{"id":7354,"date":"2021-05-16T07:08:11","date_gmt":"2021-05-16T11:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/?page_id=7354"},"modified":"2021-06-06T07:38:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T11:38:09","slug":"iii-kulturgeschichtliche-analysen-kafka-and-gottfried-meinhold","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/archive\/glossen-47-2021-current-issue\/iii-kulturgeschichtliche-analysen-kafka-and-gottfried-meinhold\/","title":{"rendered":"III. Kulturgeschichtliche Analysen: Kafka and Gottfried Meinhold"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHelligkeitsverlust\u201d:<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Reception of Franz Kafka\u02bcs Texts<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

in Gottfried Meinhold\u2019s Die Grenze<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

(written 1970, published 2001)<\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gabriele Eckart, Cape Girardeau, Missouri<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is well known that the reception of Franz Kafka\u2019s works was problematic in the former GDR. Martina Langermann shows that after a heated initial discussion about the possible usefulness of Kafka\u2019s literature for the population of the GDR, the functionaries responsible for culture under the leadership of the legendary Alfred Kurella put this author under the rubric of undesirable literary traditions.[1]<\/a> A consequence of this action was the fact that: \u201cWer nach 1956 f\u00fcr Kafka optierte, machte sich konterrevolution\u00e4rer Positionen verd\u00e4chtig\u201d[2]<\/a>. Finally, in 1965, the East Berlin Aufbau-Verlag published a small selection of Kafka\u2019s texts, including Das Schloss<\/em>. However, as Langermann points out, the book could not be acquired by public libraries of the GDR.<\/p>\n

Five years after this publication, the East German author Gottfried Meinhold wrote the novel Die Grenze<\/em>, which could be published only after the collapse of the GDR. In this novel, an East German photographer, called Quamann \u2013 people whom he meets frequently mispronounce his name as \u201cQualmann\u201d (140[3]<\/a>) because the impression he makes on people is that of a man who suffers \u2013 approaches a small town near the border with West Germany with the desire to leave his country. This desire seems to be his emotional response to the events known as the crushing of the \u201cPrague Spring\u201d by the tanks of the Warsaw Pact in 1968. In addition, his grandfather and father had been dreaming of leaving the GDR for political reasons; he had grown up listening to their reasoning and wishes to be able to cross the border. It is not that Quamann has to save his life in a literal sense; but rather his inner need to cross the border is triggered by his fear of becoming a political dissident in the GDR. If he did not escape to the West, he would have to \u201cAnklage erheben\u201d (22) against the state; however, he feels he is not courageous enough to become a dissident. Similar to the experiences of Kafka\u2019s main protagonist with respect to the castle in Das Schloss<\/em>, the closer Quamann comes to the place of his desire (the border), the more obstacles come up. Therefore, Udo Scheer is correct in stating in regard to the main protagonist: \u201cje mehr er sich der Grenze n\u00e4hert, um so un\u00fcberwindlicher wird sie f\u00fcr ihn.\u201d[4]<\/a> In addition, there are explicit references to Kafka\u2019s novel Der Process<\/em> \u2013 \u201cprobably one of the most analyzed novels of the 20th<\/sup> century\u201d[5]<\/a> \u2013 to be found. The following study proposes to examine Meinhold\u2019s reception of Kafka\u2019s two novels.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the text, Quamann is talking to the man next to him on the bus that takes him to the town next to the border. While Quamann attempts to gather as much information as possible about the area between the town and the border that lies just south of the town, he tries to give the impression that the town itself, not the border, would be \u201csein Ziel, ein lange ausgedachtes, immer wieder gepr\u00fcftes und wohl erwogenes Ziel vor anderen Zielen\u201d (9). As it will turn out later in the text, this man next to him works as an informer for the authorities; his task is to keep an eye on suspicious people who take the bus to this border town to find out if they might want to escape. While the setting of Quamann\u2019s adventures resembles more closely that of Kafka\u2019s novel Das Schloss<\/em> (a small, snow-covered town \/ village nestled at the foot of a castle), on the level of content, there are stronger similarities to Der Process<\/em> as will be seen in the following.<\/p>\n

In a conversation with the pharmacist of the town, Quamann says that the most interesting medical herbs probably grow in the areas that are \u201cschwer zug\u00e4nglich [\u2026] vielleicht sogar verboten\u201d (137). The pharmacist answers with an explanation of the regulation of language:<\/p>\n

