Simon, Sunka

English

Works

Swarthmore College 
Works 
 
 
German Studies Faculty Works 
 
 
1996 
 
Review Of "Understanding Ingeborg 
Bachmann" By K.R. Achberger 
 
Sunka Simon 
Swarthmore College, ssimon1@swarthmore.edu 
 
Let us know how access to this work benefits you. 
 
Follow this and additional works at: http://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-german 
 Part of the German Language and Literature Commons 
 
 
Recommended Citation 
Sunka Simon. (2002). "Review Of "German Studies In The Post-Holocaust Age: The Politics Of Memory, 
Identity, And Ethnicity" Edited By A. Del Caro And J. Ward". Colloquia Germanica. Volume 35, Issue 3/4. 
376-377. 
http://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-german/9 
 
This work is brought to you for free and open access by the Swarthmore College Libraries. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in German Studies Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of 
Works. For more information, please contact myworks@swarthmore.edu. 
Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KG
 
 
Review
Reviewed Work(s): Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann by Karen R. Achberger
Review by: Sunka Simon
Source: Colloquia Germanica, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1996), pp. 188-189
Published by: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KG
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23981018
Accessed: 17-08-2017 14:18 UTC
 
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
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Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
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Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KG is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
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188 Besprechungen I Reviews 
pedagogical goal and intended readership limit the book's value for a broader aca-
demic audience. 
Franklin & Marshall College Cecile Cazort Zorach 
KAREN R. ACHBERGER: Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann. Columbia: University 
of South Carolina Press, 1994. 228 pp. $ 34.95. 
Karen R. Achberger's comprehensive monograph on Ingeborg Bachmann is a wel-
come addition to the South Carolina series on heretofore mostly male modern Euro-
pean and Latin American writers. It transcends the expectations of both the beginn-
ing and advanced reader in more than one respect. Achberger convincingly insists on 
reading Bachmann's entire opus historically and intertextually, firmly situating it in 
the modernist tradition. While the writer's major poems, radio plays, prose, libretti, 
and critical writings prior to 1971 receive roughly equal attention, the book is 
weighted towards Malina and the «Death Styles» Cycle (with a work history and 
critically commented plot summaries for Der Fall Franza and Requiem fur Fanny 
Goldmann and Simultan, Bachmann's last story collection, 1972). Achberger's study 
reflects the results of former research in demonstrating that Bachmann's philosophi-
cal dialogue with Martin Heidegger's existentialism and Ludwig Wittgenstein's lan-
guage philosophy inform her «new poetic of <inward settings>» as much as her criti-
cal adaptation of Brecht's political morality and her unique relationship to music. 
Achberger enables readers to access Bachmann's allusively ambiguous self-referential 
writings without deadending the numerous possible paths to her accomplishments in 
her mythicized public image. Bachmann's much discussed turn to prose with Das 
dreifligste Jahr (1961), Achberger argues, was therefore not a turn away from poetry, 
but rather a step towards prose, an inclusive step that finds its analytically and poeti-
cally motivated transition in the medium of radio plays (Ein Geschaft mit Traumen 
[1952], The Cicadas [1955], and The Good God of Manhattan [1958]) as well as in her 
Frankfurter Vorlesungen (1959-60) on the role of art and the artist in today's society. 
