Focus Spring 1995.tif 30 Focus 0'1 Literalltr beschreiben. Zumindest aw ihren Texteo spricht eine gewisse aggressive Abwehrhahung, vergleiche zurn Beispiel "staadiche gewalt / sl.mliche gewah / alle gewah den gewahigen / aile gewah den gewahhen vergewahigem .. .­ (148). 2um anderen 1st ihre Einstellung niehl im lesbischen Sinne als anti· mannlich zu verstehen. wgegen sprechen die T raumsequenUcn wie die Einrar· demogen oach sexueller Befriedigung durch das andere Geschlecht In einer groBen Anu.hl von T o:ten. Einen expliziten Affront gegen lesbische Kon­ upre nimmt die AutOrin im Text "die verletzte frau" (168-170) ein. :10 In ahnlicher Weise argument iert 3uch Ricarda Schmidt: "The body becomes the location of truth, the origi nator of words" (159). I I In den Oklober· und Novemberwochen des Umbruc hsjahres 1989 engagierte sich StOlzer-Kachold in der Initiative ~frauen fur veriinderung." Sic hielt diesen Rede-Text im Rathaussitzungssaal von Erfurt am 8. II. 1989. II Zu den Schwierigkeiten vom "ddr deutschen~ zum "bundesrepublik­ demschen" l.U werden, hat sich die Autorin niehl nur in den Amsterdam­ tagebuehnotiun (197-211) sondern auch in einem persOnlichen Gespriich mit mir bekannt. Literaturverzeichnis Eigler, Friederike. "At the Margins of East Berlin's 'Counter C ulture': Elke Erb's Winke/ziige und Gabriele Kacholds zuge/los." Women In German Yearbook 9 (1994): 145-163. Kaehold, Gabriele. zugel/os. Berlin: Aufbau, 1989. Kane, Martin. "From Oobl iadooh to Prenz1auer Berg. Literature, Alterna­ tive Lifestyle and Identity in the GOR.· Geist und Macht. \Vritm: and tk State in the CDR. Ed. Axel Goodbody and Dennis Tate. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi B.V., 1992. 90-103. $totur-Kachold, Gabriele. grenzen losfremdgehen. Berlin: Janus Press, 1992. "- . "Frauenszene und Frauen in der Szene." MachlSpte/e. Literatllr "lid Staatssicberhelt im Fokus Prenzlauer Berg. Ed. Peter BOlhig und Klaus Michael. Leipzig: Redam, 1993. 129·137. Wolf, Gerhard. "VorwOrt." ziigelJos. Von Gabriele Kachold. Berlin : Aufbau, 1989. Gender, C lass, J ewishness, and the Problem of Self in Fanny Lewald's Jenny: Jenny's "schielender Blick?" Thomas Mast Denn wie sehr mein Sinn auch auf Unabhangigkeit und das Leben in der Welt gestellt war, so hing ich doch noeh so fest mil dem Vater und dem Vate rhause zusammen, daB alles was ieh erreicbte, mir seinen wahren Wert erst durch die Gedanken an die Wirkung empfing, welche es: auf meinen Vater macben wurde. (Fanny Lewald) Wie die befreite Frau aussehen wird, das ist heute mit Sieherheit und Vollkommenheit nieht vorstellbar, lebbar schon gar niehL Urn in diesem Zwischenraum, im 'nich l mehr' und im 'noch nieht' zu uberleben, ohne verriickt oder toll zu werden , muB die Frau den sehielenden Blick lemen, d.h. die Widerspriiehe zum Spreehen bringen, sie sehen, begreifen und in ihnen, mil ihnen leben-und Kraft schopfen aus der Rebellion gtgen das Gesurn und aus der Antiupation des Morgens. (Sigrid Weigel) IiiI he second passage, taken from Weigel's inA uential essay "Der l1.li schielende Blick" (1983: 105), which has greatly affected femi­ nist critical discourse within German Studies duri ng the 1980s, high­ lights the double existence o f women (writers) in a patriarchal society and their attempt to fi nd their social, political, and aeSLheti c identity. It describes both the problem fac ing women writers and a utopian oudook for dealing with this situatio n. While Weigel focuses on tex­ tual production by women from the 18th to the 20th century, her approach bas been very helpful in analyzing the texts o f 19th-century German women write rs in particular. In fact. Weigel's quotation of­ fers itself as a commentary on the first passage, taken from Fanny LewaJd's autobiography Meine Lebensgeschichte (1861/62).1 F(}(JlS on Liuratur Vol. 2, No. 1 (I9'ilS) 32 Focus on LiteratllT It was in the 19th century that women writers emerged in grow­ ing and documented numbers and joined literary discourse, assisted by the Romamic aesthetic's rejeccion of mimetic principles in favo r of a more fragmented way of writing (Weigel 92). Elizabeth Friedrich, for instance, lists more than 4,000 women writers in her encyclopedia Die deulSchspracbigen Schriftstellerinnen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts. The attempts of women writers to emancipate themselves from the aesthetic constructS set up by the norms of patriarchal poetry, to use Gertrude Stein's term, were not homogeneous and not always suc­ cessful. The literary production of women was char.lcterized by vari­ ous forms of contradictions. Among them, Weigel perceives contra­ dictions zwischen bffemlichkeit und Befreiung, zwischen verschiedenen Gattungen des Schreibens, zwischen Emanzipationsprogramm und fiktionaler Phantasie, zwischen intellektueller Emanzip3lion und Liebesgliick, zwischen auGerer Anpassung und subversivem Aus­ bruch .. .. ("Der schielende Blick" 88) Despite, or rather because of these contradictions, one has to agree with Weigel that fictional and non-fictional texts of women-with all the texts' problems, weaknesses, and failures-are a testimony to the process of women write rs' emancipation and therefore an imponant and necessary part of (a feminist) literary history ("Der sch ielende Buck" 84). While Weigel's contributions in "Der schielende Blick" are still central to femin ist critical discourse, it is worth noting that her poet­ ics is almost exclusively structured by a binary opposition based on a center-margin, male-female concept. In light of feminist criticism in­ formed by poststructuralist influences, such a posit ion needs to be expanded in order to adequately describe female identity-both the discursively constructed one and the historically material one. For instance, with her concept of positionality, Leslie Adelson, although focusing on 2Oth- and not 19th-century women writers, provides an interesting elaboration on Weigel's thoughts. Adelson comends that female identities "cannot be surgically isolated from the simultaneously operative and differing facrers of class and ethnicity" (115), and she concludes: "In order to account for 'difference' ... we will need more than doubled vision to see elther in terms of male-female, German­ Jewish, [upperclass-lowerclass] ... " (124). Such an insight is also peninent with regard to Fanny Lewald's Gender, Class, and JewislUless in Lewald'sJenny 33 second novel Jenny, published anonymously in 1843. The two-part structure of this autobiographically influenced text has been over­ looked by crit ics so far, possibly because there is no formal division as such. Part 1 of the novel depicts the development of Jenny