Rainer Maria Rilke: The Poet's Trajectory by Volker Durr

Abstract

896 Reviews To conceptualize the 'intensity of form' inGeorge's work is no easy task; never theless, this study offersmuch original discussion of this and adjacent areas. UNIVERSITY OF EXETER HELEN BRIDGE Rainer Maria Rilke: The Poet's Trajectory. By VOLKER DURR. (Studies on Themes and Motifs inLiterature, 72) New York: Peter Lang. 2006. I85 PP. ?57.90. ISBN 978-0-8204-7401-4. The uneasy relationship between the subtitle and series titleofVolker Durr's study of Rilke give a fair indication of its methodological uncertainty. 'The Poet's Trajectory' suggests something like an investigation of his development, and Durr accordingly pursues a kind of intellectual biography, examining some of themain influences on Rilke's major works. Yet this approach sits uneasily with the thematic perspective announced in the series title:except for the familiar concepts of 'Dinge' and death, it remains unclear what 'Themes andMotifs' Durr wishes to examine. Even as a consideration ofRilke's 'trajectory' this book is flawed, since it is so se lective and piecemeal. After an interesting analysis of its firstpoem 'Da neigt sich die Stunde', Durr barely gives any thought to the restof the Stunden-Buch, proceeding immediately to an excursus on Nietzsche. The technique of this firstchapter illus trates the twomain shortcomings of this approach. Whole swathes ofRilke's poetry are simply ignored (the earlierwork from the i8gos may be weak, but surely inan exa mination of thepoet's development itstillneeds some consideration), while individual poems are picked out from a collection and made to represent an entire period, with little supporting textual evidence. Moreover, Durr repeatedly drifts away from his main object of study,Rilke, to indulge inextended excursus on thegeneral intellectual background toaperiod-the chapter onMalte, forinstance, spends much time rehash inggeneralities about thenineteenth-century novel, before interpretingRilke's novel itselfas 'an illustration of theHegelian evolution of consciousness'. While this view can be supported, it ishard to seewhat issaid here thathas not been better said before. Indeed, it isnot easy to seewhat contribution thisbook intends tomake toRilke scholarship ingeneral: since ithas no central thesis or theme, itschapters simply fol low established views, adding just a littleextra intellectual background. The chapter on Rodin and 'the surface as sculptural principle' adds nothing to existing research; the chapter on theVenetian poems in theNeue Gedichte offers a competent appraisal of thepoems themselves (albeitwith an unnecessarily long excursus on artistic cliches ofVenice), but as an investigation ofRilke's 'trajectory' is once again hamstrung by all the poems itdoes not discuss. The finalchapter on 'death and the open' examines the influence ofAlfred Schuler and theSchwabing 'Kosmiker' on Rilke's idea of 'das Offene' (particularly in the Eighth Duino Elegy): here Durr has some interesting things to say, yet unfortunately his tendency to paraphrase (a recurring problem) severely limitshis analytical powers. Its effusive style, sometimes Germanic English, and many printing errors further reduce the scholarly value of this study.At best, it may have pedagogical value, as an introduction to thebackground of some ofRilke's major works. DEUTSCHEs LITERATURARCHIV, MARBACH BEN HUTCHINSON Thomas Mann: Der Zauber des Letzten. By RUDIGER GORNER. Dusseldorf and Zurich: Artemis & Winkler. 2005. 340 pp. ?24.90. ISBN 978-3-538-07I96-4. Over the last fewyears there has been renewed interest in the old idea of late style. Edward Said's final,posthumously published book, On Late Style (London: Blooms ...