Category Archives: Literatur

Höllenhund?

Posted on 23. February 2014 by schaefew

Mythen sind ein Versuch, die Welt zu erklären. Sie geben Antworten auf die Fragen nach der Erschaffung der Welt, dem Leben im Jenseits und den Phänomenen der Natur. Und kommen dem Bedürfnis des Meschen entgegen, das zu verstehen. Es gab … Continue reading →

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Titanen gegen Götter gegen Giganten

Posted on 23. February 2014 by schaefew

Den Kampf zwischen Göttern und Titanen kann auch als Kampf zwischen den Alten und den Jungen, zwischen den Arrivierten und den Emporkömmlingen, zwischen der Generation der Eltern und der Generation der Kinder gelesen werden. Bei dem späteren Kampf zwischen den … Continue reading →

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Good meal

Posted on 23. February 2014 by schaefew

In Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Marlow realises that the black people on board are starving. They have only some rotten hippo meat on board but the white people on board, the “Pilgrims”, had thrown much of it overboard. They were … Continue reading →

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Neue Zeit

Posted on 6. February 2014 by schaefew

Gleich am Anfang von Čechovs Kirschgarten fragt Lopachin, der Kaufmann: “Wie spät ist es?” Man überliest das leicht. Jedenfalls ging es mir so. Ich wurde auch nicht hellhörig, nachdem Lopachin diese Frage später noch mehrmals stellt. Erst durch das Nachwort wurde … Continue reading →

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Feminists vs. feminists

Posted on 4. January 2014 by schaefew

Feminist literary criticism comes in many forms. Feminist literary critics may look at the portrayal of female characters in male authors’ books; or they may focus their attention on well-known female writers; or they may focus on neglected female writers; … Continue reading →

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Sprachlosigkeit

Posted on 31. December 2013 by schaefew

In einer klugen Besprechung eines Romans (Andreas Maiers Die Straße) geht es um Nichtsprachliches und Triebleben. Der Autor des Romans erzählt, wie das Wort Beischlaf (oder seine Umschreibungen) durch seine Abwesenheit eine Allmacht über seine Eltern hatte. Die Rezensentin weitet … Continue reading →

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The incomplete sculpture

Posted on 31. December 2013 by schaefew

Reader-response criticism does not ask “What does a text mean?” but rather “What does a text do?”. What does a text do to the reader’s mind, that is, which ideas, thoughts, feelings, associations does in trigger. Needless to say, this … Continue reading →

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Literature and dreams

Posted on 27. December 2013 by schaefew

Dreams and literary works have a lot in common: they are works of fiction, inventions of the mind, based on reality though not literally true, they have a truth to tell but may need to be interpreted so that the … Continue reading →

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Life in a nutshell

Posted on 26. December 2013 by schaefew

Is history cyclical or progressive? Joyce, following Vico, saw it as rather cyclical, identifying recurring patterns in human history. History is a series of concentric circles, like the rings of a tree. Any one of these circles can be taken … Continue reading →

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Judges

Posted on 30. November 2013 by schaefew

Here’s the story: A man has fallen out with his wife and then reconciled himself with her again. He travels back with her from her father’s home, where she has taken refuge, to his own home. On his way, he … Continue reading →

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Mauer-Kick

Posted on 22. September 2013 by schaefew

Was machen Kinder, wenn sie eine niedrige Mauer sehen? Sie klettern rauf und laufen an der Hand eines Erwachsenen die Mauer entlang. Das machen alle Kinder bei allen Mauern, so wie alle Kinder in alle Pfützen springen. Es ist geradezu … Continue reading →

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Violence in modern media?

Posted on 22. September 2013 by schaefew

Take this plot: Two men kill another man, rape his bride, cut out her tongue and amputate her hands; her father kills the rapists, cooks them in a pie, and feeds them to their mother, whom he then kills before … Continue reading →

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Miraculous

Posted on 22. September 2013 by schaefew

In Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years (1997) Misha tells the story of a little Jewish girl’s miraculous survival in Nazi Germany. Her adventures include being trapped in the Warsaw ghetto, stabbing a Nazi rapist, trekking across Europe on foot … Continue reading →

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Life? How boring!

Posted on 22. September 2013 by schaefew

In George Gissing’s New Grub Street, a character named Harold Biffen writes a novel which describes the life of an ordinary grocer in absolutely realistic detail and with zero dramatic shaping. The novel is unutterably boring by design. It is about … Continue reading →

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Zu viele Gläser Wasser

Posted on 14. August 2013 by schaefew

In einem Roman, den ich gerade lese, geht der Erzähler ins Bad und trinkt “zwei Gläser Wasser” (S. 78). Das, finde ich, ist unglaublich pedantisch und regelrecht falsch. Man trinkt “zwei Glas Wasser”. Der Plural ist hier völlig unsinnig. (Der … Continue reading →

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