“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl
This article analyzes the writings of East German author Uwe Johnson (1934-84) in terms of his experimental style—specifically transitions between descriptive passages—in conjunction with maternal imagery, as discussed through reference to Susan Suleiman’s concept of a “1.5 generation” of Holocaust...
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2010-01-01
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Series: | Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
Online Access: | http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol34/iss1/7 |
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doaj-47bf5a2c72c2478d9ba8fd4c634859502020-11-24T22:49:21ZengNew Prairie PressStudies in 20th & 21st Century Literature2334-44152010-01-0134110.4148/2334-4415.17145749582“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine CresspahlCaroline RupprechtThis article analyzes the writings of East German author Uwe Johnson (1934-84) in terms of his experimental style—specifically transitions between descriptive passages—in conjunction with maternal imagery, as discussed through reference to Susan Suleiman’s concept of a “1.5 generation” of Holocaust survivors. A non-Jewish German author, Johnson addresses German history from the position of the perpetrators, yet born in 1934, he experienced National Socialism from the point of view of a child. In his tetralogy, Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl (1970-83), feelings of guilt and attempts to understand the German past are negotiated through the maternal figure. This figure is linked, in turn, to water as both a structural and symbolic element throughout the novel. As this article demonstrates, the effect of “blurred boundaries” is achieved through water, which functions as paradigm for the mother-daughter relationship: the narrator-protagonist Gesine’s memory is shaped by the experience of near-drowning before the eyes of her mother, Lisbeth, who commits suicide via self-immolation during Reichskristallnacht . As this article concludes, the author himself seems caught in the predicament of Suleiman’s 1.5 Generation, where perception is blurred, and immersing oneself in (imaginary) bodies of water becomes a response to the madness of fascism.http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol34/iss1/7 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Caroline Rupprecht |
spellingShingle |
Caroline Rupprecht “I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
author_facet |
Caroline Rupprecht |
author_sort |
Caroline Rupprecht |
title |
“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl |
title_short |
“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl |
title_full |
“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl |
title_fullStr |
“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl |
title_full_unstemmed |
“I could still see her in my mind’s eye”: Water and Maternal Imagery in Uwe Johnson’s Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl |
title_sort |
“i could still see her in my mind’s eye”: water and maternal imagery in uwe johnson’s anniversaries: from the life of gesine cresspahl |
publisher |
New Prairie Press |
series |
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature |
issn |
2334-4415 |
publishDate |
2010-01-01 |
description |
This article analyzes the writings of East German author Uwe Johnson (1934-84) in terms of his experimental style—specifically transitions between descriptive passages—in conjunction with maternal imagery, as discussed through reference to Susan Suleiman’s concept of a “1.5 generation” of Holocaust survivors. A non-Jewish German author, Johnson addresses German history from the position of the perpetrators, yet born in 1934, he experienced National Socialism from the point of view of a child. In his tetralogy, Anniversaries: From the Life of Gesine Cresspahl (1970-83), feelings of guilt and attempts to understand the German past are negotiated through the maternal figure. This figure is linked, in turn, to water as both a structural and symbolic element throughout the novel. As this article demonstrates, the effect of “blurred boundaries” is achieved through water, which functions as paradigm for the mother-daughter relationship: the narrator-protagonist Gesine’s memory is shaped by the experience of near-drowning before the eyes of her mother, Lisbeth, who commits suicide via self-immolation during Reichskristallnacht . As this article concludes, the author himself seems caught in the predicament of Suleiman’s 1.5 Generation, where perception is blurred, and immersing oneself in (imaginary) bodies of water becomes a response to the madness of fascism. |
url |
http://newprairiepress.org/sttcl/vol34/iss1/7 |
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