Resonantes Erzählen - Zu einem formsemantischen Prinzip bei Alfred Döblin The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Luemers, Arndt. 2016. Resonantes Erzählen - Zu einem formsemantischen Prinzip bei Alfred Döblin. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33493436 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Resonantes Erzählen – Zu einem formsemantischen Prinzip bei Alfred Döblin A dissertation presented by Arndt Luemers to The Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Germanic Languages and Literatures Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts April 2016 © 2016 – Arndt Luemers All rights reserved. Prof. Judith Ryan, Prof. Oliver Simons Arndt Luemers Resonantes Erzählen – Zu einem formsemantischen Prinzip bei Alfred Döblin Abstract From the sympathetic vibration of strings to the resonance disasters of collapsing bridges, the physical phenomenon of resonance has fascinated people for centuries. In the 20th century, German writer Alfred Döblin takes up the notion of resonance in his philosophical text Unser Dasein. In Döblin’s understanding of the individual as an ‘open system,’ resonance features as the main natural principle that connects individuals with each other, but also with the world in general. This dissertation investigates the concept of resonance in its anthropological and literary implications for Döblin. It combines a cultural studies approach with structuralist narratology. The first part of the dissertation examines the history of the discourse on resonance from the 16th to the 20th centuries with regard to a small set of examples of resonance phenomena, and leads up to an analysis of Döblin’s concept of resonance. The second part consists of close readings of Döblin’s novels Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lun and Berge Meere und Giganten, as well as his epic Manas, in light of this concept and its relationship to the problem of individuation. The dissertation argues that resonance as a figure of repetition and increase features both on a diegetic and a formal level in Döblin’s texts and, as ‘resonant narration,’ becomes a form-semantic principle in the literary text. ! iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the members of my committee. Oliver Simons has supported and motivated me from the beginning of graduate school. In a perfect balance of guidance and freedom, he has helped me shape my ideas, and I have benefited immensely from his knowledge and his intellectual curiosity. We have always had very productive discussions, and he has been tremendously precise and constructive in his feedback. I could not have wished for a better advisor and mentor. Judith Ryan has broadened my intellectual scope in seminars and inspiring discussions, and she has pointed me to many connections that would have otherwise escaped my attention. She has given me valuable feedback, and I admire her commitment and readiness to help. Peter Burgard has been a constant and essential supporter during my graduate studies through stimulating conversations and advice. He has given me the opportunity to work as a Teaching Fellow in his courses at Harvard and as a summer school tutor in Munich for three summers – both of which have been extremely rewarding experiences. My research received generous financial support from a Harvard Center for European Studies Graduate Dissertation Research Fellowship funded by the Krupp Foundation, and a Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Completion Fellowship. I want to thank Gabriele Sander for discussions and help with reading Alfred Döblin’s handwriting, Christina Althen for sharing biographical information on Döblin, and Heidrun Fink from the German Literature Archive in Marbach for her help with inquiries about the manuscripts. For the permission to quote from the manuscripts of Unser Dasein and Manas, I am grateful to Stephan Döblin as the representative of the heirs of Alfred Döblin, as well as to the German Literature Archive in Marbach am Neckar. ! iv Among those who have shared this journey with me, I would like to thank, first and foremost, Giovanna Micconi for all the discussions, laughs, and joyful memories, and for being an absolutely fabulous roommate, pen pal, and friend. I want to thank Aaron DeLoughery for our conversations, game nights, and our countless dinners and coffees, and Kai Widmaier, whose academic rigor and excellence have been an inspiration throughout, for his friendship and encouragement. Felix Ewert has been my emotional support during this past year of intensive writing. Over the years, many people have been invaluable in taking my mind off graduate school and this dissertation. For this I am grateful to Anna Bers, James Birks, Stephanie Bosch Santana, Renan Escalante Chong, Chii Shyang Fong, Christopher McClain, Daniela Langer, Lu Kou, Jonathan Schneiderman, Jonathon Sunada, Gernot Waldner, Josef Weber, Mark Winter, Christa Wirth, Julia Zupancic, and, especially, to my oldest friends who have always been at my side, Kerstin Schnelting, Michael Wolbring, and Carolin Zell. My family has given me unconditional support, confidence, love, and encouragement at every step of the way. This endeavor would not have been possible without them. In particular, I would like to thank my grandparents, Paul and Anneliese Gores, and Karl Lümers; my sister Anne, with Michael, Lennart, Arne, and Ida; my sister Kathrin; and, above all, my parents, Gaby and Bruno Lümers, to whom I dedicate this dissertation. ! v Meinen Eltern ! vi INHALT 1. Einleitung: ‚Ich muß mich erst zurechtfinden‘ ....................................................................... 1 2. Zur Methode ............................................................................................................................ 10 3. Zur Resonanz 3.1. Einführung ....................................................................................................................... 46 3.2. Resonanz – eine Annäherung 3.2.1. Vom läutenden Knaben ......................................................................................... 49 3.2.2. Vom Ins-Klavier-Singen ........................................................................................ 60 3.2.3. Vom Zersingen der Gläser und zerstörten Brücken .............................................. 74 3.2.4. Zur Begriffsgeschichte .......................................................................................... 86 3.2.5. Von der Resonanz der Resonanz ........................................................................... 94 3.3. Resonanz in Unser Dasein .............................................................................................. 101 3.4. Diegetische und formale Resonanz ................................................................................. 114 4. Lektüren 4.1. Die drei Sprünge des Wang-lun 4.1.1. Einleitung ............................................................................................................... 117 4.1.2. Problemstellung: Die Zueignung ........................................................................... 120 4.1.3. Zur Mehrstimmigkeit des Romans ........................................................................ 128 4.1.4. Diegetische und formale Resonanz: die Masse und der Infinitiv .......................... 139 4.1.5. Leitmotivik: Resonante Stimmen 4.1.5.1. Einführung ............................................................................................... 148 4.1.5.2. Vom Ausatmen ......................................................................................... 150 4.1.5.3. Von der Fünfzahl ...................................................................................... 155 4.1.5.4. Schluß: Vom Verbergen des Gesichts ...................................................... 160 4.1.5.5. Zusammenfassung .................................................................................... 167 4.1.6. Resonantes Erzählen als Antwort – abermals zur Zueignung ............................... 169 4.2. Manas 4.2.1. Einleitung ............................................................................................................... 177 4.2.2. Problemstellung ..................................................................................................... 186 4.2.3. Diegetische und formale Resonanz in Manas ....................................................... 191 4.2.4. Vom Atmen und Einfühlen 4.2.4.1. Atmen als Resonanz ................................................................................. 207 4.2.4.2. Atmen und Einfühlung ............................................................................. 216 4.2.4.3. Einfühlung als Strukturprinzip ................................................................. 236 4.2.5. Schluß: Vom Nicht-Erlöschen ............................................................................... 243 ! vii 4.3. Berge Meere und Giganten 4.3.1. Einleitung ............................................................................................................... 260 4.3.2. Problemstellung: