tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53446462973634416372024-03-13T18:01:00.946+01:004 Verse Novels / VersromaneCiaran Carson, For All We Know; Durs Grünbein, Vom Schnee; Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red; Christoph Ransmayr, Der fliegende BergAndrew Shieldshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-86970800047981668052009-05-17T17:45:00.004+02:002009-05-17T17:55:16.762+02:00Vier Versromane / Vier Mal Liebe<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br />In <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">For</span> All <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">We</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Know</span> </span>begegnet der Leser/ die Leserin der Liebe durch die Erinnerung eines Liebenden an seine verstorbene Liebe. Ein Mann, der sich an Gespräche mit seiner Geliebten erinnert und dadurch sich, sein Gegenüber und ihre Liebe zu begreifen sucht.<br /><br /><blockquote>So <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">carefully</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">did</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">you</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">measure</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">your</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">words</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">it</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">seemed</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">me</span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">You</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">rareley</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">said</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">what</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">first</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">came</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">to</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">mind</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">You</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">reserved</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">judgement</span>.</blockquote><br /><br />Zwischen den Zeilen bleibt eine Unsicherheit hängen, die immer wieder aufflammt. Eine verlorene Liebe, die scheinbar erst im Nachhinein für Unsicherheit sorgte (?). Es bleibt unklar, wer, wie empfunden hat- und doch sind die beschriebenen Gefühle so nah und dicht.<br /><br />Ganz rational und analytisch hingegen begegnet der Leser/ die Leserin der Liebe in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Durs</span> Grünbeins <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Déscartes</span>, der im Winter des 17. Jahrhundert in einem verschneiten deutschen Dorf festsitzt, erklärt seinen Diener, wie die Liebe funktioniert.<br /><br /><blockquote>„ Zwei Kräfte sind: Begehren und er gute Wille,<br />Was sie bewegt, die Seele, von der Liebesmacht gereizt.<br />Amor et Studium- die noble Sorge und der dunkle Trieb,<br />ein Hochgefühl, und ein Verlangen, kaum zu stillen.<br />So <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">generös</span> das eine, nährt das andere Eifersucht und Geiz.<br />Ein Alibi für alle, das ist Liebe, und eine Grund, warum<br />Die Welt ist, wie sie ist – zerrissen, böse <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">unregiert</span>.“<br /></blockquote><br />Ein ewiger Kampf zwischen Geist und Körper scheint für <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Décartes</span> die Liebe zu sein. Ein <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">grosser</span> Denker kämpft mit seinen Gefühlen und scheitert an denselben. In dem kalten Setting der Winterlandschaft verfolgt der Leser/die Leserin das Ringen von Körper gegen Geist.<br /><br />Beim dritten <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">Versroman</span> ist das Körperliche des Protagonisten Thema der Ausgrenzung und der Besetzung durch Missbrauch. <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">Autobiography</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Red</span></span> zeichnet das Bild des Liebenden, der still begehrt, liebt und wartet bis es das Gegenüber bemerkt. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">Geryon</span> steht bewundernd und still im Hintergrund. Gelähmt hofft er auf Erlösung durch eine Begegnung, die nie wirklich stattfindet. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">Geryon</span> trifft Herakles:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37"></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">They</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">were</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">two</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">superior</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">eels</span> </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">At</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_44">bottom</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_45">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_46">the</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_47">tank</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_48">and</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">they</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_50">recognized</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_51">each</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_52">other</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_53">like</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_54">italics</span>.</span><br /></blockquote><br />Die vermeintliche <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_55">grosse</span> Liebe löst sich aber nach einer heftigen letzten Liebesnacht in Luft auf.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_56">once</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_57">loved</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_58">you</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_59">now</span> I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_60">don</span>’t <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_61">know</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_62">you</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_63">at</span> all.</blockquote></span><br /><br />Schlussendlich wird die Liebe im letzten Buch erst durch den Tod möglich. Zwei Brüder, die einen <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_64">Berg</span> in Tibet besteigen, erlebten zeitlebens Entfremdung und Distanz. Ein lebenslanger Konkurrenzkampf um Anerkennung und Verständnis für die Perspektive des anderen gipfelt im Schneesturm auf dem fliegenden Berg. Mit dem Tod des einen Bruders wird Liebe und Verständnis möglich.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Tot.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Er hatte mich in einem Wirbel aus <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_65">eisstarren</span> Faltern</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In den Armen gehalten.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Er hatte mich gewärmt und mich ins Leben zurückerzählt (...)</span><br /></blockquote><br />Vier <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_66">Versromane</span>, die unter anderem die Liebe beschreiben. Unterschiedlicher könnten die Protagonisten, die <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_67">Settings</span> und die Geschichten nicht sein, aber alle vereint die Dichte und Nähe des Geschehens zum Leser/zur Leserin.<br /><br />Zitierte Werke:<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_68">For</span> all <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_69">We</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_70">Know</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_71">Ciaran</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_72">Carson</span><br />Vom Schnee <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_73">Durs</span> Grünbein<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_74">Autobiography</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_75">of</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_76">Red</span> Anne <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_77">Carson</span><br />Der fliegende Berg Christoph <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_78">Ransmayer</span>yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01452195924146264210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-24989960087426383272009-05-15T09:56:00.000+02:002009-05-15T09:58:15.149+02:00der freie Flattersatz<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">In der “Notiz am Rand”, die Christoph Ransmayr seinem Werk <i>Der fliegende Berg</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE"> vorangehen lässt, grenzt er sein Werk klar von der Poesie ab. Es sei „da und dort das Missverständnis laut geworden, bei jedem flatternden, also aus ungleich langen Zeilen bestehenden Text handle es sich um ein Gedicht.“ Diesem „Irrtum“ wirkt Ransmayr entgegen indem er sein Werk explizit als Roman (siehe Umschlag) klassifiziert. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">Bei der Lektüre wird der Leser jedoch effektiv erstmals dazu verleitet, zu glauben, es handle sich bei dem „in Strophen gegliederten Flattersatz“ um Verse. Der Grund, meint Ransmayr sei, dass „wir uns daran gewöhnt [haben], dass Prosa im Blocksatz daherkommt und Lyrik gemeinhin im Flattersatz. Aber wo steht geschrieben, dass das immer so sein muss?“ (</span><span style="font-family:ArialMT;mso-ansi-language:DE"><a href="http://oe1.orf.at/highlights/65693.html"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">http://oe1.orf.at/highlights/65693.html</span></a></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">) <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">Tatsächlich handelt es sich in <i>Der fliegende Berg</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE"> um rhythmische Prosa. Diesen Rhythmus glaubt Ransmayr im Flattersatz, den er in Anlehnung an den Titel seines Romans auch den <i>fliegenden Satz</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE"> nennt, sichtbar zu machen. Als eine Art Partitur soll der Flattersatz auch dem Publikum den Nachvollzug erleichtern, da er dem „Rhythmus des Sprechens“, dem Rhythmus, „in dem [Ransmayr] die Geschichte erzählen würde“, entspreche (<i>ibid.</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">Der Blocksatz, so Ransmayr (http://www.medienbuero-niessen.de/84-0-Christoph-Ransmayr-2006.html) ist eine (technisch ökonomische) <i>Druck</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">form, nicht aber eine <i>Erzähl</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">form. Ebenso, ist der Flattersatz eine sehr alte Textform, die jedoch auch heutzutage alles andere als ungewöhnlich für Prosatexte ist, wie man zum Beispiel in den Spalten in Tageszeitungen sehen kann (<i>ibid.</i></span><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:DE">„Der Flattersatz ist frei und gehört nicht allein den Dichtern!!!“ <o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->cordulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04231253189262101317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-28774482068564907942009-05-08T09:14:00.001+02:002009-05-09T09:25:09.547+02:00Autobiography of Red - silly criticism though I liked it<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Anne Carson’s verse novel <i>Autobiography of Red</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> is a rewriting of the Greek myth of Geryon. At least, this is what Carson pretends it to be by adding to the novel a rich frame about the myth by the greek author Stesichoros. According to the myth, Geryon is a red winged monster, the keeper of a cattle of red bulls. He is killed by Heracles whose tenth labor was it to steal that cattle. Carson rewrites this myth from the perspective of the monster or rather the victim. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The story is about a boy who is reputed to be also a red winged monster. However, as the story goes on, the reader can very well imagine that this pretended monstrosity and redness is simply a complex of Geryon who feels different. When Geryon is a child, his elder brother sexually abuses him. Paradoxically – or typically? – later, as he “makes it somehow to adolescence” (39), he is gay too. He meets Heracles and they have a relationship. This relationship does not last; Heracles breakes it off, and brakes Geryon’s heart. But is this already his death, as in analogy to the myth? And what about the cattle? Actually, one could ask several times all through the novel what exactly the reference to the frame is. It says there “Arrow means kill” (13). Of course it could be like Amor’s arrow and Geryon’s death can be understood in a figurative way as his lost of a big love and the consequent death of something inside him. But is that not too simple? What follows does not happen in the novel at all, not even in a figurative way: “It parted Geryon’s skull like a comb Made / The boy neck lean At an odd slow angle sideways as when a / Poppy shames itself in a whip of Nude breeze” (ibid.) The only thing that could be found is maybe that a Poppy is red… . <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There are more such examples that show that there is a certain inaccurateness between the story and its frame and Carson knows that. Thus her Stesichoros says at the end of the interview: “so glad you didn’t ask about the little red dog” (149). