Herta Müller – an authoress in Central Europe

 

Herta Müller – an authoress in Central Europe

 

Herta Müller is a central European writer and poetess, because she writes not only prose and her prose has a compact structure like lyrics; in former times it would be named ornamental prose, that means prose, which focus is less directed on the sujet, which doesn’t provide exciting plots, but is more engaged on the phonetically, lexical, semantic and syntactic level. Thus the titles of her books are already novel composita like „Atemschaukel“

[1]

, „Herztier“

[2]

. The first title and compositum is shown in the text in its phonetic and semantic rise, moreover it is a metaphor, which is difficult to classify. The starvelings have such an empty mouth, that their pharynx-uvular cans flutter and the breath swing.

The beginning of the book is a binary opposition proper >< not proper, the hero has nothing proper or in other word, the proper, what he has, is not proper and not belong to him.

„Alles was ich habe, trage ich bei mir.

Oder: Alles Meinige trage ich mit mir.

Getragen habe ich alles, was ich hatte. Das Meinige war es nicht. Es war entweder zweckentfremdet oder von jemand anderem.“ (7)

[3]

The proper is denoted by a becoming obsolete word „Meiniges“, but what the hero not lacks completely how we see afterwards, for among the things are two gifts, which he regards as proper, but also the other things are gifts, so that the interpretation of the hero makes himself proper less or non proper less. On the first pages it remains undecided, whether the hero is male or female. Just on the first page we find in one sentence two metaphors, which are characteristic for her poetics of Herta Müller. „Ich wollte weg aus dem Fingerhut der kleinen Stadt, wo alle Steine Augen hatten.“ (7)

[4]

The eyes in the second animating metaphor we can find in the tropic (metaphory) of the whole text. „[…] wenn die Abraumhalde gelbe Augen macht und glüht, als wäre darin der zerstückelte Mond.“ (124)

[5]

The deportation of the hero to Russia introduces a theme, which is paradigmatically for or in the central European and east European literature of the last century, the „camp literature“. This realizes the fusion of Central and Eastern Europe, which we can observe as well beyond literature as inside of poetic texts. Though the text by Herta Müller range in such classical works of gulag like „Один день Ивана Денисовича“

[6]

by Aleksandr Solženicyn and the „Колымские рассказы“

[7]

by Varlam Šalamov and even with the last the „breath-swing“ has a number of common structures: the distribution in short chapters, which have only one topic, the feeding by orache-plant, the shoveling of coal, the struggle against the hunger or in the texts by Šalamov against cold and the exact description of the proceeding in this struggle to survive.

In the "Forbidden" which appears at the beginning of something mysterious, gives concrete form to fear and geometrizes and ornamentalizes it: „Ich sah die Angst der leeren Kreise, Quadrate und Trapeze, verbunden durch weiße Ranken mit Krallen.“ (8)

[8]

The trees are anthropomorphized and sexualized. Die Bäume werden anthropomorphisiert und sexualisiert. „Und Sommer war es und weiße Haut an den Birken, […]“ „Das Holz wurde nackt.“ (8)

[9]

The stone floor, the middle-pillar, the wall tiles and the wooden stairs are anthropomorphized, and identified with the cash-desk-women. „Wir kamen zeitversetzt, die Kassenfrau in der Bleiverglasung ihrer Loge, der spiegelnde Steinboden, die runde Mittelsäule, die Wandkacheln mit dem Seerosenmuster, die geschnitzten Holztreppen durften nicht auf den Gedanken kommen, dass wir verabredet sind.“ (9)

[10]

By the morpheme p#ck- creates a whole complex of semantic information that describes the suppression of homosexuality, because as such the "Forbidden" shows soon. Even the metaphor ("I bear silent baggage.") presents the morpheme as the leading element. „Ich trage stilles Gepäck. Ich habe mich so tief und solang ins Schweigen gepackt, ich kann mich in Worten nie auspacken. Ich packe mich nur anders ein, wenn ich rede.“ (9)

[11]

The morpheme is repeated several times, and so unfolds a concretizing metaphor, although this stands in striking contrast to the scanty luggage of the hero at the dawn of the deportation. Through the unfolded metaphor the silence is elaborated, which is developed on the next page.