Meier, a young upper-middle class Jewish woman. Despite her conversion to Christianity, she breaks off her engagement to her gemile fiance, a theology student who stands socially below her, because she is un­ willing to comply with both his religious demands and his notion of a passive, subservient wife. 1n Pan II, after t he broken engagement, Jenny devotes time to her father and to herself, but subsequently en­ ters a new relationship with the nobleman Graf Walter, which uhi­ mately also fai ls. Previous readings oh he novel from a feminist perspective, namel y by Renate Mohrmann and Margaret Ward, have focused on twO ar­ eas: Mohrmann reads the text agaiJ1St the background o f the litera ry movement "Junges Deutschland" and views Jenny as the "Typus der Jungdeutschen Frau" (135), while Ward's intertextual approach st resses Goethe's literary paternity in Lewald's early novels and shows how starting with lenny. Lewald distances herself from traditional concepts of love and marriage (62-66). In contrast to these interpretations with thei r primary emphasis on a male-female nexus, T suggest that one should read Lewald's text, with all its inherent contradictions, on twe levels: first, as Jenny's search for identity at the intersection of class. gender, and Jewish ness; and second, as a reflection on the situation 01 middle-class Jewish women (including Lewald herselQ within 19th· century German bourgeois society. II Desp ite her popularity among the readi ng public and comparisom with George Sand, Fanny Lewald was hardly acknowledged by thl male literary establishment during her lifetime and soon forgoner after her death. Rediscovered by feminist critics in the late 1970s, Lewald and her literary achievements have received div ided responses According rosome critics, like Gisela Brinker-Gabler, the sociopolitica and rel igious issues in the early novels sti ll deserve anention -toda) (74f.),1 willie Regula Venske and others are much more critical in thei) evaluat i on . ~ Weigel, who belongs to t his latter group, clearly privi leges the 19th-century contemporary Louise Aston over Lewald: "E· 34 Focus on LileralJtr wimmelt in ihren [Lewald's] Texten von mannJichen Erzahlern und Frauenbildern, dieder Mannerlireratur entlehnt sind," ("Der schielencle Blick" 970 while AstOn's texts "nicht nur in der Fabel und den ent­ worfenen Frauenbildern. . auBergewohnlich [sind]"' ("Dreifach­ charakter" 363). But Weigel's statement about Lewald is somewhat biased and [00 simplistic. She overlooks the following: first, according to Michel Fou­ cault a writer's way of writing is "t ied (0 the legal and institutional systems that circumscribe, determine, and articulate the realm of dis­ courses" (130); among other discourses, Jenny is embedded in the dis­ course of marriage of convenience and, as Lewald herself pointed out, in the political and legal efforts of liberal circles of the 18305 and 18405 against reactionary tendencies in Prussia toward Jewish emancipation.s The motto of the novel. taken from a pro-emancipatory text by Lewald's lawyer-cousin Heinrich Simon.' shows this clearly: Ein Stamm. aus dem der Erloser. die Madonna. die Apostel hervor­ gegaogen. der oach tausendjahriger Verfolgung dem Glauben und den Sinen der Vater treu geblieben, nach tausendjahrigem Drucke noch .hervorragende GraBen fur Wissenschaft und Kunst erzeugt, muB Jedem anderen ebenbiirtig sein. Second, there is Patrocinio Schweickhart's postulate based on Adrienne Rich's essay about Emily Dickinson that a women writer "must be read in light of her own premises, that the 'exclusions' and 'necessi­ ties' she endured, and, therefore, her own choices, were condi tioned by her own world" (53). Consequently, before examining Lewald's novel, it is imperative that we look at the author's life prior to the publication of Jenny in 1843. Fanny Lewald (Marcus) was born in 1811 in Konigsberg as the oldest daughter of a Jewish merchant. She grew up knowing that she was Jewish and experiencing it as a stigma: "Dafi wir Juden waren, und es schEmm sei, ein Jude zu sein, darUber war ich aber mit flinf Jahren, noch ehe ich in die Schule gebracht wurde, vollkommen im Klaren" (ML I 48)). This expe rience of otherness seems to have inten­ sified after strong anti-Jewish sentiments in 1819 in Southern and Cen­ tral Germany, sparking the desire within Fanny "an der allmiihlichen Emanzipation des [jiidischen] Volkes mitzuarbeiten" (ML 198).1 [t is noteworthy, however, that her encounter with the Jewish faith oc­ curred through relatives who lived in a separate apartment in the pa­ ternal house and nor through her enlightened yet conservative father, Gender, Class, and Jewishness in Lewald's Jenny 35 who was not a practicing Jew. Biographical evidence also suggests that Lewald's mother had a strong desire for t he family to convert to Christianity, t he motivation behind which might well have coincided with Heinrich H eine's statement, "Der Taufuuel is das Eintrittsbillet zur europiiischen Kultur" (Vl: 622). Fanny's conversion lOok place one year later than that of her brOlhers', and she would later regard th is step as self-denial. Her parents, on the other hand, never seem to have converted, although they changed their name from Marcus to Lewald in 1831.' Despite showing intellectual promise in her early school years, during which she and her twO brothers anended a private school in­ fluenced by pietist ideas, she was not allo wed, in contrast to her broth­ ers, to receive a thorough education. Instead, her bther, whom Fanny loved obsessively, tried to domesticate his daughter into a marriage­ able match by outlining her dai ly rourine,' cOnlrolli ng her social con­ tact, and selecting her reading-Goethe and Schiller in part.icular. It is therefore not su rp rising that Fanny's feelings of marginality during her formative years arose because of twO reasons: all the one hand for being Jewish and on t he other hand for not. being a boy. It is notewor­ thy in this contex t that Fanny's frustration at the experience of inad­ equacy as a young woman was never blamed on the father. At the age of fifteen, after reading Goethe's Die 1latrirliche Tochcer, Fanny's deci­ sion never to agree to a marriage of convenience took shape. Influ­ enced by her Aunt Minna, who underwent a similar experience, Fanny carried th rough her position despite the expectations of her father. 