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->cordulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04231253189262101317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-59538538137375490712009-05-07T13:10:00.005+02:002009-05-07T13:19:50.215+02:00Den Berg bezwingen?<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Humboldt-Bonpland_Chimborazo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 263px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Humboldt-Bonpland_Chimborazo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">(Vorbemerkung: Dieser </span>blogpost<span style="font-style: italic;"> behandelt ganz offensichtlich nicht Ransmayers Buch. Er gibt im besten Fall einen Referenzpunkt, mithilfe dessen man '</span>Der fliegende Berg<span style="font-style: italic;">' in der Abenteurerliteratur verorten kann).</span><br /><br />Erstbesteigungen sind rar geworden. Dies, so eine intuitive Antwort, aufgrund des technischen Fortschritts was Kartographie, Ausrüstung und Medizin betrifft. Bis ins neunzehnte Jahrhundert, in welchem viele dieser Gebiete entscheidend vorankamen, waren solche Expeditionen aber häufige Unternehmungen, welche ausserdem von den entstehenden Staaten materiell unterstützt wurden. Letzteres deshalb, weil der aufkommende Nationalismusdiskurs es für die Elite eines Staates auf eine Weise notwendig machte, ihr Land als das Beste dastehen zu lassen, die uns heute nur noch schwer vorstellbar ist.<br />Als eine Art Leistungsnachweis lieferten die Abenteurer dem Staat nicht nur Pflanzen und kulturelle Relikte ab, sondern auch Reisetagebücher, also Dokumentationen der Expedition. In einem der wohl bekanntesten Tagebücher dieser Art schreibt der deutsche Forscher Alexander von Humboldt: „[...] sammelten wir viele Steine, von denen wir 2 Sammlungen nach Madrid und Paris schickten und die dritte für das Kabinett des Königs in Berlin bei uns behielten. Wer in Europa würde nicht einen Stein vom Chimborazo haben wollen, und wo gibt es bis heute ein Kabinett, das einen solchen besitzt?“ (Humboldt 2006: 98f.).<br />Insbesondere ist es aber für diesen klassischen Versuch einer Bergbesteigung im frühen 19. Jahrhundert (Humboldt verfehlte das Ziel, den Gipfel, knapp, weshalb es kein Wunder ist, dass er im Nachhinein befand: „Welchen Nutzen hätte man davon, wenn man seine Instrumente 200 Toisen höher trüge, auf ein Gelände, wo das Gestein sich der Beobachtung entzieht, auf einen Berg, der für magnetische Experimente ungeeignet ist, weil das Gestein die Magnetnadel beeinflußt und selbst Pole besitzt“ (ebd.: 97).) typischerweise ganz zentral, dass es sich um eine Erstbesteigung handelt: „Auch sind wir die ersten Naturforscher gewesen, die diesen Koloß eigens aufgesucht haben. Née und Piñeda haben ihn nur beim Überqueren der <span style="font-style: italic;">ensillada</span> [des Gebirgspasses] gesehen“ (ebd.: 99). Für die nationalistisch motivierten Geldgeber der Expedition wäre es äusserst unglücklich, zu wissen, dass ‚Eingeborene’ den Berg bereits bestiegen hatten, der ja nun als grosse Leistung der deutschen Nation zum ersten Mal von einem Deutschen bestiegen werden sollte.<br />Natürlich lässt sich an diesem Punkt die Bezeichnung der Erstbesteigung vielfach problematisieren. Auf eine Weise zum Beispiel als männliche Selbstbehauptung (eigenartig: eine Gender-Perspektive auf Menschen in der Vertikale). Auf eine andere Weise, weil nur, dass die zwei einheimischen Führer noch nie auf den Gipfel des Chimborazo bestiegen hatten, noch nicht heisst, dass ihnen nicht andere Menschen zuvorgekommen waren. Mit dieser Problematisierung entmystifiziert sich die ganze Idee einer Erstbesteigung natürlich. Und wirklich: wer traut sich heute noch, zu behaupten, er sei der erste Mensch an einem Ort? Erstbesteigungen sind nicht einfach rar, sie sind gar, die gestrigen wie die heutigen, dubios geworden.<br /><br />Literatur:<br />- Humboldt, Alexander von: <span style="font-style: italic;">Ueber einen Versuch den Gipfel des Chimborazo zu ersteigen</span>. Hg. von Oliver Lubrich u. Ottmar Ette. Berlin 2006.<br /><br />Abbildung:<br />- <span style="font-style: italic;">Alexander von Humboldt und Aime Bonpland am Fuß des Vulkans Chimborazo.</span> Gemälde von Friedrich Georg Weitsch (1810). Dieses Bild ist gemeinfrei.</div>Michael Listeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016645456304376847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-63424734851961963242009-05-06T19:49:00.006+02:002009-05-06T20:06:23.550+02:00Der fliegende BergDer Versroman von Christoph Ransmayr beginnt mit dem Tod und nimmt mit ihm seinen Anfang in der Geschwisterbeziehung von Liam und Pàdraic. Letzterer erinnert sich nach einem Nahtoderlebnis an seine Kindheit mit seinem Bruder. Er erinnert sich an den grossen Bruder, seinen Vater und seine Mutter. In wunderschönen, berührenden und farbigen Bildern erfährt der/die Leserin die Qualität der Beziehungen innerhalb der Familie.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Wenn Shona (Mutter) mich in einem Zuber unserer Waschküche<br /> gebadet hatte (während Liam, der grosse Bruder<br /> anschliessend und in meinemWaschwasser<br /> ganz ohne Aufsicht Orkane, Sturmwellen<br /> und Schiffskatastrophen entfesseln durfte),<br /> hatte sie ihren Schwamm zu einem Nyemas Singsang<br /> ähnlichen Kinderlied über meinen Körper geführt<br /> und dabei alle Stationen der Waschung benannt, ...<br /></div></blockquote><br />In diesem intimen Bild erkennt der/die Leserin zwischen den Zeilen, wie es um die beiden Brüder, beziehungsweise dem Erzähler und der Mutter, steht. Aber Ransmayr ist nicht nur Meister im Erwecken der Bilder zwischen den Zeilen, er versteht es auch Stimmungen schlicht und leise zu beschreiben, selbst in hoch dramatischen Situationen. Dennoch ist die Wirkung effektiv, denn die Worte sind klar und scharf und werden nur durch das poetische Bild gemildert.<br /><br /><blockquote> Die Lufttemperatur meiner Todesstunde<br /> betrug minus 30 Grad Celsius,<br /> und ich sah, wie die Feuchtigkeit<br /> meiner letzten Atemzüge kristallisierte<br /> und als Rauch in der Morgendämmerung zerstob.<br /></blockquote><br />Es ist beeindruckend, wie die Worte Bilder evozieren, die der Klarheit der Wortbedeutung die Schärfe nehmen. Die Geschichte der beiden Brüder, die vordergründig in einem Konkurrenzkampf stehen und aber Nähe suchen endet im Tod und mit dem Tod entdeckt der Jüngere die Liebe zu seinem Bruder. Ein wundervolles Buch!yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01452195924146264210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-64748766740055065472009-05-02T22:24:00.003+02:002009-05-02T22:26:45.093+02:00Ciaran Carson on BelfastI happened to get Ciaran Carson's translation of Dante's <span style="font-style: italic;">Inferno</span> right after we finished discussing <span style="font-style: italic;">For All We Know</span>, and I could not resist reading it right away. It is an exhilarating book, but what I want to refer you to here is this, from Carson's introduction:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Natives of Belfast claim that they can tell each other's identities—Protestant or Catholic—by a combination of accent, vocabulary, clothes, bearing, and gesture.</span><br /><br />This confirms our reading of Gabriel's comments to Nina in the second "Birthright" poem in <span style="font-style: italic;">For All We Know</span>.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Andrew Shieldshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-79131331504154920472009-04-30T08:03:00.002+02:002009-04-30T08:08:36.608+02:00Ransmayrs "Der fliegende Berg" - Kitsch oder wunderschöner Epos?Christoph Ransmayrs “Der fliegende Berg” war der erste Roman, den ich für das Seminar in den Semesterferien gelesen hatte. Daher habe ich mich relativ unvoreingenommen auf das Buch eingelassen und war fasziniert von der poetischen Sprache Ransmayrs. Schon das erste Kapitel hat mich in seinen Bann gezogen. Das Buch fängt mit den Zeilen: “Ich starb / 6840 Meter über dem Meeresspiegel / am vierten Mai im Jahr des Pferdes.” an, und schon ist man mittendrin in Ransmayrs Epos über Bruderliebe und -hass, Natur und Moderne, Leben und Tod.<br />Viel mehr als der Inhalt hat mich an diesem Roman die Sprache gefesselt. Ransmayr schafft es, sehr detailgetreu zu schreiben, und dabei wunderschöne Bilder zu evozieren:<br /><br />“Die Lufttemperatur meiner Todesstunde<br />betrug minus 30 Grad Celsius,<br />und ich sah, wie die Feuchtigkeit<br />meiner letzten Atemzüge kristallisierte<br />und als Rauch in der Morgendämmerung zerstob.” (9)<br /><br />“Und die Sterne erloschen auch nicht,<br />als über den Eisfahnen die Sonne aufging<br />und mir die Augen schloss,<br />sondern erschienen in meiner Blendung<br />und noch im Rot meiner geschlossenen Lider<br />als weiss pulsierende Funken.” (10)<br /><br />Viele Kritiker scheinen allerdings gar nicht meiner Meinung zu sein, für sie ist Ransmayr “ziemlich kitschig” (Peter Mohr, Titel Magazin), im Tonfall “einer esoterischen Kunst” geschrieben (Ijoma Mangold, Süddeutsche), und die NZZ Online schreibt: “Der hohe Ton, den Ransmayr wie kaum einer beherrscht, läuft Gefahr, sich abzunutzen, und er stösst da an seine Grenzen, wo es Banales zu erklären gibt (wie etwa ein Mousepad)”. Auch Rachel Vogt von der WOZ findet, dass Ransmayr sich in Platitüden verheddert, wenn er von der Liebe spricht.<br />Es mag sein, dass Ransmayrs gehobener Stil tatsächlich nicht für alle Beschreibungen von Alltäglichkeiten angemessen ist, und zuweilen etwas seltsam anmutet. Man darf aber nicht vergessen, dass dieses Buch eigentlich dazu bestimmt ist, vorgelesen zu werden, und daher der Klang der Sprache, die Wortwahl und die Zeilenumbrüche besonders wichtig sind. Mit diesen Werkzeugen schafft es Ransmayr, wunderschöne, eindrückliche Passagen zu erschaffen:<br /><br />“Ich war gestorben.<br />Er hatte mich gefunden.” (11)<br /><br />“Ich war müde, unsagbar müde.<br />Wollte liegenbleiben.<br />Liegenbleiben, schlafen.<br />Schlafen.” (15)<br /><br />“Sie beugten sich über mein Elend,<br />über einen von der Sonne und vom Frost<br />verbrannten Fremden,<br />der mit blutenden Händen zu ihren Füssen lag<br />und der nach den Erzählungen des Sängers<br />vom fliegenden Berg gefallen war,<br />aus dem Himmel<br />in den Schnee.” (23)<br /><br />So stimme ich mit Ludger Lütkehaus von der Zeit überein, der schreibt: “Aber Ransmayrs <em>Fliegender Berg</em> erinnert auch daran, dass gerade große Literatur öfters dort entsteht, wo die Kitschgrenze nur haarscharf vermieden wird.“Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11895153106822520180noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-53109572933720409412009-04-23T15:15:00.000+02:002009-04-23T15:16:36.934+02:00Geryon's sexual developmentGeryon’s first encounter with sex is his brother abusing him. They develop an “economy of sex” (28), Geryon getting marbles for “allowing” his brother access to his body. But he does not just do it for the marbles or because of the pressure, he also thinks: “Pulling the stick makes my brother happy” (28).<br />This notion of sex as something you do for the sake of someone else stays with him in his relationship with Herakles. At first he does not want to have sex with Herakles, but he knows that he will lose him if he does not. In the chapter right after their conversation about sex we get the sentence: “SPIRIT RULES SECRETLY ALONE THE BODY ACHIEVES NOTHING” (46), that Geryon and Herakles paint on a wall two years later. But if we keep in mind what has happened in the chapter before, we can connect this sentence to Geryon’s sexual experience. For sex to be enjoyable, you need body and mind, and probably Geryon is not yet able to engage mentally in sex. He just “lends” his body to Herakles because he feels it is something he owes him.<br />This is emphasized in the next chapter, “Lava”, where Geryon has this strange vision of being a woman waiting for her rapist to come up the stairs. In “Somnambula”, the following chapter, Geryon watches two butterflies procreating, and he observes: “How nice, (…) he’s helping him” (49).<br />A change takes place in “Grooming”, when Geryon finally satisfies Herakles orally:<br /><br /> “Geryon felt clear and powerful – not some wounded angel after all<br />but a magnetic person like Matisse<br />or Charlie Parker!” (54)<br /><br />In this instance, Geryon is finally able to take an active part in their relationship, and by doing so he starts feeling more powerful and in charge of his own sexuality.<br />But right in the next chapter Geryon paints a “red-winged LOVESLAVE on the garage of the priest’s house” (55), showing that overcoming his abuse will need a lot more time. But Herakles cannot understand that:<br /><br />“All your designs are about captivity, it depresses me.