[12]

The narrator sees a saint in a church with a sheep in the neck, at which the alliteration sheep and silence is perhaps not coincidental. „Dieses Schaf im Nacken ist das Schweigen. Es gibt Dinge über die man nicht spricht. Aber ich weiß, wovon ich rede, wenn ich sage, das Schweigen im Nacken ist etwas anderes als das Schweigen im Mund.“

[13]

The urge to go to the meetings with the homosexuals, is an intuitive act that comes without a clear preceding decision of the hero, so the narrator appears in the opening pages not as a character if we follow Lotmans semiotics, for even the deportation will be imposed on him and he agrees with her - without informing the others, who feel sorry for him and provided him with gifts, about it. In the camp literature we all take stock of figures and that is a characteristic of this type of literature that can be very difficult developed to characters in Lotmans sense. They are in a similar position as a soldier, whose discretion is severely restricted.

The "words" are anthropomorphized (the silence has been concretized and reified, substantialized) and in the flesh its two meanings in German are activated, as victuals, and as an object of sexual desire. Thus, the biblical quotation "The word became flesh and dwelt among us." is updated and parodies. (10) „Das Wort wusste, wie weit ich schon gegangen war.“

[14]

„Wieso redet sie vom Fleisch, wenn es um Kartoffel und Gabel geht. Von welchem Fleisch spricht sie. Mir hatten die Rendezvous das Fleisch umgedreht. Ich war mein eigener Dieb, die Wörter fielen unverhofft und erwischten mich.“ (10)

[15]

A sentence that we will find later in the text that will accompany the hero in the steppe, find the hero in a church next to a saint, graphically highlighted in the text using capital letters. „Der Himmel setzt die Zeit in Gang. “ (11)

[16]

This strange metaphor is quite technical in nature, like the mechanic set the clock in motion, and thus it corresponds to the language tertii imperii, described by Victor Klemperer. (Klemperer, 1947, 162-165) Klemperer turned against the technical metaphors of Nazism, but his examples relate to metaphors in which people are involved in technical processes, here is the sky, the heaven brought down, but it is also a technical anthropomorphizing metaphor, which shows that such metaphors must not be forced to include something inhuman in itself.

The graphic marking of phrases and lexemes is to observe despite of the apparent insignificance. For example, the lexemes "camp" and "Russia” will be emphasized, however, the lexeme occurs both in Russian and in German (it is a loan word from German to Russian), but in the other Central European languages the lexeme is “tabor”. Doubting whether this word was uttered, because the police officers were a Romanian and a Russian, and only the last could say this German/Russian word. Only the second lexeme is said, while instead of "camp" could stand a synonym for Russia.
Because of the central sentence (“The heaven set the time in motion.”) the time is the real key to survive and not the clothes. „Die Welt war kein Kostümball, […]“ (11)

^[17]

An equivalence is established between the words and the lovers by the verb “meet”. (12) „Jede Woche traf ich mich mit dem, der doppelt so alt war wie ich.“ (9)

[18]

„Mich trafen die Wörter Aquarell und Fleisch.“ (12)

[19]

Syntactically, there is a difference in so far that the verb in the first case demands a different case government. But the words that meet are actually wired with his secret meetings, "watercolor" metonymy, because he meets in a public pool, "flesh" symbolically, as we have explained already.

Concerning the syntax we find on certain passages very short sentence units. This can be observed not only in the “Breath swing”, (Respiratory swing), but is a general feature of Herta Muller's prose, this being more pronounced in the early prose.

The local, the region is not hidden in the text, so “Bokantschen” a Transylvanian word for mountain shoes, but it was also used in Bukovina in the general sense "boots" and it is attributed to Romanian Bocanci, but also in Slovakia, we find "baganča and in Hungarian "bakancs" so this is a lexeme that is covering a wider area and broke into several languages, so it is a typical central European lexeme. „Dann zog ich mich an: 1 lange Unterhose, 1 Flanellhemd (beige-grün kariert), 1 Pumphose […] 1 Paar Wollsocken und 1 Paar Bokantschen.“ (13f.)

