Focus 2002.tif


VOL. 9 

2002 

o c U S on 

GERMANSTIJDIES 

I Sample Copy / Ansichtsexemplar I 



To c u s 00 

GERMAN STUDIES 

Edited by 

Susanne Lenne 
Susanne Buckesfeld 

Published by the German Graduate Sludent Governance 
Association o f the Univecsity o f G ncinnati 



Focus on Germ;m Studies 15 published annually by the 
German Graduate Student Governance Association 

of the Univcrsity of Cincinnati. 
EDITOR. IN.CHIEF BOOK REVIEW EDITO R 
Susanne Lenne Susanne Buckesfekl 

COpy EDITORS 
Kristen Hetnck 
Silke Schade 

WEBMASTER 
Dorothy Young 

EDITO RIAL BOARD 

SUBSCRlJYJ10NS AND MAIUNGS 
Susanne Lenne 

Dr. David N. Coury, U of \VlSConsin·Green Bay 
Dr. Herman J. De Vries. Calvin Uni\-ecsity 
Dr. Bnna ~lm, GlXlrgia Tech 
Ms. Susanne Lenn~ M.A., U of Cincinnau 
Mr. David Pnckett., M.A., U of Cincinnati 
Dr. J. Gregory Redding. Washington & Jefferson College 
Dr. Michael Rice, M.A., U of Cincinnati 
Dr. Jeffrey Dean Todd, Texas Christian U 

CONTACT ADDRESS 
Send subscnptlon fees and correspondence to Foots on Germ:m Studies. 
(see annoullccment) 

PO Box 2 10372, Uni-.usity of Cillannat:l, C incinnati, Ohio 45221-0372 USA. 
m (513) 556-Z755 r"", (51 3) 556-1991 &na;j, focusonh!@f.ostnuil.fm 
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CO I'ER: "1lw! Book Fool" frora Scb .. u1LII B<201I'1 shtp 0/ /Wh, London, 1510, eoll""" or tl~ 
An:Iuve. and RA..e Book. OepatDnetlI, Uruwrany o f Ciocumau LtbWlel. Cover deliS" by C .. " a 
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

"l1\e nmeth volume of Focus Oil ~rmilD Sludieswas rmld<: I>ossibie only With the 
conunued commitment of Dr. Howard E. Jackson, VtCe Presiden t for Research 
and University Dean for Advanced Studies at the University of Cmcuma~, as well 
as the University of Cincinnati Grnduate Srudent Governance AsSOCIation. We 
are deeply indebted to them for their ongoing supporL 

Department lieu! Professor Sara FriedrichsDleyer, our new Faculty 
Advisor IUItharina Gerstenberger and fonner Pacultry AdvIsor and mtenm De­
partment I lead Professor Richard Schade as well as o ther bculty ,:,embers ~f 
the Department of Germanic Languages and L terarures deserve our smcere !,-rao­
rude for helping III so many ways to keep F'oaIs in o penluon. Many graduate 
students volunreered their ume to help with this volume. 

SpecW thanks [0 all members of our 
£DrrOQAI. BOARD and 80ARD OF REVElWEaS. 

Ankhs wlfsidtrni for this lIDhtme.'tTt nfatd bJ the fDlJo»Ylftfrojusors: 

0.. jouathao BKI>, CoIu<nbu U 
Dr. Cr..ol Anoc eo.bbik-H~mang. Southwest Mtu®n Sule U 

Dr. Sabine Egg<''' Mary I~'c College, 1,1. 
D .. KD,ue R;:>eD, Bo,.;ling Gn:cn Sul~ U 
D .. Veroruu Frc~man, Mill,..." College 
D .. Racbel Frcudenberg, Bo. ton College 
D .. Sora Fnc4:icbsmeye., U of Cinr;u.n.&u 

0 .. So",. F,;tzochc, IIliooU We.ley .. " U 
D~ K.th.n.u Ge~tcnbcrge ., U of ClncannIU 

Dc j erry Glcou, U o f CioC.,,, .. ll 
D~ 5Moo F Hall. U of IDiooU-O>ic:.., 

Dr. Todd Heaog. U o f Cinannati 
0.. Klaus Je:uo tkowsla., Fru>kfu.<1 UnM:DUy, Gee 

D .. Plul M. Malooe, U of Vi'au:doo, Cao. 
0.. iktu. •• Mauhiu, Mxldlebury College 

0.. .... -u.us Mla<Id<, U of Caoan"ah 
Dc Chtys tal Ociu:nnus. Sault. Rosa Je ~gc 