<br />Geryon watched the top of Herakles’ head<br />and felt his limits returning. Nothing to say. Nothing. He looked at this fact<br />in mild surprise.” (55)<br /><br />Apparently Herakles is not the right person to help him overcome his negative feelings about his sexuality. Herakles seems to understand that, too, and soon breaks up with Geryon to move on to someone with whom he can enjoy sex more freely.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11895153106822520180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-15032233190959316572009-04-22T16:49:00.000+02:002009-04-22T16:50:14.327+02:00Colours in "Autobiography of Red"As I asked the question what the significance of red in “Autobiography of Red” is last Friday, I decided to have a closer look at colours in general in the novel. So I collected all the sentences / phrases where colours are mentioned.<br />Colours are very important to Geryon; he cannot only see them, but he even hears them: “Roses came / roaring across the garden at him. / He lay on his bed at night listening to the silver light of stars crashing against / the window screen.” (84)<br />Often Geryon uses colours to describe things we wouldn’t usually see coloured: He describes the “dark pink air” (36), “red breezes” (38) the “hot white wind” (49), and a “white Saturday morning” (120) .<br />All about Geryon himself is red, even his shadow and his dog. When I read the novel for the first time, I was misled to think that Geryon saw most of the world in red, but besides “the intolerable red assault of grass” (23) right at the beginning, I found no other example of Geryon describing something as red when it objectively is not (besides the examples mentioned above, where we would usually see no colour at all). So I thought that maybe Geryon does not describe the grass as red here, but rather the assault of grass. Geryon does not see the world in red, but he sees colours where others do not, and he can even hear and feel them.<br />Right at the beginning of the novel, in “Red Meat”, we learn that adjectives “are in charge of attaching everything in the world to its place in particularity. They are the latches of being.” (4).<br />Colours are adjectives, too, of course, and I would argue that the colour red attaches Geryon to his place in the world, signifying his specialty and difference from the rest of the world.Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11895153106822520180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-21709589726429912352009-04-17T13:38:00.004+02:002009-04-17T13:55:21.385+02:00"There is no person without a world" (82)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMV0nb0Q31dUt55eM9bFjFLcbNx8qLT7_cI521316vUmOIvLOvn0SdXQsXdKRUgWa6oGRVVmRmwoBmuNBqnHMRMokYrvnKehsIu-sfrTxGRzDHefk6_dfKPqwFuStlkX_AiMUCU9eeVU/s1600-h/verstehen.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMV0nb0Q31dUt55eM9bFjFLcbNx8qLT7_cI521316vUmOIvLOvn0SdXQsXdKRUgWa6oGRVVmRmwoBmuNBqnHMRMokYrvnKehsIu-sfrTxGRzDHefk6_dfKPqwFuStlkX_AiMUCU9eeVU/s200/verstehen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325627641617936178" /></a><br />Today's seminar was "one of those moments/ that was the opposite of blindness" (29) to me. Our discussion opened my eyes and heart for Geryon's autobiography and I can - despite my denying it in my last blog post - identify with him and his experiences after all. I thus read his redness as being different and individual and his red world, as living in his own world, as everybody does. We should all try to understand each other's redness, but we always fail (and a "between" people "a dangerous cloud" (132) develops), as this quote indicates: <br /><br /><em>"I will never know how you see red and you will never know how I see it./ But this separation of consciousness/ is recognized only after a failure of communication, and our first movement is/ to believe in an undivided being between us." </em>(105)<br /><br /><br />At the very beginning of the romance, Geryon is a boy - innocent, pure - and has no notion of selfhood and no concept of distinction between outside and inside world. If I was him, I would have taken his brother very seriously, when he called me/him "stupid". As a small girl, I thought we are all part of one world and we can read each others thoughts and be together, helping each other out, being one unit, basically. Bad experiences like Geryon makes with his brother, made us (me and him) realise that we were wrong. Every individual lives in his/her own world - be it red, yellow or whatever - and is wandering around in a sometimes shared space being caght in his/her inner world. We come across other people in life with other worlds and try to give each other a glimpse into one's world. Experiences Geryon makes with Heracles enhance and strenghten the sensibility and sensitivity, and consequently the awareness of being different.<br /><br />We are all unique and individual, but what we all share is an original and major fear of being misunderstood. We seek for understanding the outside and our inside, but more than that we seek to satisfy our biggest need which is to be understood by others. What motivates us to make distinctions and differences, in my opinion, is to prevent misunderstandings and to improve others' understanding of ourselves. This is my humble and probably oversimplified interpretation of next week's topic "distinctions and differences" and I look forward to our fruitful discussions. To sump up, I think life is all about understanding oneself and being understood by others and love is the feeling that we understand another person's inside world and are understood by that other person (outside). When love fades due to a lack of understanding or being understood, we feel like Geryon and think:<br /><br /><em>"I once loved you, now I don't know you at all. He does not say this./ I was thinking about time - he gropes - / you know how apart people are in time together and apart at the same time - stops."</em> (141)<br /><br />I hope you understand me in one way or another.Tanjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014338679215693120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-37447817682225677312009-04-17T09:14:00.003+02:002009-04-17T09:20:50.964+02:00Claim, no claim„[...| <span style="font-style: italic;">Stupid</span>, said Geryon’s brother<br />and left him.<br />Geryon had no doubt <span style="font-style: italic;">stupid</span> was correct. But when justice is done<br />the world drops away.“ (p. 24)<br /><br />I am going to demonstrate the logical form of Appendix C to the „Fragments of Stesichoros“ which precede Anne Carson’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography of Red</span>. Why would someone want to analyse literature for it’s logical form? First, I am very fond of logic and literature. Second, I have never tried to mix them. But third, and this is the only point that actually seeks to provide this project with a scientific value, I am doing this in preparation for a claim about the text, namely the claim that the seesaw between logic / form and content / language use is itself a very central subject – in the text, and for Geryon.<br /><br />Appendix C to the Fragments of Stesichoros consist of written fiction by Anne Carson and differs insofar from Appendixes A and B, which contain excerpts from several authors of Greek mythology. This third addendum consists of twenty-one consecutively numbered sentences. In the terminology of logic, all of them but the first one are material implications (those correspond to grammatical conditionals, or ‚if‘-clauses). The first sentence, however, is a disjunction (Either.. or..) of a proposition and its negation, and so are all the consequents of the following implications! The antecedent of the implications is each time one of the disjuncts of the former sentence’s consequent. In formal notation, then, the outlook is the following:<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I. (1.) ....... A v !A ........ „A or not A“ (simplified!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">II. (2.-21.) .. A -> (B v !B) . „If A then B or not B.“ (simplified!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">III. (x(II.+1)) B* -> (C v !C). „If B then C or not C.“ (simplified!)</span><br /><br />, whereas (Definitions:)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A -> B . is the sentential connective of the material implication (If A then B);</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A v B .. is the sentential connective of the disjunction (A or B);</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"> ! A .... is the sign for negation (Not A);</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A, B, C, [...] Z are simple propositional sentences (like „Stesichoros was a blind man“).</span><br /><br />Now a disjunction (like 1.) claims that one of the propositions it takes is true. More precisely, it claims that at least one is, but this is exactly the simplification I marked above (see II., III.). I think it is possible for our purposes to simplify in this way, because all the disjunctions we are facing in (I. - III.) are of the kind that one of the disjuncts is the negation of the other disjunct. This is a special case, because it is a logical contradiction to claim that both propositions are true. In other terms, it is impossible for a proposition to be true while its negation is true. In logic, this is shown with a truth table, where each result shows F (for false):<br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A || A <span style="font-weight: bold;">^</span> !A</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">-------------</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">T || T <span style="font-weight: bold;">F</span> F </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">F || F <span style="font-weight: bold;">F</span> T </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">(Def.: A ^ B is the sentential connective of the conjunction (A and B).)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">(In the case where A is true the conjunction of A and !A is false.)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"> (In the case where A is false the conjunction of A and !A is false.)<br /><br /></span>What this means, then, is that the first sentence does not make a claim about anything! It simply asks, says that A („Stesichoros was a blind man“) is true, or that it is not true, and that both cannot be true. Since all following sentences are logical conditionals, with the If-clause being filled with a proposition, which comes from this kind of disjunction, none of the antecedences are ever claimed. And this means, that also the consequences, whose truth in a conditional fully depends on the truth of the respective antecedents, are no claims. What we learn is, that, in Appendix C, not a single simple proposition is actually claimed to be true!<br /><br />If you have followed this so far you must be thinking: what is all this discussion of logical form good for when there are no claims? This, however, is exactly the notion this Appendix C in my view is there for to provoke. The reader is provoked to ask „What is the use of such a beautifully engineered thought, when eventually it does not refer back to the world and make claims about it?“ This question, however, is one which the world of Autobiography of Red and its characters keep asking our tragic hero Geryon.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Maybe I will post another entry discussing the resulting dialogue in Autobiography of Red.</span>Michael Listeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016645456304376847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-58274270302947611692009-04-15T16:14:00.001+02:002009-04-15T16:15:34.978+02:00Descartes über die Liebe in "Vom Schnee"In den Kapiteln 37 und 38 wird Descartes von der Königin gefragt, was Liebe sei. Im ersten Kapitel, „Was Liebe ist“, scheint Descartes sich nicht ganz schlüssig, ob Liebe positiv oder negativ zu bewerten ist. Er beschliesst, sich „hart“ zu geben, und beschreibt die Liebe als „Verbannung“, „Geschwür“ und „uferlos“. Trotzdem ist das, wofür wir uns quälen, ein „Zuckerstück“ und macht uns „weis“, aber eben auch „heiss“.<br />Die Königin resümiert: „Das heisst, auf Eis gelegt lebt, wer sich selbst nur liebt.“ (126). Daraufhin erwidert Descartes, Liebe sei „ein Grund, warum / die Welt ist, wie sie ist – zerrissen, böse, unregiert“.<br />Weshalb Descartes hier für die Königin ein so negatives Bild der Liebe zeichnet, ohne die positiven Aspekte ganz ausblenden zu können, wird im nächsten Kapitel, „Was Liebe war“, klarer.<br />Hier werden zunächst die positiven körperlichen Wirkungen der Liebe beschrieben, sie hält kerngesund und warm, sorgt für eine gute Verdauung und einen ruhigen Puls. Dies kontrastiert er mit den negativen körperlichen Auswirkungen von Hass.