernt, vergessen Beweis-fiihrungen, lernen FormeIn, die überall angewendet werden konnen. . . . Differen- zierungen verwirren sie. Sie haben gut Lernen gelernt, aber schlecht Denken. DaB er Eigenmeinungen mit Anerkennung honoriert, hilft wenig, da Risiko gescheut wird und sichere Wege mit Standards gepflastert sind. Und so bauen sie dann ihren spateren Schiilern wieder die glatten, geraden, oden StraBen des Literaturunterrichts, auf denen erlebnis- und schonheitsgierige Kinder verdursten (39).

Teo's immediate superior, Liebscher promotes these values as well. At one point in their professional relationship, Teo and Liebscher had been equals. There was mutual acknowledgement that the strengths of one complimented the weaknesses of the other. "Der eine fühlt sich als Vermittler, der andere als Forscher.

Der ringt um Klarheit, jener urn Wahrheit"(58). But

Liebscher's talents were the more valued by the institution of the two; organization and leadership are

^2 Berger criticized the one-sidedness of the portrayal of Liebscher, since his values are equated with those of the entire society (169). Again, Berger began with the assumption that types like Liebscher represented the "Other." Preisverleihunq exposes the institutionalization of such values, through the exam­ ple of the literary institution, and their internaliza­ tion by members of the institution. 155

sooner facilitated by pedagogical clarity than by a

love of truth, the latter requiring plunges into the murky depths of uncertainty. That Teo's values are not promoted by the institution is further suggested by his scholarly interests as well. He is a scholar of German

Romanticism, an area tainted by the Lukacsian critique of romantic decadence and its supposed promotion of fascism still propagated within the institution in the

1960s.

The debate between Teo and Liebscher concerning the novel brings to light the nature of Teo's exclusion from and by the dominant values. The means-to-an-end values of the institution are easily internalized and elevated to the highest beacon by Liebscher. He is himself insecure about the responsibility placed on his shoulders by the institution that values his accommoda­ tion, not his personal judgment.13 Thus, Liebscher interprets Teo's misgivings about the novel as individ­ ualistic idealism, which is both an affront to himself and an attack on the institution with which he

13 According to Hans-Joachim Maaz, the Kader- politik of the GDR ensured that "[n]ur entsprechend willfahrige und schlieAlich psychisch schwer einengte Menschen wurden fur leitende Funktionen zugelassen" (25). Such characteristics were chosen specifically because they were less likely to promote individual thought and action. Maaz' account of the GDR is par­ ticularly bitter and, therefore, not unbiased. But it does contain kernels of truth. 156

identifies. Teo comes to Liebscher in a good-faith

attempt to discuss the moral ramifications of praising

Paul's novel. However, the discussion breaks down

because the differences in their value systems do not

allow them to speak on the same level. Teo notes, "Wir reden iiber verschiedene Dinge: ich von Lüge und

Wahrheit, du von Schaden und Nutzen"( 6 3 ) . In Teo's value system multiple responsibilities compete with one another such that his value hierarchy must determine the highest priority in the form of a decision.

Liebscher's value system knows no conflict since it is dominated by the notion of Pflicht. as dictated by the

institution, an arm of the party.

Heller identifies three modes of conflict in everyday language: the quarrel, the argument and the altercation. The first two are concerned with clashes of particularistic interests; the latter with the clash of moral values, which involves genuine discussion. The discussion begins to break down and become a guar- rel when Liebscher labels Teo's motivations particu­ laristic. Teo then begins to speak more quietly, as if to himself, as if uninterested in whether the other party hears him because the altercation has clearly ended and a quarrel threatens to ensue.

1^ Variation of the phrase, "Erfolg haben ist Pflicht fur jeden," are repeated throughout the novel by Liebscher and other representatives of his value system. Melchart saw the problem as one of incorrect interpretation of socialist values. "Erfahrungen, die der einzelne mit dem konkreten Sozialismus macht, wer­ den nicht richtig erfa/it und bewirken falsche Schluft- folgerungen" (Melchart 1313) . However, this rests the fault on the shoulders of the individual person without examining the dominant social values. De Bruyn does both. 157

The multiple demands of Teo's interpersonal rela­ tionships force him to see moral ambiguity surrounding the speech where others see a clear case of action.

This ambiguity requires a decision, whereas accommoda­ tion to the dominant values requires no decision. In order to navigate the moral ambiguity, Teo's decision must be based on his personal value hierarchy. If he understands himself as a social self, that hierarchy may indeed allow for a decision that serves the public good.However, a personal decision was always judged in GDR society by its propensity for self-interest.

Since Liebscher embraces the dominant values, Teo can only be to him a self-interested individualist, "dem das eigne Seelenheil mehr bedeutet als das Wohl aller, ein Kleinbiirger, der seine inneren Grenzen fur solche des Men-schlichen iiberhaupt halt ..." (61). To

Liebscher, Teo's scruples represent only an attempt to make a virtue out his unwillingness to accommodate.

"Lebensuntuchtigkeit wird von Leuten wie Teo zu Moral umfunktioniert"(62). That the GDR critic Berger also argues that Teo represents a self-interested

The ambiguity of self-interested decisions that also serve the public good is the subject of Heiner Muller's 1956 play, Der Lohndrücker. It reflects the debates following the first socialist revolution in Hungary, the first attempt at a socialist solution for an "individual" country. 158

individualist morality substantiates this critique of the GDR literary institution as well (Berger 169).

But without a standard bearer to follow, Teo appears to be a lone wolf, an outsider with few sup­ porters. He is sacrificed to uncertainty, for he can­ not be certain that his personal decision is not self- interested. All voices around him label individual decision self-interested. He has only his own value system to trust. Further, the desire for harmony, for integration with the community might also instill in

Teo feelings of guilt and self-doubt. It is for good reason that he waffles between his pursuit of honesty and his desire for harmony. When Teo does finally give the speech, he attempts to walk a tight-rope between these incongruous feelings with the result that neither cause has been served. Mired in the ambiguity of these desires and caught between his own moral vision of him­ self and the expectations of others, Teo delivers a rambling and senseless speech.1?

James Knowlton argues that Teo's compromise "demonstrates his self-subjugation to the political precepts imposed upon him as a member of an ideology- producing group" ("Preisverleihunq" 35). Further, it is his internalization of this ideology that creates self-censorship. However, this criticism assumes that the party and the desires of its citizens are always antithetical. It ignores the very real attraction of the precepts of Socialism that certainly did not require indoctrination into an ideology. 159

The scene at the awards ceremony illustrates the

short distance between comedy and tragedy, between the

banal and the heroic, that is uncovered by focusing on

the micro-politics of everyday life. Teo finds himself

at the podium in two different shoes; one house shoe

and one dress shoe. Quite simply, the shoes represent Teo's conflicting allegiances, all of which he attempts

to accommodate at once.18 But de Bruyn's "Holzhammer-

Symbolik," which Reich-Ranicki bemoaned, serves more than a symbolic purpose in the novel.19 The breach of

formal etiquette potentially threatens to undermine

Teo's authority as a speaker by making him look the

fool. Since Teo has decided on his way to the podium to give his honest assessment of the book, the embar­ rassment over the shoes provokes insecurity and, along with his own inability to speak extemporaneously, foils his intentions. Thus, the image of the two shoes is

indeed banal, because it is at this level of human action and interaction that values are typically super­ seded by convention.

1^ He hasn't really fallen out of his public role, as Plavius suggests; he is mixing them up, living in both worlds at once (Plavius, "Gefragt: Wirklichkeit" 152)

19 Reich-Ranicki also criticized de Bruyn's use of "[der] plumpesten Erzahlmittel," as being indicative of the trivial nature of this literature ("Zwei verschiedene Schuhe" 1174). However, Reich-Ranicki equates the use of the trivial with triviality itself. 160

Heinz Plavius blamed Teo's failure on his attempt to create security for himself in his everyday life by maintaining rituals, order and role consciousness

("Gefragt; Wirklichkeit" 151). According to Plavius,

Teo lives on two planes: one devoted to thought, his forte, and one devoted to action, his weakness. To compensate for this weakness, action is mediated by rituals and r o l e s . 20 Plavius equates adherence in these areas to adherence to conventions without questioning their relevance. However, this line of reasoning ignores the fact that daily life requires habit, even ritual. Heller emphasizes that repetitive practice itself is not condemnable, is in fact neces­ sary for the efficient use of time and mental capacity for tasks.that do require more effort. "[I]t is not in the practice of a habit that a person's individuality emerges, but in the content of the habit and his rela­ tionship to it" (Evervday Life 131). What should be emphasized, however, is the interrelatedness of the patterns of daily life and moral decisionmaking. One

20 Heller emphasizes that repetitive practise itself is not condemnible, is in fact necessary for the efficient use of time and mental capacity for tasks that do require more effort. "[I]t is not in the prac­ tise of a habit that a person's individuality emerges, but in the content of that habit and his relationship to it" (Everydav Life 131). 161

may impede the other, but each is necessary to human survival.

Similarly, Teo's desires for harmony within his own family and integration into the community should be understood as necessary goals of the human being. The ambiguity present in the conflict of these desires with

Teo's understanding of his moral self shows up most clearly in his marriage to Irene. The first scene shows him censoring his thoughts for his wife. The narrator is quick to point out that this self­ censorship is not hypocritical (as it may have been for a character like Erp), but motivated by concern for her. Likewise, Teo has participated in Irene's decep­ tion concerning Cornelia's true father as a means of maintaining harmony in his marriage. The party at their home following the award ceremony brings all the characters involved together into one room. Having done her part to mediate the damages of Teo's failure with his superior, Irene is left to worry about the upcoming reunion with Paul and the consequences to her own marriage should Paul be revealed as the true father of their daughter. But this dramatic conflict is merely a tableau; Teo has known all along about Paul's paternity and during the course of the evening has 162

informed P a u l . 21 There are no fireworks, Irene's world hasn't crumbled, and we leave her at the end of the

evening fast asleep while Teo paces the floor, his ulcer aflame. As Engler noted, the melodramatic con­

flict masks the true conflict for Teo in his marriage.

Deren Fragwürdigkeit liegt eben nicht in einem Sonderfall . . . begründet, sondern besteht vielmehr darin, daB Teo, seine Frau herzlich liebend, ihre Frohlichkeit, die weitgehend auf Oberflachlichkeit basiert, ihre Sicherheit, die sie vor allem aus der Wirkung ihres charmanten Auftretens und ihrer Kleidung bezieht, akzeptiert (158).

Though Teo demands truth and honesty in his profes­ sional life, he accepts the necessity of masking the truth in his marriage in the interest of domestic tran­ quility. The question to be asked however is, does this accommodation put the quality of his marriage in question, as Engler suggests? Or is it an unavoidable and acceptable consequence of living with another per­ son? The narrative is ambiguous on this point, again because de Bruyn does not presume to judge Teo for loving his wife.

The narrative, however, does suggest that Teo accepts the ambiguity in his interpersonal life. In his "Kiichenvortrag” Teo is able to articulate his

21 The brief courting scene between Cornelia and Paul provides themes reminiscent of Frisch's Homo Faber. Though Paul's advances are cut short by the news that he is Cornelia's father, the situation still invites comparison between his character and Faber's. 163

honest reaction to Paul's book and his own moral

indecisiveness. The statement, "Denn wem Ausweitung

aller Moglichkeiten des Menschen hochstes Ziel ist, kann dessen freiwillige Einengung nicht dulden, und sei

es die durch Konvention" (136) refers as much to him­

self as it does to Paul. At this point of Teo's lec­ ture, one of the guest notices the shoes. The revela­ tion that Teo feared in public has taken place instead

in his kitchen. His response is uncontrollable, hysterical laughter. It is not an hysteria of fear, but of recognition and acceptance. While Knowlton argues that this scene suggests Teo's recognition of the futility of his attempt to compromise, I would counter that de Bruyn did not seek simplistic resolu­ tion to ambiguity in this way ("Preisverleihuncr" 36) .

Teo accepts rather the ambiguity, accepts the two dif­

ferent shoes as necessary for the "Ausweitung aller

Moglichkeiten des Menschen." This acceptance allows

for self-assurance even when the dominant ideology stands against him. It is this lesson of self- assurance that he then later imparts to his daughter, who herself seeks an opportunity to study philosophy.^2

22 Cornelia herself struggles with the ethics of the education system which, she believes, has unfairly denied her a chance to study. At one point she becomes frustrated by her father's unwillingness to use his academic position on her behalf. However, more like her adopted father than her biological parents, she resolves to gain the position on her own. 164

The open ending of the novel leaves Teo pacing the bedroom with the pain of an ulcer. It suggests the physical and mental toll of his attempt to meet the demands of his image of his moral self and the expecta­ tions of those around him. As Teo awaits sleep, the narrator returns to add, "[a]ber wann immer er [der

Schlaf] kommt, er wird zu friih kommen"(168), an admis­ sion that the lethargy of complete accommodation (his sleeping wife) is always lurking.

Conclusion

Um das Leben eines anderen beurteilen zu konnen. meint er. müfite man nicht nur sein Doppelqanqer sein sondern auch sein Leben qelebt haben. Teo in Preisverleihunq.

This statement by Teo contains an important ingredient of the moral stance portrayed in de Bruyn's text. By attempting to portray the possible motiva­ tional factors that come into play in the decisions made by his characters, de Bruyn forestalled prejudice or generalized judgments concerning his major charac­ ters. He seemed to question the existence of a posi­ tion from which one can fairly judge the decisions of another. 165

However, the economy of the novel is based on reduction of scenes to their most significant state­ ments in relationship to the dominant themes. This sometimes saves the action from being bogged down by everyday banality (though not always). However, the statements concerning literature and morality are often reduced to sermonizing from the narrator. For example,

Teo's reflections on the inability of his students to grasp difference end in rhetorical guestions that reveal the narrator's voice. "Das ist eine Kette ohne

Ende. Wer halt die Anfange in der Hand? Wer hat die

Kraft, sie zu zerreiBen? Er?" (39). Narrative economy also results in blank spaces that the structure cannot help the reader past. For example, the reader becomes acquainted with the characters primarily in their approach to their tasks and problems in the space of the narrative day so little space is available for more in-depth analysis of motivation except in retrospective bites.23 Therefore, the reader often only has access to strands alluding to possible motiva­ tion. In one narrative retrospective, for example,

Irene's causes for leaving Paul are made clear, but why

23 Marcel Reich-Ranicki found the characters to be so sketchy as to call them sarcastically "allesamt gutartig und freundlich" ("Zwei verschiedene Schuhe" 1173). However, he was not sensitive to de Bruyn's subtle parody of NOS ideology. 166

she immediately turned to Teo and married him is

insufficiently motivated.^4 Thus, in de Bruyn's own words, the novel lacks "das epische Fleisch" (Waijer-

Wilke 1 7 0 ).25 For this reason, the attempt to portray characters fairly falls short for some characters, as

in the case of Liebscher, for example.

Despite the attempt at fairness to the characters, the narrative indicates that actions must indeed be

judged by their moral content vis-a-vis their con­ sequences. Thus, Teo serves as a mouthpiece for de

Bruyn's unabashed criticism of the GDR literary estab­

lishment, of the academic institution, of the literary apparatus that ensured accommodating literature through its reward and suppress system and of the writers who succumb to it by sacrificing their own integrity. This critique received perhaps the most attention from reviewers of the novel in both East and West. In the

West, the novel provided a mere substantiation of argu­ ments against art under state control. Knowlton in the

United States summarizes the novel thus.