\n

Das Wort \u2018verboten\u2019 kennen wir hier \u00fcberhaupt nicht, oder besser: wir haben uns seine Benutzung abgew\u00f6hnt. Es hei\u00dft entweder: nicht gern gesehen oder nicht erw\u00fcnscht. Sie verstehen, das nimmt dem Ausdruck die Sch\u00e4rfe, besagt aber letztlich nichts anderes. Oder doch: Das Verbot deutet auf strafrechtliche Ahndung hin \u2013 im \u00dcbertretungsfalle. Unerw\u00fcnschtheit dagegen zieht allenfalls Ermahnungen oder Zurechtweisungen, vielleicht auch ausdr\u00fcckliche Mi\u00dfbilligung nach sich. (137)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Afterwards, the pharmacist explains that indeed, since even the use of the word is forbidden, there would be an investigation if somebody picked herbs too close to the border: \u201cEine Untersuchung wird es in jedem Fall geben, und die kann sich hinziehen. Es bedeutet stets: ausgedehnte Untersuchungshaft\u201d (137). Here, we come close to the situation of Joseph K. who has been arrested one morning and does not know what for. \u201cBestenfalls so etwas wie Halbarrest, eine Art Quarant\u00e4ne,\u201d the pharmacist explains, \u201caber das sind schon die Ausnahmen mit gewissen Restfreiheiten oder Freiheitsresten \u2013 gestutzte Freiheit oder gemilderte Unfreiheit, f\u00fcr die der H\u00e4ftling nach einer gewissen Zeit sogar Dankbarkeit empfindet\u201d (137-38). Taking the point of view of the authorities, he adds that this situation of limited freedom has a positive effect: \u201cDer Untersuchte denkt mit ganz anderer Konsequenz \u00fcber sein Verhalten, was sage ich: sein Leben und seine Lebensgrunds\u00e4tze nach. Das soll er ja auch\u201d (138).<\/p>\n

Quamann finds a room in the house of the land surveyor\u2019s assistant, Eva Rauch, whom he met in the inn. As a political prisoner on parole, during which time she is obliged to denounce people who come to the town with the desire to cross the border, she is in this situation of limited freedom that has been described by the pharmacist hypothetically. She is not imprisoned, can move around; however, being on parole, she is not free. Quamann and Rauch learn to trust each other and make plans to escape together. The weather is perfect, a snowstorm \u2013 their traces would be invisible for the \u201cSp\u00fcrhunde, die als Helfer der Grenzw\u00e4cher gef\u00fcrchtet waren\u201d (93) besides other advantages. However, when it is time to go, Rauch finds Quamann asleep with a fever and leaves for the border without him. The next day, Quamann will be told by Dr. Domenula, the town\u2019s treasurer, that soldiers found her dead body in the snow on the way to the border. Deeply shocked by the news of Rauch\u2019s death, Quamann learns that he is under suspicion of being (at least partially) responsible for it. As becomes clear from Dr. Domenula\u2019s statement, Domenula will be himself a member of the court:<\/p>\n

\n

Doch muss ich Sie darauf aufmerksam machen, dass Sie selbst in die anstehende Untersuchung einbezogen sind. Sie haben die Mitteilung sehr heftig \u2013 erschrocken, entsetzt, betroffen \u2013 aufgenommen. Es ist mir nicht entgangen. Die Gr\u00fcnde daf\u00fcr k\u00f6nnten wichtig sein \u2013 f\u00fcr die Kl\u00e4rung des Geschehens. Sie sollten sich also darauf einrichten, dass Sie sehr bald dazu befragt werden. (151)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In this situation, under surveillance, Quamann can neither try to cross the border nor return to his hometown because he is caught in the investigation. Like Kafka\u2019s protagonist Josef K. of Der Process<\/em>, Quamann is not put in handcuffs and taken to jail after his arrest, but he is also not free. Desperately, he asks himself for what reason he might be considered guilty. Is it because \u201cseine Auff\u00e4lligkeit als Grenzg\u00e4nger sie [Eva Rauch] angesteckt haben mochte\u201d? (150) Was his desire to cross the border contagious? If true or not, it seems to him that it cannot be valid in a judicial sense. How will the judge decide? The text ends at this point; the reader can only guess how Quamann\u2019s life will continue. As Vivian Liska states, in Kafka\u2019s novels \u201cyou never get closure; you don\u2019t arrive anywhere\u201d[6]<\/a>; the same must be said about Meinhold\u2019s novel.<\/p>\n

However, the last sentence shows a spark of hope in the word \u201cvorerst\u201d: \u201cSein Schicksal hatte ihn l\u00e4ngst eingeholt; er w\u00fcrde es notgedrungen billigen und sagte sich, er t\u00e4te gut daran, die Unentrinnbarkeit vorerst in Kauf zu nehmen\u201d (161).<\/p>\n

Significantly, Clayton Koelb states: \u201cThe space of Kafka\u2019s fiction is a place neither here nor there, an in-between world in which the protagonists seek to clarify a problem of their existential status (arrested or not arrested, i.e., guilty or innocent, admitted or not admitted, i. e., belonging or not belonging).\u201d As Koelb adds, \u201cThese characters are properly concerned about their place in the world\u201d (40). After Eva Rauch\u2019s death, Quamann is exactly in such an ambiguous place, neither here (in the border town), nor there (in his hometown), nor over there (in the West beyond the border where he wishes to be). In this in-between world, he needs to clarify the problem of his existential status, which is, in his case, to what degree is he free? Or is he not free at all?<\/p>\n