^[20]

The syntactic permutation of denotation of relationship and nominum proprium can be described as typical Pannonian phenomenon, so instead of Aunt Fini - Fini, the aunt, the article is not yet an additional characteristic of the dialect.  „Die grünen Handschuhe der Fini-Tante lagen griffbereit auf dem Tisch.“ (14)

[21]

The Wench is a locality near Schäßburg (Romanian: Sighişoara, Hungarian: Segesvár), which later is used in a flashback (analepsis) even clearer. It is very significant for the book itself that is hardly to find analepses, so the plot takes place in a seemingly endless present, only by the initial remark of the narrator that he spent five years in the camp, the time is relative limited. On the Wench takes place an impressive event for the eight years old child, the mother plays to be dead. „Dieser Schrecken, der Himmel fiel ins Gras. “

[22]

There will be so continued so uranomorphe metaphor, the sky will not only anthropomorphized, but also zoomorphized as a giant snake to devour the boy. (14) „Ich drückte die Augen zu, dass ich nicht sehe, wie er mich schluckt.“ (14)

^[23]

  

The second guiding principle in addition to "The sky/heaven set the time in motion" is "I know you'll come back" and is also graphically highlighted. This sentence is met aphorized and thus anthropomorphized. „Aber so ein Satz ist selbstständig. Er hat in mir gearbeitet, mehr als alle mitgebrachten Bücher. Ich WEISS du kommst wieder wurde zum Komplizen der Herzschaufel und zum Kontrahenten des Hungerengels. “ (14)

[24]

The anthropomorphizing is formed by the verb" work "and through this the phrase is equated with the books and put in the value over of them. The "heart bucket" in a later chapter, which has exactly that title, and is described there in detail, is here anthropomorphized by the write-up "accomplice" as well, or at least, as the hunger angels, personified. The contrast accomplice> <counterpart is transferred, creating the contrast heart shovel> <Hunger angels. This opposition in the following text, we must keep in mind, because they have an emotional attachment to the tool, which is called the heart-blade.

The eyes not only play a role on the semantic level, but also structurally on the lexical and syntactic level. The lexical equivalence creates a contrast between open eyes and closed eyes the first speak the second cry. „Es wurde mit aufgerissenen Augen leise und viel gesprochen und mit zugedrückten Augen leise und viel geweint.“ (15)

[25]

The ears metaphor is evident in two adjacent subsequent comparisons. (15) „Die Zähne des Hornkamms verschwanden im Haar, von seinem gewölbten Rand schauten nur zwei Ecken wie kleine spitze Ohren hervor. Mit den Ohren und dem dicken Zopf sah der Hinterkopf aus wie eine sitzende Katze.“ (15)

[26]

A plant bears a household object and thus it is included in the packing for the move. „Mittendrauf wächst, halb so hoch wie ich, eine Pflanze mit pelzigen Blättern.“

[27]

(Even here we find a clothing metaphor, which refers to the integration into the human household.) „An ihrem Stengel ist eine Fruchtkapsel mit einem Ledergriff, ein kleiner Koffer. Die Kapsel steht fingerbreit offen, ausgepolstert mit fuchsrotem Samt.“ (15f.)

[28]

The homonym, a grapheme permutation of" resting "and" Ruth "is activated. „Schreiben wir doch Ruth, so heißt niemand, den wir kennen. Ich schreibe ruht.“ (16)

[29]

Driving is a postponement of fate. „Solang wir fahren, kann uns nichts passieren. Solang wir fahren, ist es gut.“ (17)

[30]

The gramophone is linked into a zoomorphizing metaphor, actually an alogomorphizing. „Mit einem Grammophonkistchen kann man reiten, reiten durch den Tag, du kennst doch den Rilke

[31]

, sagte die Trude Pelikan in ihrem Glockenschnittmantel mit Pelzmanschetten bis hinauf zu den Ellenbogen.“ (17)

[32]

The fur-cuffs, point on the metaphor above of the plant is connected with a zoomorphic metaphor, which is also a hyperbola. „Manschetten aus braunem Haar wie zwei halbe Hündchen. Die Trudi Pelikan schob manchmal beide Hände über Kreuz in die Ärmel, und die zwei Hundehälften wurden ein ganzes Hündchen.“ (17)

[33]

This shows how the zoomorphic metaphors support a figure, Trudi Pelikan.