<br />Nach diesen Erläuterungen versinkt Descartes in Gedanken und erinnert sich an die Vergangenheit, an seinen „Winterflirt“ mit Marie. Er erinnert sich, wie „ihm die Welt zu Füssen lag“. Sein Tagtraum wird unterbrochen durch einen Anfall, aber später beschreibt er die Liebe als einen Embryo und auch eine Larve, die beim Schlüpfen stirbt: „Den Falter, / Wer sah ihn je, zerdrückt im Lustgewühl der Leiber?“<br />Descartes hatte wohl in seinem Leben die Liebe wegen ihrer Körperlichkeit abgelehnt, hatte dadurch aber die Chance verpasst, geistige Liebe (den Schmetterling) zu erleben. Dies bereut er nun auf seinem Todesbett, wo er allgemein seine Körperlichkeit zu akzeptieren beginnt:<br /><br />„Kann sein, er hat den Gürtel allzu eng geschnallt –<br />Dass es sie gab, die Liebe, unerkannt: das macht ihn bang.“ (129)Angelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11895153106822520180noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-43961144810679975052009-04-11T19:38:00.004+02:002009-04-11T19:48:08.803+02:00“identity memory eternity your constant themes” (149)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgVdDX8bLenPk87HdKjUfCWSGRgNn9bRGTLUWikdC8occ9pCrKEfL_0YxR1LaD5DJBzX1xgPx9iCefSZ33sok47JaK1OaIKjeVeCGXCw-grk0xhiObYLTR_QdwvCz5PD_Sk15J7r3A7g/s1600-h/geryon2-1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgVdDX8bLenPk87HdKjUfCWSGRgNn9bRGTLUWikdC8occ9pCrKEfL_0YxR1LaD5DJBzX1xgPx9iCefSZ33sok47JaK1OaIKjeVeCGXCw-grk0xhiObYLTR_QdwvCz5PD_Sk15J7r3A7g/s320/geryon2-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323490704794973266" /></a><br /><br /> <br /><br />Anne Carson succeeds in being totally unconventional. She takes up conventional topics such as time, passion and identity, but she also turns conventions upside down. The Canadian classicist and poet was probably the first writer in history ever to retell the episode of Herakles and Geryon from Geryon’s own experience. Hercules becomes an inhumane monster through his personality and behaviour, while <em>“Geryon turned all attention to his inside world.”</em> (30) and thus rises to immortality. In the myth, Geryon was killed by Hercules, but Carson re-imagines a destructive love affair which ends by Hercules breaking Geryon’s heart – <em>“Your heart of my death!”</em> (100). <em>“He forgot for a moment that he was a brokenheart/ then he remembered.” </em>(70). They have a good time together, but Geryon knows that Hercules will never know him back.<br /> <br /><em>“What Geryon was thinking Herakles never asked. In the space between them/ developed a dangerous cloud.” </em>(132)<br /><br /><em>“... I will never know how you see red and you will never know how I see it. / But this separation of consciousness / is recognized only after a failure of communication, and our first movement is/ to believe in an undivided being between us. ...”</em> (105).<br /><br />Geryon’s redness and wings stand for his creativity. His redness is his inmost being, his selfhood, but Hercules dreams of him in yellow. Geryon survives through art. Carson turns the myth into the recording and surviving of pain through the viewfinder of poetry. Wings are portrayed as the Platonic image and the creative aspect of love. The beloved might not be worth the pain, but wings lift the true lover’s soul into immortality. While Geryon records all the details of life through the lens of his camera thereby keeping the only secret which is immortality. Pictures are the language which helps Geryon to express himself, since <em>“Raising a camera to one’s face has effects/ no one can calculate in advance.” </em>(135). As a child he feels alienated by language and prefers photography as a means of expression, since <em>“Photography is a way of playing with perceptual relationships.” </em>(65). Exemplary for that is the fly which is floating in a pail of water looks drowned but with a strange agitation of light around the wings. The picture portrayed the fly as being almost alive and somehow immortal. Producing a self-portrait and autobiography, Geryon secures his own immortality. <br /><br />Besides all that Carson also wrote a profound love story – <em>“a reverie on the mystery of one person’s power over another, seen through the double lens of scholarship and verse”</em> as Ruth Padel put it in her review “<strong>seeing red</strong>”. Carson writes a sweet and extravagant tale and gives lyric poetry an epic grandeur. Hence she ends up producing a hybrid work of poetry and prose – a verse novel. <br /><br />In the aforementioned review Ruth Padel describes Carsons’ language as the <em>“language any poet would kill for: sensuous and funny, poignant, musical and tender, brilliantly lighted</em>”. I could not agree more. At times I had difficulties identifying myself with Geryon. Of course I see myself in him when he is seeking for love and his true selfhood, but the events that occur and experiences he makes are sometimes very unfamiliar – cases of defamiliarization, I would say – and I felt even awkward at times. But what I truly and ardently loved was the language Carson uses to describe feelings and thoughts. Here I share my favourite examples with you: <em>“[...]there it was one of those moments/ that was the opposite of blindness. / The world poured back and forth between their eyes once or twice.” </em>(39), <em>“She listens / to the blank space where / his consciousness is, moving towards her.” </em>(48), <em>“but such a cloud of agony poured up his soul he couldn’t remember / what he was saying.” </em>(68), <em>“He lay on his bed at night listening to the silver light of stars crashing against/ the window screen.” </em>(84), <em>“And for a moment the frailest leaves of life contained him ain a widening happiness.”</em> (97), <em>“We would think ourselves continuous with the world if we did not have moods.”</em> (98), <em>“habit blurs perception and language”</em> (107), <em>“There was neither excitement nor the absence of excitement.” </em>(125), and <em>“I once loved you, now I don’t know you at all. He does not say this. / I was thinking about time – he gropes - / you know how apart people are in time together and apart at the same time – stops.” </em>(141). Alice Munro spoke for me when she claimed that: <em><strong>“This book is amazing – I haven’t discovered any writing in years so marvellously disturbing.” </strong></em><br /><br />We learn in Autobiography of Red that things must be viewed from different angles in order for us to grasp their worth and meaning. The title suggests that the text is an exploration of particularity and that there are several different ways to be. This is also true for Geryon’s identity construction. Geryon, the only winged red creature, finds himself in total disorientation time and again. On the one hand, his red surrounding symbolises his personal Hell since he spends so much time alone, humiliated, and without a clear sense of being. He is shy, sensitive and senses his difference to others. He is fixed with the inner. But on the other hand, Geryon is a <em><strong>“philosopher of sandwiches”</strong></em> and makes readers sympathise with him during his seek for love and identity. Hence, he is never alone as we side with him. Nevertheless he is a subjective character in a world of subjective reality. He enters a world of ambiguity, where all objects are challenged and made into subjects. He is unique, removed from the world and not subject to its reality. He is unlike other human beings and challenges the convention of the typical human character. He refuses objective routes and finds his own way, creating his own subjective reality, as we see in the example where he refuses to enter the classroom conventionally. Because of all that Geryon is unable to exist in the world of objectivity. Carson depicts a world that lacks convention which is mirrored in her writing style, which constitutes its own patterns not following any conventions of writing or pervious examples. She uses line spacing in random places, neglects punctuation and reworks the original myth. The following passage outlines Carson’s writing process - mediating between subject and object - quite well:<br /><br /><em>“What if you took a fifteen-minute exposure of a man in jail, let’s say the lava / has just reached his window? / he asked. I think you are confusing subject and object, she said. / Very likely, said Geryon.” </em>(52). <br /><br />Hence, Geryon has become the subject of his own myth and autobiography. Instead of losing his identity in death, Geryon finds his identity when he flies. His flight can be seen as his final release from all outside objective realities. By flying he achieves true subjectivity. The story is about Geryon’s transposition from object to subject in various ways. In conclusion, everything depends on the experiences and beholder in whose eye reality exists. <br /><em>“The eye empties.”</em> (140)Tanjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014338679215693120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-10623946908460558172009-04-11T18:04:00.031+02:002009-04-11T19:46:29.437+02:00Mutations of AutobiographyThroughout Anne Carson's moving novel in verse, <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography of Red</span>, Geryon uses various means to pursue his lifelong (?) project of an autobiography. This is the passage in which it is first ecountered:<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">That was also the day<br />he began his autobiography. In this work Geryon set down all inside things<br />particularly his own heroism<br />and early death much to the despair of the community. He coolly omitted<br />all outside things. (28)</span><br /></blockquote>However, later on his mother mentions on the phone that, at this stage in Geryon's life, his autobiography is a sculpture:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Geryon? fine he's right here working on his autobiography</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">. . . .</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">No it's a sculpture he doesn't know how to write yet </span>(35, emphasis in the original)</span><br /></blockquote>Apparently, it is a tomato to which a ten-dollar bill has been attached to represent hair (35). Considering Geryon's own colour, his sculpture can be read as a self-portrait. This is the first stage of his autobiographical endeavour.<br /><br />The next stage is reached once Geryon knows how to write. It is described in chapter "VI. Ideas," the subheader of which reads "Eventually Geryon learned to write" (37):<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">His mother's friend Maria gave him a beautiful notebook from Japan<br />with a fluorescent cover.<br />On the cover Geryon wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography</span>. Inside he set down the facts. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Total Facts Known About Geryon.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Geryon was a monster everything about him was red. Geryon lived</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">on an island in the Atlantic called the Red Place. Geryon's mother</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">was a river that runs to the sea the Red Joy River Geryon's father</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">was gold. Some say Geryon had six hands six feet some say wings.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Geryon was red so were his strange red cattle. Herakles came one </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">day killed Geryon got the cattle.</span><br /><br />He followed Facts with Questions and Answers.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Questions</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Why did Herakles kill Geryon?</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">1. Just violent.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">2. Had to it was one of His Labors (10th).</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />3. Got the idea that Geryon was Death otherwise he could live forever.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Finally<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Geryon had a little red dog Herakles killed that too. </span>(37, emphasis in the original; words that were set in capitals are now bold.)</span><br /></blockquote>Though it is not quite clear whether his teacher and his mother are talking about this text, it seems that Geryon's writing is not characterized by happy endings (38). This prompts Geryon to write a new ending:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">New Ending.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">All over the world the beautiful red breezes went on blowing hand</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />in hand.</span> (38, emphasis in the original)</span><br /></blockquote>Among the fragments of Stesichoros' writings, there is a highly similar piece entitled "XV. Total Things Known About Geryon," and the new ending corresponds to "XVI. Geryon's End" (14). This insinuates that somehow Geryon's "Autobiography" fell into the hands of Stesichoros (or it might have happened the other way around).