Teo's decision to sacrifice his cherished personal honesty and compromise his evalua­ tion of Paul's book is clearly a sign of the prevalence, indeed the radical domination of

24 Noted also by Heinz Flavius in his review ("Gefragt; Wirklichkeit" 151).

25 other reviewers have labeled the novel "trak- tathaft" convincingly; Hirdina 67; Kurt Batt 378. 167

the state-dominated public sphere over the private sphere, of an officially conceived view of the world over personal conviction" ("Literature and its Uses" 180).

Similarly, Reich-Ranicki acknowledges de Bruyn's criticism, but trivializes it, saying; "so sind das für den westlichen Leser Weisheiten von kaum noch zu iiber- bietender Banalitat" ("Zwei verschiedene Schuhe" 1172).

The reception in the East of primarily the literary critique of the novel was mediated by two important issues: 1) as Melchert described it: "Nie zuvor wurden Fragen über unsere Literatur und ihre bisherige Entwicklung so deutlich und unmiBverstandiich formuliert wie in der Preisverleihuna" (1308); and 2) the way to this public critique had already been paved by the ascent to power of Eric Honecker.

Wenn man von der festen Position des Sozialismus ausgeht, kann es meines Erachtens auf dem Gebiet von Kunst und Literatur keine Tabus geben. Das betrifft sowohl die Fragen der inhaltlichen Gestaltung als auch des Stils— kurz gesagt: die Fragen dessen, was man die kiinstlerische Meisterschaft nennt (RÜB ).

These words of Erich Honecker, spoken shortly after he assumed the post of General Secretary of the SED from

Walter Ulbricht in 1971, introduced political recogni­ tion of a process that had long since begun. Later that year, Adolf Endler was able to publish in Sinn und

Form a critical review that lambasted the entire institution of GDR Germanistik. A scant year later 168

when Preisverleihuna appeared, the critique of the

literary establishment even this direct was already commonplace. But like other works that seemed to break political ground in the early 1970s, Preisverleihuna was written much earlier. ^6 "Er ist nicht verboten worden, hat aber jahrelang im Verlag geschmort," de Bruyn recalled, indicating a further means by which access to literature was controlled by the literary establishment (Waijer-Wilke 170). Thus, the historical situation within the GDR dictated that the literary critique would be the most accessible theme of the novel, and yet that critique was tempered by the late­ ness of its publication.

The critique of Anpassuna in GDR society, as I have shown, is characterized in Preisverleihuna by its complexity. To Berger and other critics, Anpassuna as a negative value was reduced to the invasion of petit bourgeois self-interest manifest in the isolated indi­ vidual person. It was not a social issue, but a prob­ lem of the individual person. Berger insisted on the

"prinzipiell vorhandene Übereinstimmung zwischen gesellschaftlichen Vorstellungen über sozialistische

Moral und individuellen Bemühungen um Wahrheit,

Ehrlichkeit und Verantwortung, deren Realisierung immer

2^ Ulrich Plenzdorf's Die neuen Leiden des iunaen W. also sat unpublished for years until 1972. 169

wieder mit der Überwindung von Widersprüchen verbunden

1st . . . " (170). According to Berger, the fundamen­ tal harmony of these goals is lost on de Bruyn because of his emphasis on individual morality and the critique of Kleinbüraerlichkeit. However, Berger's ideal assumes two things: 1) that there existed something like a consensus of what socialist morality was or should be; and 2) that there were no contradictions between the ideal and truth, honesty and responsibility, but only in their realization.

De Bruyn's text questions both of these assumptions and shows them to be false premises. It presents not only the lack of consensus (in the figure of Teo), but also the contradictions between the ideal (as expressed by characters like Liebscher and Irene) and truth, honesty and responsibility. The emergence of figures like Teo,

Christa T. and others in literature only hinted at the diversity of concepts of socialist morality within the

GDR. Is Teo's morality misguided simply because he is in the minority? The GDR critic Jürgen Engler expressed the following wish.

Wo sind heute die vielen Gefahrten Teos, die ihn unterstützten, als er nach Beendigung des Studiums als politischer Instrukteur in die Dorfer fuhr und mit Kritik nicht sparte? Zu wünschen ist, daB Teo Oberbeck . . . wieder solche Gefahrten findet (161). 170

But even Engler's sympathy for Teo's position exposes the prevalent prejudice against the self-assertion of the individual.

Moreover, de Bruyn did not fear confronting the ambiguity of moral choice. In fact, it is the assurance of unity and harmony which socialist ideology of the NOS period used to over-simplify socialist reality that de Bruyn resisted. By accepting a con­ tradictory reality, de Bruyn is able to fairly treat the subject of Anpassuna. not as a wholly undesirable characteristic that can be overcome, but as a part of daily life that must be assessed by its consequences. CHAPTER IV

ERAS OF CONTRADICTION: DAS LEBEN DES JEAN PAUL

FRIEDRICH RICHTER AND MARKISCHE FORSCHUNGEN

Essays on Realism

During the 1970s, de Bruyn's already active inter­ est in certain realist authors became public in his work as an editor and an essayist.^ As an editor, de Bruyn wrote several essays on literature: "Der

Kiinstler und die anderen" (1975, about Thomas Mann's

Tonio Kroger); "Immer wieder Fontane" (1970); and

"Lesefreude mit Jean Paul" (1976). In these essays, de Bruyn seemed to distance himself consciously from strict theoretical interpretations of the texts and focus instead on aspects of reader psychology and popu­ lar reception. His rejection of theory was a reaction to the official heavy emphasis on the "science" of literary theory and the concomitant distance existing between the aesthetics of literary science and popular reader reception. De Bruyn's interest in popular reception and rejection of official literary theory was

^ Theodore Fontane's Stine; Irrunaen. Wirrunaen; Mathilde Mohring (1970); Thomas Mann's Tonio Kroger (1975); Jean Paul's Leben des Quintus Fixlein (1976).

171 172

also tied to his past profession as a librarian. Since librarians were not accorded the social status of the professional critics and writers, he developed an openly critical view of elitism within the GDR literary institution.2

The reader-text relationship was the primary focus of these essays. They were written as introductions or afterwords, and they have a very personal tone. The essayist de Bruyn offered his own perceptions and love of each book in the hopes of winning a future reader- friend. What makes an author one's favorite, he con­ tended, is not the established literary value of the author's work, but rather how the author speaks through his/her text to the reader. For example, de Bruyn admitted that his own original attraction to Fontane lay in the Berlin milieu and his own familiarity with the places that Fontane depicted in such vivid detail

(•'Immer wieder Fontane" 351-52) . Thus, de Bruyn located his aesthetic standards in the relationship between the text and the reader's experience of every­ day life. In doing so, he implicitly rejected the

2 In a response to an article by Christa Wolf in the 1960s concerning the influx of Schundliteratur into the GDR from the West, de Bruyn was highly critical of the emerging elitist structure within the literary institution, which kept writers and academics out of reach of GDR reality ("Achtung, Rauschgifthandel! Dis- kussionsbeitrage" 118-22). 173

hierarchical valuations of art imposed by official cultural policy and its representatives and displaced their traditional notions of "good" and "bad" art.

Further, his standards shifted the locus of aesthetic valuation from official cultural institutions to the reader as social self.

Therefore, while these essays might appear untheoretical and non-partisan, they represent an attempt to stake out a critical position within the literary debates taking place in the GDR at the time.

In his afterword to Quintus Fixlein. de Bruyn initially focused on refuting the popular perception that Jean

Paul's writing was too difficult. "Joyce ist nicht besser Oder schlechter als Gorki, weil er sich schwerer erschlieBt. Und wenn der ehemalige Erfolgsautor Jean

Paul seit langem weithin als unlesbar gilt, sagt das nichts über den Wert seiner Bûcher," de Bruyn wrote.

"AuBerdem stimmt es nicht. Man muB ihn nur zu lesen verstehen" ("Lesefreude mit Jean Paul" 339). Here de Bruyn alluded to the continuing polemics against

"modernist" techniques and influences on GDR literature by proponents of the old anti-formalist campaigns. The

Sinn und Form poetry debates in 1972, sparked by Adolf

Endler's critique of the literary establishment, revealed the existing polarization between a "profane" socialist tradition and one defined as a "pontifical," 174

i.e. a materialistic, non-abstract, object-oriented art

versus an abstract and formalistic one (Rosellini 166-

67). Flashbacks, layering of tenses and narrative per­

spectives, inner monolog, and stream-of-consciousness were all being incorporated into GDR prose since the

late 1960s as a means of expanding literary realism.

Yet there was a continued need to defend such techni­ ques. De Bruyn's essays, then, constitute an attempt to expand the boundaries of realism and defend his aesthetics of everyday life by reappropriating the

German realist tradition.

De Bruyn's realism essays should not be read solely as a subversion of official realist literary techniques. They also give us an insight into the nature of these authors' influence on de Bruyn's art­

istic work. In Fontane de Bruyn valued the "Genauig- keit der Schilderung unter Vermeidung allés

Überfliissigen" that allows the text to speak for itself

("Immer wieder" 352). De Bruyn also prized Fontane's narrative stance, "dies[e] zwischen Ernst und

Heiterkeit schwebende Plauderei, die sich salopp gibt und doch Tiefes ausdriicken kann . . . " (353) . Similarly, Allenstein speaks of a "mit Witz belebte

Erzahlhaltung de Bruyns, die gerade auch Episoden aus

Landleben und über Familienklatsch nicht ausklammert"

(11). In this regard de Bruyn learned as well from 175

Jean Paul. His narrative "spannt den Leser in der

Manier Jean Pauls lang auf die Folter, bis er endlich

an dem Punkt ist, wo er merkt, daB die Ironie gegen die

Gesell-schaft zuriickschlagt" (11). All three authors used a conversational tone that can at times seem use­

lessly long-winded but offers the reader (according to de Bruyn) "Sehenswiirdigkeiten" that lead to a deeper understanding of the characters and their relation­

ships.

De Bruyn's work echoes Fontane's in two important ways. First, both sought to expose the conventions upon which individual interaction in his society was often based and uncover their inhumane origins, deriva­ tions, and effects. De Bruyn's indebtedness to this principle is apparent in his assessment of the lasting quality of Fontane's work.

Weil hier ein groBer Kiinstler sich über die Anschauungen, Konventionen und Tabus seiner Zeit und Gesellschaft zu erheben vermag und diese als unmenschlich entlarvt, indem er das von ihnen verschüttete Menschliche im Men- schen freilegt. Und das, glaube ich, wird noch lange aktuell sein ("Immer wieder" 353).

Secondly, de Bruyn noted that Fontane's social critique was not lessened by being implicitly rather than explicitly manifest in his work. In fact, the critical potential of his texts was strengthened since questions of morality and guilt typically were not solved by the author's judgment of individual characters. Rather, 176

moral judgment was displaced onto the reader who evalu­

ated the moral character of fictional figures within

the larger context of social determinants. Here is

where the compatibility of Fontane's realism with de

Bruyn's notion of reception becomes apparent. An

"implicit" realism facilitates the moral and aesthetic

valuation of the text by the social self. De Bruyn

thereby countered simplistic arguments against less

blatantly partisan works in the GDR by calling on the

example of the social criticism of master realists.

Just as de Bruyn limited the authority of the

author by locating the activity of moral judgment with the reader, Fontane himself was critical of polemical authors. Fontane claimed that partisanship led to

injustice on the part of the author, for he/she could not fairly depict the complexity of everyday life.

This sense of justice toward characters is clearly a factor in de Bruyn's work as well. De Bruyn always worked from a large palette in which personal and social determinants of everyday life provided the con­ tours of the character.

The issues of popular reception and aesthetic valuation was again de Bruyn's focus in his afterword to Thomas Mann's Tonio Kroger. Again de Bruyn made the distinction between the needs of the reader and the 177

often debilitating judgments of GDR literary criticism.^

Der Leser urteilt anders. Wenn ihm ein Buch zum Ereignis wird, so nicht aus den Gründen, aus denen die Literaturgeschichte es preist. Ihm gelten individuelle MaBstabe. Bei ihm bestimmt der Rang sich aus dem Platz, den es in seiner personlichen Entwicklung einnimmt. Das Erleben erteilt Zensuren, nicht die Wissenschaft ("Der Kiinstler" 356-57) .

Generally, this recognition of personal experience as a category of reception validated the increasing role of subjectivity in GDR literature. In his essay on Tonio

Kroger. de Bruyn's own reception of the work provides an example of his reception theory. De Bruyn initially read Tonio Kroger when he was a 19-year old returning from military internment as a prisoner of war. The book spoke to him, de Bruyn said, because he was able to read his own story into it: "daB da einer war, der die Krankheit der Jugend, diese graBliche Einsamkeit in der Menge, auch durchgemacht hatte" (362). Once more we see de Bruyn's linkage between daily life and literary reception. He defended his way of reading, which a friend labeled "MiBbrauch der Kunst als Seelen- balsam," by describing literature as "Lebenshilfe"

(3 61). Like other GDR authors, de Bruyn recognized

^ Karin Hirdina noted that de Bruyn did not actually write about Thomas Mann (this essay concerns mostly the work, Tonio Kroger), but that a deep rela­ tionship is clear in the narrative styles of the two authors (Günter de Bruyn 95). 178

this significant function of literature for GDR

society. In her 1968 essay, "Lesen und Schreiben,"

Christa Wolf spoke similarly of the future and function

of prose in the era of technology.

. . . Prosa soil versuchen, den Kontakt der Menschen mit ihren Wurzeln zu erhalten, das Selbstbewufitsein zu festigen, das so labil geworden ist, daB in hoch technisierten Lândern viele Menschen in den Selbstmord oder in die Sackgasse der Neurosen fliichten ("Lesen und Schreiben" 47) .

Tonio Kroger had such an effect for the young de Bruyn.

In addition to his continued reader-based textual valuation, de Bruyn found further substantiated in his reading of Tonio Kroger an axiom that had been hard won for him as a writer: the writer can only effectively write about that which he/she knows intimately. While this kind of thinking had formed the basis of the Bit- terfeld project to send writers into the factories, in the 1970s it validated reflection, subjectivity and the utilization of the unique perspective of the writer in literature. By the study of the great writers of the

German realist past, de Bruyn eventually came to believe in the necessity of subjectivity for the writer. Speaking about Mann's Tonio Kroger, he said: Was da Tausende, vielleicht Millionen von Lesern als ihr Erlebnis, ihr Problem, ihr Gefühl wiedererkennen, hat einer aufge- schrieben, der hauptsachlich, vielleicht ausschlieBlich nur von sich redet, der nur wiedergeben kann, was er selbst (und viel­ leicht nur er) so gedacht, gefiihlt, erfahren hat, einer, der anders it als die anderen, 179

und zv/ar nicht nur so, wie ein jedes Individuum sich vom anderen, sondern in noch starkerem MaBe durch eben die Fahigkeit der kiinstlerischen Formung des Erlebten ("Der Künstler" 357).

For de Bruyn, initially schooled in strict socialist

realism, it was a paradox that exacting detail of con­

crete and individual experience created the

believability necessary to make that which is depicted

exemplary for a broad readership.

However, unlike Thomas Mann, who was more than happy to talk about himself in essay form, de Bruyn's writing usually appears devoid of the ego that merely assumes its own experience speaks for others. His con­ cern about the limits of his own subjectivity comes across clearly in other essays as well.