The description of the atmosphere of the town \u2013 an \u201carmselige, verworfene Stadt\u201d (63) that reminds us of the wretched-looking village in the novel Das Schloss<\/em> \u2013 represents the atmosphere in the GDR in the late sixties and early seventies when the movement in Czechoslovakia to create a more democratic socialism had been crushed. The noun \u201clethargy\u201d would describe it the best: \u201cIch h\u00e4tte nicht gedacht,\u201d says Dr. Domenula to Quamann, \u201cda\u00df es so viele ratlose, vor sich hinlebende, lethargische Menschen an einem Ort gibt\u201d (152). It is the same lethargy that we encounter in the village in Kafka\u2019s novel Das Schloss<\/em>, and which leads K.s friend Frieda to dream of emigrating to France or Spain. Interestingly, Dr. Domenula in Meinhold\u2019s novel uses the word \u201cSchlafwandler\u201d (146) for people whose lives are drenched by this lethargy. To explain his reasons for this pessimistic judgment, he says:<\/p>\n

\n

Freilich, um hier am Leben zu bleiben, ich meine: lebendig im besten Sinne des Wortes, braucht man t\u00e4glich frische Gedanken. Aber man hat nur frische Gedanken, wenn man hellwach und lebendig ist. Eine fatale Wechselwirkung, wie Sie auf den ersten Blick sehen k\u00f6nnen. Ein rechter Teufelskreis. Nur: wenn die innere Stimme schweigt, zerf\u00e4llt die innere Welt, die wir der \u00e4u\u00dferen entgegensetzen k\u00f6nnen, und wenn es soweit ist, regiert uns die \u00e4u\u00dfere Welt und macht mit uns, was sie will. (146)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Quamann, who has listened very attentively, says: \u201c\u2019Sie haben [\u2026] die Lage sehr genau durchdacht. Aber es ist nichts, das nur f\u00fcr die Grenzgegend bezeichnend w\u00e4re. Ich komme aus einer ziemlich gro\u00dfen Stadt.\u2019 (Er wollte nicht sagen: aus der Hauptstadt)\u201d (146). In other words, according to Quamann, a large number of the citizens of the GDR, including its capital, Berlin, suffer from this lethargy, walking around like sleepwalkers and, to stay alive dream of crossing the border.<\/p>\n

Besides lethargy, Quamann encounters a deep distrust of strangers in the town (similar to that encountered by Kafka\u2019s K. in Das Schloss<\/em> on his arrival in the village where he hopes to start working as a land surveyor). Among other reasons, people think these strangers could be spies. Could not also he, Quamann, \u201cein sich verstellender oder Unbedarftheit vorspiegelnder Informant sein\u201d (93)? This thought throws him into despair: \u201cDa\u00df er in den Verdacht geraten war, eher ein Spitzel zu sein als ein m\u00f6glicher Grenzverletzer, entsetzte ihn\u201d (92).<\/p>\n

As in Kafka\u2019s novels, dialogues drive the plot. The most interesting dialogue in regard to life in the GDR and also to Quamann\u2019s character, as we will see later, is the one between Quamann and Eva Rauch. As the land surveyor\u2019s assistant, she knows best what he desperately tries to find out: \u201cdie klare Beschreibung seines Weges zur Grenze\u201d (23). First, she distrusts Quamann as a possible informer of the state police; later, she learns to trust him. She confides to him that as part of her duties during the probation, she has to watch out for possible border trespassers. However, when Quamann asks her if that means she has accepted \u201c[ihr] Leben in diesem Lande zu beschlie\u00dfen\u201d (90), she asks back:<\/p>\n

\n

Sie meinen \u2013 man sollte sich nie und nimmer damit abfinden, sich lebensl\u00e4nglich auf diese Reglementierung oder Internierung einzulassen. Oder Sie meinen, eine angemessene Art, sein Nichteinverst\u00e4ndnis daf\u00fcr kundzutun, sei der Versuch, die Grenze \u2013 wie hei\u00dft es noch \u2013 illegal zu \u00fcberschreiten. (90)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While they exchange the reasons for their desire to leave the GDR \u2013 she had been sentenced and released on parole as a political dissident in the wake of the Prague Spring; both of them suffer from the fact that it was a \u201cLand der L\u00fcge\u201d in which you could only \u201cvegetieren [\u2026],\u201d not \u201cgedeihen\u201d (96). Finally, they discuss practical details of crossing the border, which to his surprise was not a trench or a fence, but a \u201cZwischenfeld\u201d full of \u201celektrisch geladener Dr\u00e4hte, wie man es von Lagern her wusste\u201d (94).<\/p>\n