1o In retrospect , Lewald writes about the effects of this decision as fo l­ lows: "lch habe manche HerL.enskrankllngen erfahren, aber sie taten nicht so weh, denn sie kamen mir nichl von einem Vater, den ich mil einem wahren KullUs liebte" (ML II 136). At the same time, however, Lewald also points out: "All der Jammer, all die Krankung, all die zornige Ernporung, welche aus tausend Frauenherzen den Aufschrei hervorgebracht haben, ich habe sie seit jener Stunde an nicht. z.u emp­ finden aufgehon: ... " (ML II 137). During the winter months of 1832, Fanny experienced t he stimulating intellectual climate of her unde's house in Breslau, which contrasted sign ifican tly with that of her pa­ ternal home in Konigsberg. T here she had the opportunity to tead works by Heine, Borne, and GlItzkow. Still, the inOuence of Lewald's father over her comjnued into the 1 840s,1I during which she was al­ ready active as a writer, living in Berlin. This was renected in his 36 Focus on L ileralllr insistence thaI she write in secrecy and publish her work anonymously. While trying to 'write herself free' from the limiting atmosphere at ho me and to define and assert herself both as a woman and a writer, Lewald inhabited the conflicting and oscillating characteristics of many 19th-century women writers. 11I Already the opening of Part I of the novel , set in a large German trade city in the year 1832, articulates aspects of class, gender, andJewishness. During an after-theater party in the best restaurant in town, the young male elite of the city celebrales the perfonnance of the :acclaimed ac­ tress Giovanolla wit h champagne. The narmlor has the painter Erlau exclaim: Sic sollieben und bllihen in ewiger Schonheir ... und moge es mir vergonnt sein, die Feueraugen und den Go lternacken dieses Mildchens immer vor meinen Augen zu haben, wie sie sich mir bei der gestrigen Sitzung zeigten. Ihr seh t sie aile in de r fa lschen, tiluschenden Beleuchtung der Blihne und konnl nicht ahnen, wie schon ihre Farben, wie regelmaBig und vollendet ihre Zlige und wie lippig ihre Formen sind. lch sage Euch, sie ist der Typus der italienischen Schonheit. U Erlau's description of Giovanolla as an eternal beauty with the eyes and neck of a goddess coincides with the t raditional male image of woman as muse who inspires him to strive toward artistic achieve­ ment and who at the same time is the object of representation. Subse­ quently,the expression 'Italian beauty' is used in a derogatory way as synonymous with Jewishness by the young, rich merchant son Horn, w ho responds to Erlau, "wenn sie nur njch t so verdammt jiid isch aus­ sehen wiirde" (27). Sim.i larly, Jenny is also referred to as "'Das Schone Madchen mit dem dunklen Fl:unmenbl ick" (3 1), with dark being equated also with exotic and sexual stereotypes, against wh ich Horn setS a blond, subdued, almost Aryan ideal. H is additional anti-Jewish remarks are t ied to his belonging to patrician ci rcles w hich, like in reality, wanted as little social contact with Jews as possible. T his be­ comes evident when an English cousin of his, who has seen Jenny in t he theater, expresses his wish to be introduced to the M eier fami ly, and Horn exclaims "Nicht doch William, ... meine Mun er wiirde das ungerne sehen ... " (29). u Gender, Class, and Jewishness in Lewald's Jenny 37 T he setting of the second chapter changes from the public place of the restaurant to the home of the Jewish banker Meier, where the issue of Jewish-gentile relationships is also discussed. Mr. Meier com­ ments on his son's struggles to become accepted both as a professional (he is a physicianl~) and as an individual by the Christian majority in lown. With regard to a future Jewish w ife of Eduard, he also briefly brings up the issue of the position of Jewish women within the con­ text of 19th-cenlllry German bourgeois society-the issue which is at stake in the novel as far as j enny's fate is co ncerned. Jen ny, of whom the reader so far has only heard, is also intro­ duced in this chapter along with the theme of marriages o f COIlve­ nience. Jenny's positi.on toward this subject is diametrically opposed to the conventional patte rns of behavio r of young women in the 18305, t hereby chall enging and undercun ing patriarchal aut hority. In a con­ fident , assured manner she repli es to parental inten ti ons to marry her to her nephew Joseph : Den Joseph heime ich niemals. Niemals, Mutter!-Sage ihm das und auch dem Vater. Jeh weiB, daB ihr es wunschet, daB Joseph es erwanel und mich nur erzieht, urn ei ne gute Frau an mir zu haben; die Miihe kann er sieh sparen .... Man kann mein Hen brechen, aber es niemals z.u schmahlichem Nachgeben, z.u schwanken-der Gesinnung uberreden-und das schwore ieh dirt lieber will ich sterben als Josephs Fnu werden. (36£.) What is also surprisin g aboUl Jenny's statement is that it comes from the mouth o f a fifteen year old gi rl w ho seems to possess a strong sense of self. T his strong personality, combined with an extraordi­ nary im ellectual gift and a pronounced wit, was already characteristic of the eleven year o ld Jenny. Still , Lewald has her narrator rake on a male mask and reveal th is information th rough the eyes of Eduard, her o lder brothe r: "er ... konllle [es] sich aber nicht verbergen, daR die ubergroBe Liebe seiner Ehern in Jenny eine Herrschsucht, einen Eigensinn entstehen gemacht hatten ... und sich in Jenny zou viel Selbstgefiihl lind eine fast unwe ibliche Energie zeigten D (45). The male narrative perspective in th is passage is conventional and is evidence of Weigel's observation in "Ocr schielende Blick" about women writers who hide behind a male mask. Yet at the same t ime the omniscient narrator shows Eduard as t roubled by Jen ny's personality develop­ ment, a fact that destabilizes patriarchal conceptS regardi ng women. In her relationshi p w ith her gentile tulor Reinhard, a good friend 38 Focus on Literalltr of Eduard's from their mutual university years, we also see j enny's multifaceted personality. The reader perceives Jenny, overcome with love for Reinhard, in a subordinate position towards the male through­ out mOSt of the relationship-an impression that is undercU( several times, however. At first, Jenny's "unfemale'" qualities disappear. We corne to know (h;u there has been a "vorteilhafte Veranderung in Jcnnys Wesco" (51) and that she has developed into an "erbluhende Schonheit" (52) at the age of sixteen. Despite their feelings for each other, neither Jenny nor Reinhard is completely convin ced of his o r her love for the olher. One obstacle that stands between them is their different religious bel iefs. An inter­ faith marriage is Out of the question, primarily but not only because of Reinhard's plws to become a minister. IS Subsequently, Jen ny's decision to convert from Judaism to Christianity removes rhe reli­ gious barrier between the two lovers, and after her father consents to the