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A review by peter_fischer
Tauben im Gras by Wolfgang Koeppen
2.0
The story is set in 1951 in Germany and deals with change in many different forms: the changing world order, the prospect of peace and the chance to rebuild, but also the humiliation of occupation and loss of old ‘values’ for the German people. The narrative takes the form of a stream of consciousness, with free association between successive ideas, concepts, and emotions. This is well executed and lends the narrative an onward drive; clearly the author possesses powerful story-telling capabilities and language skills to bring this off.
However, I have issues with several aspects of the contents of this book. First of all the black American protagonists, who play a dominant role in the story. Their description is borderline racist, even by 1950s standards. And what are their narrative functions: to underline the humiliation of ‘Aryans’ now being formally inferior to ‘Untermenschen’? I may be exaggerating, but that’s the symbolism I get. The other issue is much more general and extends to most German literature that deals with WW2 and its aftermath by writers of Koeppen’s generation (that takes in many famous writers!): why is it that just about every issue and notion of that era is being dealt with but never that of collective responsibilities? WW2 and all its horrors are invariably portrayed as if the whole thing was a misfortune that just somehow happened. Was it too early for Nachkriegsbewältigung?
However, I have issues with several aspects of the contents of this book. First of all the black American protagonists, who play a dominant role in the story. Their description is borderline racist, even by 1950s standards. And what are their narrative functions: to underline the humiliation of ‘Aryans’ now being formally inferior to ‘Untermenschen’? I may be exaggerating, but that’s the symbolism I get. The other issue is much more general and extends to most German literature that deals with WW2 and its aftermath by writers of Koeppen’s generation (that takes in many famous writers!): why is it that just about every issue and notion of that era is being dealt with but never that of collective responsibilities? WW2 and all its horrors are invariably portrayed as if the whole thing was a misfortune that just somehow happened. Was it too early for Nachkriegsbewältigung?