Die Tatsache, daB jeder Erzahler, wovon er auch immer erzahlt, letztendlich von sich erzahlt, ist mir so bewuBt, daB mir die Moglichkeit, mein Erleben auf den Leser iibertragen zu konnen, bei jedem Buch aufs neue fraglich erscheint. Immer wieder fürchte ich, daB das, was ich erzahle, auBer mir nur wenige interessiert ("Zur Entstehung einer Geschichte" 174).

Thus, he strove to temper this subjectivity in his writing both through limits to his authority as an author and through the distance created by techniques that include humor and irony.

More than Fontane and Mann, Jean Paul was de Bruyn's spiritual guide to broadening the parameters of realism in the GDR. De Bruyn's first essay on Jean 180

Paul, "Rendezvous mit Jean Paul," appeared already in

1966 when Jean Paul was not considered in the socialist realist Erbe. The essay contains many of the themes that continued to influence de Bruyn into the 1970s.

As in the Fontane essay, de Bruyn cherished Jean Paul's relationship to his literary characters; de Bruyn recognized his own sense of literary honesty in Jean

Paul's characterization of all sides of life, espe­ cially the quotidian.

Es ist also, stellt man fest, durchaus moglich, die Schurken nur als solche zu zeigen, Komisches und Tragisches hart nebeneinander zu stellen, in einem aufreibenden Zwist zwischen zwei liebens- werten Menschen beiden gerecht zu werden und, vor allem, dem Alltag GroBe zu verleihen, indem man die gesamte Existenz des Menschen, mit Beglückung und Bedrohung, in ihn ein- bezieht ("Rendezvous" 14).

De Bruyn's subsequent description of Jean Paul in this essay is premised on the same principles of literary honesty that he found in Jean Paul's work. De Bruyn juxtaposed the progressive aspects of Jean Paul's per­ sonality and work with the banal, the praiseworthy with the ridiculous, the harmonious with the contradictory.

One sees clearly in this essay the balancing of criti­ cal and sympathetic perspectives on which the later biography of Jean Paul was built.

In the 1976 afterword to Quintus Fixlein. de Bruyn emphasized what confounded the writers of most standard literary histories; Jean Paul's work does not 181

adequately fit into any of the conventional categories

of literary classification.4 As de Bruyn recounted,

Jean Paul was hailed alternately by the writers of the

Vormarz for his progressive and enlightened side, and

by the Biedermeier writers for his idyllic side. His work was dismissed by Lukâcs as "kleinbürgerliche

Versohnung," whereas the Lukâcs student, Wolfgang

Harich, dubbed him a "jakobinische[n] Revolu-tionar."

In highlighting the contradictory receptions of Jean

Paul, de Bruyn also exposed the key aesthetic element of his own work of the mid- to late-1970s; namely, breaking down the dualistic thinking inherent in socialist realism. For Jean Paul, he claimed, was nei­ ther one nor the other, but all of these things. To claim him for one cause, de Bruyn continued, was to blind oneself to aspects of his work that put a dog­ matic interpretation into question. In writing about

Jean Paul, then, de Bruyn was able to work productively with a realism of social contradiction. As he said of his fellow GDR authors in another Jean Paul essay:

"Sie lernten von ihm, mit ihren Widersprüchen zu leben und sie produktiv zu machen" ("Jean Paul und die neuere

DDR-Literatur" 11). And similar to de Bruyn's

4 Jean Paul is usually accorded a place with "other" writers, namely writers who are not clearly classicists or romantics, such as Heine. 182

reception of Fontane, such a stance supported his own method of "asthetische Erziehung zum Selbstdenken."

While official GDR cultural policy suppressed the pre­ sentation of unresolved social contradiction in litera­ ture, de Bruyn advocated a realism of social contradic­ tion and a "personal politics" of reception.

Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter

Wie iedes bewecte Leben. wird auch das seine voll von Widersprüchen sein; voll von Widersprüchen auch sein Werk. . . . Wenn Biographie mehr sein will als Denkmalsbau. darf sie die Widersprüche nicht zudecken. De Bruyn, Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter.

The realist aesthetics that we find in de Bruyn's essays on Jean Paul's work reappear in his biography of

Jean Paul. De Bruyn created a multiperspective narra­ tive that starts from the banal and the everyday in order to reveal the social, political and personal con­ ditions of Jean Paul's life that are both unique and symptomatic of the historical period. Yet, the biography is also a very personal reception of this artistic personality.

Meinungen und Urteile auch sehr subjektiver Art zu unterdrücken habe ich mich nicht bemüht. Nicht Lehrmeinungen zu illustrieren Oder literaturwissenschaftliche Thesen zu verfechten war meine Absicht. Ich wollte aus den vorhandenen Materialien ein Leben 183

rekonstruieren, das mir Exemplarisches zu haben scheint. . . . Vielleicht hatte ich diese Lebensbeschreibung "Mein Jean Paul" nennen sollen (376).

Thus, de Bruyn's Jean Paul is a departure from pure genre categories and the traditionally accepted form of biography and reflects de Bruyn's conscious decision to expand official aesthetic boundaries. As a fiction writer, rather than an academic, de Bruyn was less encumbered by the official genre boundaries that denied the subjectivity of the author. Moreover, he believed that such subjectivity actually avoided the teleologi- cal rigidity of an ideological thesis so that his pre­ sentation of the diversity of Jean Paul's life and work could be actualized in literature. 5

It is telling about the literary situation in the

GDR during the mid-1970s that most critical reviews of de Bruyn's Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter began with attempts to categorize the genre of the work. The reviewer Dietrich Sommer claimed, "Es ist eine Kombination von Dokumentendarbietung und einer auf

^ However, that did not mean sacrificing accuracy, which is evident in the painstaking preparations and research that clearly went into this biography. De Bruyn's "Bibliographisches Nachwort" surveyed the most pertinent secondary literature from the nineteenth century to 1974, the year before the biography was pub­ lished. It includes a fairly extensive, but not exhaustive, bibliography of secondary literature, a register of references to Jean Paul's work (including original and later dates of publication), as well as a Personenreoister. 184

das Persônliche konzentrierten Lebensbeschreibung"

("Günter de Bruyn, Das Leben Jean Paul Friedrich

Richter" 131). Fritz Rudolf Fries at first seemed con­

tent with the blurred lines between genres (". . . dem

Leser beschert es die Leselust eines zugleich

authentischen [wissenschaftsglaubig wie wir sind, heiBt das so-gut-wie-wissenschaftlich] und romanesken [i.e. die dargestellten Personen haben die Aura von

Romangestalten] Huches") but still felt the need to ask the question; "Also ist das Buch am Ende ein Essay?"

("Jean Paul unter uns" 688). This insistence on definitive genre categories indicates the way in which the objective-scientific approach of official GDR aesthetics restricted acceptance of innovation from its authors.^

Such obdurance in official aesthetics contributed to a trend among writers to explore the biographies of writers in German history who did not conform to their

6 Endler's 1972 critique of the GDR literary establishment centered on not only this obdurance in the face of innovation, but also the chasm between the interests of authors and their readers and the expecta­ tions of that establishment. The 1970s, more than any decade in GDR cultural history, saw literature become the forum for discussion and information long before such debate was possible in other public arenas. As Emmerich notes, "Damit wurde die Erzahlliteratur der DDR in einem AusmaB Seismograph gesellschaftlicher Beben, wie es in den fünfziger und frühen sechziger Jahren noch undenkbar ware" ("Der verlorene Faden" 169) . 185

own societies' literary and social standards.^

Inspired by Johannes Bobrowski's Boehlendorf (1965),

Christa and Gerhard Wolf, Günter Kunert, Stephan Herm-

lin and others expressed their alienation from official aesthetic proscriptions and questioned the function of

literature in socialist society and their own place as authors within it.8 Christa Wolf wrote of her novel

Kein Ort. Nirqends: "Das war in einer Zeit, da ich mich selbst veranlaBt sah, die Voraussetzungen von Scheitern zu untersuchen, den Zusammenhang von gesellschaftlicher

Verzweiflung und Scheitern in der Literatur" ("Projek- tionsraum Romantik" 376). They focused on the tragic literary figures of the nineteenth century: Gunderrode,

Kleist, and Holderlin.^ The sacrifice of these authors' ideals to the political and cultural restora­ tion of the post-lBOOs became a parable for the con­ temporary situation of writers in the GDR, especially

^ A similar trend occurred in the West resulting from the general disillusionment and helplessness of intellectuals following the student revolts of 1968. It inspired such works as Peter Weiss' Holderlin (1971), Peter Schneider's Lenz (1968), and Peter Hartling's Holderlin (1976).

^ Bobrowski himself was influenced by Jean Paul's work. In fact, he edited the 1963 Aufbau-edition of Jean Paul's Das Leben Fibels.

^ Gerhard Wolf, Der arme Holderlin (1972) ; Stephan Hermlin, Scardinelli (Horspiel, 1970); Günter Kunert, Ein anderer K. (Horspiel, 1977); Christa Wolf, "Der Schatten eines Traumes. Karoline von Günderrode— ein Entwurf" (1978) and Kein Ort. Nirqends (1978). 186

in the period following the expulsion of Wolf Biermann in 1976.

De Bruyn's work on Jean Paul can be seen as a part of this trend. However, it does not display the

stylistic innovation of Gerhard Wolf's fictional- biographical works on Bobrowski and Holderlin (written under the influence of Büchner's Lenz and Bobrowski's own Boehlendorff) or Christa Wolf's Kein Ort.

Nirqends.IQ While in many regards subjective, there is a limit to his trust of his own subjectivity in de Bruyn's work that is not shared to the same extent by other GDR authors who discovered their own authorial subjectivity through their study of German romanticism and experimentation with modernist techniques. Christa

Wolf, by virtue of her struggle for identity as a female writer, ultimately allowed herself the literary room necessary to find that identity. De Bruyn, on the other hand, is a product of the male-dominated realist

Gerhard Wolf, Beschreibung eines Zimmers. 15 Kapitel über Johannes Bobrowski (1973); Der Arme Holderlin (1972). De Bruyn's work was probably also much more accessible to a broader reading public than, for example, a work like Wolf's Der arme Holderlin. What makes Wolf's method so innovative is the challenge to the reader: the reader is prompted to call on a larger body of knowledge than is presented in the text and to decipher which persona is the speaker in any given point. De Bruyn engaged his reader as well, but his goals were to introduce a wider reading audience to Jean Paul and initiate his reader into the period; thus, the reader's knowledge was not taken for granted. 187

tradition that he at once identified with so closely and yet sought to reinvent. As Dorothea Bock has noted, de Bruyn did not adopt the Jean Paulian novel form, but took on Jean Paul's "Heuristik" and placed it into his own "realistische Erzahlmodell" (62). Thus, while his reception of Jean Paul supported the expan­ sion of realism for de Bruyn, he did not stray far from the realist tradition.

Jean Paul's influence on GDR authors played a seminal role in the expansion of the concept of literary realism in the mid-1960s and 1970s. The works of such writers as Irmtraud Morgner, Fritz Rudolf

Fries, Franz Fühmann, Armin Stolper and Helga Schütz, as well as de Bruyn, bear this out. According to de

Bruyn, "der nicht-klassische Erzahler in klassischer

Zeit gilt manchem heute als Klassiker heutigen

Erzahlens" ("Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur"

209). GDR writers saw in Jean Paul's loose form, often labeled by earlier socialist literary theorists as formlessness, the literary elbow room that they required to break the monotonous cycle of the stric­ tures of socialist realism. Multiple and changing per­ spectives removed the assurance of a totalized world view and brought the possibility of uncovering some­ thing new or seeing the old in a new light. Each author also found her/his own Jean Paul. For example. 188

Irmtraud Morgner's work reflects an interest in the fantastic and in adventure that is not apparent in de Bruyn's work. But common to all of these authors is the renewed use of humor and irony as a critical tool that allowed them to deal more effectively with the

"gestockte Widerspriiche" of the GDR (Emmerich, "Der verlorene Faden" 183).

De Bruyn and other GDR writers were attracted to

Jean Paul for another reason: he was among those authors from whom Goethe withheld his approval and, therefore, an outsider in a literary realm dominated by the classical aesthetics of Goethe and Schiller. Yet

Jean Paul provided GDR writers with an example of the strength of character that remained true to his literary uniqueness. Jean Paul was a survivor while other key contemporary figures perished from public neglect in the shadows of the giants of Weimar. Jean

Paul actually revered Goethe up until his arrival in

Weimar. There he learned first hand the aesthetic dis­ crepancies that had split Goethe and Schiller from Her­ der; Jean Paul sided with Herder in what de Bruyn described as a personal as well as professional feud.

As de Bruyn pointed out, Jean Paul's Weltanschauung was closer to Herder's than to Goethe's from the start: politically they shared a democratic sense and a strict understanding of morality. Aesthetically, both 189

disavowed the "antik getonter Formkult" of Goethe and

Schiller, while favoring an art with humanitarian and moral goals tied to the present (154). Jean Paul gave his final word on the subject in his "Geschichte meiner

Vorrede zur zweiten Auflage des Quintus Fixlein," a favorite of de Bruyn. The entire "antiker Formkult," is personified in the character of the Kunstrat Frais- chdorfer, to whom Jean Paul is forced to listen on a trip between Hof and Bayreuth. As de Bruyn character­ ized the scene:

Anstatt sich der Natur, dem Menschen und dem Schreiben zu widmen, muB Jean Paul sich nun das asthetische Gewasch der zur Person gewor- denenen klassizistischen Kunstauffassung anhoren, das, in seiner Überbewertung des Âsthetischen, gegenwarts-, wirklichkeits- und auch menschenfeindlich ist. Wem nur die schdne Form etwas gilt, dem wird Asthetik zur Barbarei . . . (163).

Jean Paul's critique found an echo among GDR authors who themselves chafed under a cultural policy that valued classical forms above other aesthetic criteria.

De Bruyn believed the conflict between Jean Paul and Weimar classicism rested not only on the divergence of aesthetic understanding, but primarily on the hegemonic domination of literature by the letter's aesthetic concerns. Though he sought to balance Jean

Paul's critique with recognition of the greatness of both Goethe and Schiller's works, de Bruyn recognized the real danger of the classical hegemony to Jean Paul. 190

Gegen die Griechen-Nachahmung . . . muB der moderne Prosaist Jean Paul sich wehren, weil sie seine Stoffiille beschneiden wiirde. Der Humorist, dem Humor 'die Frucht einer langen Vernunfts-Kultur' ist, mufi die Griechen- Nachahmung verspotten, weil in ihr fur ihn kein Platz ist (164).

According to de Bruyn, Jean Paul had no dogma to set against that of the classicists; his strength lay in his belief in himself and the real experience from which he wrote. Leaving the Kunstrat Fraischdorf behind he says, "Sage, was du willst, denn ich schreibe, was ich will." Thus, Jean Paul became for de Bruyn (and other GDR writers) an example, applicable to their contemporary situation, of the successful individual author whose artistic achievements demanded a struggle against a hegemonic literary aesthetics.