Achberger's previous scholarly work on Bachmann's libretti for Hans Werner Hen-
ze's ballets and operas Der Idiot, Der Prinz von Homburg (1960), and Der junge 
Lord (1965) has prepared her for the difficult task of balancing a general, well-docu-
mented introduction to Bachmann's texts with compelling interpretations of their 
musical and literary connections. This long-standing interest in her subject culminat-
es in the careful tracing of motifs throughout Bachmann's intricate interweaving of 
literary and musical traditions, modes, and topoi (especially well done in her analysis 
of Bachmann's writing under the influence of the oppositional triumvirat of Ludwig 
van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Arnold Schonberg). In Achberger's view, 
among the most important motifs for any understanding of Bachmann are her con-
stant struggle to direct her utopian poetics towards a language unrestricted by «fa-
therland and mother tongue» and her contrapuntal insistence on gender-determined 
and system-endemic «death styles.» These contradictory yet parallel movements in 
Bachmann's textual compositions, Achberger contends, form a recognizable life-line 
This content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:18:41 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Besprechungen I Reviews 189 
from the first collection of poems, Die gestundete Zeit (1953 ), to the only completed 
novel Malina (1971), the story collection Simultan (1972), and the story, poetry, and 
novel fragments discovered after her death in 1973 (Requiem fur Fanny Goldmann, 
Der Fall Franza, and Eka Kottwitz). 
In addition to her expert explication of Bachmann's musical-textual webs, Achber-
ger sets out to settle a persistent dispute about Bachmann's work. She holds, as the 
jacket cover emphasizes, that Bachmann's «entire ouevre is dedicated to the struggle 
against fascism.» The monograph's author repeatedly draws on Bachmann's own and 
her characters' expressions that «still today very many people do not die, but are 
murdered» (Der Fall Franza), that «it is the eternal war» (Malina) and, of course, that 
«Fascism is the first thing in the relationship between a man and a woman» (Gespra-
che und Interviews). Hardly anyone today would deny that Bachmann's images of 
tolerated everyday crimes and murders against women characters and their ability to 
narrate their side of the story - their memories - are metaphorically linked, if not 
directly comparable, to the degradation and master-minded extermination of Jews and 
other minorities in the Third Reich. However, why do Bachmann's metaphors and 
images refuse to distinguish between fascist ideology, war, «Liebestod,» individual 
murder, and planned mass murder? Since this complicated link has largely contribut-
ed to an understandable misreading of Bachmann's prose, a critical analysis of her 
essay «Auf das Opfer darf sich keiner berufen» in the context of contemporary 
events in postwar Germany and Austria, such as the Auschwitz trials, night have 
shed some light on the affair. But in this case, taking Bachmann's words as assurance 
for her feminist and politically motivated insurance against «erasing the traces of 
pain» does not quite do justice to the complexities on both the literary and the 
political levels. Situating Bachmann's work more firmly in the discourse on history 
and memory might have opened her «Todesarten» to an even more stimulating inves-
tigation, also in the direction of postmodernism, than Achberger already accomplish-
es. Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann should fascinate readers interested in the 
relationship between music and literature as well as Bachmann scholars in search of 
solid ground mingled with refreshingly new insights. With its extensive endnotes and 
bibliography, it should become an essential research tool for the English-speaking 
fan of European women's literature. All in all, this is an indispensable addition to the 
ever-growing Bachmann scholarship. 
Swarthmore College SunkaSimon 


