Berlin: Verlag der Nation, 1981. 405 p., 11,80 M

Legters, Lyman H

English

Kansas State University

GDR Bulletin Volume 8 Issue 3 Fall Article 10 1982 Hans von Oettingen: Irrwege und Einsichten eines Unbedachten Lyman H. Legters University of Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/gdr This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Legters, Lyman H. (1982) "Hans von Oettingen: Irrwege und Einsichten eines Unbedachten," GDR Bulletin: Vol. 8: Iss. 3. https://doi.org/10.4148/gdrb.v8i3.634 This Review is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in GDR Bulletin by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact cads@k-state.edu. - 7 -BOOK REVIEWS Hans von 0 e t t i n g e n : Irrwege und E i n s i c h t e n e i n e s Unbe-dachten. B e r l i n : V e r l a g der N a t i o n , 1981. 405 pages. 11.80 M. I t i s not at a l l c l e a r , a t f i r s t g l a n c e , why these memoirs sh o u l d have been w r i t t e n o r , once w r i t t e n , why they s h o u l d have been p u b l i s h e d . A s i d e from the author's de-c i s i o n f o r E a s t Germany over West Germany, d o u b t l e s s a f a c t o r i n i t s p u b l i c a t i o n (but one shrouded from my view by the absence o f pages 385-400 from the copy a v a i l a b l e to me), the a u t h o r ' s e x p e r i e n c e s are by no means unique or even unusual f o r a German born i r 1919. An a r i s t o -c r a t making h i s way through the Weimar R e p u b l i c , the Na-z i p e r i o d , and the postwar epoch i s not remarkable, though h i s ardent N a t i o n a l S o c i a l i s t f a t h e r and the n o s t a l g i a a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the i n s t i t u t i o n s and h a b i t s of t r a d i t i o n a l German l i f e are o f some i n t e r e s t . What redeems t h i s volume of memoirs i s the v i v i d n e s s of the w r i t i n g and the r e b e l l i o u s n e s s , seemingly q u i t e au-t h e n t i c , t h a t a l l o w s the a u t h o r ' s r e c o l l e c t i o n s to i l -l u m i n a t e the f r a u d u l e n c e of much of the h i s t o r y he has l i v e d through. H i s r e c o l l e c t i o n s become, i n e f f e c t , an a c i d commentary on a l l t h a t went wrong i n the Germany of the p o s t - W i l h e l m i n e e r a . A d m i r a b l y , the author c l a i m s no c r e d i t f o r h i s a n t i -Nazism or f o r h i s genuine democratic p r e f e r e n c e s . The me-moirs p o r t r a y a c o n t i n u o u s t e n s i o n between the power of the p r e s c r i p t i v e — b e i t a r i s t o c r a t i c , N a z i or m i l i t a r y — and the a s s e r t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l i t y , not always com-mendable but always at odds w i t h p r e c e p t . Here l i e s t h a t most v a l u a b l e of a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l commentaries, the i r r e v e r e n t d i s p l a y of i n d i v i d u a l i t y , however f l a w e d , at odds w i t h o f f i c i a l p i e t i e s . The p i e t i e s of the GDR do not come i n f o r much o f t h i s t r e a t m e n t , l a r g e l y be-cause the r e b e l l i o u s m i l i t a r y f i g u r e t u r n s i n t o an i n -v a l i d w r i t e r . O e t t i n g e r ' s memoirs, n o n e t h e l e s s , p r o v i d e a s c i n t i l l a t i n g view of the Weimar and N a z i epochs, one t h a t f a r exceeds the i n i t i a l promise of the u n d e r t a k i n g . I t would not be u n f a i r to c h a r a c t e r i z e t h i s book as the triumph of l i t e r a r y q u a l i t y over p o l i t i c a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , however those may have f i g u r e d i n the book's appearance. Lyman H. L e g t e r s U n i v e r s i t y of Washington A Ä A 'A"A AAA GDR BULLETIN P u b l i s h e d t h r e e times a year by the Department of Germanic Languages and L i t e r a t u r e s , Box 1104, Washington U n i v e r s i t y , S t . L o u i s , ID 63130. E d i t o r : P a t r i c i a Herminghouse Departmental S t a f f Book Reviews: P r i s c i l l a Hayden, Marc Iwand, H i l d e g a r d P i e t s c h , T i n e k e R i t m e e s t e r B i b l i o g r a p h y : James McLeod, Magdalene Müller, Ti n e k e R i t m e e s t e r J o u r n a l Notes: B a r t o n Byg L i t e r a t u r e i n T r a n s l a t i o n : Dugald S t u r g e s Notes i n B r i e f : Marc Iwand Conferences: H i l d e g a r d P i e t s c h T r a v e l and Exchange: Magdalene Müller Research i n P r o g r e s s : Dugald S t u r g e s V i s i t i n g L e c t u r e r s : B a r t o n Byg j A l l departments can be c o n t a c t e d a t the address above. E l i s a b e t h Schulz-Semrau: Die B e u r t e i l u n g . H a l l e und L e i p z i g : M i t t e l d e u t s c h e r V e r l a g , 1981. 229 pages. 