engagement, the relationship between her and Reinhard seems to move toward a happy ending, wh ich is also echoed and rein forced by the narrator. Nevertheless, the characters' actions and feelings subvert the n arrato r's comments. This is particularly true of Reinhard and his developing doubes, because he is quite aware of the dual. osci llating nature of Jenny. He loves and admires her outgoing and vivid person­ ality, "und doch ftihlte er eine Scheidewand zwischen sich und der Gel iebten; doch konnte er die bange Ahnung nicht unterdriicken, es stehe ein Etwas trennend zwischen ihm und ihr" (65). The terms "Scheidewand" and "etwas Trennendes" are not only a reference to the outcome o f the relationship between Reinhard and Jenny, but they also highlight Jenny's unconventional and potentially subver­ sive nature. Within Jen ny there is a quality that preve ms her from being fixated and one-dimensionally described by both the narrator and t:he reader. At one point in t:he novel Reinhard's mother refers to her as "un heimlich, ja fast damonisch" (179) and in another scene Reinhard himself can nOt help but state that Jenny does not merely embody the conventional image he has of her: ... Aber in Jenny ist noch ein zweites, fremdes Wesen, das mich kalt zu riicksroBl, wenn mein Herz ihr offen und warm emgegenwalt" (87). The issue of class also separates Reinhard from Jenny. Raised in the upper-middle class and accustomed to a well-provided and care­ free life, Jenny stands in contrast to Reinhold, whose pietist, yet also self-centered position rejects any material luxury. While this COntrast Gender, C lass, and Jewishness in Lewald's Jenny 39 lies dormant for much of thei r relationship, it esc3lates to the poim where Jenny's father granes permission to the marriage only if Reinhard eidler finds a position which allows him to provide well enough for himself and Jenny or if he accepts a dowry from j enny's parents to compensate fora possible lack of income, an offer with which Reinhard is uncomfortable. Mr. Meier's conviction is partly shaped by his genu­ ine care for his daughter and partly by the demands of his class status when he tells Reinhard: Teh will niehl, ... daB Jenny ohne allen Grund sieh Embehrungen auferlege; und ebensowenig als ich von Ihnen verlangen boo, ihre Stellung von Ihrem Gehalte zu verschaffen, ebensowenig konnen Sie von mir fordero, d.1R ieh meine einzige Tochter in einer Hilne wohnen und sieh mit ungewohnter Arbeit qual en lasse, wah rend ieh und wiralle uns hier im $choRe des Woh llebens befinden. (143) An extension of her upper-midd le class Status is Jenny's artistic cre­ acivity wd aesthetic pleasure. These two aspects set her distinctly apart from Reinhard and distinguish her also from most of t:he other char­ acters in the novel, except for the artist Erlau. with whom she shares a love for art and a flexibility and brilliancy of spirit: [T]rotz ihrer sittl ichen Seele (hane sie] das Gefiihl filr die Sinen­ losigkeit m..lncher Verhaltnisse verloren .... Der Fig.t.ro, Don Juan und vieles andere waren ihr Dinge, an denen sie sich von Ki ndheit erfreut hatte, ohne an dls GUle oder Bose zu den ken. Und das war ein Zustand, in den weder Eduard noch Reinhard sieh versetzcn mochten. (60f.) It is also notewo rthy dun t his statemem includes not only Rei nhard hut also Eduard. By alluding to the fact that Eduard , who is otherwise overtly po rtrayed as a mover and shaker for Jewish emancipation, has an area where he is nOt his sister's equal or supe,"ior, th e text hi gh­ lights Jenny's singular position even more. Jenny is capable o f blur­ ring the distinctions bet ween subject (audience) and object (music), of creating some kind of unity between t hem because she is able to in­ dulge freely in lhe pleasures of music. Jenny also possesses the gi ft of artistic vision, which en hances ber abi lity as a painter: "Jeh bedarf dieser sinn lichen Anhaltspun kte !licht, um mich deutlich und mit Vergni.igen an Orte zu versetzen, die mlr durch irgend etwas reuer sind n (162). Her artistic creativity is high­ lighted toward the end o f the novel when the reader sees her drawing behind an easel. It is important to recognize that Jenny nOt only has 40 Focus on LiteratJlr an affinity for art, but that she herself is now an artist. Being a (female) painter does nOt comply with the traditional image of women, wh ile being an actress, as the Giovanolla figure shows, complies with that stereotype." Consequently, Jenny subvens the traditional image of women as a muse for male inspiration evoked in the beginning o f the novel in the EriauiGiovanolla relationship_ ContrastingJenny with other women in the novel, especially Clara H orn, reveals her independent nature. Already as a young girl Clara was formed into a su bmissive, obedient woman, a characteristic which became "clef edeiSte Schmuck der schonen Jungfrau" (66). While both Mr. Meier and Mr. H orn consider their daughters as their property, it is noteworthy that only Jenny, embodying Weigel's concept o f "der schielende Blick," undermines paternal power, while Clara complies with it when she rejects;} marital relationship with Eduard because o f the interreligious nature of their relationship. Clara, an upper-middle class Christian woman, occupies various identity positions in the novel, and religion and class obviously place her in a privileged position. Nevertheless, she remains, after her brief controversial relationsh ip with Eduard, a rather nat female character who acceptS the Status quo in terms of gender and class. Still, it needs to be mentioned here that Jenny's panial independence is a utopian projection on Lewald's part, because in her lifet ime she very much complied with her father's wishes. 17 ln the context of this novel it is also noteworthy that Jenny's con version from Judaism to Christianity is carried through whi le Eduard's is not; it is only briefly contemplated seriously, but long before his relationship w ith Clara H orn. Consequently, he renounces personal happiness for the sake of the principle of Jewish emancipa­ tion ." Torn between her love for Reinhard and the recogn ition that she does not believe in C hristian dogma, Jenny finds herself in a conflict of almost ex istential proportions after her conversio n. Not only does she fee l excluded from her ethnic and cultural roots-"sie [kommt) sich manchmal wie ausgeschlossen oder verstoRen von den Ihren vo r" {208}-but she does not fee l any closer to her fiance either. Instead of plunging with closed eyes into a labyrinth in which both Reinhard and she could lose themselves, Jenny writes Reinhard a letter, after a fierce internal st ruggle, to let him know about hee true feelings for ChriStianity. Through h er rational decision-"Jeh kann nicln anders! Diese Oberzeugung ist starker als meine Liebe" (212)-Jenny llolens Gender, Class, and Jewishness in Lewald'sJel1llY 41 volens breaks off the engagement and seems to gain what Ward per­ ceives as self esteem (72) and what Mohrmann regards as Jenny's ge nu­ ine depanure from the conventional woman character. 