JOURNEY OF A WOMAN NIHILIST TO VERONA IN LATE AUTUMN

Abstract

Although Helga Novak began writing in East Germany in 1955, she was not able to publish a volume of her work until 1965, after her move to the West. This first publication, a collection of poems entitled Ballad of the Itinerant Anna (Ballade von der reisenden Anna) was followed by a second one entitled Colloquium with Four Skins (Colloquium mit vier Häuten) in 1967. Her lyrics, written in free verse, may be called poetry of protest, that is, protest against the social and the socialist order. Early themes are concerned with the ravages of war, rape, the condition of agricultural women workers, and prostitution. Social Get Together (Geselliges Beisammensein), a collection of short prose from 1968, exposes the lack of communication and the superficiality of feelings among people in today's society. A Stay in a Mad House (Aufenthalt in einem irren Haus) is an anthology of 11 stories published in 1972. The author also published One Day the Talking Doll Refused to be Undressed (Eines Tages hat sich die Sprechpuppe nicht mehr ausziehen lassen), a feminist work consisting of texts dealing with the emancipation of women, in 1972. Taking Over the Land in Tore Bela (Die Landnahme von Tore Bela) (1976), contains short prose pieces about a cooperative estate outside of Lisbon. Journey of a Woman Nihilist to Verona in Late Autumn (Reise einer Nihilistin nach Verona im späten Herbst), the first in Dimension in 1973, is a satirical yet serious depiction of the views and behavior of a female terrorist, Mara. As a nihilist or anarchist, Mara is concerned with creating situations of revolt, not with theory or organization of the revolution. In this story, Helga Novak's staccato style and the short passages in which she juxtaposed the different elements of action and thought are well-chosen to reveal the author's two basic convictions: Gladiator bouts, manhunts, tragedies have not changed from the first century to the twentieth, and women will be rebellious regardless of how badly they are mistreated.