Other interesting dialogues that drive the plot are those between Quamann and the Lutheran minister\u2019s wife (who tells him that one must cross borders inside one\u2019s heart, not in the outside world) and those between Quamann and the town\u2019s physician. With the latter, Meinhold\u2019s main protagonist discusses the connection between soul and body in regard to illness. In Quamann\u2019s case, the physician diagnoses the connection between a certain lack of physical stability, certain \u201cOrganst\u00f6rungen\u201d caused by the \u201cBef\u00fcrchtung, [sein] Leben in der Monotonie zu vergeuden\u201d (126). He explains:<\/p>\n

\n

Nun ja, der Mensch ist auf Vielfalt angelegt. Das Stereotype, die l\u00e4hmende Eint\u00f6nigkeit qu\u00e4lt ihn bis zum H\u00f6chstma\u00df des Verdrusses, und das ist immer pathogen, ich meine krankheitserzeugend. Es geht also nicht um das Qu\u00e4lende eines Leidenszustandes oder einer dr\u00fcckenden Sorge, sondern um die Folgen des Gequ\u00e4ltseins f\u00fcr die inneren organischen Zust\u00e4nde, seine R\u00fcckwirkung auf das Funktionieren biochemischer Zust\u00e4nde. (126-27)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Quamann listens with growing attention; especially, the word \u201cHelligkeitsverlust\u201d that the physician uses in the following \u2013 Quamann had never heard a word like this out of the mouth of a physician \u2013 surprises him. As the physician states,<\/p>\n

\n

Die Verd\u00fcsterung der Innenwelt, der innere Helligkeitsverlust beg\u00fcnstigt Informationsverluste in den organischen Kreisl\u00e4ufen, \u00fcberhaupt verringerte Zirkulation, auch des Blutes. Die Botenstoffe geraten nicht schnell genug an die Stellen, wo ihre Wirkung ben\u00f6tigt wird. Und da haben dann geringf\u00fcgige Belastungen oder \u00c4nderungen im Lebensgef\u00fcge, im t\u00e4glichen Zeitablauf der Gewohnheiten Verluste an Stabilit\u00e4t zur Folge. (127)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Remembering a \u201cfatale [\u2026] L\u00e4hmung aller inneren Kr\u00e4fte und Regungen\u201d (127), Quamann thinks: \u201cHelligkeitsverlust leuchtete ihm eher ein als Verd\u00fcsterung. Verd\u00fcsterung der Innenwelt. Das Verd\u00e4mmern. Er entsann sich, wie er oft stundenlang dagesessen hatte, ohne sich zu r\u00fchren, ohne dass ein Gedanke sich in ihm ger\u00fchrt h\u00e4tte.\u201d (127).<\/p>\n

The physician is not sure about what to advise him and sends him to the pharmacist to get an herbal drug that they produce together \u2013 obviously, this drug is much in demand as Quamann will find out in the drugstore.<\/p>\n

Many more similarities with Kafka\u2019s novels could be listed; however, there is a major difference regarding the constitution of the main characters. While Kafka\u2019s main protagonists, K. and Josef K., are outspoken, Quamann is much more careful in choosing his words. Although he is dreaming of leaving the GDR and comes relatively close to the border during his trip, he is actually undecided and gives the impression of irresoluteness. In chapter eight of Kafka\u2019s Der Process<\/em>, superstitious people patiently waiting in front the offices of the court claim they can see the sign of his future conviction on Josef K.s lips. Of course, what they can see on his lips is his defiant attitude towards the court; these people know from experience that this attitude is what he will be judged for in the end. In Quamann\u2019s case, Edwin Kratschmer is right stating that metaphorically the border also expresses his inability to cross his inner limitations: \u201cdie streng bewachte Landesgrenze ist auch Gro\u00dfmetapher f\u00fcr das Unverm\u00f6gen, seine vielerlei eigenen Grenzen \u00fcberwinden zu k\u00f6nnen.\u201d[7]<\/a> Unsure about whether he has really the courage to cross the border or not, he gets a fever and falls asleep exactly at the moment when it is time to leave. Since Eva Rauch had made it clear to him that only two people together can successfully escape the country in this border area, he is indirectly guilty of her death.<\/p>\n

Uwe Kolbe in his recent controversial essay on Brecht also interprets Kafka\u2019s parable Vor dem Gesetz<\/em> and states that the text clearly demonstrates the path to one\u2019s individual freedom:<\/p>\n