D L ~bun 0'C0a00., U of CiocJ,.uuu 
D~ POI 6 Doduru.igb., U o f Ulslc., UK 

0.. juban P««<, U o f iGoul.1 Canlctb" ry. UK 
0.. K1~"t-o..: lc r RDssade, Tbe Open u" UK 
0 .. DoIlOIh, RD-. U of Su""y RochamplOd 

0.. B"&'t Twtz ,L--.eocc U 
0.. R.:haod SchacIc, U of Cin<:u ..... u 
DL s.boor: SdunKh, ~ College 

Dr. "",th. So;b ... oartz, U of Otu.w~, Can 
Dr.. james M. Sbdmorc, U of w,uc.1oo, Can 

Dz:. JOq; Walljc, Ohio Stalc U 
Dc Maron Wochsclbbll, U of Cinc",,,.u 

Dc ... If ..... D. 'I1iIhi1c, Caodiff U. UK 
Dc ~b"f«<l Zbnme<m:um, U o f CiocuUII U 

0.. Nllu zmmik, U of Lim<:1>u<g. c..,~ 



Focus on German Studies 
Volwne9 

2002 

Contents 

from the editor 

articles 

Letzte Uuterung: no loircnng. Ecnst J lingers ProsasanulliWlg 
DaJ a/JenlektrlidJl Herz - neu gelesen Vo[ dem Himergrund 
des 11. September 2001 
KAY B ARONOWSKl 

Wieviel Vergangenheit isr eclaubt? Eine Frage dec deutschen 
Selbsr:wahmehmung. Hollands Europa, EJiropo und 
FicberbOCks Aim/111M Jaguar im Vergleich 
STEFANIS H OfER 

Monumental Drapery: T he Aesthetics o f the If/ropptd "&ichJlol, 
E.l.EANoR. MOSEMANN 

T he Socialist and POSt-socialist JlI§ndll'eihr. 
Symbol of an Evolving East(eOl) German fdentity 
ANNA s...UNDElS 

111001a5 Manns S(hIJ.'tn SluNk. 
Schiller und Goethe - Krise und Auswcg? 
THm.L\S ScHNEIDER 

Schillers absolute Elhik: 

Emc Deutung dcc Max und Thekh-Handlung 
DANtEl. 13ALE.S11uNI 

VII 

IS 

27 

43 

6 1 

73 

Wieder d ie Aile? 
Claire Dlibois zwischen Tllusion und Wirklidlkeit 

SABINE SIEVERN 

EIghteenth-Century Ongins of the Self and the Other 10 Ihe 
dlird Earl of Shaftesbury and Gottfried Wilhelm Lelpnitz 
MArn-lEW BINNEY 

T he CC\Vayward Gleam o f lhe Lyrical"; 
Freud's "H ostility TOWMds the rd" 
KA1JA B RUNKHORST 

Die Ambivalenz der tkcaden(e: 
Nierzsc.he, Wagner und Bourgec 
D ,WID \V .... orrER 

Pattlvals redegewandtcr Valer: 
Z ur E insd mtzung der Auszugsszcne (4,27-13,8) 
A NJA B ECKER 

TIle Priorities of Pope I'ius XI I dueing the I Ioiocausl 

J ASON WIWAMSON 

Electronic Research and Reference Tools fo r German StutiJes: 
Analysis and Review 

MlolAEL SHAUGHNESSY 

book reviews 

Wolfgang Bachler. IVo die ll7eikllJ(n rijt tntkl. 
Kann Bauer.. Adamo} Nitl?Jlhton Norralit'tS. 
Sharccn Bysac. &silin,g lfiller. M,ldrrd HarlUKk and tht 

Red OrdJe.stro. 
Jenny Erpenbed. "SlbU'ien" aus Tand 
Urs Faes. Und RJ,Lh. 
E lke P. Frederiksen and Man ha Kaarsbcrg WaUach. 

Fo(tl~ Fasci.J,n OIld Co1!lrofltin,g 1m Post. 
Palricia Gorg. C/iicksspa,gal. 