<br /><br />As the third and final stage is reached, we read about how Geryon plans his project and how long he has been (or: will have been?) pursuing it:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">This was when Geryon liked to plan<br />his autobiography, in that blurred state<br />between awake and asleep when too many intake valves are open in the soul.<br />[...]<br />The autobiography,<br />which Geryon worked on from the age of five to the age of forty-four,<br />had recently taken the form of a photographic essay. (60)<br /></span></blockquote>From that point onwards, mainly individual photographs that are presumably integrated into Geryon's autobiography are described (see 62, 71 [inspired by "Red Patience," a photograph by Herakles' grandmother, 51-52], 72-73, 97, 115, 131, 136, 137, 138, 139-140, 141, 142-144). Additionally, there is one photograph, # 1748, "he never took, no one here took it" (145).<br /><br />There is only one more explicit mention of Geryon's autobiography. Imagining the end of the world, Geryon muses with what seems like regret that "<span style="font-style: italic;">no one will see my autobiography</span>" (70, emphasis in the original).<br /><br />Based on the passages quoted here and the implications of Geryon's autobiographical venture, I now want to problematize the use of the term 'autobiography' and to spell out the consequences for our reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography of Red</span>. First, with regard to the title, considering the mutations of Geryon's actual (that is, intradiegetical) autobiography, his "photographical essay" cannot be identified with the novel we hold in our hands. This claim is further supported by how many other texts are attached to the main narrative. If we apply a strict understanding of 'autobiography,' it is a logical impossibility that the real, physical death of the autobiographer--who is at the same time, of course, the autobiographee--be part of any autobiography. Because of this, it comes as no surprise that the novel ends without Geryon dying.<br /><br />When we consider that Geryon wrote of his death at Herakles' hands (and of later events, one might add) when he was about seven, it becomes crystal-clear that Herakles never actually kills Geryon in Carson's rewriting of their myth. Only a naïve reading of the novel would take the Stesichoros fragments and Geryon's own writing to imply that he was eventually killed by Herakles, even though this would add a considerable sense of closure to <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography of Red</span>. But for all we know, Geryon might have become even older than forty-four, at which age he then would abolish his autobiography for reasons unknown. The question that remains is how the 'Herakles kills Geryon' story relates to the one that is told throughout the novel, featuring prominently Geryon's tragic love for Herakles.<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;">Carson, Anne. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> New York: Vintage, 1998.</span></li></ul>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07498609902001788002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-56631516587876792682009-04-05T19:08:00.002+02:002009-04-05T19:17:57.121+02:00Eine Anleitung zum Trost<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />In Durs Grünbeins Roman <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee</span> trifft der Leser den Menschen Descartes, der mit seinem Diener Gillot 1619 in einem süddeutschen Städtchen den Winter verbringt. Grünbein stellt uns den Menschen Descartes vor, der immer wieder den Konflikt von Körper und Geist erlebt. Im ersten Teil des Buches verkörpert der Diener Gillot das Körperliche, während Descartes als geistiger Lehrer auftritt. Grünbein versteht es mit feinem Witz diese getrennt gelebte Form des Dualismus und des Rationalismus auflaufen zu lassen. Fast schon grotesk wirkt die Situation als Descartes seinem Diener ‚Trost’ spendet, als dieser von einem erfrorenen Bauernkind im Dorf erzählt. Er habe geweint, erwähnt Gillot, den die tragische Geschichte berührt. Descartes erwidert darauf:<br /><br /> „Was lehrt uns das?“ „Monsieur ich habe geweint.“<br /> „ Ein edler Zug – und ein Reflex. Schau, ein Kanal<br /> Führt von den Tränendrüsen in den Sack der Bindehaut.<br /> Dort staut es sich das salzige Sekret. Wir blinzeln,<br /> Und mit dem Lidschlag wird es angesaugt uns schiesst –<br /> Ein Dammbruch, in den Tränensack und bricht hervor:<br /> Und schon verschwimmt die Welt vor unsern Augen.<br /> Du schnappst nach Luft, dann spült der Tränenfluss dich fort.<br /> Der Anlass? Findet sich. Das Herz wird leicht durchzuckt.<br /> Was zählt, ist das Prinzip. Hydraulik. Wasserdruck.“<br /><br /><br />Gillot ist daraufhin verwirrt und versucht dann doch noch einmal seine Gefühlslage auszudrücken, verstummt schlussendlich aber.<br /><br />Grünbein gelingt es einen grossen Denker und seine Theorie in die gelebte Welt zu setzen, und ihn dabei straucheln zu lassen, wie jeder andere Mensch auch - ohne respektlos, moralisch, oder sarkastisch zu werden.<br /><br />Grünbein Durs, Vom Schnee 2003<br /></div>yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01452195924146264210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-71775869552540118942009-04-03T14:58:00.002+02:002009-04-03T15:01:55.011+02:00"Ich bin nur Geist" <meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <title></title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.4 (Linux)"> <style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { size: 21cm 29.7cm; margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Im Seminar diskutierten wir zwei Arten, <i>Vom Schnee </i><span style="font-style: normal;">zu lesen: Wir nannten die eine die 'naive Lesart', nach welcher Teil I vom jungen Denker Descartes in Deutschland, seinem die sinnliche Sphäre repräsentierenden Diener Gillot und dessen Geliebten Marie handelt. Eine komplexere Lesart ist dann diejenige, welche Gillot als sinnlichen Teil und inneren Monologpartner von Descartes ansieht, der sich damit selbst als reinen Geist versteht. Wie üblich ist die komplexere Lesart erst nach einer ersten, naiven Lektüre zugänglich. Dieser Beitrag versucht, herauszufinden, auf welche Art das Verhältnis eigen ist gegenüber anderen Texten, in welchen zwei Figuren sich als Teile einer 'wahren' (immer noch fiktiven) Figur herausstellen (Chuck Pahlaniuks </span><i>Fight Club</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> könnte als Gegenbeispiel der jüngeren Vergangenheit dienen, wird aber nicht diskutiert).</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">In beiden Lesearten kommt der kartesische Dualismus vor. In der naiven Lesart ist er aber nicht reflektiert: Die Figuren vertreten dort Eigenschaften auf eine ähnliche Art, wie es Figuren in der klassischen Literatur oft tun (man denke an die antiken Epen</span><i> </i><span style="font-style: normal;">und Mythen): Sie inkorporieren diese Eigenschaften, sind nicht nach Eigenschaften strukturiert: Descartes ist Körper, Gillot ist Geist, der Geist erkennt (im Teil II), dass er nicht körperlos sein kann.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Die Pointe des kartesischen Dualismus aber ist gerade diese innere Struktur: der Geist erhält im Normalfall die Informationen über die Welt von den Sinnen, welche körperlich sind und </span><i>beide, Körper und Geist, ergeben zusammen ein Individuum </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(erst dieses ist das ego). Das Projekt der </span><i>Meditationes</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> ist aber, dass der Geist aus sich selber so viel wie möglich erschliessen will. Dazu muss er zunächst einmal alles anzweifeln, was er über de Sinne weiss.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Dass diese innere Struktur in der naiven Lesart nicht vorkommt, macht es seltsam, den Text auf diese Weise zu lesen, wenn man die </span><i>Meditationes</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> kennt. Man kann die literarische Figur Grünbeins deswegen nicht mit den Theorien des Denkers verbinden. Diese Probleme löst die komplexe Lesart, da durch sie aus der philosophischen Idee des literarischen Descartes, er sei nur Geist, eine psychologisch-historische Interpretation der Biografie des historischen Descartes wird. Grünbein provoziert dann auf eine andere Weise, nämlich indem er in Descartes Theorien und in seiner Biografie Argumente dafür zu finden behauptet, dass Descartes </span><i>persönliches</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Projekt war, möglichst nur Geist zu sein.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Der naive Leser, das ist üblicherweise ein Leser, welcher einen Text zum ersten Mal liest. Seine Naivität besteht in diesem angenommenen Normalfall darin, dass ihm Informationen fehlen, welche der Text erst zu seinem Ende offenbart. Speziell an <i>Vom Schnee</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> ist, dass der Teil II nur die grundlegende Irritation liefert: Die Figur Descartes scheint einen Wandel durchgemacht zu haben (übrigens ist dieser innere Wandel ein guter Grund, dafür zu argumentieren, dass wir es mit einer Romanfigur zu tun haben). Um zur komplexen Lesart zu gelangen, sind Kenntnisse von Theorie und Biografie Descartes notwendig, nicht, weil die literarische Situation und die literarische Figur offensichtlich diesen Theorien und Biografien entnommen ist, sondern weil die biographisch-historische Interpretation Grünbeins eine neue ist und der Leser dies gerade daraus erfährt, dass sich die Figur eben nicht überall so verhält und nicht immer dasselbe erlebt wie die historische Person und der Geist, wie wir ihn schlecht aus seinen Büchern kennen.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Der naive Leser von </span><i>Vom Schnee</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> ist also auf eine doppelte Weise naiv: Weder kennt er, den ersten Teil lesend, den Wandel, welchen die Figur durchmachen wird, noch kennt er notwendigerweise die Hintergründe, die er benötigen wird, um den Wandel zu </span><i>verstehen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></p> Michael Listeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016645456304376847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-77772654406918899322009-03-28T20:08:00.001+01:002009-03-28T20:10:03.902+01:00Regulae<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">Durs Grünbeins verse novel <i>Im Schnee</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> has several funny components. For instance, Descartes asks several times all through the novel his servant Gillot about certain rules (“Wie lautet Regel XY?”). Gillot, each time, recites the respective rule. Most of them seem somewhat odd and funny.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">Maybe Grünbein wants to reference to Descartes’ <i>Regulae ad directionem ingenii</i></span><span lang="EN-US"> which, as I read on Wikipedia (<a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 204); ">http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/René_Descartes</a>) contains rules that should help finding the truth by means of intuition. This method consists basically in decomposing complex issues so as to be able to accept the single elements as true <i>qua intuition</i></span><span lang="EN-US">. As it seems, these rules contradicted Descartes’ later conceptions and so, he stopped working on them. Posthumously published were only 21 of the 36 that Descartes had planned.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">This might also explain the fragmentary character of the corpus of rules presented in <i>Im Schnee</i></span><span lang="EN-US">. We get to know seven rules (rules 4 to 9, and rule 12). As mentioned before, they are rather weird but certainly there is something intuitive about them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">Here they are:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">4: Dein Schulternzucken ist des andern Seelenqual (28)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">5: Schütz Dein Gehirn (22 and elsewhere)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">6: Sag niemals nie (25)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">7: Von Dir wird bleiben nur, was Du einst aufgeschrieben (96)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">8: Verstand ist aufgeteilt – gerecht in kleinen Dosen (92, see also the head of one of the canti)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">9: Stör meine Kreise nicht (22); Fall dem Denker nicht ins Wort (17)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="EN-US">12: Bleib fein gallant, wart bis Du einestags zum Zuge kommst. Eine Dame fällt, überrascht Dir zu (101-102)</span></p></span>cordulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04231253189262101317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-44070260790216248342009-03-27T19:53:00.000+01:002009-03-27T19:55:27.990+01:00...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 13px; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Durs Grünbeins <i>Im Schnee oder Descartes in Deutschland</i></span><span lang="DE-CH"> ist eine Eloge auf den Philosophen René Descartes. In diesem Versroman beschreibt Grünbein den Aufenthalt Descartes im Winter 1619 in Deutschland. Während diesem Aufenthalt hatte der junge Descartes eine Vision die ihn zum Philosophieren veranlasste.