\n

Ein \u2018Mann vom Lande\u2019 verbringt dort sein Leben, ohne zu begreifen, dass die T\u00fcr nur seine eigene ist. Alles, was damit zu tun hat, also mit seinem Anspruch auf Recht und Gerechtigkeit, obliegt seiner eigenen Entscheidung. Er muss nur aufstehen und eintreten. Dazu geh\u00f6rt Mut. Der \u2018unterste\u2019 T\u00fcrh\u00fcter steht f\u00fcr den ersten erkannten Kreisschluss im eigenen Denken, f\u00fcr den ersten erkannten Haltungsschaden aus der Erbmasse, der dich zum Gefangenen machte. Mag das \u2018der unterste T\u00fcrh\u00fcter\u2019 sein, von einem zum anderen wirst du wachsen, freier denken und freier sein.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In Quamann\u2019s situation, the man on the bus who can easily conclude from Quamann\u2019s questions that this is a person who dreams of escaping the country, stands for the first doorkeeper; unconsciously, Quamann guesses correctly that this man works as an informer and the authorities might be alerted as soon as they both leave the bus. As a consequence, instead of developing the courage to break out of the inner circle of fear, as Kolbe tries to encourage us to do (Brecht, according to his judgment, was not able to do so during his years in the GDR), Quamann loses the little courage he has and behaves more and more cowardly. Although he walks around and talks to people, in his mind he is sitting in front of the door to the law as Kafka\u2019s man from the country does \u2013 just waiting to see what is going to happen.<\/p>\n

The land surveyor, Eva Rauch\u2019s colleague who understands her desire to cross the border, recognizes Quamann\u2019s problem immediately when he first meets him in the inn by seeing a \u201ctr\u00e4umerische[s] Flackern der Unentschlossenheit\u201d (99) in his eyes. As Rauch explains to Quamann later, after she told him of the surveyor\u2019s impression, there are kinds of decisions, \u201cdie man sich eingeredet hat, die aber eher so etwas wie Wunschtr\u00e4ume sind, also immer etwas Tr\u00e4umerisches behalten haben.\u201d (99) She adds: \u201cWenn jemand mit solcherlei Entschl\u00fcssen in unverhoffte Komplikationen ger\u00e4t, zerrinnen sie \u2013 verfliegen sie\u201d (99). As the plot of Meinhold\u2019s novel goes on to develop, it turns out that Quamann\u2019s decision to cross the border is nothing more than such wishful thinking. Being tired from walking around all day and having caught a cold in the snowstorm, Quamann unconsciously decides against leaving the country on that day. Rauch, whose desire to cross the border always has been a real decision, much stronger than Quamann\u2019s wishful thinking, must go alone and dies.<\/p>\n

Kafka\u2019s parable is famous for its ambiguity. As Aarak H\u00fcseyin states: \u201cJede Auslegung ist nur [eine] von vielen Interpretationsvariablen oder Deutungsm\u00f6glichkeiten.\u201d[9]<\/a> If we see Quamann as a kind of Kafka\u2019s man from the country who spends his whole life sitting in front of the door to the law, then Meinhold\u2019s interpretation is that the man himself is to blame for his failure; the obstacles on his way to freedom are in himself; consequently, he is wrong in blaming the authorities and their doorkeepers for getting stuck in what Kolbe calls the devilish \u201cKreisschluss\u201d.[10]<\/a> The word \u201cHelligkeitsverlust\u201d that stands out in Meinhold\u2019s novel for its symbolic value not only refers to the atmosphere in the town and the country, but also to Quamann\u2019s state of mind as that of someone whose decisions are muddled.<\/p>\n

As is well known, several GDR writers had referred to Kafka in their literary texts. Those who came back from emigration after the war and chose to live in the East, as, for instance, Bertolt Brecht and Johannes R. Becher, had an ambivalent relationship to Kafka. Although they had read and often creatively adapted his works in the past, they considered Kafka to be \u201cirrelevant\u201d[11]<\/a> to GDR readers; his work was considered decadent, an example of literature of alienation and not of commitment; and, according to the Party, there was no alienation in the socialist world. At the Kafka-Conference in Liblice in 1963, Paul Reimann, who gave one of the two opening lectures, compared Kafka with a mouse in a trap (running back and forth helplessly and dying in the end) in order to express his negative point of view about the irrelevance of Kafka for readers in socialist countries. He explains: \u201cwir [he refers to communists] wollten nicht einer solchen Maus gleichen, wir konnten nicht die traurige Schlu\u00dffolgerung Kafkas hinnehmen, da\u00df es kein Heil, keine Rettung gebe.\u201d Instead, he and his comrades found what Kafka was unable to see: \u201cda\u00df es einen realen, sicheren Weg in die Freiheit gibt\u201d \u2013 a path shown by Marx and Lenin. Of course, in order to continue to march in this direction of creating a world in which \u201cMenschen zu leben und zu schaffen verm\u00f6gen\u201d[12]<\/a>, as the speaker concludes, another literature than that of Kafka was needed \u2013 that of socialist realism.<\/p>\n

Langermann states correctly about the argument about Kafka in the GDR in the 1960s:<\/p>\n