De Bruyn's contemporary socialist reader could not help but recognize the similarities between their own historical period and Jean Paul's struggle to maintain his identity in the face of the literary giants of

Weimar. Goethe and Weimar classicism once again held literary hegemony in the GDR of the 1950s and 60s through the canonization of Lukacs.ll Again, the

H De Bruyn recognized that this GDR canonization took place probably contrary to any desires of Lukâcs himself. By the 1960s, Lukâcs had been officially dis­ credited and replaced by the minor socialist theorists, Kurella and Abusch. However, the literary methodology remained essentially the same ("Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur" 206). 191

oppositional criticism was not always directed at

Goethe or classicism per se. but at the classicist hegemony that had become dogma in the GDR.12 The

critique of this dogma in Ulrich Plenzdorf's Die neuen

Leiden des iunqen W. (1972) was a continuation of a

critical tradition within the GDR. This critical tradition, which began with Seghers and Brecht in the

1930 realism debates and continued through Eisler's

Faust. sought to appropriate the humanist heritage not as an untouchable monument but as useful material for contemporary life.13 Plenzdorf was chastised for the subjective and transgressive aesthetics of his work, but especially for his attack on the GDR

12 A discussion on the dominance of classicism in the literary canon took place in 1973 in the journal, Sinn und Form. However, as Hohendahl points out, it was writers who first took the lead in expanding the canon and questioning the relevance of this dominance to the present. Writers took the place of literary theorists in their work as biographers and essayists as well as in their fictional writing ("Theorie und Praxis des Erbens" 22).

13 Robert Weimann's important essay, "Gegenwart und Vergangenheit in der Literaturgeschichte" (1970), was the first theoretical attempt in the GDR to reinstate dialectics into the concept of Erbe. As Hohendahl further points out, Weimann's contribution was to place the emphasis in this relationship to tradition on the present; rather than the past being held up as a model for the present, it must be adapted in such a way as to be useful for the present. "Eine Gesellschaft, die sich als sozialistisch definiert, kann sich nicht mit den Gehalten feudaler Oder biirger- licher Kunstwerke schlicht identifizieren" ("Theorie und Praxis des Erbens" 25). 192

"Vorbildkultur" that tolerated no critical distance to its heroes. That intolerance of course was sub­ stantiated in the debate. The taboo of approaching such models from a contemporary perspective was also clear in Wolfgang Harich's critique of Heiner Muller's adaptation of Macbeth (1972) where Harich longed for a

"frisch vom FaB gezapfte Klassik" (Der entlaufene

Dingo" 190).

This "Vorbildkultur" left no room for other aesthetics and furthermore propagated a frozen image of the classical literature itself. From this perspec­ tive, de Bruyn criticized the first major attempt to rehabilitate Jean Paul for the GDR, Wolfgang Harich's

Jean Pauls Revolutionsdichtuna. Versuch einer neuen

Deutung seiner heroischen Romane (1974). Harich him­ self outlined the goal of his 600-page monument to Jean

Paul as follows:

[D]aB sie [die deutschsprachige Linke] den um die Wende vom 18. zum 19.Jahrhundert iiber- ragendsten Vorkampfer ihrer Bestrebungen wiederentdecke . . . das ist der Zweck, auf den das vorliegende Buch hinauswill, wenn es Jean Pauls heroische Romane als das rele- vanteste künstlerische Echo wertet, das die Franzosische Revolution, noch bevor ihr Vermachtnis von den Armeen Napolelons iiber den Rhein getragen wurde, im deutschen Sprachraum zu antwortender Resonanz brachte (8 ) . 193

According to de Bruyn however, Harich simply applied

the same official methods of canonization to a new sub­ ject. 14

Statt aber die schon zu lange einseitig belastete Waage des Urteils ins Gleichgewicht zu bringen, wird sie auf der anderen Seite iiberlastet. Bei der Verteidigung des Jean- paulschen "Allkraftigkeits-’’Ideals regiert die "Einkraftigkeit." Neben dem ehernen Standbild Goethes wird ein zweites errichtet; mit Bewunderung betrachtet man den machtigen Sockel, bei dessen Bau GroBartiges geleistet wurde . . . aber wenn man dann hochblickt, zu dem, der auf dem Sockel steht— erkennt man ihn nicht wieder ("Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur" 206-207).

Similarly, another critic of the book bemoaned the

short shrift given to Weimar classicism in Harich's

attempt to make Jean Paul the progressive political

alternative (Reincke 182).

The method behind Harich's heroization of Jean

Paul had become an official matter of course in the

GDR, where historical figures like Thomas Miinzer, then

Martin Luther, were each resuscitated in their turn.

In the final years of the GDR, even Friedrich II was

once again astride his horse on Unter den Linden. It

14 Though de Bruyn was critical of Harich's method, he did recognize the importance of Harich's book for Jean Paul scholarship. "Wichtiger aber scheint mir zu sein, daB Harich hier ein festes Ufer geschaffen hat, von dem sich abzustoBen fur die Litera- turwissenschaft lohnend ist" ("Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur" 207). Dietrich Sommer's review of Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter provides a good comparison of the two approaches. 194

seemed that such a heroization process was necessary for the GDR to embrace German history in its entirety, rather than only selective aspects and figures as had been done in the 1940s and 1950s. However, the need to turn the former enemy into a hero is a further indica­ tion of an inability of GDR state socialist ideology to convey anything other than historical and literary absolutes.

De Bruyn's critique of Harich was directed as well at the cultural and political restoration of Stalinism that always seemed an imminent threat in the GDR.15 In the face of this perceived restoration, many GDR writers were influenced by the timely themes of

Bobrowski's Boehlendorff; "Wie muB eine Welt fur ein moralisches Wesen beschaffen sein?" De Bruyn, however, seemed implicitly to address one aspect of

Boehlendorff's prophetic query, questioning the nature of this "moralisches Wesen." The emphasis shifts from bemoaning the social changes that render the artist

15 Fodder for this fear was perhaps the recogni­ tion that someone like Harich, who had only recently been rehabilitated after incarceration resulting from his "anti-Stalinist" activities in the 1950s, was indeed breaking ground in making Jean Paul acceptable, but doing it "mit den Methoden dessen, der ihn vorher verdammte" ("Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur" 206). Without a corresponding change in method, de Bruyn feared, ideological hegemony would only be reestablished with a different focus. 195

impotent, to exploring the kind of personality that can survive and produce despite the social situation. With this change in emphasis from the victim of society to the survivor within society, de Bruyn's model from the

19th century was Jean Paul and not Holderlin, Kleist or

Giinderrode. In the Jean Paul biography, the emphasis is not on the tragic (though Jean Paul, too, suffered and fell into a political disillusionment as a result of the restoration). Rather, he portrays the dynamic and strong personality of a survivor who compromised neither his integrity nor his ideals in his writing.

De Bruyn did not intend his Jean Paul as a moral model.

De Bruyn displayed, despite his affinity for Jean Paul, a high degree of critical distance and irony (Herming- house wonders about the degree of self-irony as well) in his portrayal ("Die Wiederentdeckung der Romantik"

240). Yet, the exemplary character of Jean Paul's life cited by de Bruyn in his "Bibliographisches Nachwort" was represented in his ability to remain true to his own difference throughout his life. "Zur Anpassung ist er unfahig," de Bruyn remarked.16

16 De Bruyn underscored Jean Paul's integrity in the lines; "Nie würde er sich ein Amt erkriechen, indem er mit den Wolfen heulte; denn dann müBte er auch mit ihnen rauben" (38). 196

Markische Forschunqen. Erzahlung für Freunde

der Literaturgeschichte

The Jean Paul biography appeared in 1975. The following year Wolf Biermann was expatriated, a cultural debacle from which the GDR never seemed to recover. The turbulent cultural period that followed saw productive public discussions about the cultural

Erbe. the breaking of some taboos and the loosening of some literary strictures. Yet repressive measures still continued in the form of canceled productions, censorship, suppressed or limited publications and

Berufsverbot. Artists' stake in expanding the Erbe and the artistic sphere became a matter of artistic life and death. In de Bruyn's 1978 novel, Markische

Forschunqen. this cultural tempest is manifest in an aesthetics of productive tension. Previously de

Bruyn's texts located moral tension in the psychologi­ cal realm of his characters. In Markische Forschunqen it is expressed in tropes of the cultural period that refer to the reassessment of romanticism and the failed revolutions in German history.

The primary thematic plane of the novel rests on a dualistic conflict between two characters. The legitimacy of the official GDR construction of German 197

history is critiqued in what appears to be a simple story and a simple debate between two literary scholars, with one clearly the popular (if not moral) favorite. However, the narrative is thick with ironic constructions that produce a rich, polyvalent text.

Beneath the thematic surface lie dense layers of inter­ related subtexts and tropes referencing the complex historical situation in which the debates about literary appropriation were taking place. Narrative irony functions both to deconstruct the dualism of the primary plane and to textualize the intricate com­ plexity in the appropriation of history.

The Dualistic Conflict of the Primary

Thematic Plane

De Bruyn set up a duality between the two main protagonists to illustrate the basic thematic conflict.

The protagonists are the fictitious Professor Winfried

Menzel, influential director of the Zentralinstitut für

Historiographie und Historiomathie (de Bruyn applied the humorous acronym ZIHiHi) and well-known television personality; and the village school teacher and amateur historian, Ernst Potsch. Menzel has just completed his 198

magnum opus on the heretofore unknown Max Schwedenow.l?

In it he proclaims the writer a "markischen Jakobiner," thereby securing for both Schwedenow and himself honorable places in the GDR history of literature.

Menzel and Potsch meet when Menzel makes a pilgrimage to the area where Schwedenow lived. Potsch, too, is a

Schwedenow aficionado. Living in the milieu of his idol, he has concerned himself with the historical minutia of Schwedenow's life and work. The two form a friendship on the basis of their common interest in

Schwedenow, and Menzel offers the unassuming Potsch an opportunity to work at the institute and make his research public.

The foundation of the conflict is set up initially by a contrast in the approaches of the two scholars.

. . . Potsch liebte, was ihm nah war, und nahm es dadurch in Besitz, daft er es so genau wie moglich kennenlernte. Stand Menzel gleichsam auf einem Aussichtsturm und schaute durch ein Fernrohr in die Weite, so Potsch, mit Lupe auf platter Erde, wo jede Hecke ihm den Blick verstellte (15).

Menzel assumes a peasant heritage for his revolutionary and, therefore, dismisses the "von" as a youthful vanity. In his essay on Wilhelm Friedrich Meyern's Dva-Na-Sore (1787), de Bruyn is able to prove the same for Meyern. The Markische Forschunqen. however, turn on the fact that Menzel is unable to prove his claim. In the essay, "Zur Entstehung einer Erzahlung," de Bruyn admitted his own love of incorporating actual places, people and events into his fiction. 199

The metaphor of the "world view" is both a means of illustrating their scientific approaches and the character of each figure. Menzel's broad view is identified both with his big city savvy as well as his ideological scientific approach; Potsch's limited world view is identified with a provincial naivete yet abid­ ing personal interest that lack a formal theoretical b a s i s . 18 The familiar contrast of the big city versus the country brings with it a moral dimension: however limited Potsch's world view is, he strives to be exact­ ing, whereas Menzel's view is too broad to be concerned with the minutiae. Potsch plays the underdog to the powerful figure of Menzel and, therefore, garners sympathy as the conflict ensues.

The actual conflict is set in motion when Potsch's archaeological approach to history uncovers evidence that Max von Schwedenow may have been the pseudonym of a man who later became a reactionary vice president of the Ober-Zensur-Kollegium and denounced young revolu­ tionary students of his time. While contemporaries of the writer and historian claimed that von Schwedenow was a pseudonym denoting someone from the town of

Schwedenow, Menzel subscribes to the thesis put forth by an earlier Schwedenow researcher claiming that he

18 However, his approach can be identified as positivistic. 200

descended from one of the peasant Schwedenow families of the area. There were no records to support either thesis. However, Menzel is happy to cast his lot with the latter and base his book on this assumption.

Though he casually mentions the inconclusive nature of this assumption, he himself treats the material as if it were proven fact.

Menzel is seen to manipulate historical material in order to reproduce the legitimacy of a pre- established ideological mold. That this mold was formed by the larger ideology of GDR Erbe gives him supposed ethical justification for his approach. Even as he is perceived as a maverick for expanding revolu­ tionary tradition with the inclusion of a forgotten revolutionary, Menzel has created a history that upholds the hegemony of the status quo. Moreover, he stands to gain personally from such scientific Anpas- sung.

True to his limited perspective, Potsch sees only the discovery before him and does not immediately grasp its interpretive and political consequences. Uncover­ ing Schwedenow as a reactionary would not only dis­ credit Menzel's work, it would rob him of both public respect and the place of honor he hopes to gain in literary history by discovering Schwedenow as a revolu­ tionary writer. Menzel, not surprisingly, acts to keep 201

Potsch's findings from becoming public. As Menzel him­ self delineates the conflict: "Dir geht's um ein

Phantom, das du, wie ich dich kenne, Wahrheit nennst.

Mir geht es um viel mehr: um Sein oder Nichtsein in

Wissenschaft und Nachwelt" (153).

Since Menzel functions as the representative fig­ ure for the GDR literary establishment, what follows is a grotesque parody of the official GDR literary science. Menzel ignores or skews any information that does not fit into his portrait of Schwedenow. Accord­ ing to an associate at the institute:

Menzels These lautet: Schwedenow hat die Ideen der franzosischen Revolution in die Literatur der Befreiungskriege hiniibergetragen. Das ist der Kamm, iiber den er das ganze Werk schert. . . . Alle Wider- spriiche, Doppelbodigkeiten, aller Reiz und alle Schonheit sind dahin. . . . Menzel untersucht ja nicht, er dekretiert (6 9 -7 0 ).20

Fitting Schwedenow into the accepted Erbe. evidently at any cost, is his primary goal. Further, he must use any means to dissuade Potsch from his intention to make

Here Menzel echoes the typical argument of the defensive state apparatus against criticism that might be used by the enemies of the state against it. Preservation of the state always took precedent over other considerations in this paranoid world view.

2 0 Schlichting noted that on several occasions in the story, the language used to describe Menzel's book parallels that used to describe Paul Schuster's book in Preisverleihunq (135). This implies that the critique is leveled at a common impulse, the presentation of a prefabricated notion of reality. 202

his findings public. The parody of official GDR criticism continues with Menzel's critique of Potsch's work. He dismisses it on the basis of form while avoiding discussion of the critical content, a common critical methodology in the GDR of the 1950s and 60s.

Most GDR reviewers saw Menzel as a grotesque

"Zerrbild," a monster drawn out of proportion to reality.21 By seeing him as such, Menzel becomes an allegory for the larger evil of demagoguery .22 Menzel has attained power in the public realm through his mag­ netic personality; it is also the force field through which he maintains power by attracting and possessing everything in his path. The figure allegorically portrays a literary establishment that has sold out to power and popularity. It has become an instrument for the control of contradiction in the service of its master, the socialist ideology, and for its own

2i Bernd Leistner was the most adamant on this issue, calling Menzel an artistic "Schreckbild" ("Günter de Bruyn: Markische Forschunqen” 13 5-42).

2 2 Leistner alludes to as much (137). Inter­ estingly, the character of Menzel might not seem so horrific to the western reader for whom such characters are a common part of the social and literary landscape. Such characters appeared in GDR literature up to that time usually as caricatures of Western capitalist greed and individualism. Thus, the GDR reaction to this character stemmed from the position of respect and authority that Menzel holds within the GDR. De Bruyn's innovation (and transgression) was to apply this "Other" to his own socio-historical context. 203

self-preservation.