1 ' T concede that such an assessment holds true for most o f the novel, but certainly not for Pan Ii while there is no formal division in the text, the narra­ tor refers to it, trying to fill out "den Zeitraum von acht Jah ren, ... der zwischen der ersten und zweiten Halfte unserer Erzahlung liegt" (22 t) . Both critics seem 10 have overlooked a passage toward the end o f Jenn y's leu er 10 Rein hard, where she takes on a submissive posi. lion ,lO looking up to Reinhard as if he had o mnipotent powers: "und mit dem Gefuh l der Liefen Liebe ... werfe jch mich an dei ne Brust. Du sollst mir sagen, wie ieh Frieden mache z.w ischen Liebe und Glauben, wie ieh mich wiederfinde in dem Gefuhl des Kampfes" (212f.). And some pages later she exclaims with regard to Reinhard: "kh fuhle keinen Stolz., ... nur das Bediirfnis seiner Liebe, die mein h6chstes Gut ist" (218). So once again there is a tensi.on between the narrator and Jenny when the narrator has Jenny undercut her previous utter· ances. These examples demonstrate that Jenny, despite her frankness and honesty, is not yet an emancipated woman, for in terms of gender relationships she clearly defines herself through the male. At the end of Pan I Jenny's identity is sti ll split: the conversion to Christ ianity has not proved to be the answer [0 her longing for personal fu lfi ll· ment; rather, it has reinforced her self--division, because in terms of religion she is no longer Jewish, but she is also not perceived and accepted as a Ch ristian by the gentile majority. Her relati ve Joseph put il succinctly relatively early in the novel: " ... aber Du wirst nie­ mOIls Christin sein noch Judi n" (84). The second pan of the novel is set eight years after the separation between Jenny aJld Reinhard, who, as it turns out, became engaged to Therese, Jenny's conventional and seemingly content yet hypocriti­ cal female companion. In addition to the time difference between the first and second pan of the novel, we also encounter a change in 10< cale. The novel is not set in Jenny's hometown anymore but in Baden­ Baden, and one could t:;lke this aspect as an indication that Jenny has undergone a chan ge. Also, she is no longer seventeen but twenty-five years old. At first , however, the narrator c reates a different impres­ sion in a retrospective narration. Jenny has remained under the innu­ ence o f her father, for it is he who decides that she has mentally recov­ ered frolO her unhappy relationship and suggests a trip to Fra nce and 42 Focus on LileralJtr Italy. Despite several marriage proposals over the years, Jenny has remained single and decided aher her mother's death to live with her father and keep him company. This kind o f thinking, though, is quite conservative, since Jenny seems to suppress her own desires by pro­ jecring them OntO her farner. H owever, when me novel continues, there is reason [0 believe that Jenny is on her way to a new identity. This notion is reinforced by the renewed contrast between Jenny and Clara. Throughout the novel Jenny has been compared with sev­ eral female characters, notab ly Therese and Clara. but the juxtaposi­ tion of Jenny and C lara in Pan II shows how much the latter com­ plies with the traditional female image of housewife and mother and how much Jenny deviates from it. The narrator does not fail to em­ phasize that the two women have grown apart, despite their former friendship and regu lar correspondence: "sie [waren] ei nander in ihrer gegenwartigen Entwicklung fremd and wufhen sich n icht I'echt zu einander finden" (229). Clan's life as wife and mother, her attitude and thinking, reflects the restricted realm of a traditional, married female who has abandoned any desires and interests o utside of the house as far as she herself is concerned, "denn sie lebte doch eigentl ich nur in ihrem Manne und in ihren Kindem" (230). C lara also pro­ fesses, "wir Frauen sind so sehr gewohm, uns nur innerhalb unseres Hauses zu den ken, daB wir erschrecken, wenn wir uns auBerhalb des­ selben handelnd erblicken'" (233). While the narrator does not di rectly refute this character's utterance in this novel , it is one of lewald's achievements in her non-fictional writings to point out the correla­ tion between the position of women in society and their traditional role at home, encouraging a depanure from these traditional roles by demanding a professional li fe for women.!1 lewald's text, with its subversive quality, offers different responses to the social roles of middle-class women in the 19th century. In Jenny, for instance, Lewald offers the model of what Weigel has referred to as double existence: on the o ne hand she occupies the role of house­ keeper and daughter and on the other she has created space and lime fo r herself and her own activities. Jenny has not accepted the limita­ tions that were placed on women because she tries within the confine­ ment of her environment [0 develop her personality: [Slie [hing] an den Planen und Hoffnungen Eduards, nicht mn seinetwillen allein, sondern weil sie aucb die ihren geworden w;lren. Geistige und kiinsderische Beschiiftigungen fiilhen die groRte Zeit Gender, C lass, and Jewishness in Lewald'sJenny ihres Tages aus, und mit ihrer gewohnten Lebhahigkeit st reble sic nach neuen Kenntnissen, nach haherer, v,elseitiger Ausbildung der Anlagen, die sie ungeniilzt in 5ich fiihhe. (230) For numerous women, both historic and fictiona1. aest hetic and artis­ tic activities became complements to day-to-day activities. While Benina von Arnim, or for that matter Lewald herself, turned to writing in her double existence as a woman, Jenny graduall y turns to painting and drawing, as Part n of the novel shows. Jenny's otherness is also manifest in her dis rega rd for social con­ ventions. T his attitude separates her from both male and female char­ acters o f her own social class and the one above her. T his is already indicated in the fi rst part of the novel when she takes Ca re of a poor family, and it is highl ighted even more toward the end of the novel when Jenny, in accordance with her slogan "Tue was du sollst, komme was mag" (233), takes in a baby and her lower-class mother whom she found sick and unconscious on the side of the road. Lewald's