\n

Es ging [\u2026] nicht nur um die Modernisierung der Kunst, sondern der Gesellschaft, mit oder ohne Kafka, in stalinistischen Traditionen einer \u2018hart\u2019 organisierten Gesellschaft oder im Zeichen der \u2018Tauwetter\u2019- und \u2018Fr\u00fchlingsmetaphern\u2019, durch Demokratisierung und \u00d6ffnung der Gesellschaft.[13]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As we know from GDR history, the functionaries, who wanted to continue marching in the Stalinist tradition, have won. Trying to imagine their concrete point of view, the popular writer Bernd-Lutz Lange states in retrospect:<\/p>\n

\n

Der \u2018Proze\u00df\u2019 und \u2018Das Schloss\u2019 von Kafka handeln von einer h\u00f6heren Macht, die unerreichbar ist. Von der gesichtslosen Maske der B\u00fcrokratie. Vielleicht f\u00fchlte sich mancher der Funktion\u00e4re ertappt, als er einen Blick in diese Romane riskiert hatte. Au\u00dferdem stellte der Autor zu viele Fragen, suchte zuviel. Er suchte Gott, den Sinn in einer absurden Welt und die Chance, sich als Individuum gegen die Macht der B\u00fcrokratie behaupten zu k\u00f6nnen. Das alles konnten Leute, die uniformiertes Denken w\u00fcnschten, nur als geistiges Gift aus den B\u00fccherschr\u00e4nken verbannen.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As Ekkehard W. Haring states correctly, the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968 made matters worse, leading to an offensive \u201c\u00f6ffentlichen Tabuisierung\u201d[15]<\/a> of Kafka in the GDR. In this period, only very established writers, as for instance, Anna Seghers, were able to publish texts that dealt with Kafka in a more positive way. In her novella \u201cDie Reisebegegnung,\u201d she interpretes him as a realist writer \u201cder gleichsam f\u00fcr ein humanistisches Weltbild eintritt, in seinem Sp\u00e4twerk allerdings die Aspekte der Ausweglosigkeit \u00fcberbetont.\u201d[16]<\/a> Diplomatically, Seghers chose Kafka\u2019s short text \u201cEin K\u00fcbelreiter\u201d \u2013 one of the few texts, in which \u201cder zeitgeschichtliche Bezug eindeutig identifizierbar [ist]\u201d[17]<\/a> \u2013 to proof her point of view that Kafka was a realist writer, at least at the beginning. As Haring states, besides such few references to Kafka in published GDR literature in this period, there were signs of a \u201cschwer einzusch\u00e4tzende[n] \u2018unsichtbare Rezeption\u2019\u201d[18]<\/a> in the population of the GDR. Gottfried Meinhold\u2019s text \u2013 written only two years after the crushing of the Czech reform movement and well hidden until the fall of the Wall \u2013 can be considered an example of this invisible reception.<\/p>\n

In 1983, on the occasion of Kafka\u2019s hundredth birthday, there was a \u201cParadigmenwechsel mit Kafka\u201d[19]<\/a> in the GDR. Nine different publishing houses published all his major works with the exception of his journals; the Academy of Science in East Berlin held a conference devoted to Kafka. Although for the GDR scholars who participated in this conference \u201cl\u00e4ngst kein Stadium erreicht war, Kafka unverkrampft zu diskutieren\u201d[20]<\/a>, it was a big step away from the former negative verdict on Kafka. Why did Meinhold not attempt to have his manuscript Die Grenze<\/em> published then? After all, from this time on several literary texts were published in the GDR that intertextually referred to Kafka\u2019s work in order to show his relevance for describing peoples\u2019 lives in this country from a disillusioned perspective, see, for instance, Sai\u00e4ns<\/em> Fiktschen<\/em> by Franz F\u00fchmann. Meinhold (born in 1936) was an established linguist teaching at the Friedich-Schiller-Universit\u00e4t in Jena and, perhaps, he did not want to risk losing his position. In addition, besides his scholarly books, he had published science fiction novels, mainly at Historff Verlag. As Angelika Winnen shows, the authorities seriously reprimanded this publishing house after having published Klaus Schlesinger\u2019s collection of short stories in Berliner<\/em> Traum <\/em>because one of them referred creatively to Kafka\u2019s novel Der Process<\/em>. The book had sold out fast; a second edition was not allowed to be printed after the press had branded it with expressions like \u201cradikale Negativbilanz.\u201d[21]<\/a> If Meinhold had shown the manuscript of Die Grenze<\/em> to his publisher, he, without doubt, would have argued against its publication. Not only is the \u201cNegativbilanz\u201d in regard to the GDR even stronger than in Schlesinger\u2019s text, it also deals with the East-West German border \u2013 a taboo subject until the end of the GDR. However, the situation at the time might have been more complex since Meinhold applied the finishing touches to his novel only much later.<\/p>\n

