'SURFACE IS AN ILLUSION BUT SO IS DEPTH': THE NOVELS OF CHRISTIAN KRACHT. (19th March 2013)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- 'SURFACE IS AN ILLUSION BUT SO IS DEPTH': THE NOVELS OF CHRISTIAN KRACHT. (19th March 2013)
- Main Title:
- 'SURFACE IS AN ILLUSION BUT SO IS DEPTH': THE NOVELS OF CHRISTIAN KRACHT
- Authors:
- Finlay, Frank
- Abstract:
- <abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <p>This detailed discussion of the entirety of Kracht's fictional <italic>œuvre</italic> is an effort to re‐position and reassess him both in the critical literature and in relation to longer‐term literary trends. With reference to <italic>Faserland</italic>, I identify the key fault lines in the often conflicting scholarly and critical reception of Kracht's work, most notably the consensus which has emerged that beneath his apparent preoccupation with 'surface' there is significant seriousness or 'depth' intended. I then discuss the novels <italic>1979</italic>, <italic>Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und Schatten</italic> and <italic>Imperium</italic> to identify their underlying thematic and aesthetic continuities in order to interrogate this mainstream view. In particular, I contend that for all their apparent engagement with historical, philosophical and socio‐cultural issues, such as national identity and the search for 'Heimat', highly ludic elements, including a heightened intertextuality and intermediality, run through all the texts. These serve Kracht's self‐conscious intent to alienate and entertain the reader in order to playfully insist on his novels' status as artefacts, thereby deliberately debunking their seriousness. Kracht's dominant mode is humour, his style pastiche: a mark of individual distinction in an otherwise crowded literary landscape with its frequently 'realistic' focus on<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <p>This detailed discussion of the entirety of Kracht's fictional <italic>œuvre</italic> is an effort to re‐position and reassess him both in the critical literature and in relation to longer‐term literary trends. With reference to <italic>Faserland</italic>, I identify the key fault lines in the often conflicting scholarly and critical reception of Kracht's work, most notably the consensus which has emerged that beneath his apparent preoccupation with 'surface' there is significant seriousness or 'depth' intended. I then discuss the novels <italic>1979</italic>, <italic>Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und Schatten</italic> and <italic>Imperium</italic> to identify their underlying thematic and aesthetic continuities in order to interrogate this mainstream view. In particular, I contend that for all their apparent engagement with historical, philosophical and socio‐cultural issues, such as national identity and the search for 'Heimat', highly ludic elements, including a heightened intertextuality and intermediality, run through all the texts. These serve Kracht's self‐conscious intent to alienate and entertain the reader in order to playfully insist on his novels' status as artefacts, thereby deliberately debunking their seriousness. Kracht's dominant mode is humour, his style pastiche: a mark of individual distinction in an otherwise crowded literary landscape with its frequently 'realistic' focus on historical and contemporary concerns.</p> <p>Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit dem umstrittenen Schriftsteller Christian Kracht und gilt als Versuch, vor dem Hintergrund der Forschungsliteratur sowie aktueller Trends sein gesamtes Romanwerk in der gegenwärtigen literarischen Landschaft der Bundesrepublik zu verorten. Ausgehend von der Rezeption des Debütromans <italic>Faserland</italic> (1995) wird auf einen inzwischen breiten kritischen Konsens hingewiesen, nach dem Krachts Werke trotz ihrer Beschäftigung mit der 'Oberfläche' sich durchaus 'tiefsinningen' Themen widmen. Anhand einer Untersuchung von den Romanen <italic>1979</italic>, <italic>Ich werde hier sein im Sonnenschein und Schatten</italic> und <italic>Imperium</italic> wird diese Position revidiert. Die ästhetischen und thematischen Konstanten im Werk werden hervorgehoben, um zu behaupten, dass den Romanen Krachts eine durchaus spielerische Dimension innewohnt, die den konstatierten ethischen Ernst mit Absicht – und mit Humor – unterminiert. Krachts Duktus ist Pastiche: sein besonderer Beitrag zur Vielfalt der neuen erzählerischen Literatur seit der Wende, deren Haupttendenz auf einer eher 'realistischen' Beschäftigung mit der deutschen Geschichte und Gegenwart liegt.</p> </abstract> … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- German life and letters. Volume 66:Number 2(2013:Apr.)
- Journal:
- German life and letters
- Issue:
- Volume 66:Number 2(2013:Apr.)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 66, Issue 2 (2013)
- Year:
- 2013
- Volume:
- 66
- Issue:
- 2
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2013-0066-0002-0000
- Page Start:
- 213
- Page End:
- 231
- Publication Date:
- 2013-03-19
- Subjects:
- German literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals
Germany -- Periodicals
Germany -- Intellectual life -- Periodicals
Germany -- Civilization -- Periodicals
830.9 - Journal URLs:
- http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118509619/home ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-0483 ↗
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1111/glal.12013 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0016-8777
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 4162.124000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 3641.xml