Menzel's modus operand! is the control of con­ tradiction. It is a professional as well as personal strategy of self-legitimation and self-preservation. Possession for Menzel is simply another means of con­ trol. By becoming friends with Potsch, he is aware of his own need to possess (read: control) that which is his opposite.

Meine Frage aber ist die, ob Sie nicht mit mir Bruderschaft trinken wollen, eine Schnappsidee, in der Tat, von der man nicht einmal weiB, ob sich neben der Hoffnung nicht auch anderes dahinter verbirgt, zum Beispiel der Versuch einer Inbesitznahme des Fremden, das mir Gegesatzlichen in Ihnen, dessen was mir fehlt (119).

Menzel expresses his desire to call Potsch by the name of a previous friend. He refrains, however, only because Potsch had once unwittingly chastised Menzel for his propensity to control people through names by comparing him to the aristocrats who called all their servants Anton (43) . It is this act of chastisement, which, typical for Potsch, erupted before he could con­ sider the effect on Menzel, that alerts Menzel to

Potsch's potential as a friend or as an adversary. In either capacity, Menzel must control him. Narrative references to their friendship reveal in retrospect the irony with which the terra is used where the element of control is strongest. There is also foreshadowing of 204

Potsch's fate as Menzel's friend: the previous friend had committed suicide. In this dualistic scenario, Potsch is everything that Menzel is not. As Jürgen Kuczynski laments:

Ja, solche Lehrer hat die bürgerliche Gesellschaft in groBer Zahl hervorgebracht, ahnlich den Pfarrern der Feudalzeit, und wir haben unsere Lehrer— aus zeitweiliger Notwendigkeit, die es aber heute nicht mehr gibt— so überlastet, daB diese Art von Lehrern fast ausgestorben ist, Lehrer, die echt wissenschaftlich auf den verschiedensten Gebieten, zumeist mit lokaler Bindung arbeiten (913).

Though he doesn't live in the economic squalor of the

Dorflehrer of the past (one is compelled to think of

Jean Paul's SchuImeisterlein Wutz), a party at Menzel's home displays the stark economic as well as social con­ trast of his position with the country's privileged elite. Where Menzel appears the powerful yet corrupted official, Potsch is the valiant, ever upright and unspoiled natural scholar. Where Menzel appears to use

Schwedenow to further his own career, Potsch experi­ ences a meeting of the souls. "In Schwedenows Dichtung fand er sich selbst. Seine GefUhle waren dort formuliert, seine Sehnsüchte beschrieben, seine

Gedanken vorgedacht" (16). But Potsch is impotent against Menzel's power and even his independent attempts to have his findings published are thwarted by

Menzel's far-reaching influence. Menzel's real power is shown in the fact that he actually allows Potsch to 205

read his paper in his television forum. In this arena,

Potsch's work is merely neglected as it pales in the light of Menzel's popularity.

Thus, the primary narrative plane sets up a simple dichotomy between two scholarly approaches— the ideological and the personal— and shows that they are linked to moral approaches to living. The text con­ tends that within GDR society, the former enjoyed privilege, the latter was, when not directly sup­ pressed, then at least condemned to oblivion and power­ lessness. Further, this dichotomy has a distinctly moral character: one figure is the corrupted demon while the other is the virtuous, though powerless, hero. As will be shown, these binaries functions as a parody of the actual literary-historical debates in the

GDR.

The Utilization of Irony

De Bruyn's purpose in constructing this dichotomy was to show its limitations and problematize the hierarchical approach to literary appropriation that such dichotomies create. Therefore, even in their creation, the dichotomies break down. Through detailed narrative analysis, Marga Firle has established the

Markische Forschunqen as an "ironische[n] auktorial 206

erzâhlten Text" that functions on both the metanarra­ tive and narrative planes ("Zum Verhaltnis" 94). She comes to the conclusion that, "Die Sprachhandlungstruk- tur, die dem Text zugrunde liegt, ist ambivalent. Die tatsachlichen Ziele des Textproduzenten müssen in der

Werkkonstituierung erschlossen werden" ("Zum

Verhaltnis" 103) . In the following section I will use her analysis of speech acts in the text to show how irony deconstructs the dualism of the primary narrative plane. This in turn leads to balance between the critical and sympathetic presentation of the characters

(a hallmark of de Bruyn's narrative approach to morality) and creates thematic ambivalence.

Irony is evident already in the relationship between the narrator and the reader. Firle detects several assumed fictive readers who are addressed through the decidedly interactive speech acts of the omniscient narrator ("Zum Verhaltnis" 98). On one hand, the presence of these fictive readers appears to open up the text to different possible readings. On the other hand, since these fictive readers are often identified by the narrator as naive and in need of guidance, the possibilities are closed even before they have been opened. However, the speech acts that are intended to be interactive are often a guise for other narrative intents. According to Firle, "Die 207

Wirkungsabsicht des Sprechers besteht generell darin, die Scheinbarkeit der Übereinstimmung des Sprechers mit bestimmten Gegebenheiten aufzudecken und das scheinbar

Akzeptierte zu verspotten" ("Zum Verhaltnis" 98).

Thus, the text requires an active reader to evaluate the information on both the narrative and metanarrative planes. Traditional narrative clues lead astray while irony leads into the twists and turns of the internal logic of the text. References to naive readings are often indicators of the ironic intent of the author and point to themes from the subtext of the narrative.

As Firle suggests, de Bruyn often undermined the hierarchy of his narrative structure with contradic­ tions that lead to other conclusions than those stated explicitly by the narrator. In one of the first detailed descriptions of Potsch, the text is structured as an argument wherein the main thesis (Menzel's com­ ment that Potsch's interest in Schwedenow came from living in his hometown) is supposedly supported by the statements that follow (15-16). But through the argumentative structure, other information about Potsch is given, refined and ultimately put into question.

The statement, "Denn Potsch liebte, was ihm nah war, und nahm es dadurch in Besitz, daB er es so genau wie moglich kennenlernte," is supported, but then refuted in its individual components by what follows. It is 208

shown that Potsch's ability to know something "so genau wie moglich" is severely limited. Narrative statements like "Sein Wissen war begrenzt, doch innerhalb der

Grenzen universal," and "Er war kein kiihner Denker, aber ein genauer, Fanatiker des Details, Polyhistor des

Vertrauten," structurally support Potsch's abilities while undermining them through their content. The

"doch" in "Doch innerhalb der Grenzen universal" seems to indicate the opposite of the previous statement that his knowledge is limited. However, Firle points out that it makes no sense to speak of universal knowledge within limits. Claims to Potsch's precision are also refuted with phrases like the internally contradictory

"Polyhistor des Vertrauten" ("Zum Verhaltnis" 101).

The passage continues by supporting again Menzel's thesis, but expanding it. "Menzel hatte recht: Lokal- geschichtliches war durchaus eine Quelle des Stroms der

Schwedenow-Besessenheit, die nie versiegte, doch nur eine. Die andere war: Potsch fühlte sich dem Mann ver- wandt." After the statement is made, however, Potsch's relationship to Schwedenow is shown to be more than just sympathetic, but verging on a narcissistic obses­ sion. The narrator suggests that the reader should allow Potsch his frivolity, then warns the fictive reader against the excesses of such an identification (16) . 209

De Bruyn's work shows how contradiction can help to create balance in an approach to a notion of truth.

As Hirdina notes, "Was aber ist Dialektik anderes als das Denken in Widerspriichen, um diese produktiv zu machen" (Günter de Bruvn 123) . The narrative strategies described above have one effect of leading to balance between the critical and sympathetic portrayals of Potsch. Potsch is indeed portrayed sympathetically throughout the text. Yet the narrator consistently tempers that sympathy with portrayals of the gray areas in Potsch's personality. In terms of his literary interest, the passage cited above displays the pitfalls of Potsch's positivist approach. This in turn upsets the dichotomy of the primary narrative plane between Menzel's ideological and Potsch's per­ sonal (positivist) approach. No longer can Potsch's approach simply be seen as an adequate alternative to

Menzel's.

The narrator's ironic distance from the character of Potsch is created further in the personal realm with the portrayal of Potsch's relationship to his wife,

Elke. He is insensitive to her needs and desires, oblivious to physical or verbal cues that do not relate directly to his work and content to believe that his wife shares his interests though all evidence points to the contrary. When Menzel offers Potsch a position as 210

his assistant at the institute, which would entail moving from the provinces to Berlin, Potsch neither asks his wife if she wants to move nor senses her apprehension about such a move. Thus, his behavior toward his wife substantiates the information about

Potsch that the reader obtains from his scholarly rela­ tionship to Schwedenow: he is characterized by both obsessive behavior and self-absorption verging on nar­ cissism. Such information further deconstructs the dualism of the primary plane by suggesting that in the interpersonal realm Potsch cannot be given moral supe­ riority over Menzel either. In other words, the moral dualism established by the narrative is supplemented by other information that limits the interpretive sig­ nificance of Potsch's moral superiority over Menzel.

This narrative supplementarity suggests that Potsch's superiority in the realm of scholarly integrity cannot be generalized to other areas of life.

It is more difficult to argue that de Bruyn created a similar balance in the portrayal of Menzel.

De Bruyn attempted to create a modicum of sympathy for

Menzel by allowing him to express the familiar adage that it is lonely at the top. In a drunken confession to Potsch, Menzel describes the emotional burden of his role as entertainer. At his fiftieth birthday party,

Menzel has held his own tribute before his guests. 211

"Und warum?" he asks Potsch. "Nur um den guten Eindruck, den sie von mir haben, nicht zu ramponieren, nur damit sie nicht sagen konnen: der ist auch nicht mehr, was er mal war. Es ist zum Heulen, aber wahr: Auf diesen Eindruck, den ich mache, bin ich angewiesen, davon lebe ich" (115-16).

A further means by which the text creates sympathy for

Menzel is through his self-awareness. "Freiwillig habe ich mich an den Felsen Offentlichkeit schmieden lassen, und der Adler Ehrgeiz hackt mir die Leber aus," he says

(119). However, his disarming truthfulness is ironi­ cally reversed for the reader by the obviously manipulative character of his confession. Unlike most of de Bruyn's characters, Menzel is completely aware of his own strengths, his weaknesses and the ways in which he exerts power over others.^3 The chapter in which the confession takes place is an uninterrupted solilo­ quy by Menzel. The monological form appropriately con­ veys Menzel's manipulatory strength. Menzel's confes­ sion is not a simple truth-telling. Like his scholar­ ship and like the self-congratulatory intentions behind his birthday party, his confession to Potsch is a self- serving solicitation of sympathy. Potsch, however, does not comprehend these manipulative intentions.

2 3 However, in this way and in many others, the character bears strong resemblance to Eckart in Der Hohlweg. 212

The attempt to balance the portrayal of Menzel by

creating sympathy with the character does not tip the

scales of judgment in Menzel's favor. Since Menzel

still emerges as a decidedly negative character, it

does little to actually undermine the original moral

dichotomy between him and Potsch. However, de Bruyn's

understanding of moral judgment requires supplementary

information about his characters in order to con-

textualize their actions. Thus, he attempted to rule

out generalized moral condemnation of a character by tightening the narrative focus around specific issues.

As I have argued elsewhere, de Bruyn sought to humble the reader's right to judge by emphasizing the his­ torical and cultural determinants of his characters' actions. He did so even while making it clear that moral judgment must be passed. Despite the attempt to

create balance in the portrayal of Menzel's character,

Menzel's moral short-comings are quite evident.

The dualistic conflict between Menzel and Potsch

in the primary plane is further deconstructed through the ironic introduction of the reader to the scholarly conflict (26-28). The passage is disguised as an

"Erwahnung," an attempt by the narrator to fill in

information about the ancestry of Elke Schwedenow

Potsch for the reader. But several factors important for the plot emerge from this "Abschweifung.” Menzel 213

is shown to be someone whose social interactions are

instrumental and serve his personal goal. For example, foreshadowing the later birthday scene, the narrator refers to Menzel's introduction of Elke as "eine Ur-Ur-

Ur-Enkelin Schwedenows" (27). Elke becomes in this way one of the cherished historical artifacts of Menzel's collection; her introduction is meant to entertain his audience and grace Menzel himself. Elke further serves

Menzel's purpose by providing visual support for his thesis that Schwedenow was of peasant ancestry; Elke and her husband clearly stand out at this party of the

GDR social elite as country folk. Thus, Menzel appears at the apogee of social recognition. However, simultaneously the narrator knocks the base from Men­ zel 's pedestal, since it is at this point in the novel that the reader learns Menzel's assumptions about

Schwedenow's background are conjecture: an egual case could be made for a gentry background for Schwedenow.

The second important point in the passage stems again from a reference to Elke's relationship to

Schwedenow. Potsch begins a conversation with Elke with "Dein beriihmter Namensvetter," whereupon the nar­ rator proceeds to explain the use of the term (2 6).

The historical information and Menzel's understanding of it follow. Menzel's assertion at the party, "nun wisse man end1ich, wie wissenschaftliche Leistung 214

entstehe: durch die Liebe zu Frauen namlich," is

refuted by the narrator, but also shown to be not without some truth (27). Potsch did once cherish the

idea that his children might be related to his idol.

He later gave up the notion when it became clear to him

that the name von Schwedenow was indeed a pseudonym.

The context of the discussion is Elke's ancestry. What

comes out of this discussion is the difference between

Potsch's and Menzel's interpretation of Schwedenow's

ancestry. Thus, the most important information about the clash between Potsch and Menzel is hidden in the text amongst the most concrete historical information about Schwedenow and his significance for the present.

This is ironic, since one would expect such information to be presented more directly.

As a narrative strategy, however, de Bruyn's use of irony and deliberate ambivalence in the portrayal of characters often leads to ambiguity in the text. As with Preisverleihunq. de Bruyn has often been accused of ambivalence and "Konsequenzlosigkeit" in Markische

Forschunqen because of this approach. According to

Bernd Leistner, "die erzahlstrukturelle Unentschieden- heit wirkt irritierend" ("Günter de Bruyn, Markische

Forschunqen" 140). Leistner also claims an ambivalence between productive humor and bitterness in de Bruyn's work. All of Leistner's claims are true, yet fail to 215

give credence to the impulse behind this approach,

which itself is not ambivalent at all. The narrative

ambiguity and undecidability in the text can have a

liberating effect as well as cause irritation. With

the dualism of the primary narrative plane broken, the

subtexts and tropes emerge and intertwine in a complex

interrelationship. What Benjamin recognized in the

romantics, namely that "[d]ie Unendlichkeit der

Reflexion ist . . . eine Unendlichkeit des Zusammen- hangs," is created in de Bruyn's text (Begriff der

Kunstkritik 22). What are these subtexts? The

obvious theme of Markische Forschungen is the GDR

cultural appropriation of the early nineteenth century.

De Bruyn's text problematizes not only its appropria­ tion, but also expands the discussion by questioning underlying assumptions about romanticism as well as the appropriation of and production of history.

The Réévaluation of the Romantic Legacy

Claus Trager, one of the first GDR scholars to work for reinterpretation and not just "Ausbesserung- sarbeiten" of romanticism in the GDR, recognized that the concept of realism kept romanticism from being understood or explored prior to the mid-1970s .

Sowohl das Literaturverstandnis als Erbe wie der Begriff des Realismus waren offenbar 216

konzeptionell zu eng gefafit, um in ihnen das Romantische unterbringen Oder zumindest von ihnen aus begreifen zu konnen; sie schlossen es aus ("Historische Dialektik der Romantik" 52).