Review Of  Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann  By K.R. Achberger

Swarthmore College Works   German Studies Faculty Works   1996  Review Of "Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann" By K.R. Achberger  Sunka Simon Swarthmore College, ssimon1@swarthmore.edu  Let us know how access to this work benefits you.  Follow this and additional works at: http://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-german  Part of the German Language and Literature Commons   Recommended Citation Sunka Simon. (2002). "Review Of "German Studies In The Post-Holocaust Age: The Politics Of Memory, Identity, And Ethnicity" Edited By A. Del Caro And J. Ward". Colloquia Germanica. Volume 35, Issue 3/4. 376-377. http://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-german/9  This work is brought to you for free and open access by the Swarthmore College Libraries. It has been accepted for inclusion in German Studies Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Works. For more information, please contact myworks@swarthmore.edu. Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KG  ReviewReviewed Work(s): Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann by Karen R. AchbergerReview by: Sunka SimonSource: Colloquia Germanica, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1996), pp. 188-189Published by: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KGStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23981018Accessed: 17-08-2017 14:18 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a widerange of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity andfacilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available athttp://about.jstor.org/termsNarr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH Co. KG is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to Colloquia GermanicaThis content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:18:41 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/termsThis content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:18:41 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms188 Besprechungen I Reviews pedagogical goal and intended readership limit the book's value for a broader aca-demic audience. Franklin & Marshall College Cecile Cazort Zorach KAREN R. ACHBERGER: Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994. 228 pp. $ 34.95. Karen R. Achberger's comprehensive monograph on Ingeborg Bachmann is a wel-come addition to the South Carolina series on heretofore mostly male modern Euro-pean and Latin American writers. It transcends the expectations of both the beginn-ing and advanced reader in more than one respect. Achberger convincingly insists on reading Bachmann's entire opus historically and intertextually, firmly situating it in the modernist tradition. While the writer's major poems, radio plays, prose, libretti, and critical writings prior to 1971 receive roughly equal attention, the book is weighted towards Malina and the «Death Styles» Cycle (with a work history and critically commented plot summaries for Der Fall Franza and Requiem fur Fanny Goldmann and Simultan, Bachmann's last story collection, 1972). Achberger's study reflects the results of former research in demonstrating that Bachmann's philosophi-cal dialogue with Martin Heidegger's existentialism and Ludwig Wittgenstein's lan-guage philosophy inform her «new poetic of <inward settings>» as much as her criti-cal adaptation of Brecht's political morality and her unique relationship to music. Achberger enables readers to access Bachmann's allusively ambiguous self-referential writings without deadending the numerous possible paths to her accomplishments in her mythicized public image. Bachmann's much discussed turn to prose with Das dreifligste Jahr (1961), Achberger argues, was therefore not a turn away from poetry, but rather a step towards prose, an inclusive step that finds its analytically and poeti-cally motivated transition in the medium of radio plays (Ein Geschaft mit Traumen [1952], The Cicadas [1955], and The Good God of Manhattan [1958]) as well as in her Frankfurter Vorlesungen (1959-60) on the role of art and the artist in today's society. Achberger's previous scholarly work on Bachmann's libretti for Hans Werner Hen-ze's ballets and operas Der Idiot, Der Prinz von Homburg (1960), and Der junge Lord (1965) has prepared her for the difficult task of balancing a general, well-docu-mented introduction to Bachmann's texts with compelling interpretations of their musical and literary connections. This long-standing interest in her subject culminat-es in the careful tracing of motifs throughout Bachmann's intricate interweaving of literary and musical traditions, modes, and topoi (especially well done in her analysis of Bachmann's writing under the influence of the oppositional triumvirat of Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Arnold Schonberg). In Achberger's view, among the most important motifs for any understanding of Bachmann are her con-stant struggle to direct her utopian poetics towards a language unrestricted by «fa-therland and mother tongue» and her contrapuntal insistence on gender-determined and system-endemic «death styles.» These contradictory yet parallel movements in Bachmann's textual compositions, Achberger contends, form a recognizable life-line This content downloaded from 130.58.65.13 on Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:18:41 UTCAll use subject to http://about.jstor.org/termsBesprechungen I Reviews 189 from the first collection of poems, Die gestundete Zeit (1953 ), to the only completed novel Malina (1971), the story collection Simultan (1972), and the story, poetry, and novel fragments discovered after her death in 1973 (Requiem fur Fanny Goldmann, Der Fall Franza, and Eka Kottwitz). In addition to her expert explication of Bachmann's musical-textual webs, Achber-ger sets out to settle a persistent dispute about Bachmann's work. She holds, as the jacket cover emphasizes, that Bachmann's «entire ouevre is dedicated to the struggle against fascism.» The monograph's author repeatedly draws on Bachmann's own and her characters' expressions that «still today very many people do not die, but are murdered» (Der Fall Franza), that «it is the eternal war» (Malina) and, of course, that «Fascism is the first thing in the relationship between a man and a woman» (Gespra-che und Interviews). Hardly anyone today would deny that Bachmann's images of tolerated everyday crimes and murders against women characters and their ability to narrate their side of the story - their memories - are metaphorically linked, if not directly comparable, to the degradation and master-minded extermination of Jews and other minorities in the Third Reich. However, why do Bachmann's metaphors and images refuse to distinguish between fascist ideology, war, «Liebestod,» individual murder, and planned mass murder? Since this complicated link has largely contribut-ed to an understandable misreading of Bachmann's prose, a critical analysis of her essay «Auf das Opfer darf sich keiner berufen» in the context of contemporary events in postwar Germany and Austria, such as the Auschwitz trials, night have shed some light on the affair. But in this case, taking Bachmann's words as assurance for her feminist and politically motivated insurance against «erasing the traces of pain» does not quite do justice to the complexities on both the literary and the political levels. Situating Bachmann's work more firmly in the discourse on history and memory might have opened her «Todesarten» to an even more stimulating inves-tigation, also in the direction of postmodernism, than Achberger already accomplish-es. Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann should fascinate readers interested in the relationship between music and literature as well as Bachmann scholars in search of solid ground mingled with refreshingly new insights. With its extensive endnotes and bibliography, it should become an essential research tool for the English-speaking fan of European women's literature. All in all, this is an indispensable addition to the ever-growing Bachmann scholarship. Swarthmore College SunkaSimon 

https://works.swarthmore.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&amp;context=fac-german

Review Of Understanding Ingeborg Bachmann By K.R. Achberger

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