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Dem Leser werden immer wieder Fragmente des Werdegangs der „Methode“ wie dieser ausgesehen haben könnte, offeriert. Die Versform erlaubt Grünbein allusionsmässige Einblicke ins Geschehen und vor allem in die Gedanken des Philosophen zu geben. So hat man mehr als einmal das Gefühl, Descartes Philosophie in ihren groben Zügen wieder aufgefrischt und verstanden zu haben. Ebenso erhält man interessante Informationen über die geschichtlichen Ereignisse aus der Zeit von Descartes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Wohl um auf den Cartesianischen Dualismus einzugehen, aber auch, weil es mit Sicherheit der Wahrheit entspricht, wird nicht nur auf Descartes den Philosophen, sondern auch auf Descartes den jungen Menschen eingegangen, ja sogar beharrt:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">„(...) Ich stell mir vor, Ihr seid<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Im Innersten so wie der Schnee – Ihr absorbiert.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Was je gedacht, erfunden wurde, liegt für Euch bereit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Tief in den Kammern Eures Riesenhirns gefriert<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Zu Regel, Gleichung und Figur, was je Verstand<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Und Scharfsinn fassen kann – wie unterm Frost das Land.“<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">„Ein Zerrbild ist, was Du malst. Der Philosoph –<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Ein Eisblock, der das Pflänzchen Leben tiefgefriert.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">So sieht man ihn: streng, logisch, schroff, selbst unbetroffen –<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Ein Werkzeug, das die Vielfalt der Natur planiert.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Das bin ich nicht. Dagegen spricht mein Temperament.“<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">(...) (Cantus 12, Querelen)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span lang="DE-CH">Ebenso machen gewisse körperliche Phänomene wie Kältegefühl, Hunger, Bettnässen, Zahnschmerzen wie auch eine ganze Reihe Kraftausdrücke auf den Körper aufmerksam und halten dem Geist, in Form der philosophischen Gedanken Descartes die Waage.</span></p></span>cordulahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04231253189262101317noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-25772670130599805482009-03-20T19:49:00.020+01:002009-03-21T13:18:50.718+01:00The Vulgar and Bodily Experience: "Monsieur, erlaubt, ich muß mal pinkeln." (14.II.x)*In a work centred around a philosopher like Descartes, the mind that brought us Cartesian dualism, one would expect a philosophical subject treated in a formal register. The form of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee</span>, with its approximate alexandrines and half-rhymes, implies an even more elevated diction. However, this turns out to be a mistaken assumption: At times <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee</span> exhibits a striking predilection to revel in the vulgar, be it in subject matter or lexical choice. These two aspects correspond to the definition of the vulgar applied in this post. Vulgar is whatever, according to commonly accepted societal rules, is considered improper or taboo regarding subject and vocabulary.<br /><br />In many cases Grünbein could have chosen other words to convey the same meaning. The line quoted in the title could have done without "pinkeln," which is vulgar or at least associated with childish (verbal) behaviour. Describing a horse, a line reads: "Und erst der Arsch - breit wie ein Scheunentor." (22.IV.iv) Instead of "der Arsch," one might have put "das Hinterteil." Further passages that could easily be reformulated without resorting to the vulgar are 8.V.x, 10.I.i, 34.IV.ix and 42.I.x. Obviously, one might argue that both changes proposed here affect the metre, but it would be no problem at all to work around that with another minor change.<br /><br />Considering this, it seems that Grünbein specifically intends to emphasize and to dwell on the vulgar. Thus, "Monsieur, erlaubt, ich muß mal pinkeln" announces a whole stanza that describes how Gillot obeys the call of nature (14.III). Two stanzas in 8., IV and V, describe the miserable situation of Descartes who has apparently wet his bed. The end of this chapter both contrasts with and anticipates 14.III (where Gillot feels uncomfortable in the presence of Descartes):<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Welch ein Spaß,<br />Breitbeinig dazustehn und hoch im Bogen schießt<br />Der heiße Strahl, der dir die Tränen in die Augen treibt.<br />Apropos Krieg: von allen Waffen ist - verzeih, Marie,<br />Die liebste mir noch der Urin, die Piß-Artillerie. (8.VII.vi-x)</span><br /></blockquote>In 9. three stanzas, I., II. and VI., are dedicated to Gillot's inability to rise to the occasion during the preceding night, to the great frustration of Marie. It seems awkward that a servant would tell his master about a shameful experience like this as if he were talking to an intimate friend. Interestingly, though, this episode leads Descartes to philosophical ruminations on the relation of body and mind:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">[Descartes:] "Nicht nur der Geist, der Körper bockt,<br />Wenn ihm der Antrieb fehlt." [Gillot:] "Ach, es war wie verhext.<br />Das Fleisch war willig, doch das Hirn blieb renitent."<br />[Descartes:] "Kein Widerspruch." (9.II.v-viii)<br /></span></blockquote>Gillot alludes to the saying 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak' (of biblical origin, see Mark 14:38 and Matthew 26:41), yet 'spirit' has been replaced by 'brain.' The main twist, however, is that 'brain' - though bodily it metonymically represents the mind - and 'flesh' have exchanged their position in the sentence: 'The flesh was willing but the brain remained inert.' Triumphantly, Descartes states that this is no contradiction. An embarrassing incident, the mention of which is normally prohibited by taboo and thus vulgar, is turned into an argument in favour of Cartesian dualism.<br /><br />Even though bodily experience is demeaned by resorting to a vulgar register, sexuality seems to be deeply connected to well-being, when Descartes inquires after Gillot's: "Wie stehts mit dir? Dir geht es gut, solange <span style="font-style: italic;">er</span> sich regt..." (23.I.vii; emphasis in the original). The cynical overtone also apparent in 30.I.iv - "Wie gehts der Venus auf dem Dung?" - might be attributed to Descartes' disapproval of Gillot's sexual needs. And yet, another passage implies that Descartes himself has had an affair with Marie which he remembers with pleasure:<blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">Er sank nun oft zurück in eine Zeit, so angenehm<br />Wie seither nichts. [...]<br />Sah ihren Leib. Am Po die Sommersprossen, auf den Händen. (36.VII.iv-v & viii)</span><br /></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote>It might therefore be nothing but jealousy that led him to demean Marie earlier. It is probably no coincidence that Descartes compares paradise and the female body and posits the latter as more real by far: "Das Paradies, hast dus gesehn, wie den Popo Maries?" (27.V.iii)<br /><br />On the whole, Grünbein's resort to the vulgar in subject matter stresses the bodily component of human beings. Vulgar vocabulary emphasizes this point further and leads to an awareness that sometimes there are no other registers available to express bodily experience. The existence of a category such as the vulgar in itself reflects the notion that the immaterial is superior to the material, which is deeply rooted in Western culture since Plato (whose work is referred to in 16.VII.iv-v). It is precisely this preference of mind and soul over the body that <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee</span> challenges.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">* Instead of page references, I use the following system: The Arabic numbers refer to the chapter/poem, capitalized Roman numerals to the stanza and lower-case Roman numerals to the verse.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Work Cited</span><br /><ul><li>Grünbein, Durs. <span style="font-style: italic;">Vom Schnee.</span> Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp, 2003.<br /></li></ul>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07498609902001788002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-42109104130362843942009-03-18T10:32:00.007+01:002009-03-18T10:39:58.637+01:00Durs Grünbein: „Die Zeit spielt gegen dich, mein Freund“ (53) „Ich bin stockblind. 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<br /></span><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="">Vom Schnee</i> ist ein völlig anderer Versroman als <i style="">For all we know</i>. Nicht nur die Form unterscheidet sich enorm. Nach den Fugue-Sonnetten von Carson, widmen wir uns nun einer in <span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">42 Cantos verteilten Eloge<i> </i>aus jeweils sieben zehnzeiligen Strophen mit alexandrinerähnlichen Verszeilen. Mit diesem Erzählgedicht, das durch seine vielfältigen sprachlichen und formalen Facetten fasziniert, knüpft Grünbein an epische Werke von Dante, Milton und Goethe an und stellt sich in ihre Reihe. Doch die Form ist nicht das Einzige, was sich von <i>For all We Know</i> unterscheidet. Grünbein basiert sein Werk auf einer historischen Figur, Descartes, dessen Biographie und Philosophie, und zeichnet eine Persönlichkeit und ihre Bedürfnisse nach, welche zuvor meist ignoriert wurden. Die Person hinter den Schriften wird sicht- und spürbar. Dennoch nähern wir uns dieser Persönlichkeit wiederum durch Papier. Das Hörbuch könnte uns da jedoch einen alternativen Zugang verschaffen. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bin ich doch leider wenig philosophisch veranlagt und begabt, habe ich <i>Vom Schnee</i> doch sehr in mich aufgesogen. Die humorvollen Dialoge haben mich oft zum Schmunzeln gebracht und ich habe das Erzählgedicht in einem Sog verschlungen. Vernachlässige ich die philosophischen Abhandlungen, fällt auf, dass die Themen, welche Descartes beschäftigen, sich gar nicht so grundlegend von denen von Gabriel unterscheiden. Ninas Uhren symbolisieren die Vanitas der heutigen Zeit, während Grünbein, diese Vergänglichkeit folgendermassen ausdrückt:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">„Wenn ich nur zeichnen könnte, Herr. Ein Bild sagt mehr-"<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>„Ich weiss, als tausend Worte.“ „Diesen Augenblick:<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Wer hält ihn fest?“ „Den Raum frisst Zeit, und dann verzehrt<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Der Raum die Zeit. Nichts bringt den Duft des Tags zurück.“<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>„Jetzt malt Ihr schwarz.“ „Ich sage nur: nichts bleibt, wies ist.“ <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>„Die eine Nacht… ihr weicher Körper…alles ausradiert?“</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> (S. 42)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Das Wortspiel mit bekannten Sprichwörtern und Redewendungen in dieser Passage macht ein weiteres Merkmal des amüsanten und literarisch hervorragenden Versromans aus. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Wie Carson beschäftigt sich Grünbein auch mit der Wahrheit: <i>„Die Wahrheit hilft dir selten, das Gesicht zu wahren.“ </i>(S. 51). Deshalb widmet sich Grünbein vielleicht auch intensiv dem Traummotiv, weil er darin (im Unbewussten) die reinere Wahrheit zu finden hofft. <span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">„Nur Ihr entkommt – mit Glück – dem Labyrinth der Zeit.“</i> (97) Und diesem Labyrinth kann die Liebe etwas entkommen. Aber:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Was Liebe ist? Jetzt, da er wachliegt, weiss er es genau.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Ein Embryo, der wächst im Sprung der Lebensalter, <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Und dennoch klein und schwach und ungeboren bleibt. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Das Paradox: der Mann trägt unterm Herzen ihn, die Frau<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Der Larve gleicht er, die beim Schlüpfen stirbt. Den Falter, <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Wer sah ihn je, zerdrückt im Lustgewühl der Leiber? <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Kaum einer zeigt schon, was da tief zuinnerst bebt. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Nicht Diskretion, die Angst vor Ohnmacht unterdrückt, <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Was da verkannt, im Eingeweide schmachtend, lebt, <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Und will ans Licht. So mancher wird, enttäuscht, verrückt.