The expansion of the concept of realism and, con­

sequently of the Erbe, occurred concomitantly with the

reintegration of romantic works and romantic ideas into

the GDR cultural canon. However, the affinity that GDR

authors like the Wolfs, Kunert and Hermlin had for

romantic authors was of a very personal nature. With

them they found not only similar concerns about art

(the urge to explode the boundaries of a hegemonic

idealist model), but also a common Weltschmerz. which

Trager describes as "Enttauschung, Trauer iiber das wirklich Geschehene, bei zugleich uneingeschrankter

Zuneigung gegenüber der Umwalzung zugrundeliegenden

Ideen" ("Geschichtlichkeit und Erbe der Romantik" 285).

The disappointment of the failed possibility of revolu­ tion of 1789 and the resulting repression and reaction

is (re)experienced by GDR authors through German his­ tory post-1945 and post-1976.

Two paths seemed to follow from romantic inclina­ tions: the tragedy of, as Christa Wolf called them,

"jene unerwünschten Zeugen erwiirgter Sehnsiichte und

Angste" and the conservatism of those who survived

("Der Schatten eines Traumes" 295). The conservative path ensued as romantic ideals were transformed into 217

moral decisions leading to religious, social and

political reaction. Romantic irony itself theoreti­

cally precluded romantic ideals taking shape in

sustained progressive political action. When they did, their trajectory was reactionary.24 This conservative

trajectory of the romantic legacy provided de Bruyn

with the means of criticizing the present through the

medium of the past, while the tragic trajectory

occupied other GDR writers.

The figure of Menzel is both the embodiment of the

conservative trajectory and the agent of its disguise.

Menzel himself admits to a youthful past in which the

romantic lyrics of Schwedenow were sacred to him. He

recites lines from a familiar poem, which de Bruyn

admits having borrowed from Hdlderlin ("Zur Entstehung

einer Erzahlung" 178). Just the few lines evoke the

spirit of Hdlderlin's "Die Eichenbaume" with their

romantic awe of a strong, natural community. But Men­

zel 's reception of the poem already reveals a betrayal

of the multidimensionality of the romantic spirit since

it is characterized solely by self-interest: "das meine

24 According to Carl Schmitt, the Romantic "ironi­ cally avoids the constraints of objectivity and guards himself against becoming committed to anything. The reservation of all infinite possibilities lies in irony. In this way, he preserves his own inner genial freedom, which consists in not giving up any [concrete] possibility" (72). 218

ich, so müGte man sein konnen: so aus sich selbst,

nicht aus den andern lebend ..." (116). Menzel's

story about his romantically-inclined friend provides a

further metaphor for Menzel's conservative romantic

trajectory. Both Menzel and his friend find themselves

(independent of one another) on a balcony: Menzel must resist the urge to prove to the people below that he

can fly from the balcony across the valley; his friend

steps from the balcony without any illusions of flying

and commits suicide. The conservative romantic Menzel

is concerned only with self-legitimation and self-

preservation. His friend, the tragic romantic, seeks

to overcome self-interest but the desire leads to his

death.

The self-legitimation/self-preservation pattern

established by the character of Menzel is reduplicated

on different levels primarily through references to

other historical figures woven into the text. For

example, the name Menzel evokes the association with two historical figures: the literary historian and critic, Wolfgang Menzel (1798-1873) and the artist,

Adolf Menzel (1815-1905). That the chronology of

Wolfgang Menzel's life resembles more that of the fic­ tional Schwedenow than of de Bruyn's professor does not negate the association, but shows how the pattern permeates the text on different levels. Similarly, 219

Pôtsch is the character endowed with the obsession for detail that Adolf Menzel is known for and who, though a court painter, kept a critical edge to his work. A further historical reference, though perhaps less obvious, is to Wilhelm Friedrich Meyern, who wrote the influential novels of Dva-Na-Sore (first volume in

1787). In "Zur Entstehung einer Geschichte," de Bruyn also admits borrowing from Meyern's biography for his

Schwedenow character. Meyern, de Bruyn ascertained, rewrote his early works replacing youthful revolution­ ary zeal with the nationalism and Krieoslust for which he ultimately became known in history.

However, the significance of Meyern is most impor­ tant for de Bruyn's critique of the present, for the

GDR critic Wolfgang Harich addresses Meyern's novel in his own work about Jean Paul. According to de Bruyn:

Harich, den Meyern nur als Vorlaufer Jean Pauls interessiert, will beweisen, daft der Hesperus. eine Revolutionsdichtung ist, und macht deshalb, ohne genauer hinzusehen, den Roman, aus dem Jean Paul Anregungen bekam, auch zu einer ("Taten und Tugenden" 88).

De Bruyn went on to show how both Harich and Arno

Schmidt assessed an internally contradictory and multi­ faceted text to argue for a one-sided narrow inter­ pretation. Markische Forschungen makes its strongest case against this type of historical misuse and straight-jacketing of literature. Such a method, as in the case of Meyern's text, limits the possible meanings 220

of the text to one hegemonic construct without examin­ ing its multiple historical receptions. Meyern's text, for instance, influenced both figures like Jean Paul and Friedrich Ludwig ("Turnvater") Jahn.

De Bruyn was critical of such one-sided inter­ pretations (even if sympathetic to Schmidt's abhor­ rence of the later fascist tendencies that were nur­ tured by Meyern's text) because of both the pos­ sibilities and actualities that such methods disguise.

The historical reference of his critique to the cover up of the SED's own conservative goals is obvious. GDR institutions suppressed contradiction in order to create an unblemished and heroic socialist history.

One example of course is the way the persecution of communists at the hands of Nazis became the basis for the moral legitimation of the East German state as the antifascist bulwark. This legacy was then used to legitimate all of its actions. It further was used to expunge the complicity of Germans in the East from the history books and hindered meaningful Vergangen- heitsbewaltigung on the part of large numbers of East

Germans. Pôtsch becomes an unwary victim of this self­ legitimation/ self -préservât ion drive of the state. 221

Pôtsch versus the Structures of Power

Pôtsch fails to comprehend the power structure of his society because he is very much caught up in the

"scientific sphere." For Pôtsch it is an autonomous

sphere, resembling nineteenth-century positivism, in which norms and rules are guided by the search for an empirical truth. In the GDR, as with other socialist states, the scientific realm was no longer autonomous with its own sphere-specific rules and norms, but rather was subsumed by what Agnes Heller terms the

"meta-sphere" of political ideology (General Ethics

157). With the Soviet Union as a model, Heller speaks of a dominating world-view;

which legitimized itself in modern terms (as science) but which performed the function of religion in determining a common ethos (Sittlichkeit) in all spheres, including the sphere of everyday life, and securing (prop­ ping up) this Sittlichkeit against all the questioning and rational testing procedures of morality through the use of force and indoctrination (General Ethics 157).

Thus, the autonomy of the sphere-specific norms and rules was overridden by the common ethos created by the political ideology. In the case of literary science, the search for an empirical truth, while not openly discounted as a norm, became subservient to the estab­ lishment of the socialist Erbe and the domination of 222

revolutionary ideals in German cultural history and

literature. Anything that contradicted or questioned this cultural ethos was automatically suspected of undermining the meta-sphere. This is clearly the case

in Markische Forschungen. Menzel justifies his sup­ pression of Pôtsch's discovery since to him affirmation of the political metanarrative is of paramount impor­ tance. He codes Pôtsch's research as particularistic because it does not conform to that metanarrative.

Personal morality, however, is less of an issue

for Pôtsch than it was for the protagonists of Preis- verleihung and Buridans Esel; he does not face the question, "How should I act?" How he should act is quite clear to him as he is guided by his quixotic optimism that the historical truth will triumph once it is made known. The ambivalence that characterizes the text throughout has an end here, and, unlike Theo,

Pôtsch is able to take action without wavering. That his actions are ultimately unsuccessful has little to do with a failure to exercise moral responsibility.

Rather, the legitimation/preservation of the meta­ sphere necessitates that his honest attempts be thwarted. The narrator is very much in sympathy with

Pôtsch despite his naivete of the structure of power that opposes him. Similar to characters from the early work of Heinrich Bôll, Pôtsch is a provincial citizen 223

who appears to be out of sync with his contemporary reality. Even with the narrator's sympathy, such a character evokes a sense of being left behind. Bloch's reference to the "Ungleichzeitigkeit" of petit bourgeois consciousness comes to mind. In reference to the petit bourgeois and realism in West German litera­ ture, Reinhard Baumgart made a point that can well be considered in regard to Markische Forschungen. Accord­ ing to Baumgart, such petit bourgeois characters dis­ play "eine in sich unproblematische Moral, die nur von auBen, durch zeitgeschichtlichen Druck in Frage gestellt werden kann . . ." (655). In a similar way,

Pôtsch's ethical standards, while appearing superior to those of Menzel, are shown to be ineffectual because of his naive conception of truth and power.

Pôtsch's obsession with finding the final proof to deliver to Menzel provides the final ironic twist.

Leistner noted that the narrator seems to be as affected by Menzel as the character Pôtsch. "Kein

Überlegener führt diese Figur vor, sondern ein 'Betrof- fener'" ("Markische Forschungen" 137). Whereas the narrator is quite active and present in the earlier chapters of the story, it fades and practically dis­ appears from view in the latter chapters.25 The

25 One might speculate that the narrator is as affected as de Bruyn himself. The lecture, "Die Ent­ stehung einer Erzahlung," makes eminently clear that the character of Menzel was inspired by a real-life 224

apparent helplessness of the narrator, coupled with

Pôtsch's helpless figure, has led critics of the work to condemn the ending of the work as "klaglich."26

Indeed, it is a disturbing image of Pôtsch that the reader receives: the narrator describes how an unknow­

ing visitor to the region would be confronted with the obsessed Pôtsch, excavating in search of a piece of brick on which a love-sick man (Schwedenow) might have scratched the name of his unattainable beloved. "Er habe so etwas Gehetztes," the people would say of Pôtsch.27 Passing observation to an outside, uninitiated observer creates a distance from the character. This allows the grotesqueness of his situa­ tion to emerge and provides the reader with a means to assess the futility of his task. Even if he finds evi­ dence of Schwedenow's past, this information will be easily suppressed by the political metanarrative and its correlative institutions. But, similar to Bôll's seemingly impotent figures in Billiard um halbzehn.

figure from de Bruyn's past. In unraveling his own labyrinth, de Bruyn came dangerously close to revealing the identity of that person (the initiated within the GDR probably already knew).

2 6 See Jürgen Kuczynkski's, "Brief an Günter de Bruyn."

27 It should also be observed that Pôtsch's state of mind seems to parallel that of the young man whose traces he is trying to find. 225

there is an admirable strength in Pôtsch's search for the truth that is not completely undermined by his impotence. In fact, the apparent loss of his senses, his "unreason" as Foucault terms it in Madness and Civ­ ilization. is produced by the constraints of the meta­ sphere and is the deviant's attempt to find freedom within that restrained environment.28

Conclusion

The strictures of the official concept of realism within the GDR reproduced the same self­ legitimation/ self-preservation pattern of the meta­ sphere of political ideology that are found in Markis­ che Forschungen. Expanding the parameters of the accepted Erbe required exposure and explosion of this pattern. Thematically and textually, Markische

Forschungen does both. Thematically, the text is straight-forward in its critique of the prevalent literary standards and practices. This critique is further historicized by linking the GDR literary

28 Interestingly, Foucault notes that the nine­ teenth century commonly regarded melancholia displayed amongst the English as a result of their political liberty. "Freedom of conscience," it was argued, "entails more dangers than authority and despotism. . . Minds are disturbed in the search for truth" (Madness and Civilization 213-14). Such was the argu­ ment of the status quo to maintain legitimacy. 226

establishment to a restorative reactionary tradition in

German literary history. Textually, de Bruyn attempted to explode a limited understanding of romantic and realist method by creating a polyvalent text through the use of ironic constructs and polyvalent character portrayals.

A tripartite thematic interest can be discerned in

Markische Forschungen that reflects themes from de

Bruyn's essays as well as from the Jean Paul biography, namely, realism, romanticism and morality. Small wonder that Jean Paul was his model, for Jean Paul was able to combine all three in probing the tension between the human desires and their earth-bound reality. In Ursprunq des deutschen Trauerspiels. Ben­ jamin postulates that there are unrestrained pos­ sibilities for moral growth within the world of beauty

(337) . But since the reality of the social self is not taken into account, there exists an unresolvable ten­ sion between the romantic and realist inclinations.

Pôtsch is a literary hybrid who embodies both romantic and realist inclinations. Pôtsch's obdurant steadfast­ ness in the positivist belief in an empirical truth is coupled with blindness for the nature of the power structure he faces. The text suggests that this obdurance occurs on both sides of the dualistic con­ flict: both the dominant Marxist ideology and the 227

Marxist opposition think in categories of empirical truth. The author's insistence on the moral dimension of the fable shows the tragedy of this thinking and brings the themes full-circle. The rich texture of the intertwining subtexts puts claims to empirical truth in question, while the moral dimension again both illumi­ nates that ambiguity and implies the necessity of making judgments despite the inability to reduce the moral picture to totalizations. The success of

Markische Forschungen lies in de Bruyn's ability to create this moral dimension implicitly in the construc­ tion of the text, rather than conveying it directly and didactically through the narrative voice. CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION: WELCHE HERRLICHKEIT?

The focus of this dissertation has been on de Bruyn's depiction of moral decision-making within

GDR society. The approach has been three-fold: 1) to establish the social, historical and cultural framework within which (and often against which) de Bruyn was writing. This included a discussion of officially encouraged approaches to literature as well as the con­ cerns and works of other GDR writers in relation to those of de Bruyn; 2) to study the relationship of de Bruyn's narrative approach to the official vision of

GDR reality. This was accomplished primarily through plot and character analyses, but also through analysis of de Bruyn's use of genre and narrative techniques; and 3) to analyze the critical potential of each work in relationship to the notion of a critical social morality. Using Agnes Heller's theories as a model, a criti­ cal social morality has been defined in terms of the individual capable of and responsible for making deci­ sions that constitute her/him as a social self.

However, the "individual" (in Heller's use of the term) must be capable of critical reflection and the creation

228 229

Of a value hierarchy that is both unique to her/him and contains a vision of a just society. According to Hel­ ler, a society composed of such civic-minded individu­ als, as opposed to someone who is self-interested and particularistic, would be characterized by multiple and competing visions of socialist morality. Heller's theory, then, simultaneously denies the moral validity of purely self-interested behavior and constructs a vision of socialism that recognizes the multiple social-moral possibilities.

The working hypothesis of my dissertation is that

Heller's explicit critique is implicit in the aesthetics of Günter de Bruyn. Just as Heller's theory of socialist morality was written as a critique of

Eastern European socialism, the hegemonic nature of official GDR socialist culture is the point of depar­ ture for and the object of of de Bryun's social criti­ que and aesthetics of moral character development.

Wolfgang Weichmantel, Karl Erb, Teo Overbeck, and Ernst

Pôtsch struggle within and are defined by a seemingly hegemonic socialist culture that allowed no room for competing moral visions. Most importantly, the regula­ tive motif of de Bryun's work is the tension between the forces of social integration and the responsibility of personal moral decisions. Another significant com­ plementarity between Heller and de Bryun is their 230

emphasis on the personal nature of moral decisions and their rejection of the determinism of official party ideology. The personal aspect of moral decision-making proved indispensable in de Bruyn's characters, but was condemned as "individualistic" and "decadent" by the official GDR critics.

Each of the novels discussed here portrays the struggle of a protagonist to assert himself as a social self within the GDR. The tension between pressure to conform through social integration and personal moral decision-making is played out in each novel through the characters, genre and narrative techniques.

Summarv of Preceding Chapters

De Bruyn made a fateful choice for his first novel, Der Hohlweq. by accepting the ideological pros­ criptions of SED cultural politics for war literature and turning his wartime diaries into a socialist

Entwicklunqsroman. In choosing the Entwicklungsroman. many authors of de Bruyn's generation sought a literary form which would both fulfill the cultural-political pressure to depict the successful integration of the individual into the socialist community as well as address their personal needs to come to terms with their war experiences. Yet, the socialist 231

Entwicklunqsroman brought with it a non-reflective morality of social integration that was the hallmark of the 1950s.

Although the literary form of the socialist

Entwicklunqsroman was not adopted uncritically by

de Bruyn, its concept of Bildunq was decidedly con­

servative. The novel, though mired in schematism and a dualistic conflict between capitalism and communism, nonetheless portrays moments that transcend this dualism. After exposure to multiple worldviews in the post-war era, Weichmantel makes the decision to become a socialist Neulehrer. There is a certain ambivalence to this decision, however. While it fulfills the political strictures of the genre, Weichmantel does not choose the Neulehrer path in order to support socialist ideology. Rather, he supports socialism because it is antifascist. This distinction is important because it validates the primacy of personal morality over the primacy of socialism. His moral decision reflects a personal preference and social responsibility. But, even though the character Weichmantel delineates per­ sonal morality and socialism, the novel, the dictates of the genre and the historical context ultimately con­ flate these two. The novel is decidedly conservative because the primacy of personal morality is subsumed by the morality of nonreflective socialist integration. 232

In Buridans Esel. de Bruyn explored the scope of social stabilization through the establishment of a socialist morality in the everyday life of the GDR. To do so, he chose to revise the literary tradition of the

Ehebruchsroman. As in the traditional model, it is precisely in the rejection of his previous life and marriage that the protagonist, Karl Erp, attains the possibility for creating himself anew. However, because Erp is a man in GDR society, he does not face the Victorian moral condemnation of adultery; rather the obstacles he faces are of his own making.

The text demonstrates how Erp actively, though unconsciously, reconstructs the circumstances of his decisions in order to remove himself from responsibility for their moral consequences. My analy­ sis uncovers Erp's self-deception and the deception of others through justification, romanticization, and the mask of authority; all of these strategies of deception highlight Erp's unwillingness to engage in self­ reflection. However, the text also means to evoke critical reflection from the reader both through sympathy with the protagonist's self-deceptive behavior and distancing mechanisms created through the critical intervention of the omniscient narrator.

The text turns socialist ideology against itself while using that ideology to its own advantage. For 233

example, both the report form and omniscient narrator

(who functions as a reporter) help to establish

legitimacy for the text by utilizing the official

socialist insistence on objectivity. However, this

notion of a privileged objective position is

undermined. Implicit in the narrator's duty to uncover

motivation from the perspective of each character is

the understanding that true objectivity is

unattainable: the narrator portrays a perspective as

well. A further way in which socialist ideology is

used for the intentions of the text is in the identifi­

cation of Erp with the "otherness" of bourgeois morality. This allows the text to highlight the char­

acteristics of self-deception and lack of self­ reflection which, according to socialist ideology, no

longer existed in socialist society. However, the critical reader sympathy with Erp created by the text

shows the degree to which Erp is both a product of his history and of his socialist social context. Thus, the relativization of truth that occurs with Erp's rationalizations and justifications of his actions is projected against an historical backdrop of legitimiz­

ing actions of the GDR state.

De Bruyn's moral-textual approach is most clear

in the novel Preisverleihung. The concentration of the action to a single day along with the technique of 234

focusing alternating chapters on specific characters creates a psychological profile of everyday life in the

GDR. Two of the major characters, Irene Overbeck and

Paul Schuster, portray different aspects of accommoda­ tion to GDR socialist ideology of the NOS period.

Irene has internalized the ideology of harmony and hap­ piness to such a degree that she suppresses all con­ flict and is unable to comprehend the moral ambiguity that her husband faces. Paul is conscious of the con­ cessions he has made to the dominant ideology in order to succeed as a writer. However, he is unwilling to recognize that the consequence of his accommodation will be a literature that reflects his moral degenera­ tion.

By revealing both sociological and personal determinants of actions, de Bruyn balanced the present­ ation of accommodation in each character with both critical and sympathetic perspectives. This balance forestalls an unambiguous judgment by the reader of the motivations of his characters. Yet, the narrative per­ spective solicits a judgment of the moral consequences of non-reflective social integration.

Through the protagonist, Teo Overbeck, de Bruyn demonstrated the complexity and even ambiguity inherent in much moral decision-making. The complexity of Teo's interpersonal relationships, for instance, reflects the 235

various forms of pressure to accommodate. Though Teo desires harmony and integration into his community, a

decision to critique Paul's novel will create tension and alienation. Teo must make a decision in a psychological context wherein multiple responsibilities and desires compete with each other. His decision is based on a self-reflective personal value hierarchy, rather than the normative notion of duty that regulates the lives of Liebscher and Irene. Though Teo ultimately resolves to criticize Paul's novel, and thus reigning aesthetic conventions, his critical intentions are thwarted by the conventions of everyday life in the banal symbol of the two shoes; the faux pas of wearing one house shoe and one dress shoe in public provokes enough insecurity in Teo to foil his intentions in the public realm. Thus, ironically his intention to criti­ que literary conventions is derailed by his own viola­ tion of social convention. This kind of irony is indicative of de Bruyn's endeavor to show both the social and psychological barriers to social critique in the GDR.

At a private party following his foiled speech, however, Teo is able to articulate his opinion of the novel. When the shoes are discovered by another party- goer, Teo's hysterical laughter suggests his willing­ ness to accept the ambiguity and the lack of absolute 236

certainty (in the form of consensus) in moral decision­ making. But that acceptance in no way indicates an absence of suffering; in the final scene Teo awaits the relief of medication for his ulcer.

The double-edged sword of de Bruyn's moral- critical technique that emerged clearly in Preisver- leihuna was to evoke and complicate the reader's judg­ ment of the characters by presenting both critical and sympathetic perspectives. This endeavor is apparent in his biography of Jean Paul as well. Das Leben des Jean

Paul Friedrich Richter is characterized by de Bruyn's effort to present multifarious perspectives of the author and his personal life. He took his cue from

Jean Paul himself, who was able to write and live the contradictions of his own historical period. Two impulses seemed to emerge from the Jean Paul biography that had a decisive subsequent influence on Markische

Forschungen; 1) the attempt to create a literature wherein the contradictions and multiplicity of

(socialist) life finds expression; and 2) his adamant critique of a literary criticism (and historical per­ spective) that expunges such multiplicity and con­ tradiction through simplistic dualisms.

The primary narrative plane of Markische

Forschungen sets up a dualistic conflict between the scientific and personal approaches of the two 237

protagonists, Winfried Menzel and Ernst Pôtsch. This primary duality is complicated and supplemented by the ironic construction of the text. To this already com­ plex literary comingling of a moral dualism and an ironic structure, de Bruyn added romantic motifs. The appropriation of romanticism in the GDR was part of the overall impetus to expand the conception of realism imposed by socialist realism. De Bruyn's interest in

Jean Paul can be seen as a symbol of this historical linkage of romantic motifs and realist intentions.

I have argued that two historical paths followed from romantic inclinations: the tragic and the reac­ tionary. Markische Forschungen explores the reaction­ ary trajectory through the character of Menzel and several historical figures whose revolutionary romanticism turned into obdurant conservatism. They act in the text as allegories of failed revolutions and warnings for the socialist experiment of the GDR.

However, the influence of Jean Paul, both the figure and his writing, looms large as the model for overcom­ ing both the tragic and the reactionary trajectories.

It is my contention that de Bruyn's text creates an amalgam of moral and romantic realism. However, the text contains no literary figure capable of overcoming these dual trajectories. Menzel is a reactionary fig­ ure. Pôtsch is an unwary victim of the power structure 238

of his society. Even though there is an admirable strength in his resort to "unreason" in his search for truth, Pôtsch's impotence derives as much from his own inability to comprehend the self-legitimation/self- preservation structure of the meta-sphere of GDR ideol­ ogy as from the structure itself.

As discouraging as Pôtsch's figure in Markische

Forschungen might be, the textual mingling of morality, romanticism and realism still conveys a sense of pos­ sibility. In fact, each of de Bruyn's works has a com­ mon sense of possibility for fostering a critical social morality. Moreover, in each of these texts de Bruyn worked from a perspective of the Mitlaufer who nevertheless rejected the primacy of official socialist visions of integration and defended the primacy of per­ sonal moral integrity. Though his moral aesthetics were informed by the dominant socialist discourse, he was able to locate hope in the form of moral resistance within the confines of GDR aesthetic proscriptions. It is only in the final novel, Neue Herrlichkeit. that one finds an implicit rejection of GDR socialism and any possibility for the social self to be nurtured in such an environment. 239

Neue Herrlichkeit

In Neue Herrlichkeit. de Bruyn depicted the GDR as a society which denied its citizens the possibility of exercising a critical social morality. This suppres­

sion is represented in the narrative in three ways: 1) through the protagonist, Viktor Kosling, who is incapa­ ble of a critical or socially controversial decision;

2) through the other figures who, like Pôtsch in

Markische Forschungen. are impotent against the hegemonic construct of the state apparatus (though some comprehend it guite clearly); and 3) through the narra­ tive structure, which utilizes historical genre in order to identify GDR society, as Bernd Fischer points out, as both postmodern and premodern (98).1 The text refutes any claim that GDR society (as it existed in the 1980s) could be seen as having produced progress in the area of moral development. It portrays the GDR as incapable of producing or nurturing a society of indi­ viduals .

1 An anonymous source quotes de Bruyn as taking aim at "der iibliche Feudalismus der DDR" in the novel (Knowlton, "Neue Herrlichkeit" 595). Both the politi­ cal system and the Lebensgefiihl of the GDR were popu­ larly described as feudalistic in the 1980s. The language of feudalistic servitude also abounds in Brattke's critique of Menzel in Markische Forschungen. 240

The following section is not an exhaustive study

of Neue Herrlichkeit. It focuses only on selected

aspects supporting my argument, namely, that the novel

expressed de Bruyn's new despair that the GDR could

never produce moral integrity in its citizens. The

novel must be considered a turning point in de Bruyn's work; he no longer recognized moral possibilities within GDR society. Instead, like the first volume of his memoirs, Zwischenbilanz. de Bruyn searched in Neue

Herrlichkeit for the fundament in German history which kept earlier revolutionary possibilities from coming to

fruition.

Viktor Kosling

The novel's protagonist, Viktor Kosling, is an extreme example of the weakness of character that is a theme in all of de Bruyn's work: Anpassuna. As the narrator states, "denn seine Fahigkeit, der zu werden, der verlangt wird, ist groB. Um Erwartungen zu ent- sprechen, braucht er nur deren Kenntnis; wenn er die hat, ist er bald, was er soil" (165). Viktor's ability to be all things to all people appears to be an endear­ ing characteristic, what one character calls "seine

Gutherzigkeit." Viktor himself finds it to be one of his assets as well. However, through narrative 241 blurring between Viktor's perception of himself and that of the narrator, it is revealed to be an

Überlebensstrateaie of conformity to the expectations and demands of his society, which he assimilates (as all children do) from his parents. The extremes to which Viktor molds himself to fit the expectations of others exposes the danger of stultification to the developing personality (of both the individual person and of society). Viktor's personality lacks character.

The novel demonstrates how Anpassuna affects the personality by inhibiting the desire to develop one's moral character. Viktor is the son of an important party functionary and hero of the socialist reconstruc­ tion of the 1950s. His privileged upbringing and paternalistic relationship to his parents encourage abandonment of any sense of rebellious self creation.

For example, there is no noble struggle for identity in the shadow of his father. Viktor views his status as son to the great Kosling only in terms of his particu­ lar ist desires; therefore, Viktor always defines him­ self in relation to his father. For example, Viktor convinces himself to be among people who do not know his familial background because it seems appropriately adventurous for a young man (his father was adventurous). However, he gives up the project for seemingly practical reasons. 242

Da ihm das manchmal Nichtbeachtung ein- brachte, wurde ihm friih schon klar, dafi es gegen Vernunft zu handeln helBt, sich unnotigerweise Situationen auszusetzen, denen man nicht gewachsen 1st. Er bewegt sich also lieber auf vertrautem Terrain, wo man weifi, wer er ist, und verlaBt sich darauf, der Gefahr, nicht um seiner selbst willen geachtet zu werden, mit Liebenswürdigkeit begegnen zu konnen (13).

In this passage, danger appears to refer to the pos­ sibility of Viktor being judged for who his father is and not for who he is himself. But clearly his avoidance of situations in which he would not be recog­ nized by his father's name suggests that the real danger to him exists precisely in situations requiring him to prove himself. The vocabulary of utility and justification that Viktor uses to convince himself to avoid such situations permeates the passage ("gegen

Vernunft handeln," "unnotigerweise," "verlaBt sich darauf"). The narrator's perspective works to demonstrate the reverse side of Viktor's supposedly endearing qualities and form a critique of his charac­ ter by focusing precisely on what is ignored from Vik­ tor's perspective.

Viktor's chameleon capacity requires the ability to view himself as someone else, namely from the out­ side. He engages in such activity so frequently that he even creates a name for it: "Autologien" or thoughts that he alone has about himself. Critical for our 243

evaluation of Viktor is the nature of this self­

reflection.

Dal3 ihr Ergebnis nicht mitteilbar ist, macht ihr Wesen aus. Autologien sind nur fur ihn da. . . . Sie sind, solange sie dauern, wie auGer ihm da, Gedankenobjekte . . . , die ein einziges, unerschopfliches Thema immer aufs neue variieren: ihn, in verschiedenartiger Beleuchtung (3 7 ).2

What is missing from his activity is reflection on the

self. Rather, his Autologien center around fantasy selves, which are always a function of social conven­ tion and someone else's desire. By constantly creating himself in someone else's image (or further, in Vik­ tor's perception of the image they desire), Viktor eschews responsibility for who he is and ultimately for his own actions.

Da er daran gewohnt wurde, andere fur sich entscheiden zu lassen, ist er das Gegenteil eines Verführers: der allzeit Verfiihrbare namlich. Sein Gefühl fur Frauen gleicht einem Reflektor, der so viel Warme und Licht zuriickstrahlt, wie er empfangt. Nie wurde er untreu, er wird nur untreu gemacht. Er ist der ideale Geliebte, da er dem Bild, das die jeweilige Liebende sich von ihm macht, immer entspricht (38).

The use of the third person allows the narrative to move almost imperceptively between the critical per­ spective of the narrator and Viktor's own perception of himself. This shifting perspective functions to reveal

2 The use of the term "Beleuchtung" associates his reflections with theater; he views himself on a stage in different roles. 244

Viktor's strategies of rationalization and justifi­ cation for his actions.