87 

103 

121 

139 

155 

175 

19 1 

20 1 
203 
206 

208 
209 

211 

215 



VI 

Christoph Hem. Wilknbrock. 
Roy Jecome. Conceptions of PoslJJt:1r GmJJ(Jn Masmliniry. 
)0 Lendle. U"ler Mardenl. 
Andreas Maier. Wiiltkhtslog. 
Sarah Paris. Abnenbesthll'imnt. 
\V, G. Sebald. 4ftknt!, lind Litem/NT. 
Marlene Srrecruwiu. Nachweli. Eilf ReisebtrithL 
Maike Wetzel. Homztiltn. 

interviews 

INTERVIEW \V1TH DR. LESLIE A. ADELSON 

lI\.TTERVlEW WITH DR. SANDER GILMAN 

IN"IERVlEW WiTH DOROTIlEA GRUNZWEIG 

tNTERV1EW MIT MARIO WIRZ 

contributors 

announcements 

219 

222 
224 
226 
228 
230 
233 
236 

241 

253 

261 

269 

279 

282 

VII 

From the Editor 

In volume 8 of Focus 011 Germ an Studies the editor-in-chief, Dav1d Prickett, 
ascertained lhat " me traditional boundaries that once separated the disci­
plines continue to dissolve." No words benee reflcct tbe mulu-facettcd 
nature of tins latest volume. Contributo rs invite new and exciting perspec­
tives o n «lhings German" based on their individual expertise in a wide 
range of disciplines includingarchiteclillc and culmral srudjes. hisrory and 
philosophy, computer technology, film, and literature. The increasing num­
bet: of articles taking mterdlsciplioary approaches seems to attest to a grow­
ingneed o f graduate sruden(s to share ideas and inreract with young scholars 
from other fields on the common grounds of Germafl Sru<Lcs. Once again, 
Focus is pleased to offer the forum for such scholarly exchange. 

As cditor-in-chief, one of the most difficult decision has been 
upon dle accept'd.nce and rejection of a contribution thar meets our re­
quicemenr of solid and o riginal scho larship. Oftentimes. dle subject a.nd 
method of examination reflects the school o f dlOUght the author has been 
mined in. It is no news that, at times, fOl:m and con tent of academ ic 
investigations d iffer greatly between the scho larship genecated in Germany 
and the United States. Is it, then, as Sander Gilman advocates in rus inter­
view (see page 253), merely the new and " fashionable" m a t' desccves pub­
lication? Have more traditional fOpies and investigatlve methods lost thei r 
appeal? As the selection of papers in tlus volume shows, Focus 011 Germ w 
Studies in tcnds to give voice to a variety of approaches, exanlining tile 
well-established as well as the cutting edge. 

The internationa l scope of ,bls journal has by now bccome an 
integral pari o f it. Submissions have reached us from Canada, Germany, 
the United Kingdom, and the United States. We are especi.tlly glad to note 
tllat the in terest in our publication nOt only continues to grow among 
graduate srudents. Our board o f reviewers has e~panded enormollsly in 
tertus of numbers and geogmphical outreach. O ur si.ncere gratitude goes 
out to aU scholars who have volunteered their time and expertise and who 
have offered valuable and constructive criticism. 

Papers in this volume are grouped them.1tically, beginning wilh 



V1I1 

Kay Baronowski whom the events of September 11, 2001 led to a new 
reading of Erost Jiinger's Das abentfllcrii{he Herz (1929). His srudy grounds 
this prose work in a long tradition of terrorism motivated by a combina­
tion of a feeling of disquiet with modernity and a reactionary claim for 
ultimate trum. In me article (hat follows,Stefanie Hoferdemonstrates how 
the ways in which Germany's Nazi paSt is presented in films such as Europa, 
Europa and AiIRee and Jaguar is decisive for rneir very success. On the basis 
of specific characteristics of the NS-pastporuayal, Hofer draws haUIlting 
conclusions for the current German self-perception. Eleanor Mosemann 
also addresses Germany's constructed self-image and (lIl)ability to con­
front the past. Thr:ough an architectural investigation o f the evolution of 
what became known as Jeanne Claude and Christo's Wrapped Rei(hstag, she 
reveals why Germans were ultimately able to accept the wrapping o f their 
historically burdened seat of govel.TIIIlent. A different past, dut of (he 
GDR, is b rought to the foreground by Anna Saunders.. She suggests dut, 
similar to architectural monuments, ceremonies such as the Jugendweihe can 
forge or reinforce identity. Howeve:r, Saunders' study highlights the impor­
tance of a variety of factors not necessarily under government control as 
she points om quite an ironic twist in the success of identity formation 
endeavors in Eastern Germany before and after the fall of the wall. 