</i> (128-129). </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Nach all den Bedürfnissen, Gefühlen und Gedanken gönnt sich Descartes gegen Ende des Versromans etwas Ruhe, wie die Natur im Winter. Dazu wird er von seinem Freund und Helfer (Grünbein oder Gillot?) aufgefordert:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="">Ruht Euch nun aus. Habt ihn verdient, den Schlaf.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Ihr seid nicht Hamlet. Im Millionenschwarm nicht irgendeiner.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Durchs Schlüsselloch drang sie zu Euch herein, die Welt.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Man wird sie lesen, schon aus Argwohn, Eure Paragraphen. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Im Glashaus sitzt Ihr, werft, längst tot, gezielt mit Steinen.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Ihr wisst sehr gut, wie schnell ein Weltbild auseinanderfällt. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Doch bis dahin habt Ihr den Kosmos, Stück für Stück, <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Gezählt, geprüft – gespannt, wohin ein jedes fällt.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Klug sein und rechnen können: das, nur das war Glück. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>Die Welt des Denkenden, Ihr habt sie frei gewählt</i> (134). </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Am Ende bleiben die Fragen, welche die Menschen sich seit jeher stellen. Was ist der Sinn des Lebens? Wer sind wir? Was ist Liebe? Wieso vergeht die Zeit so schnell? Aber wenn wir uns alle etwas Ruhe zum Sinnieren gönnen – und der nächste Schnee kommt bestimmt – dann können wir uns den Antworten zu diesen Fragen für uns persönlich vielleicht annähern. Ich freue mich jedenfalls schon sehr auf den nächsten Schnee. </p> Tanjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014338679215693120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-25487848821014690662009-03-17T10:30:00.015+01:002009-03-17T12:15:06.599+01:00Quilted<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Eug97/quilt/quilt46.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 219px;" src="http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Eug97/quilt/quilt46.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><blockquote>"and I remembered how you once thought the quilt was Paris,<br />the <span style="font-style: italic;">quartiers</span> demarcated by pattern and colour." (Carson, Ciaran: For All We Know. Winston-Salem (NC): Wake Forest University Press, 2008. S.35)<br /></blockquote>In Ciaran Carsons 'For All We Know' wird Information verzettelt hingeworfen. Jede Aussage steht zugleich für sich und im unendlich erweiterbaren Diskurs mit weiteren, neuen, die eben erst erzählte Geschichte in ganz anderes Licht rückenden Hinweisen. Nicht zufällig ist darin der "<span style="font-style: italic;">quilt</span>" eines der am hartnäckigsten wiederkehrenden Bilder. Stellt man sich darunter einen <span style="font-style: italic;">crazy quilt</span>, also eine <span style="font-style: italic;">patchwork</span>-Decke, vor, so evoziert der Begriff das Bild einer langen Familientradition. Jede Generation fügt dem Gewebe der Decke neue Flicken hinzu, womit die unterschiedlichsten Generationen und damit die unterschiedlichsten Wert- und Weltvorstellungen, Ideale und Ideen, in einem Diskurs über Zeit und Ort hinweg zusammengehalten werden.<br />Selbstverständlich provoziert das <span style="font-style: italic;">patchwork </span>aber gleichzeitig das dem obigen scheinbar entgegengesetzte Bild der Uneinigkeit, des Chaos, der Unordnung: jeder Flicken antwortet schliesslich von einer neuen, anderen Position: aus einer anderen Welt heraus auf die vorhergehenden. Aber die Beharrlichkeit, mit welcher der Text auf dem <span style="font-style: italic;">quilt</span> – und damit auf dem scheinbaren Widerspruch – insistiert, löst diesen scheinbaren Dualismus auf. Kontinuität (Tradition, Wiederholung, Einigkeit) und Diskontinuität (Diskurs, Kritik, Differenz) sind in der Idee der Flickendecke vereint – wie die Summe der unterschiedlichsten Viertel einer Grossstadt sich zur Vorstellung: Paris! zusammenfügen. Und dann muss ich wohl, weil ich schon bei Paris bin, das Offensichtliche erwähnen und dadurch entmystifizieren: dass nämlich die Liebe das Nähgarn dieses Flickwerks ist.<br />Nicht zuletzt handelt es sich bei unserem Objekt um ein wohliges, wärmendes, schützendes Stück Stoff, wobei all diese seine Eigenschaften von den unterschiedlichen, widersprüchlichen Flicken abhängen: ohne das Stickgarn sind die Flicken nichts wert. Es gilt also, sich dem Diskurs der Meinungen auszusetzen und vor allem gilt es, zu scheitern: daran zu scheitern, seine Erkenntnis zu missionieren – und es dennoch weiter zu versuchen. Dies ist nicht etwa eine Kontradiktion: Ohne beide Elemente ist ein <span style="font-style: italic;">quilt</span> kein <span style="font-style: italic;">quilt</span>. Wie das auf manche Menschen übertragbar ist, das zu erklären führte hier wohl zu weit vom Text weg. Dass aber die wärmende, diskursgeladene <span style="font-style: italic;">patchwork</span>-Decke einen Menschen wärmen kann, ist jedem einsichtig und als solches auf jeden Fall in die Tradition zu stellen, aus welcher das folgende, abschliessende Zitat stammt, bei welchem mir jedenfalls wird, als wärmten mich die Gedanken von Generationen: "La lutte elle-même vers les sommets suffit à remplir un coeur d'homme. Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux." (Camus, Albert: Le mythe de Sisyphe. Paris: Gallimard, 1942. S. 168).<br /></div>Michael Listeninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10016645456304376847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-89072369174764255842009-03-13T17:41:00.001+01:002009-03-13T17:41:42.696+01:00Who is NinaCiaran Carson lets the reader plunge into remembrances of Gabriel who has lost his love Nina in a car crash. Carson creates strong images with his poems, but leaves the reader grasping a leitmotif that seems to appear but eludes again. Nina remains a figure that is mysterious and covered. The reader sometimes even gets the impression that Gabriel is asking himself in his remembrances who he loved: Peace p. 105<br /> <br /><br /> So carefully did you measure your words it seemed to me<br /> you rarely said what first came to mind. You reserved judgement.<br /><br />Or: Pas de Deux page 26<br /> <br /> It took us some time to establish our identity<br /> For you'd learned where you came from to choose your words<br /> carefully.<br /> And often you'd seal my lips with a kiss as silently (...)<br /><br />What is she hiding? What the reader gets to know about her is that she speaks French, English and German. She was in Paris, Berlin and Dresden. Her mother is French, (one?) of her aunts was in the résistance during World War II and her uncle used to collect watches. She was an interrogator probably as Stasi agent: The Shadow p. 30<br /><br /> The lie is memorized, the truth is remembered, he said.<br /> I learned that early on in their school before I became<br /><br /> interrogator. That was after I learned to listen<br /> in. They played many tapes of many stories, some true, some<br /><br /> false. I was asked to identify which was which, and where<br /> the conversations might have taken place, whatever time.<br /><br /> (...)<br /> You've told me that story more than once, more than once telling<br /> me something I never heard before until then, telling<br /><br /> it so well I could almost believe I was there myself,<br /> for all that I was at the time so many miles away.<br /><br />Carson amazingly creates these intimate images of the two lovers, which dissolve in distance that reoccurs like a theme in a fugue. The cleft between them almost seems palpable.<br /><br />Nina shows fragments of her that do not quite form a whole. In between the lines she seems to yell that he has no clue who she is. In the chapter "Filling the Blank" p. 104 it is described what and who she could be:<br /><br /> I'm the lady behind the counter of the Mont Blanc shop<br /> who says what a nice hand when you try out one of her pens.<br /><br /> I'm the lady you write to when she's far away from home<br /> though by the time the letter gets there she might have moved on.<br /><br /> I'm the lady in charge of the airport lingerie store<br /> who asks you if there is anything she can help you with.<br /><br /> I'm the lady in question whose dimensions you reveal<br /> to the lady in charge of the airport lingerie store.<br /><br /> I'm the lady you bump into unwittingly before<br /> you know her name age or what she does for a living.<br /><br /> (...)<br /><br />These are a lot of options to choose of - and a lot of "blank" space for projection. Carson succeeds to "paint" a picture of a lover who has lost someone beloved. The reoccurring remembrances that chase each other, always the same, varied ones, which try to find key moments that alleviate the fact of accepting loss. A very moving work!yvonnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01452195924146264210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-423408539152839682009-03-09T12:44:00.012+01:002009-03-20T20:44:00.299+01:00Matters of Form: Christoph Ransmayr's "Notiz am Rand"<span style="font-size:100%;">Having just prepared and taught a school lesson on <span style="font-style: italic;">Der fliegende Berg</span> (to a bunch of incredibly noisy and utterly disinterested kids), a short note in which the author remarks upon his choice of an unusual form caught my interest. It strongly reminds me of Milton's "The Verse" (<span style="font-style: italic;">Paradise Lost</span>, 2) in which he justifies the use of blank verse, though there are probably many examples of similar notes. Since I have read the novel roughly two years ago and my memory needs refreshing, I see the following thoughts as an essay – with strong overtones of the etymological roots – that will hopefully help us think about the use of verse in <span style="font-style: italic;">Der fliegende Berg</span>. First off, here is said note quoted in full:<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Notiz am Rand</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Seit die meisten Dichter sich von der gebundenen Rede<br />verabschiedet haben und nun anstelle von Versen freie<br />Rhythmen und dazu einen in Strophen gegliederten<br />Flattersatz verwenden, ist da und dort das Mißverständnis<br />laut geworden, bei jedem flatterndem, also aus ungleich<br />langen Zeilen bestehenden Text handle es sich um ein<br />Gedicht. Das ist ein Irrtum. Der Flattersatz – oder besser:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">der fliegende Satz</span> – ist frei und gehört nicht allein den<br />Dichtern.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span> <div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;">CR (<span style="font-style: italic;">Der fliegende Berg</span>, no pagination [p. 6])<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></div> </blockquote> <div style="text-align: left;">Quite obviously there are some terminological issues that ought to be clarified. Ransmayr seems to use the word 'Dichter' in its narrower sense, so one would have to translate it as 'poet' ("someone who writes poetry") as opposed to the much more general 'writer.' Interestingly, as becomes apparent in the final sentence, he does not think of himself as a poet, but as a writer reclaiming a certain form that is considered to be typical of poetry. The phrase "gebunden[e] Rede" refers to traditional verses defined by metre and, in some cases, rhyme. So far, this is not problematic, but the following description of what is commonly called 'free verse' is, as I will attempt to show.<br /><br />Ransmayr names three defining characteristics: free rhythms, stanzas and "Flattersatz," which is used <span style="font-style: italic;">instead of</span> verses. The first two agree with common notions of free verse; with the third, however, he introduces a typographical concept which should be familiar to anyone using text-editing software. (Ironically, or maybe intentionally, the note is printed in <span style="font-style: italic;">Flattersatz</span>, wherefore I have preserved the original line breaks in the quotation.) The problem is that, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Flattersatz</span>, the line breaks are arbitrary; they are solely based on how much space there is for one line and whether there is still enough room for any given word. If not, it will appear as the first word of the next line.<br /><br />In contrast, poets using free verse place their line breaks deliberately, as they see fit. This is exemplified by how enjambments are sometimes used to great effect (see <a href="http://versenovelsversromane.blogspot.com/2009/02/being-self-in-song-autobiography-of-red.html">Andrew's post on <span style="font-style: italic;">Autobiography of Red</span></a>). When one applies these two notions to <span style="font-style: italic;">Der fliegende Berg</span>, it suffices to take but a look at any page of this novel to realize that it is written in free verse and not simply printed as <span style="font-style: italic;">Flattersatz</span>. As it seems unlikely that Ransmayr uses one or both of these terms mistakenly, the idea of a form that is distinctly new and particularly suited to his endeavour is conveyed. This is emphasized by how he calls it "<span style="font-style: italic;">der fliegende Satz</span>," analogous to the title of the novel. (Additonally, he probably tries not to scare potential readers away by calling it verse.)