interest in and concern for the socially disadvantaged is also evident in other texts. In Das Miidchen von Hela (1859), Lewald focuses on the female servam issue by depicting the fate of the maid Katharina . Die Familie Darner (1887), a novd based in Konigsberg, includes a scene on Christ­ mas Eve, when the Jewish Flora Lindsheim visits a homeless gentile laundress. Jenny's own crossing of class and relig ious boundaries, mo­ tivated by genuine human concern for mother and child, highlights her partial independence from societal conventions and expectations: !ch konnte doch unmaglich die Frau allein und hilnos liegen lassen, bis ieh von hier oder :IUS der Sudt Beistand geholt hatte. Zudem hatte ich das schreiende Kind doch mit mir nehmen miissen und endlich weiBt du, liebes Cl:.irchen, daR mir die Urteile der Menge sehr gleichgiiltig sind, wenn ich das, was ich tue, vo r mir und meinem Vater verantwo rtcn kann. (23 2) Despite the reference [Q her father, theemancipatory element i.n Jenny's unerance should nOt be overlooked since Clara Horn :lnd Graf Walter, for instance, do not w holeheartedly approve of j enny's action. During a soiree given by the Geheimratin von Meining-nol co­ incidentall y the protagonist from Lewald's fi rst novel C/ernenlme (1843)-Jenny gives an overwhelming vocal rendition of Byron's "Madchen von Juda." This scene, like the previous woman-and-child episode, incorporates issues of class , gender, and Jewishoess and high­ lights Jenny's individual and controversial nature with her partial re- 44 Focus on Liceratltr iucrance to comply with trndicional norms of behavior in public. The ambivalent reaction of the predominantly noble audience to j enny's eulogy reveals tlus clearly: "Einige priese n ihre Schonheit und An mur, andere (aoden ihr Auftreten abstogend und stolz) zu ernsthaft und selbstbewuBt rur ein Frauenzimmer ... " (258). Within a gentile noble circle a different social code of behavior is expected from a Jewish, bourgeois woman. The reaction of a 'Stiftsdarne' to the song but also to Jenny's status as a convert: underscores t his in particular: "es mag unangenehm genug scin, clem judischen Volke anzugehoren, indes ist es doch nieht unsere Schuld, daB Fraulein Meier Judin ist und sich dessen sch1imt ... " (258). This quotation is representative of what Sander Gi lman writes about Ludwig Borne's conve rsion experience and is applicable to Jenny's situation : "Class and Language are t he markers of the Jew .... Why does he [she] fee l himself [herself) always seen as a Jew? Why can he {she] nOl hide even in the church? Because he [she] is inherently a Jew, at least in the eyes of the Christian World" (162). While the aspect of class in conj unction with Jewishness is em­ phasized in this novel-all Jewish characters are middle- to upper­ middle-class and occupy stereotypical professions-the aspect of lan­ guage, the hidden language of Jews to use G ilman's term, is not obvi­ ous at all in t he novel: all members of the Meier family speak standard German and only their friend Dr. Steinheim seems to use discourse in one or twO instances that is vaguely t inged with Yiddis h. As for Lewald's use of language as a female German-Jewish writer in mid­ nineteenth century Germany, the absence of Yiddish e lements in this novel is inrucative of tWO things: fi rst, of a strong assimilative ten­ dency on Lewald's part not to be recognized as a Jew ish writer and second, of compliance with male dominated literary discourse, be­ cause by rejecting Yiddish she rejects an individual voice of her own. Before the enlightened and tolerant Count Waller, a friend of the Geheimratin, experiences his epiphany-like feeling of love for Jenny, his perception of her is not entirely different from that of his peers at the reception. In a lener to his uncle, who has heard rumors of his nephew's misalliance, Walter's ambiguous attitude surfaces with re­ gard [Q aspects of gender: Es 1St wahr, sie ist schon und liebenswiirdig in hohem Grade, abcr cine gcwissc Jugcndlichkeit, das weiblich Weiche fchlt ihr, das man an Madchen ungem vermiEt. ... [SJie wurde, wie mich diinkt, nicht das Geringste tun, die Meinung oder Gunst eines Mannes zu Gender, Class, and Jewishness in Lewald'sJenny erwerben. Gestehen Sie, das ist eigentlich nicht die An, welche wir an einem Madchen licben. Es liegt etwas lo.lannliches darin, das interessant 1St, ... unser Venrauen, unsere F reundschaft weckt, aber Liebe erzeugl es nicht. (234) 45 What is interesting in this male statement is not only the irony that undercuts the statement when j enny's "unwomanly" qualilies ulti­ matel y spark Walter's love for her. In addition, t he words of truSt and friendship, uttered almost in passing, are quintessential components in a gender relationship that is built around the individuality and equal­ ity of the partners. tn another passage of Walter's lener, aspects of class and Jewishness are highligh ted: Es wurde Sie selbst ergreifen, wenn Sic Jenny mit Stolz von dem Ungluck sprechen harten, das sie mit Tausenden teilt und fur aile empfindet; denn abwohl sie lange zum Christentum ubergetrelen, ist sie von Grund der See\e Jiidin geblieben .... Also unbesorgt mein vaterlicher Freundl Finden Sic mif in unseren Kreisen eine liebenswiirdige Gallin. (234f.) Ah hough she loves Walter, Jenny consciously rejects a marriage to him at fi rst. On the one hand, she doesn't want to involve him in con Oicts of social status (an anticipatory element in terms of the novel's conclusion), an aspect wh ich is also brought up by j enny's father when he is reluctant to accept Waiter'S req uest for the hand o f his daughter: "Aber die graflich Wahersche Famitie konnte vielleicht die T ochrer eines Juden nicln der Ehre wiirdig erachten, welche Sie ih r mit ih rer Wah l zeigen n (243). On the olher hand, Jenny does not want to give up her freedom in a marriage: "Ich will keinem Menschen etwas ver­ danken, das er jemals bereuen kannle, mir gegebcn zu haben .... Mlr fehlt die Fah igkeit, mich in dem Leben eines anderen aufgehen zu lassen ... " (247). The Geheimrati n, however, reminds Jenny that this conclusion is not necessa rily true, and the reader finds a similar indi­ cation in Walter's words when he, using "Das Bild des Baumes und des Schlingk rautes fur die Ehe," tells Jenny, "Sie glauben nicht wie mude ich dieser starken Eichen bin, an die sich zanlich der Efell an­ schmiegt" (227), hereby alluding that in terms of illlerpersonal and class relationships he is willing to depart from the conventional (male) position of his cl ass. But when Jenny survives a carriage accident, she regards the out· come as God's verdict and acceptS