According to Thomas Schneider, Thomas Mann's Sehu-'cre Stuntk 
exhibits a poetic identification of the author wiili his predecessor Friedrich 
Schiller. He further examines the role of the orner great poet o f the time, 
JoharU1 Wolfgang Goethe, for Mann's artistic development and self-per­
ception. With his study of Schiller's absolute ethic, Daniel Balestrini takes 
part in the ongoing debate about aesthetic beauty as subject of scholarly 
investigation. A text-based interpretation o f Schiller's Wallenstein honors 
the author's claim of artistic autonomy, Balestrini argues, as he advocates 
dIe " return of beauty" as a legitimate subject of analysis and interpreta­
tion. TIle dichotomy of "Schein" and "Sein", illusion and reality, is the 
target of Sabine Sievems study of Marie von E bner-Eschenbach 's novella 
[V'ieder die Abe, in which she foregrounds identity markers of class and 
gender as decisive factors for Claire's positioning between illusion and re­
ilirye 

The first of three papers taking philosophical approaches, Mat­
thew Binney's article traces the origins of one o f dIe primary concerns in 
postIllodernist theory, tbe concepts of "Self" and "Orner", back to two 
eighteendl century philosophers: the third Earl of Shaftesbury and Gottfried 

I X 

Wilhehn Leipnitz. Through aaexamination of numerous letters and other 
primary sources, utja Brunkhorst investigates the ambiguous ~ttitude of 
the father o f psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, towards the poetic and the 
poet Rainer Maria Rilke himself. Her article highlights on o ne hand the 
common grounds of psychoanalysis and poetry and all the other, how 
each elucidates, evades, and endangers the orner. David Wadlter contiJllleS 
the philosophical discourse as he concerns himself widl dIe ambivalence 
of Nietzsche's definition and evolution of the dicadwce as a SOCIal and 

aesthetic phenomenon. 
By giving evidence to Gahmuret's courtly marulers, Auja Bec~er 

adds sigruficantly to tlle existing sdlOlarship on Wolfram's Parzival, WhiC~l 
has hitllerto limited the figure of Parzival's father to a hem solely moti­
vated by battle and mifme. The article by Jason Williamson pa~kes in the 
recent debate on the attitude of Pope Pius XII tOwards the JeWIsh people 
during the Holocaust and draws disquieting conclusions for the Pope's 
possible role in H ider's Final Solution. Finally, .Michael Shaugh~essy's analt 
sis of electronic research and -reference tools IS a long-due reVlew o f ava11-
able sources. He nOt only identifies the most valuable electronic research 
tools for all areas of German Srudies, but also attests to their validity if 

carefully chosen and properly employed. 
The book -reviews in this issue reflect the latest works by Ger­

man-language authors and Sc1lOlars in the field of German. As one might 
expect &om the broadened scope o f dlis journal, the number of second­
ary works reviewed (Karin Bauer, Elke P. Frederiksen and Martha Kaarberg 
\Vallach, Shareen Brysac, and Roy Jerome) has mcreased to nearly one tbird. 
The [emairung (Wo thirds include novels (Urs Faes, Christoph H ein, Andreas 
Maier, Sarah Paris, and Marlene Streeruwitz), stories OerulY Erpenbeck, 
Patricia Gbrg,Jo Lendle, and Maike Wenzel), poetry r;J/ol fgang Bachler), 
and one essay (\VG. Sebald). This ongoing stronghold of prose seems to 
suggest dlat drama cotinues to have only a small place III early twenty-first 

century German literature. 
Our interview section feaUires conversations with twO prominent 

scholars of German literature and culture, as well as with a poet and an 
amhor &om Germany. Dr. Leslie A.. Adelson calls for analytical al terna­
tives when discussing issues of idetltilY, belonging and migrant literature. 
Adelson and Dr. Sander Gilman concern themselves with current trends 
in the field o f Germ,1.n Studies and witll ways in whlch academic depart­
ments can respond to new clullenges. Gilman furthermore speaks on the 



x 

fashion of scholarship and the state of current German litecatwe. In her 
conversation with Dorodlea Griinzweig. Emily Jeremiah poses questions 
about notions of body and embodiment in the poet's works. Grunzweig 
also discusses the issues of consciousness and control during the process 
o f poetic writing. Fmally, die author 11ario Win talks about cLfferent 
subjectivities of author and readers. '''ldentitatshteratur'' and the laSt dU10~ 

saue. 
r n closing. r would hke ro express my deep gratitude to the Dc­

partmcnrof Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University o f Cin­
cinnati for the continued mo ra l and administrational support of this jour­
nal and for entrusting me wid! the responsibilities o f editor. I also thank 
my fellow students, in particular Susanne Buckesfeld and David Prickert, 
who have generously given advice and assistance. It is my pleasure to in­
troduce the editOr-in-chief and book review editor of volume to, Silke 
Schade and Aine Zimmer.mann. wbo m I wish much success. I would like 
to encourage the graduate studenrs among Ollr readers to participate iII 
this scholarly exchange through presenting work in wnting or at our next 
annual conference in October 2003 (please see our web site for detat1s). 

S IISOnlll unni