7.20 M. The f i r s t i m p r e s s i o n of E l i s a b e t h S c h u l z Semrau's new n o v e l i s one of s t r o n g a f f i n i t y to C h r i s t a W o l f ' s Per g e t e i l t e Himmel, a n o v e l w r i t t e n at the o u t s e t of W o l f ' s c a r e e r . Y e t almost two decades have passed between the p u b l i c a t i o n s of the two books: i n c o n t r a s t to W o l f ' s h e r o i n e R i t a S e i d e l , Schulz-Semrau's hero K o l j a , a young a r t i s t born i n 1951, i s e n t i r e l y the product t i l a s o c i a l i s t c o u n t r y . He grew up secure i n the i d e a l s and the l o v e of h i s mother, G i s e l a H i l d e b r a n d , a de-d i c a t e d s o c i a l i s t , and these b e l i e f s have been s t r e n g -thened through h i s y e a r s at s c h o o l and u n i v e r s i t y . But then the woman he l o v e s moves to West B e r l i n , and two n e g a t i v e l i n e s i n an o t h e r w i s e h i g h l y p o s i t i v e e v a l u a t i o n - - h e i s judged wrongly as b e i n g " i n d i f f e r e n t " - -make i t i m p o s s i b l e f o r him t o r e t u r n to the u n i v e r s i t y and to r e s e a r c h . Y e t the " d i v i d e d s k y " i s an a c c e p t e d f a c t i n 1981; and not the East-West c o n f l i c t i s the a c t u a l t o p i c of the n o v e l , but the c o n f l i c t of the g e n e r a t i o n s . T h i s i s p r e s e n t e d here p r i m a r i l y as a c o n f r o n t a t i o n : l i f e e x p e r i e n c e s ard c l a i m s on l i f e of two g e n e r a t i o n s of a s o c i a l i s t s o c i e t y are seen from the view o f the two main f i g u r e s , mother and son; the n o v e l i n v e s t i g a t e s whether a p r o d u c t i v e t o g e t h e r -ness ( M i t e i n a n d e r ) of the two i s p c s s i b l e . Over the past f i f t e e n y e a r s the r i g h t f o r s e l f - r e a l i -z a t i o n w i t h i n a s o c i a l i s t s o c i e t y has become a c e n t r a l theme of the GDR-novel; but now the c l a i m s of the i n d i -v i d u a l have become l o u d e r and more s t r i d e n t than i n the s i x t i e s . Thus, when Schulz-Semrau l o o k s a t the r e l a -t i o n between i n d i v i d u a l and s o c i e t y , she focuses on G i s e l a , K o l j a ' s mother, a member of the g e n e r a t i o n which b u i l t the s o c i a l i s t s o c i e t y , who c r i t i c a l l y examines her l i f e , her own a c t i o n s , and those of her comrades: Do they a l l o w f o r the doubts and q u e s t i o n s of a contemporary s o c i a l i s t g e n e r a t i o n ? Does the so-c i a l i s t s o c i e t y e n s u r e , f o r the p r e s e n t , the p o s s i b i l i -ty of f r e e p e r s o n a l development? The a u t h o r ' s con-c l u s i o n remains p o s i t i v e , of course: a l t h o u g h the ending i s a p p a r e n t l y l e f t open, the reader knows there w i l l indeed be a " p r o d u c t i v e t o g e t h e r n e s s " , j u s t as t h e r e i s never a doubt t h a t the young, q u e s t i o n i n g i n -t e l l e c t u a l w i l l remain i n h i s s o c i a l i s t homeland, the GDR. Schulz-Semrau's s e n s i t i v e p o r t r a y a l o f inter-human r e -l a t i o n s and f e e l i n g s as e x p e r i e n c e d by a woman may l e a d to the i m p r e s s i o n t h a t the n o v e l d e s c r i b e s a p e r i o d of l i f e of someone s i m i l a r to the a u t h o r . S c h u l z -Semrau r e l a t e s the s t o r y by p r e s e n t r e f l e c t i o n s or f l a s h b a c k s . At t i m e s , however, s i m p l i s t i c , s t y l i s t i c d e v i c e s are employed to r e v e a l the son's innermost e x p e r i e n c e s : c o n v e n i e n t l y K o l j a ' s mother f a l l s upon h i s d i a r y and a 10-page l e t t e r addressed to a c a s u a l f r i e n d . Moreover, the author o v e r s t r a i n s the usage of r e c u r r i n g images. Thus the symbol o f d i e B l i t z e , of f l a s h e s o f l i g h t e n i n g , i s used f r e q u e n t l y . O b v i o u s -l y i t stands f o r the mother's i d e a l s as they have been t r a n s m i t t e d to her son, and which were q u e s t i o n e d at the v e r y b e g i n n i n g ("Wo s i n d d i e B l i t z e , K o l j a ? " ) and a f f i r m e d a g a i n i n the f i n a l paragraph ("0 meine l i e b e n B l i t z e " ) . C e r t a i n l y the r e a d e r i s not i n need o f a d e t a i l e d e x p l a n a t i o n of the image as p r o v i d e d toward the end of the n o v e l . N e v e r t h e l e s s , the n o v e l i s w o r t h w h i l e r e a d i n g s i n c e i t i s e n t e r t a i n i n g and en-l i g h t e n s the non-GDR re a d e r s about Contemporary l i f e i n the GDR. Frauke G r i e s C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y Hayward 1Legters: Hans von Oettingen: Irrwege und Einsichten eines UnbedachtenPublished by New Prairie Press, 1982

Hans von Oettingen: Irrwege und Einsichten eines Unbedachten

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Hans von Oettingen: Irrwege und Einsichten eines Unbedachten

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