Walter's proposition . The conclu­ sion of the novel, however, does not have a happy ending. Walter is 46 Focus on Literalltr killed in a duel provoked by societal prejudices in terms class and religion, and Jenny dies suddenly after his death. IV Gabriele Schneider has observed that an open-ended conclusion to Lewald's Jenny would have been more convincing (91). But despite the plot's closure. this novel is far from traditional. T he text itself does not incorporate an explicit utopian perspective at the novel's end, in spite of Lewald's belief in the emancip:uion of women and Jews. She was much toO aware of the social conditions o f mid-nine­ teenth century German society-which were cha racterized to a large degree by gender inequality, class antagonism, and religious intoler­ ance-to present a fai ry.tale ending. Yet Lewald' 5 discursive strategies situate the text in the "nicht mehr" and "noch nicht" to use Weigel's words, and with her dialectic treatment of gender, class, and Jewishness in this novel the writer prohlemarizes these issues, emphasizes her social awareness. and inscribes the possibilities the future holds in terms of gender relationships in pan icular. In her character Jen ny, Lewald demonstrated the complex and often contradictory identity formation of a German-Jewish upper­ middle class woman. Aspects contributing to this process do nOt op­ erate separately but concurrently, and they often intersect. In terms of gender relationships Jenny oscillates between the internalization of traditional characteristics and the liberation of herself from them. In terms of being Jewish she experiences prejudice and resentment by the gentiJe majority despite her assimilation and conversion, and be­ cause she does not want or cannot return to her Jewish origin . she develops signs that Gilman has termed self-hatred. In general, Jenny's way of copi ng with conflicting tendencies is either through confor­ mity to established norms or rebellion against them. Lewald's own positionality in 1843 as a beginning German-Jew­ ish middle-class woman writer is also characterized by numerous con­ tradictions: (1) publishing anonymously, (2) experiencing an indepen­ dent life style in her early thirties while at the same time feel ing strong ties to father and family, (3) writing as a woman but attempting not to be recogni.z.ed. as such , and. (4) wri.ting in German whi.le having d.iffer­ ent li.nguistic roots. D espite 'ner complex life and wide-ra.ngi.ng oeuvre, Gender, C lass, and Jewishness in Lewald'sJenny 47 some critics have tended to pigeonhole Lewald, for instance by classi­ fying her as a member of "Junges Demschland" or as a (Prussian) femi ­ nist. Such an attitude, however, is l Oa narrow and roo one-sided to do just ice to the person and writer Fanny Lewald. University of Maryland Notes I All subsequent quotations from Lewald's three volume autobiogra­ phy Meille LebellSgmhlchte (ML) are based on the edition by Ulrike Helmer: AIL III 77f. 2 CE. Renate Mohrmann, ed., Fr-a llellemanzip:ltIon im dellCschen Vorma!'"".! and Elke Fredriksen, ed., Die Frauenfrage in Deutschland 1865· 191 5, both of whom include texts by Fanny Lewald in their respective anthologies. } Cf. also Schneider for an overall positive tenor in the most recent monognph on Lewald and her comp rehensive oeuvre and Brigitta von Rheinsberg's biography Fanny Lewald. Geschichte einer Enumzip:tljon. .. In her 1983 essay Venske makes the later oeuvre of Lewald the focus of her analysis and offers "'eine Kritik bzw. Revision der gangigen Lewa.ld Rezeption~ (372). In her 1989 essay, published as an epil ogue to Lewald's autobiography (ML), Venske presents a more bala.nced assessment. I Cf. the 'Judenedikt' of March I I, 1812 which granted Jews living in Prussia the rights as Ulnliinder und jm allgemeinen gleichbercchtigte Staats­ burger~ (Toury 281), but with the restorative tendencies since 1815 the legal and political situation of Jews in Prussia became more heterogeneous and essemially worse. Ii Cf. Simon's Die preuftischen Richter Imd die Gesetze vom 29. Marz 1844 (Leipz.ig: O. Wigand, 1845). 1 I see a correlation between the overall assimilation tendency among German Jews in the 19th cemury and Lewald's apparent conservative aui­ tude and affinity with patriarchy. I In the introduction to Jenny, Ulrike Helmer claims that the whole M;l,rcus family converted to Christ ianity. I do not find such a position con­ firmed in Lewald's autobiography, where the name change of Mr. Marcus is lied to a petition to the govel nment. Moreover, he did nOt consider conver­ sion seriously for fear of alienat ing orthodox business partners in Poland. ? Cf. ~Stllndenzettel fiir Fanny Marcus" (ML I 140-141). LO In 1836 Lewald's father wanted her to marry J. civil servalH, whom she did not love. She asserts that "nichts ... [sie] bestimmen kanne, eine Heir.nh ohne Neigung einzugehen ... fund daJ1 ihr} eine Dime, die sieh fur 48 Focus on Literalur G eld verkaufe, wenn sie nichts gelernt habe und ihre Fam ilie arm sei, nicht halb so veriichtlich vorkomme als ein Madchen, das genug gelernt habe, urn sich zu ernahren, und 51ch fur HallS und Hof verkaufe" (ML II 134£.). II Both Lewald's affection and respect for her father and her embed­ dedness in patriarchal SlnlCmres is evident in the following passage: ", und von dem Augenblicke an, in welchem mein V3ter mif das Recht zu· erkannt, mein Denken in Werte niederzulegen und def Offentlichkeit 1;u iibergeben, hahe ieh von ihm nie auch nur den leisesten Angriff gegen die mir ausgesprochenen Oberzeugungen geh6rt, auch wenn er sie vielleicht anders gewiinscht haben wtirde, und ieh habe gerade dario die GroBe sei nes Verstandes und die Starke seines Adels bewunden. Von der Stunde ab, in welcher er mich als freie Perso nlichkeit seiner narurlichen Zucht enrlassen, hat er meine Freiheit und mein Recht auf Selbstbestimmung respektiert, wie er jeden Respekt fur sich und seine Handlungen von jeher und von jedem beanspruchte~ (ML ill 36£.). 11 Lewald,jenny 27. All subsequent quotations fromjemlY will be given in parentheses and will refer to the 1988 edition. U As another example, during t heir short time in school together Jenny is not allowed to socialize with Clara, "weil Jenny's Eltern Juden waren und ihre [Clams] Eltem diesen Umgang niemals gestalten wiirden" (46). 