Thus, Viktor, this master of Anpassuna. is virtually a nonsubject. As Valerie Greenburg ascertains, the chameleon Viktor has no actual trans­ formative experiences in this modern revision of the Entwicklungsroman. He is a "Viktor of the moment,"

"implying there is no coherent subject that enjoys con­ tinuity with the past and progressive growth of per­ sonality" (Greenburg 208). Without the capacity to create himself as subject (rather than as object of his own gaze as well as the gaze of others), Viktor proves incapable of the choices available to the social self.

He is the absolute embodiment of non-reflective social integration.

Far from a passive activity, Viktor's Anpassuna is demonstrated to be the active pursuit of particu­ laristic desire. Viktor's supposed lack of ambition is meant to disguise the tell-tale sign of his particu­ larity: though he claims not to be interested in manipulating others in order to rise above them, Viktor is shown to be a master manipulator. De Bruyn demonstrated Viktor's manipulatory strength in his machinations to win the heart of the chambermaid,

Thilde. "Er muB zum Fanger dadurch werden, daB er die andere Person zum Fanger macht. Um das zu konnen, muB 245

er aber wissen, wie er sein mu&, um zum Fangobjekt zu taugen" (54). Viktor's accommodation functions to manipulate others and ultimately fulfill Viktor's par­ ticularistic desires.

In Neue Herrlichkeit. de Bruyn chose to return to the genre of the Entwicklungsroman. Therefore, Vik­ tor's character is best evaluated in reference to that tradition. The most obvious point of comparison is with Hans Castorp in Thomas Mann's Der Zauberberg

(1924). Both characters go to an isolated retreat, both are without any strong motivation or personal goals, and both are only spurred into action through the pursuit of an elusive and exotic woman. But in addition to the correspondences between the two protagonists, Greenburg has demonstrated how Neue

Herrlichkeit functions as de Bruyn's "creative misread­ ing" of the predecessor text.3 Thus, the protagonists can be viewed in stark contrast to one another as well.

Hans Castorp develops a capacity for empathy and understanding during his stay at the sanatorium "Berg- hof" both through the experience of love and his exposure to the diverse world views espoused by his

3 Greenberg argues that "the relationship between the two texts is representative of what in Harold Bloom's terminology might be called 'the dialectic of revisionism'" (206), In it "the inheritor follows a strategy of 'limitation, substitution, and repression'" (217). 246

philosophical mentors among the patients. Viktor's

retreat to the "Neue Herrlichkeit" to write a doctoral thesis that he has no interest in is merely a sojourn

during which he tries on philosophical perspectives and

emotions, but ultimately remains unaffected by them.

The "Erziehung der Gefiihle" (Klausenitzer 1337) of Neue Herrlichkeit is in reality the attempt by Vik­ tor, who has a truncated capacity for feeling emotion toward others, to experience the feeling of love for another. As Greenberg again aptly notes, Viktor "has remained at an infantile stage of unfulfilled needs"

(216). Scenes from his childhood as well as his rela­ tionship to his authoritarian father suggest that Vik­ tor's psychological disfigurement stemmed from a with­ drawal of love whenever he displeased his parents.

Consequently, the child Viktor learned not only to be the perfect son, but to create emotion in a vacuum.

The narrative demonstrates at several points that Vik­ tor's emotions are masks that he tries on at will according to demands of his situation. Thus, his feel­ ings are self-created or lived vicariously, as for example his Rosenbrief-relationship with Frau Erika.

In an ironic juxtaposition to Castorp's descent from the mountain, Viktor happily escapes by plane. What he escapes is his involvement in the lives of others and the emotions that bind him to Thilde, which he views as 247

a sickness: "die Stabilitat der Gefiihle" (216). There is no education for Viktor. His "retreat," which he views as a healing process, is in reality a retreat from feeling and responsibility.

Tita

Viktor's retreat to the "Neue Herrlichkeit" brings him into contact with a loose-knit family of people who exist on the margins of society. The narrative demonstrates how these characters suffer under the inability to direct their own lives and impotence against a hegemonic state apparatus. For our purposes, only the character of Tita, Thilde's grandmother, will be explored.

Tita is the matriarch of the "Neue Herrlichkeit," which she inherited from her father. She continued to preside over it when the BED appropriated the property and converted the residence into a retreat for employ­ ees of Viktor's ministry. Tita is a representative figure of a LebenshaItunq that is becoming extinct with

Viktor's generation of the new elite. This

LebenshaItuna values development, change and freedom

(symbolized by her anthem, "Das Lied vom wechselnden

Mond"). However, already on Viktor's arrival she is portrayed as having become senile. She climbs into 248

Viktor's chauffeured vehicle, expecting to be driven to her childhood home of Klein-Kietz, now across the bor­ der in Poland. Tita's delusional obsession with her homeland stems from an idyllic childhood in the care of a grandmother who allowed her above all the freedom to be a child. Such a childhood, which provided the foun­ dation for her strength of character, stands in stark contrast to Viktor's own. He is helpless against such

"energische Menschen . . . [d]enn die haben Absichten, die sie durchsetzen wollen" (17).

In demonstrating the influence of Fontane's Der

Stechlin (1897) on Neue Herrlichkeit. Domenico Mugnolo compared the figures of Tita and Dubslav. They are spiritually related in their Lebensqefühl. What

Dubslav achieves as his truth, that "[e]in ewig

Gesetzliches vollzieht sich, weiter nichts, und dieser

Vollzug, auch wenn er 'Tod' heifît, darf uns nicht schrecken. In das Gesetzliche sich ruhig schicken, das macht den sittlichen Menschen und hebt ihn," is demonstrated by Tita in her "Lied vom wechselnden

Mond." As Mugnolo states, both have a sense of his­ tory, of the "unabdingbaren Wandel aller Dinge," an interest in other people, and feelings that Viktor can­ not possibly know (98). Instead, he usurps Tita's song, changing the lyrics to reflect his own Lebens­ qefühl . namely, "da& hier unter dem wechselnden Mond allés so bleiben soil, wie es ist" (137). 249

Tita's states of "unreason" are her defense against what one character calls the "Einheitslack" of a society based on "Ordnung." Viktor is its ideal citizen. As its representative, he significantly gives voice to his society's condemnation of her

Lebenshaltung. When she climbs into the ministry car, he exclaims, "Sie sind hier falsch." Justifiably then, she heads for the Polish border in her delusional states to reclaim her freedom in Klein-Kietz. In an ironic twist of actual conditions in the GDR at that time, the old woman is prevented from entering Poland

(the border is closed), though as a senior citizen she has the right to cross into (what was then) West

Germany. Poland in the early 1980s, however, was the

Poland of Solidarity and attempts to revitalize the lost virtues of union-based socialism. The values of

Solidarity are clearly alluded to in the name of the pub, "Zum guten Freund," which Tita's grandmother ran and where Tita spent her happy childhood. The reform of socialism represented by the founding of Solidarity is expressed through Tita's youthful vigor and yearning for the freedom of a new socialist solidarity. But seen from the perspective of the oppressive orderliness and conformity of the GDR, it is painted as insane and disorderly.

Tita's attempts to escape this "sanity" of the GDR are futile. Her ultimate demise comes at the hands of 250

Viktor. She stands between him and the object of his particularistic desire, namely Thilde. Thilde has postponed her own desires in order to care for her grandmother. Viktor convinces her to place Tita in a convalescent home, graphically portrayed in the novel as the dumping grounds for the unwanted. There Tita dies as a result of Liebesentzuq. When the funeral takes place, Viktor is already on the plane, continuing virtually unaffected and guiltless on his career path.

Thus, the freedom that Tita represents is thought­ lessly, yet ruthlessly crushed by the new elite that

Viktor represents. Her death, caused by Viktor's self- interest, symbolizes the impossibility of reforming GDR socialism.

Neue Herrlichkeit as Zeitroman

The title, Neue Herrlichkeit. directs the gaze of the reader not only toward the protagonist Viktor, who represents the new GDR elite caste, but also toward the stage on which the action is carried o u t . 4 More than

4 The root of the word Herrlichkeit suggests power and dominance over others through its relationship to other words like Herrschaft. It also conjures up the image of an authoritarian ruling class. The term is an allusion to new GDR ruling class as well as the his­ torical period of the Griinderzeit when Tita's father founded the estate. 251

just a psychological portrait of the Anpasser and the marginalized and disenfranchised people of the provinces, it is a Zeitroman in the tradition of Thomas

Mann's Der Zauberberg. Fontane's Der Stechlin and even

Jean Paul's Hesperus (Mugnolo 90). Each is meant to capture the specific conditions of its own epoch. As

Fischer has aptly recognized, what makes Neue Herrlich­ keit such a biting critique is the extent to which de Bruyn's experimentation with historical genre and recreation of the Lebensqefühl of the Biedermeier period actually captured the essence of GDR society in the 1980s (100).5

Viktor Kosling himself was created from a literary tradition of male figures who test their autonomy and strength of character through a liaison with a forbid­ den woman and fail the test. Viktor's family tree includes de Bruyn's Karl Erp as well as Fontane's Baron

Botho von Reienacker (Irrungen. Wirrungen. 1888) and even Schiller's Ferdinand von Walter (Kabale und Liebe.

^ It also problematizes the perception then popu­ lar among some Western defenders of the GDR that its nineteenth-century Lebensstil was a unique advantage for its citizens. This contention is challenged by the demonstration of the frustrations of everyday GDR life for those without privileges or connections to those with privileges. 252

1 7 8 4 ).G Put to the test, their resolve falters because of an inability to act beyond the confines of limited social-moral horizons. But their failure is not only personal. It has a social basis and often tragic con­ sequences for others as well. These consequences, for example Tita's death, provide the moral dimension of the critique of their characters.

De Bruyn's focus of the narrative on the weak male figure is a significant revision of the tradition of the büraerliches Trauerspiel. This tradition stressed

"die fur die Tragodie erforderliche Wurde und GroBe im

Ungliick" of the tragic figure, "die Tragerin hochster

Moral" (Guthke 10, 48). In Neue Herrlickeit. the absence of greatness and honor in the central character heightens awareness of its lack. In fact, tragedy is relegated to a secondary figure (Tita). De Bruyn used a similar technique in Buridans Esel where the opening scene was borrowed from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which emphasizes a secondary figure, Anna's brother-in-law.

The effects of his adultery form a stark contrast with those of Anna's, indicating the social double-standard of the period. By making this historically secondary figure the focus of his narrative, de Bruyn gave

^ In this regard, de Bruyn was tapping into not only a tradition of the Ehebruchsroman. but also the bürqerliches Trauerspiel. 253

recognition to an important historical fact; these are the men who actually have power, who run governments and bureaucracies and who turn the virtue of others into tragedy.

It is most tragically ironic that the social con­ ditions of the nineteenth century should capture the social conditions of the GDR, whose raison d'etre was precisely in defeating the hegemony of an immoral elite over the disenfranchised through socialism. In all of de Bruyn's previous novels the possibility existed that this virtue, in the form of a critical social morality, would prevail. In Neue Herrlichkeit. all hope for this possibility is lost. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works by the Author (chronological)

"Achtung, Rauschgifthandell Diskussions-Beitrage zu dem Aufsatz von Christa Wolf in unserem Febru- arheft," Neue Deutsche Literatur 3 (1955) 4: 118- 22.

Wiedersehen an der Spree. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Ver- lag, 1960.

Hochzeit in Weltzow. Berlin: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1960.

"Grischa 1944." Arnold Zweig. Ein Almanach. Berlin: Aufbau, 1962. Rpt. Liersch, Im Ouerschnitt. 367-70.

Der Hohlweg. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1963.

"Ein schwarzer abgrundtiefer See." Neue Deutsche Lit­ eratur (1962) 10: 45-92.

Ein schwarzer abgrundtiefer See. Erzahlungen. First ed. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1963.

"Das unartige Kind der Kritik. Gedanken zur Literatur- Parodie." Sonntaa 6 (1964).

"Aussage unter Eid." Horspiel. Neue Deutsche Litera­ tur (1965) 4; 3-39.

Maskaraden. Parodien. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1966.

"Rendezvous mit Jean Paul." Sonntag 16 (1966) 30: 14.

Ein schwarzer abgrundtiefer See. Erzahlungen. Second ed. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1966.

"Zum Thema: Lesen." Situation 66. Halle: Mit­ teldeutscher Verlag, 1966. Rpt. Liersch, Im Ouerschnitt. 335-37.

"Biedermeierliches" Sonntag 29 (1967): 15.

Hochzeit in Weltzow. Leipzig: Reclam, 1968.

254 255

Buridans Esel. Halle; Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1968.

"Immer wieder Fontane." Theodor Fontane. Stinne. Irrunqen. Wirrungen. Mathilde Mohring. Ed. Gunter de Bruyn. Berlin: Neues Leben, 1970.

"Bedingungen des Glücks." Neue Deutsche Literatur (1971) 1: 32f.

"Fragment eines Frauenportrats. Über Christa Wolf." Liebes- und andere Erklârungen. Schriftsteller über Schriftsteller. Ed. Annie Voigtlânder. Ber- lin/Weimar: Aufbau, 1972. 410-16.

Preisverleihung. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1972.

"Wie ich zur Literatur kam." Sinn und Form (1972). Rpt. Liersch, Im Ouerschnitt. 309-14.

"Geschlechtertausch." Sinn und Form (1973). Rpt. Blitz aus heiterm Himmel. Ed. Edith Anderson. First ed. Rostock: Hinstorff, 1975.

"Der Holzweg." Eroffnungen. Schriftsteller über ihr Erstlingswerke. Berlin: Aufbau, 1974. Rpt. Liersch, Im Ouerschnitt. 327-32.

"Jean Paul, das unbekannteste Genie." Sonntag (1975): 45.

"Jean Paul und die neuere DDR-Literatur," Jahrbuch der Jean-Paul-Gesellschaft (1975) 10: 205-11.

"Der Künstler und die anderen." Thomas Mann. Tonio Kroger. Mit einer Betrachtung von Günter de Bruyn. First ed. Berlin: Buchverlag der Morgen, 1975. Rpt. Liersch, Im Ouerschnitt. 355-65.

Das Leben des Jean Paul Friedrich Richter. Eine Biographie. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1975.

Tristan und Isolde. Nach Gottfried von StraBburg neu erzahlt von Günter de Bruyn. Berlin: Verlag Neues Leben, 1975.

"Freiheitsberaubung." Auskunft 2. Ed. Stefan Heym. Munich: Autorenedition, 1976. Rpt. Frauendienst. 131-40.

"Lesefreude mit Jean Paul." Jean Paul. Quintus Fix- lein. Ed. Günter de Bruyn. Berlin: Buchverlag der Morgen, 1976. 256

"Fouque Oder Warnendes Beispiel." Sinn und Form (1979). Rpt. Friedrich de la Motte Fougue. Rit­ ter und Geister. Ed. Günter de Bruyn. Berlin: Buchverlag der Morgen, 1980. Markische Forschunaen: Erzahlung für Freunde der Liter- aturoeschichte. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 1979.

Im Ouerschnitt: Prosa, Essay. Biographie. Günter de Bruyn. Ed. Werner Liersch. Halle: Mit­ teldeutscher Verlag, 1979

"'Sie, Kleist, nehmen das Leben gefahrlich ernst.'" In Christa Wolf. Materialienbuch. Ed. Klaus Sauer. Darmstadt/Neuwied: Luchterhand, 1979. 21-23.

Babylon. Erzahlungen. Leipzig: Reclam, 1980.

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