Now the snow is anthropomorphized, he becomes a spy. „Der Schnee denunzierte, sie musste freiwillig aus dem Versteck, freiwillig gezwungen vom Schnee.“ (18)

[34]

This leads to an oxymoron: "volunteer force". This anthropomorphizing of the snow is unfolded (displayed). „Dass der dicke Schnee die Hauptschuld trägt. Dass er zwar in die Stadt gefallen ist, als wisse er, wo er ist, als wäre er bei sich zu Hause. Dass er aber den Russen sofort zu Diensten war. Wegen dem Schneeverrat bin ich hier, sagte die Trudi Pelikan.“ (18)

[35]

It is also notable: the syntactic parallelism that is at once a deviance because subordinate clauses with „that“does not usually stand as independent sentences.

In the text also occur peculiar slang onomatopoeic verbs as “dubber ". „Der Kanonenofen in der Waggonmitte dubberte.“ (18)

[36]

By means of a metaphor, the song is fluid. „Das Lied schwappte einem im Kopf […]“ (19)

[37]

The neologisms of Herta Müller mostly relate to the new compounds, such as "Schreckensgeknöch", which is difficult to dissolve in its meaning. „Sie war genauso starr und blau wie die erste [Ziege], ein Schreckensgeknöch.“ (19)

[38]

The Hunger transcends and a symbolization takes place again and again in to the form of the "hunger angel". We have already seen that, in the opposition to the tool that names heart- blade. „[…] wie sich der wilde Hunger bald über uns alle hermacht, ahnten wir nicht. Wie oft haben wir in den kommenden fünf Jahren, als uns der Hungerengel heimsuchte, diesen starren Ziegen geglichen.“ (20)

[39]

 So this  „Schreckensgeknöch“.

Another of these unusual compounds is "Night country", although it is constructed standard like “Abendland” and „Morgenland " and easily can refer to a cardinal point; it lacks the cultural connotation that is associated with the other two compounds. (For there is no “Rising or decline of the night country”.) The defecation, secretion comes alive, zoomorphic, precisely associated with reptiles. „[…] wie man zwischen ihren Schuhen das Zischeln hörte.“

[40]

„[…] wie seiner Frau Heidrun Gast das Gedärm vom Durchfall quakte.“ (21)

[41]

"[...] how to get their shoes, the hissing stopped." "[...] as his wife Heidrun Gast the intestines croaked of diarrhea." (21) This general stench that is also a warm island is described by an adjectival compound: "pestwarm”.

[42]

The freezing of body odors is described in the "breathing swing" much rarer than in the stories of Kolyma, where a chapter is devoted to this subject. "[...] Если воздух при дыхании выходит с шумом, но дышать еще не трудно - значит, сорок пять градусов; если дыхание шумно и заметна одышка - пятидесяти пяти градусов - плевок замерзает на лету." (Шаламов 1998, 39)

[43]

In the „Breathing-swing“: „Wie der pestwarme Dampf rundherum sofort glitzerig in der Luft gefror.“ (21)

[44]

   

The sense of the hero is elaborated and became a pars pro toto. "Maybe I was that night, when the horrors arise in me." (21) The common secretion as anxious community action is in contrast to the carnival, where similar community actions serve the general amusement. "There we have it, the fucking end Saxon people, all on the pile." (21) „Da haben wir es, das scheißende Sachsenvolk, alle auf dem Haufen.“ (21)

[45]

Through this brief limited examination of the Herta Muller's prose, I wanted to give you an idea of the approach, the craft of the artist that is highly artificial. The award of the Nobel Prize give the view is straight out freely, which was previously adjusted assignments, such as minority forms of writing, working through trauma of a life in a dictatorship, etc. (Text + Kritik, p. 3 and 49) The perspective of a Western reader has been marked by such assignments, the new reading of the texts of Herta Muller after the liberation from the clutches of attributions to the Western reader is yet to come.

 

Literature:

Herta Müller, Atemschaukel. München 2009

Herta Müller,A rókák csapdába esnek. Budapest] 1995

Victor Klemperer, LTI – Tagebuch eines Philologen. Berlin 1947

Александр Солженицын, Один день Ивана Денисовича. Москва 1961

Варлаам Шаламов, Колымские рассказы. Собрание сочинения. М. 1998

Text+Kritik, Heft 155, Herta Müller, München, Juli 2002