Alois Wolf , Martina Backes , Francis G. Gentry , Eckart Conrad Lutz (review)

Abstract

MLR,96.3,200I 9o7 Finally, Hoffmann's 'Gypsy' woman plays a dubious roleintheLacanian drama of Theodor's sexual identity formation through the mirror stage. Thecommon denominator ofallthese readings istheemergence around I800of a dominant concept ofhumanism ina still one-sided rationalistic andnationalistic form, which entails theestablishment ofa domain ofrepressed orexcluded and disciplined otherness, bethis under thenameofnature, woman, Jew, or'Gypsy'. This book skilfully showshow farliterature, as a mediumof social selfunderstanding , is implicated in theprocess, and in particular howtheliterary idealization ofthe'Gypsy' ispredicated ontheprior anthropological exclusion of therace.More often thannotformulated in theuncompromising hypotactic tradition andpursuing its discursive formation through the metaphorical forest with ruthless thoroughness andequally ruthless ingenuity, itisa demanding read. Notall willagreewithall theinterpretations (notably theclaimmadeforWolzogen's incredibly sophisticated poetics), andtheEichendorffand Hoimannsections seem tooffer few newinsights. However, this work contains a great dealofrevelatory background research (beyond thewell-known Grellmann and Thomasius into Fritsch andTetzel), andtheGrimmelshausen andArnim chapters offer powerful analyses oftheinauguration ofa discourse anditsrewriting. Thisbook, following Said,moves within thefamiliar parameters ofOrientalist scholarship, butitshould remain the benchmark study ofthe field for some time tocome. UNIVERSITY OFLIVERPOOL NICHOLAS SAUL Erzahlkunst desMittelalters. Komparatistische Arbeiten zurfranzosischen unddeutschen Literatur. ByALOIS WOLF.Ed.byMARTINA BACKES, FRANCIS G.GENTRY and ECKART CONRAD LUTZ.Tubingen: Niemeyer. I999. 404pp. DM I82. Thoseofuswhoover thelastfew decades havefollowed with attention andprofit what hasflowed from the productive andwide-ranging penofAlois Wolf will know that hiswork onfour major books hasnotimpeded the steady appearance ofa flow ofarticles. Thebooks inquestion area general survey ofGerman culture inthe key periodII50-I250,a treatment oftheWagelied (inconjunction with thefirst ofthe editors ofthe volume under review), a comparative discussion oftheEristanstory in medieval Europe, anda wide-ranging analysis oftheheroic legend andepic.The recurrent feature ofall thesemonographs is thatthey areorganized alongthe comparative lineswhichalso characterize thepresent volume, as thesubtitle indicates. Wolf's cultural history therefore focuses not justonGerman, butalsoon French and Latinmaterial. His bookon theWagelied placesGerman examples against the background ofFrench, Proven,cal andLatin literature. TheEristan book was,bythenature ofitstheme, devoted tobothFrance andGermany (although disappointingly little spacewasgranted toThomas ofBritain), whilst thework on the heroic epicranged even further (German, French, OldEnglish andOldNorse). Thenumber ofarticles written byWolf isofcourse considerably larger than the twelve that havebeenselected for inclusion inthis volume. (Itistoberegretted that nocomplete listofthem todateisgiven, as a further tribute toWolf's admirable productivity.) Allthearticles inthis volume haveappeared before (their placesof publication and datesare given, thelatter ranging from I97I to I993).Their wording hasbeenonly slightly changed from the original. Asmight beexpected, all these contributions havelongsincefound their wayintorecent scholarship and established a homeforthemselves there, so thata review, especially at sucha distance intime, ishardly the placeinwhich todiscuss them individually. Instead, it makes greater sense tolist the four major Schwerpunkte they reveal. Reviews 908 Thefirst, the major focus ofthe whole bookandofallWolf's work, isthe lasting, many-sided andfruitful interplay between French andGerman literature (byno means only inonedirection). Four essays dealexplicitly with this. Oneisdevoted to Chretien's Yvain andHartmann's Iwein ('Erzahlkunst undverborgener Schriftsinn', pp. I 4I -89),onetothe Lancelot theme ('Minnebann, ritterliches SelbstbewuBtsein und concordia voluntatum', pp. 2 I I-50), and twoto Chretien's Perceval and Wolfram's Parzival('Literarhistorische Aspektevon ParzivalsSchweigen', pp. 25I-70, and'Vomhofischen RomanChretiens zumMeditationsgeflecht der Dichtung Wolframs', pp.27 I-337). Thesefour essays areonly themajor examples where thisFranco-German literary interplay isrewardingly treated, sinceitalso pervades most oftheother essays, even ifina minor key. A second centre ofWolf's attention, thecomplex interplay between orality and literacy, isrepresented bytwoexamples ofmajor importance ('Nibelungenlied Chanson degeste hofischer Roman. ZurProblematik derVerschriftlichung der deutschen Nibelungensagen', pp.57-86, and 'Die Verschriftlichung von europaischen Heldensagen als mittelalterliches Kulturproblem', pp.87-I I0). This problem haspreoccupied Wolf forsomedecadesnow,as alsohiscolleagues at Freiburg intheSonderforschungsbereich Mundlichkeit undSchriftlichkeit, which hasnowunfortunately cometoanendthere. As ifto defeat sucheasycategorization, a third Schwerpunkt, therelationship between theheroic epicandthecourt romance, must alsoinclude these lasttwo essays, sinceWolf profitably seesthetransposition of(oral)heroic tradition to writing against thebackground ofthewritten form oftheromance, sothat both genres form partofa decisive cultural shift. Another essay inwhich Wolf looks at theground shared byepicand romance is devoted to Willehalm ('Kampfschilderungen inWolframs "Willehalm" ',pp.25-56). Alast group ismade upofessays which dealwith problems ofnarrative technique. Itsopening example is a brilliant andwelcome demolition ofa viewthatruns counter toallWolf's work onFranco-German literary relations ('Die "adaptation courtoise". Kritische Anmerkungen zueinem neuen Dogma', pp.I I I-40). To this group alsobelongs theessaycomparing Chretien's...