<br /><br />This leaves us wondering about the salient formal characteristics of Ransmayr's <span style="font-style: italic;">fliegendem Satz</span>. From what I remember, most line breaks are placed according to natural syntactic phrases; there are hardly any striking and strong enjambments. Similarly, there seems to be, however mild, a tendency to correlate sentences and stanzas. Regarding metre, there are usually around one to three unstressed syllables between two stressed ones, which leads to a rhythm that is very natural for the German language. Ransmayr, on the one hand, does not exploit the potential of verse to the fullest and, on the other hand, frees himself from the limitations of a regular metre; his verse is tame in that it does not bend language, at least as far as rhythm and line breaks are concerned. As it stands, only a careful (re-)reading will shed more light on the purpose and properties of Ransmayr's <span style="font-style: italic;">fliegendem Satz</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Works Cited</span><br /><ul><li>Milton, John. <span style="font-style: italic;">Paradise Lost.</span> Ed. by Gordon Teskey. (A Norton Critical Edition.) New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.</li><li>Ransmayr, Christoph. <span style="font-style: italic;">Der fliegende Berg.</span> Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 2006.<br /></li></ul> <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div></span>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07498609902001788002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-71537005557352280872009-02-28T10:05:00.005+01:002009-03-09T13:27:18.718+01:00"It happened over an apple," Whatever It Might Be<style type="text/css"></style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">In the second part of <span style="font-style: italic;">For All We Know</span>, the poem titled 'Proposal' (66*) starts with the following sentence: "It happened over an apple." Though it is obvious that an apple is involved, what the "It" refers to remains unclear. On a sunny day in August <span lang="de-DE">graced with the occasional shower</span>, Gabriel and Nina find themselves "in a market" and before "a barrel of apples." Nina then takes one of them: </span><br /><style type="text/css"></style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><blockquote></blockquote></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Try it and see, Miss, said the vendor. You nodded, and bit<br />into the crisp flesh. You felt its juice explode in your mouth </span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;">as I did when you passed it to me for the second bite.</span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><blockquote></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><style type="text/css"></style></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;">This little scene might recall how Eve first tastes the forbidden fruit, which has often been identified as an apple, and then passes it on to Adam so he might partake of it as well (Gen 3:6). Hence it comes as no surprise that, in the 'Proposal' of the first part (17), there is an explicit reference to the story of the fall of man as recounted in Genesis: "the Tree of Knowledge looming within reach." (There, however, the apple in question is capitalized and of a more electronic nature.) The Tree of Life, Eden's other prominent tree (Gen 2:9), is mentioned too (47).<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><style type="text/css"></style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;">After tasting the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve <span style="font-style: normal;">discover</span> that they are naked (Gen 3:7). <span lang="de-DE"><br />We have to keep this in mind as we turn</span> back to the poem that caused this excursus, because, as I will show, it seems rather apt that the apples on sale should be called "Discovery" (66). Gabriel and Nina "bought a pound of them, some wine and cheese, / and repaired to the country where we picnicked by a stream" (66).</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><style type="text/css"></style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="de-DE">Though the location where the picnic takes place is not described, the stream alone brings to mind a classical topos, the <i>locus amoenus</i>. In this ideal, paradisal setting, "[Nina] offered [Gabriel] a Discovery" (66). The distinction between the apples bearing that name and an actual discovery is only apparent in writing. This means that if one reads the passage aloud it becomes ambiguous. Besides alluding to Adam and Eve's discovery of their own nakedness, this word also recalls the clichéd metaphor of the male lover as a conqueror and the woman as the <i>terra incognita</i> he discovers and explores.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><style type="text/css"></style></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH">Yet there is even more that justifies a reading of 'Proposal' that brings out its sexual subtext. Gabriel describes eating the second apple as follows:<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></p><blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><span style="font-size:85%;">This time I could taste<br />your mouth from it through the juice. We took bite for bite from it</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><span style="font-size:85%;">until we finished it as one.</span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH">In the first sentence, the apple reminds Gabriel of the taste of Nina's lips and therefore taking a bite from it metonymically comes to stand for kissing her. The phrase "as one" at the end of the second sentence alludes to the lover's becoming one flesh (Gen 2:24). Thus, the ensuing exchange of kisses culminates in the consummation of their love.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"> Finally, the last line sheds light on the "It" with which the poem began, though it can be read in various ways (66): "Then we asked things of each other we'd never asked before." The most literal, if also simplistic, reading could be paraphrased as: 'We asked questions we had not dared to put to each other earlier.' As it is hardly possible to define the sequence of events between their first meeting and the fatal car accident, this might be their first rendezvous, which results in a second reading. What they ask of each other could then be taken to refer to physically expressing their love.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;" lang="de-CH"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><span lang="de-CH"> The reading I prefer, in accordance to the interpretation outlined above, would be that one of them proposed to the other in the heat of passion. Interestingly, the 1</span><sup><span lang="de-CH">st</span></sup><span lang="de-CH"> person plural pronoun veils who it was and turns the proposal into something put forward by both of them equally. In a way, the idea that "[t]he lie is memorized, the truth is remembered" (19), that memories blur and change over time, is taken very far by not attributing the proposal to one particular person. On the whole, this reading explains why the trip described in the poem was more significant than many others and accounts for its title.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } --> </style> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">* All page numbers refer to Ciaran Carson, <i>For All We Know</i>, as published by Wake Forest University Press. </span></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p>Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07498609902001788002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344646297363441637.post-67715659204492085042009-02-21T19:50:00.007+01:002009-02-28T09:53:04.700+01:00Ciaran Carson's For All We Know: A love story memorised as a ticking fugue<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">It’s because we were brought up to lead double lives, I said. <span style="font-size:0;"></span><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Yes, you said, because of the language thing it was one thing <?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">with my father, another with my mother. Father tongue<span style="font-size:0;"> </span><span style="font-size:0;"></span><span style="font-size:0;"></span>and mother tongue, all the more so when they separated irrevocably </span></i><span lang="EN-GB">(66).<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">The bilingual Irish-English, Ciaran Carson is obsessed with music. The author of a classic work on Irish music, composed this verse novel in a sonnet-fugue of two parts –symbolising the separation of the couple, Gabriel and Nina – with repeating the titles of the individual poems in a chronological order in each part. Readers feel as if they could hear the “boisterous music” in a <i>Bierkeller</i> in Germany or the ticking of the Omega watches which Nina collects. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">Not only is Carson obsessed with music, but also with languages. He uses English, French and German to express thoughts and feelings in <i>For all we know. </i>“Not that my German is anything to speak of”, admits Gabriel in the second <i>The Shadow</i>, hence, I was not surprised to read “Spiesewagen” in the first double sonnet <i>To</i> (45)<i>. </i>A little irritated at first, I was tempted to ponder whether this is more than a typo or spelling mistake, but I just could not make sense of it, if it was. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">What is striking, apart from Carson’s obsession with music and languages, is the recurrence of themes such as the ticking of time. Recurrent themes are typical of a fugue and we seem to hear the Omega watches ticking as in the following passage. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">I think men and women run different times, you’d say. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">I’m wondering if I wore a man’s watch would I speed up,<span style="font-size:0;"> </span><span style="font-size:0;"></span>perhaps we might become synchronized. But you drive too fast,<span style="font-size:0;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">I’d say, and you often look at your watch as you do so, <span style="font-size:0;"></span><span style="font-size:0;"></span>as if you could never get fast enough wherever <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span lang="EN-GB">you’re going. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">This obsession of time reminds me of Quentin Compson’s obsession with time and his inherited, cracked watch in <i>The Sound and the Fury. </i>The Shadows that occur as another topos are also reminiscent of that successful, modernist novel. Whether this is a coincidence or purpose is questionable. Both novels also share motives and symbols such as shadows, perfumes, and the questions whether langauge and narrative can truely represent reality. What the verse and prose novel also have in common is that there were both written in an uncertain period of time shortly before a financial crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">It is a very good idea to start the seminar with that verse novel as it includes feelings and sociological observations of the everyday life, all of us can comprehend and empathise with. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">The quilt is a repeated motif which often covers and protects the lovers’ bodies and consists of many parts, like a human self consists of memories. Towards the end of the verse novel, the oyster, known as a aphrodisiac, is introduced and leads to the only explicitly sexual-connoted scene I found in this remembered love story (apart from the eating of an apple in turns, maybe). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">The last sonnet <i>Zugzwang</i> then repeats the “babble of language”, “the bells”, the fugue’s “melodic fragments” and “different times” and Gabriel assures that his memories of the lost lover will “recede into the future”. Critics often criticised the bland ending of the verse novel, but I find it the icing of the cake of this fairy-tale like, memorised love story. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span lang="EN-GB">Those of you who have not read it yet, enjoy!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">PS: The page number refers to The Gallery Press's edition.<br /><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Tanjahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12014338679215693120noreply@blogger.com0