To summarize, there are strong references to Kafka\u2019s Der Process<\/em> and Das<\/em> Schloss<\/em> in Meinhold\u2019s novel regarding the existential status of the main protagonists who are struggling with the questions of their place in the world and the degree to which they are free. In addition, the setting and atmosphere of Meinhold\u2019s novel Die Grenze<\/em> show strong similarities to those in Kafka\u2019s novel Das Schloss<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Footnotes<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Langermann, Martina. \u201c\u02bbFaust oder Gregor Samsa?\u2019 Kulturelle Tradierung im Zeichen der Sieger.\u201d In: Dahlke, Birgit; Langermann, Martina; Taterka, Thomas (Eds.). LiteraturGesellschaft DDR: Kanonk\u00e4mpfe und ihre Geschichte(n). <\/em>Stuttgart: Metzler, 2000, pp. 173-213, p. 175.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, p. 178.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Meinhold, Gottfried. Die Grenze.<\/em> Weimar: VDG, 2001. All quotation from this primary source in brackets within the text.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Scheer, Udo. \u201cProphet und Aussteiger \u2013 Habakuks erbarmungslose Selbstbefragung in Edwin Kratschmers Romandeb\u00fct Habakuk oder Schatten im Kopf und Gottfried Meinholds Grenzerfahrung.\u201d In: Glossen<\/em>, http:\/\/www.Dickinson.edu\/glossen\/heft16\/scheer.html<\/a>, 3\/1\/03.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Zashin, Elliot. \u201cIntersubjectivity in Kafka\u2019s The Trial.\u201d In: Journal of the Kafka Society of Amerika 37-8<\/em> (2013-2014), pp. 146-55, p. 146.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> See Anderson, Mark. \u201cWhere does Kafka belong?\u201d In: Journal of the Kafka Society of America 39<\/em> (2015), pp. 149-60, p. 156.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Kratschmer, Edwin. \u201cIn Grenzen \u00fcberleben: Gottfried Meinholds Erz\u00e4hlung Die Grenze.\u201d In: Weimarer Beitr\u00e4ge 47, 2<\/em> (2001), pp. 300-02, p. 302.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Kolbe, Uwe. Brecht: Rollenmodell eines Dichters.<\/em> Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 2016, p. 95-96.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> H\u00fcseyin, Aarak. \u201cDie Analyse der Parabel vor dem Gesetz.\u201d In: Journal of International Social Research 3, 10<\/em> (2010), pp. 61-66, p. 65.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Kolbe, Brecht<\/em>, p. 96.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Becher, Johannes R. \u201cForum der Nation. Deutsches Kulturgespr\u00e4ch. Rede auf dem ersten deutschen Kulturkongre\u00df in Leipzig am 16.5.1951.\u201d In: Becher, Johannes R. Publizistik III, 1946-1951<\/em>. Berlin: Aufbau, 1979, p. 555.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Weinberg, Manfred. \u201cDie vers\u00e4umte Suche nach einer verlorenen Zeit: Anmerkungen zur ersten Liblice-Konferenz.\u201d In: H\u00f6hne, Steffen; Udolph, Ludger (Eds.). Franz Kafka: Wirkung und Wirkungsverhinderung.<\/em> K\u00f6ln: B\u00f6hlau, 2014: 238-57. 209-35, p. 215.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Langermann, Faust<\/em>, p. 176.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Lange, Bernd-Lutz. Mauer, Jeans und Prager Fr\u00fchling.<\/em> Leipzig: Gustav Kiepenheuer, 2003, p. 293.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Haring, Ekkehard W. \u201cProduktive Missverst\u00e4ndnisse. Zur Kafka-Rezeption in der DDR zwischen 1968 und 1989.\u201d In: H\u00f6hne, Steffen; Udolph, Ludger (Eds.). Franz Kafka: Wirkung und Wirkungsverhinderung<\/em>. K\u00f6ln: B\u00f6hlau, 2014, pp. 238-57, p. 238.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Ibis, p. 242.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Bock, Sigrid. \u201cAnna Seghers liest Kafka.\u201d In: Weimarer Beitr\u00e4ge 30<\/em> (1984), pp. 900-15, p. 905.<\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Haring, \u201cMissverst\u00e4ndnisse,\u201d p. 238.<\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> Ibid., p. 244.<\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Ibid., p. 249.<\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> Winnen, Angelika. Kafka-Rezeption in der Literatur der DDR. W\u00fcrzburg: K\u00f6nigshausen & Neumann, 2006, p. 117.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anderson, Mark. \u201cWhere does Kafka belong?\u201d In: Journal of the Kafka Society of America <\/em>39 (2015), pp. 149-60.<\/p>\n

