Prose Pieces

Short and very short forms of prose writing play a significant role in the rise of literary modernism in German, Austrian and Swiss literature, subverting existing genre conventions, transforming established modes of writing and creating an entirely new field of competing and overlapping sub-genres and traditions as a crucial site of literary innovation. Since the seventeenth century, short prose often undercuts the distinction between high literature and pragmatic forms of writing while also exploring – and increasingly combining – poetic, narrative, essayistic, descriptive, reflexive, and diaristic techniques. While some sub-genres (such as the aphorism, the prose poem or the short story) have attracted quite extensive research, scholarship’s traditional focus on more established larger genres (such as the novel), invested with more ‘cultural capital’ (Bourdieu) in aesthetic debates and academic criticism, is reflected in a general lack of research in the field of short prose genres. It is in this context that Morrison’s and Krobb’s collection of readings of narrative short prose pieces by Irish Germanists makes a significant contribution to international German Studies.
The editors’ primary ambition, however, is more pragmatic. Drawing on the experience of teaching German literature at Higher Education level and targeting undergraduate students of German as well as non-professional readers of German literature, they draw on the expertise of Irish German Studies to present a series of chapters on selected short prose pieces from the late eighteenth century to the early 1990s, engaging readers in the close reading of these texts and introducing them to the academic study of literary works, and of the historical, literary and cultural issues which they raise. All chapters follow roughly the same pattern. They include the full text of the prose piece discussed in the German original as well as in an English translation, then they offer introductory and contextual information on the author and the piece, present close textual analysis, and develop aspects of an academic discussion of relevant themes, techniques, traditions and/or contexts with some selected reference to research (listed in short bibliographies). Conceived as a text-book and taking Morrison’s and Krobb’s Poetry Project: Irish Germanists Interpret German Verse (2003) as a model, the volume thus also showcases Irish German Studies, combining contributions from a range of institutions and from both established scholars and early career researchers or teachers.
The focus on narrative reflects a tradition in short prose editing for the purpose of teaching; anthologies of short prose by German publishers targeting German Alevel students (such as Reclam and Klett) also concentrate on narrative. Interestingly, however, the texts selected by Morrison’s and Krobb’s contributors often reflect the overlap between narrative and other forms of short prose writing in the works of modern authors, taking textual analysis to key problems in the discussion of modern short prose at large. In terms of historical range, the volume starts with Winckelmann and Goethe in the late eighteenth century and covers the nineteenth century, modernism, and the post-1945 period with a number of authors and chapters each, while the contemporary period is only given two pieces and could have been represented more strongly. The choice of authors includes some of the leading figures in short prose writing, such as Lichtenberg, Kleist, Hebel, Robert Walser, Kafka, Canetti and Eich, while some equally important writers in the field (such as Altenberg, Musil, Benjamin, Kaschnitz, or Botho Strauß) are missing. However, readings of pieces by less prominent authors of short prose (such as Klabund, Qualtinger or Rotenberg) are in themselves evidence of the richness of the field and open up interesting avenues of both literary and cultural discussion. The volume is particularly successful in exploring the ‘calendar story’ (Kalendergeschichte) and its legacy, a genre which epitomizes the close relationship between specific forms of short prose and the media in which they are published, as discussed in the editors’ introduction. The calendar story also questions the boundary between ‘high’ literature and popular forms, as does the fairy tale (Märchen), which also features prominently and illustrates the significance of oral traditions for short prose, highlighted by the editors.
Similar to poetry, very short pieces of prose lend themselves naturally to the approach chosen in this volume, i. e. the combination of close readings of individual pieces with a selective discussion of wider themes and contexts. Some contributions are particularly successful in using this format, at times taking this text-book approach to research level. In the first chapter, Morrison’s discussion of two Italian anecdotes by Winckelmann and Goethe raises key issues in German Classicism, highlighting the significance of aesthetic experience in late eighteenth century thought. Bedenk’s reading of one of Kleist’s famous anecdotes combines in-depth textual analysis with cultural contextualization (the history of the duel and sports), exploring Kleist’s central theme of epistemological crisis. Bourke uses Hebel’s miniature novella Unverhofftes Wiedersehen, the most famous version of the Falun mining incident, as an example of the calendar story while also highlighting the fascination of recurring motifs in literary history. In Donovan’s discussion of two of the Grimms’ fairy tales, explicit reference to literary sources and to changes in narrative culture achieve a similar sense of literary experiment and historical development. Krobb’s chapter on a small story by Storm returns to the calendar story and uses references to Greek philosophy to raise awareness of the significance of cultural history and context for the reading of literature.
Arguably, short prose is particularly suitable material for introducing students to the academic study of literature at university level. This edited volume presents a largely successful collection of case studies for the teaching of German literature in the English-speaking world. It also ties in with recent German attempts at more systematic research in the structure and history of short prose at large.