14 In the 18305 Jews' access to a university education was limited almost exclusively to the medical field; studies in the fi eld of law 2nd philology were an exception because Jews were barred from government positions. O btaining a doctoral degree, except in the medical field, was often tied to conversion (loury 175f.). IS While marriages between Jews and C hristians occurred in social real· ity, for instance in England and the Netherlands, these rela tionships were very seldom and often accompanied by societal prejudices and resentments. For a fiction:tl depict io n of a marriage between a Christ ian and a female Jew see Karl G utzkow's Wally, die ZweifJerm (1835). 16 Cf. Weigel ~Der schielende Blick" 97f. for male images in Lewald's novels. 11 Lewald's father terminated her relat ionship with the candidate of the­ ology, Leopold Bock, after whom the charJcter Reinhard is modelled. II The passage about Eduard reads as follows: "(N]icht umsonst hatte er seine Hoffnung geopfert und der Geliebten entsagt. Er fing an wieder vorwarrs zu blicken, mit neuem Eifer seine medizinischen Studien und die Besl re· bungen aufzunehmen, die er im Verein mit gleichgesinmen Mannern schon fruher fur die Befreiung seiner Glaubensgenossen gemac.ht hane" (207). Cf. that Lewald's brothers converted to Christianity before she did and that her father initially didn't see any benefit for his daughter to co nvert (ML I 195ff.). 19 In contrast to her statement in the letter to Reinhard, Mohrmann regards Jenny's refusal to agree to a marriage of convenience in the begin- Gender, C lass, and Jewishness in Lewald's Jenny 49 ning of the novel as the reaction of a spoiled, stubborn child (136). 1II There is also the p aternal demand to let go o f Reinhard: "Du wa rst Reinhards Braut, aber du bist auch meine Tochter; auch die Ehre deines Vaters muss dir heilig sein, auch ihr muBt du ein Opfer bringen konnen, ja, ich forderc, daB du es mir br;ngst Q (219), which reinforces Jenny's entrap­ ment in convent ions. 21 Cf. Lewald's essays "Ein ige Gedanken tiber Madchenerziehung" (1843) and ~Osterbriefe fur die Frauen" (1863). W orks Cited Adelson, Leslie. Making Bodier, Making History. Feminism and GeTman Iden· tity. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1993. Brinker-Gabler, Gisela. "Fanny Lewald." Frauen. Portraits aus zwel jahT. hunderten. Ed. Hans Jurgen Schultz. Stuttgart: Kreuz, 1981. 72~86. Foucault, Michel. "What is an Author?~ Lmguage, COllnter Memory, Prac· tice: Selected Essays and Interviews. Ed. Donald F. Bouchard. Trans. Bouchard and Sherry Simon. Ithaca: New York, 1977. t 13· 137. Fredriksen, Elke, ed. DIe haumfrage in /)eutJchland 1865·1915. Texte lind Dokume'lte. Stuttgart: Redam, 1981. Gilman, Sander. jewish Self Hatred. Anti·semitismand the Hidden !..Angllageo! lhejews. Baltimore: Joh n Hopkins UP, 1986. Heine, Heinrich. Siimtliche Werke. Vol. 6. Ed. Klaus Bri egleb . 6 vo ls. Munchen: Hanser, 1968·76. Lewald, Fanny. jenny. Ed. Ulrike H elmer. Frankfurt: Ulrike Helmer, 1988. _. Meine Lebensgeschichte. Ed . Ulrike Helmer. 3 vols. F rankfurt: Ulri ke H elmer, 1988·1989. Mohrmann , Renate. Die andeTe Frail. Emanzipatiollsansiitu delltscher Schriftstelleri.nnen im Vorfeld df!'f Achwndvieniger Revolution. s tungart: Metzler, 1977. ._', ed. FT.:Ill eliemarlzipatlo'l im deu/sellen Vormiirz. Texte und Dokumelllc. Stuttgart: Redam, 1978. Rheinsberg, Brigitta von. FamJyLewakJ. Geschichteeiner £manzipalion. Frank· furt: Campus, 1990. Schneider, Gabriele. Vorn Zeizroman zum ·slilisierten" Roman: Die ErziihleTm FamlY Lewald. Frankfurt: Lang, 1992. Schweikan, Patrocinio P. "Reading Ourselves: Toward a feminist Theory of Reading." Gender and Reading. Essays on Readen, Textf, d'u} Context. Ed. Elizabeth Flynn and Schweikart. Bahimore:Johns Hopkins UP, 1986. J 1 ~62 . T oury, Jacob. Soziale und politische Geschlchu der juden in Del/lschland 1847· 1871: zwischen Revollllio'l, Reaktiorl 11m' EmanzipatiorJ. Dusseldorf: Droste, 1977. 50 Focus on Literality Venske, Regula. "'Ich hane ein Mann sein mussen oder eines grossen Mannes Weib'~ Widerspriiche im Emanzipationsverstanclnis der Fanny Lewald,n Ed. lise Brehmer et al. Fraue1I m deT Geschlchte IV. Dusseldorf: Schwann­ Bagel, 1983.368-396. -, "Fanny Lewald-Judische PreuBin, PreuBische Feministin, Die Deutsche George Sand?" Fanny Lewald. Meine Lebensgeschichte. Vol. J. Ed. U lri ke Helmer. J vols. Frankfurt: Ulrike Helmer, 1989.300-314. Ward, Margaret E. "Ehe and Entsagung: Fanny Lewald's Early Novels and Goethe's Literary Paternity," Women in Gentian Ye.:trbook 2 (1985): 55-77. Weigel, Sigrid. "Der schielende Blick: Thesen zur Geschichte weiblicher Schreibpraxis." Die verborgene Frau: Serhs Bear-age zu emer /emmislischen LileracurwisserJschajt. Ed. rnge Stephan und Sigrid Weigel. Hamburg: Ar­ gument, 1983. 83-138. fiihren jetzt die Feder Stan der Nadel.' Vom Dreifachcharaktcr weiblicher Schreibarbeit-Emanzipation, Erwerb und Kunstanspruch. n Ed. Use Brehmer et al. Frauen in der Geschichte IV, Dusseldorf: Schwann­ Bagel, 1983.347-367. B OOK REVIEW Focus: Recent Works by Hans-Jii rgen Heise Christina L. Bonner leh Slaffime aus einer Kleinstadt: Bublitz, einem unbedeutenden hinterpommerschen On, fast aut1erhalb cler Gesch ichte. DOI1 bin ich als Kind ei ngetaucht in die weite Landschaft, die mieh umgab und die mir zugleidl ein lockendes Abenteuer war uncl ein Laby­ rinth phantasie-aufgepeilschter Angste. (7) So begins Hans-Jiirgen Heise's personal and literary auwbiography, Schreiben ist Reisen ohne Gepdck. T he opening section focuses prima­ rily on the first thirty years of Heise's life, with emphasis on the ad· venturous, unsettled character o f his childhood and its significant role in his writing. Heise opens with a series o f detailed and vivid autobio­ graphical snapshots: he was born in 1930 in a small town that was later destroyed during the second world war. At age four he dealt with his mother's death , the onset of asth ma, and the beginning of an itinerant lifestyle under the tutelage of var ious relatives. At the end of the war he found himself in East Berlin, translating American short stories and writing hook reviews, commentaries, and poet ry for Sonn· tag. Heise goes on to recount his flight from the CDR only five years later, an event fo ll owed by a per iod o f in tens ive writing and autodidactic studies in philosophy, literary history, and psychoanaly­ sis. In 1958 he began working as Archivlektor in Kid, and by 1961 his debut collection of poetry, Vorboten eiller 'Tellen Steppe, had been pub­ lished. Heise's 1964 appearance before lhe Gmppe47-the "Schnellfeuer­ Rheto riker" (57)-is recounted in Schreiben, as are a series of trips to Spain and Latin America beginning in 1968 and their in fl uence on his writi ng. T he next sections of Scbreiben deal mostly with literary matters: interviews, speeches, essays, and twO short segments resembling poetological proverbs. Heise openly and dearly reveals his sources of FrxUJ 011 Litl!ratur Vol. 2, No.1 (1995)