Becher, Johannes R. \u201cForum der Nation. Deutsches Kulturgespr\u00e4ch. Rede auf dem ersten deutschen Kulturkongre\u00df in Leipzig am 16.5.1951.\u201d In: Becher, Johannes R. Publizistik III, 1946-1951<\/em>. Berlin: Aufbau, 1979.<\/p>\n

Bock, Sigrid. \u201cAnna Seghers liest Kafka.\u201d In: Weimarer Beitr\u00e4ge<\/em> 30 (1984), pp. 900-15.<\/p>\n

F\u00fchmann, Franz. Sai\u00e4ns Fiktschen: Erz\u00e4hlungen<\/em>. Leipzig: Reclam, 1985.<\/p>\n

Haring, Ekkehard W. \u201cProduktive Missverst\u00e4ndnisse. Zur Kafka-Rezeption in der DDR zwischen 1968 und 1989.\u201d In: H\u00f6hne, Steffen; Udolph, Ludger (Eds.). Franz Kafka: Wirkung<\/em> und Wirkungsverhinderung<\/em>. K\u00f6ln: B\u00f6hlau, 2014, pp. 238-57.<\/p>\n

H\u00fcseyin, Aarak. \u201cDie Analyse der Parabel vor dem Gesetz.\u201d In: Journal of International Social Research<\/em> 3, 10 (2010), pp. 61-66.<\/p>\n

Kafka, Franz. The Trial<\/em>. Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1956.<\/p>\n

———-. The Castle<\/em>. Trans. Willa and Edwin Muir. New York: Schocken Books, 1982.<\/p>\n

Koelb, Clayton. \u201cKafka\u2019s Rhetorical Moment.\u201d In: PMLA<\/em> 98, 1 (1983), pp. 37-46.<\/p>\n

Kolbe, Uwe. Brecht: Rollenmodell eines Dichters<\/em>. Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 2016.<\/p>\n

Kratschmer, Edwin. \u201cIn Grenzen \u00fcberleben: Gottfried Meinholds Erz\u00e4hlung Die Grenze<\/em>.\u201d In: Weimarer Beitr\u00e4ge<\/em> 47, 2 (2001), pp. 300-02.<\/p>\n

Lange, Bernd-Lutz. Mauer, Jeans und Prager Fr\u00fchling<\/em>. Leipzig: Gustav Kiepenheuer, 2003.<\/p>\n

Langermann, Martina. \u201c\u02bbFaust oder Gregor Samsa?\u2019 Kulturelle Tradierung im Zeichen der Sieger.\u201d In: Dahlke, Birgit; Langermann, Martina; Taterka, Thomas (Eds.). LiteraturGesellschaft DDR: Kanonk\u00e4mpfe und ihre Geschichte(n)<\/em>. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2000, pp. 173-213.<\/p>\n

Meinhold, Gottfried. Die Grenze<\/em>. Weimar: VDG, 2001.<\/p>\n

Scheer, Udo. \u201cProphet und Aussteiger \u2013 Habakuks erbarmungslose Selbstbefragung in Edwin Kratschmers Romandeb\u00fct Habakuk oder Schatten im Kopf<\/em> und Gottfried Meinholds Grenzerfahrung<\/em>.\u201d In: Glossen, <\/em>http:\/\/www.Dickinson.edu\/glossen\/heft16\/scheer.html<\/a>, 3\/1\/03.<\/p>\n

Schlesinger, Klaus. Berliner Traum<\/em>. Rostock: Historff, 1977.<\/p>\n

Seghers, Anna. Sonderbare Begegnungen<\/em>. Darmstadt: Luchterhand, 1973.<\/p>\n

Weinberg, Manfred. \u201cDie vers\u00e4umte Suche nach einer verlorenen Zeit: Anmerkungen zur ersten Liblice-Konferenz.\u201d In: H\u00f6hne, Steffen; Udolph, Ludger (Eds.). Franz Kafka: Wirkung<\/em> und Wirkungsverhinderung<\/em>. K\u00f6ln: B\u00f6hlau, 2014: 238-57. 209-35.<\/p>\n

Winnen, Angelika. Kafka-Rezeption in der Literatur der DDR<\/em>. W\u00fcrzburg: K\u00f6nigshausen & Neumann, 2006.<\/p>\n

Zashin, Elliot. \u201cIntersubjectivity in Kafka\u2019s The Trial.\u201d In: Journal of the Kafka Society of Amerika<\/em> 37-8 (2013-2014), pp. 146-55.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHelligkeitsverlust\u201d:   The Reception of Franz Kafka\u02bcs Texts   in Gottfried Meinhold\u2019s Die Grenze   (written 1970, published 2001)   Gabriele Eckart, Cape Girardeau, Missouri   It is well known that the reception of Franz Kafka\u2019s works was problematic in the former GDR. Martina Langermann shows that after a heated initial discussion about the possible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4340,"featured_media":0,"parent":7324,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7354","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7354\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/glossen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}