Tucholsky and France by Stephanie Burrows (review)

Abstract

262 Reviews Herman Bang (1857-1912), a representative of Danish modernism, who is mostly associated with impressionism and decadence. Bang was one of a considerable num? ber of Scandinavian authors who were translated into German and became popular during the firstdecades of the twentieth century. Mann admired the Danish author, with whom he felta close kinship, partly due to their shared homosexual orientation, Gremler's examination of Mann's intertextual references to Bang's works explores the function of traces ofthe Danish 'Pratexte' in Mann's German 'Posttexte'. Often the association with Bang's text is clearly marked by parallels in the title of works or the naming of characters; Mann, who frequently uses more than one of Bang's texts in one of his works, even includes the Danish author himself as a model for some of his literary figures (for example, for Settembrini or Hans Castorp's cousin Joachim in Der Zauberberg). Gremler furthermore observes an affinityin the choice of themes between the two writers, and it is in the treatment of these interrelated themes that Mann's intertextual techniques become most obvious. In terms of literary methods there are parallels as well. Mann found in Bang's work the technique of camouflage of homoerotic subtexts, often again through using intertextual references: to literary texts, authors, myths, or figures which are part of what Gremler calls a secret homo? sexual literary canon. By alluding directly to such texts or myths (e.g. the myth of Narcissus) and through intertextual references to Bang's works which also include such allusions, Mann is able doubly to enrich his own texts. Gremler identifies the function of the intertextual references in Mann's works as dialectical in nature: Mann provides an evaluation (Gremler uses the term 'Kontrafaktur ') of the 'Pratext' and simultaneously injects his own text with ambiguity and ambivalence. Mann often creates figures that are similar?yet contrasting, more positive and optimistic?to Bang's predominantly tragic, doomed, and decadent pro? tagonists. However, the optimism or at least ability to survive which seems to char? acterize some of Mann's figures, such as Felix Krull, is itself undermined by the intertextual association with Bang's models. Gremler's book provides an abundance of material, which shows the complexity of Mann's productive reception of this today relatively unknown Danish author. While the study is tedious to read at times and the conclusions at the end of each chapter tend to be somewhat repetitive, the book is certainly a valuable contribution both to Thomas Mann and Herman Bang studies and to the study of intertextuality in gen? eral. It also contributes to German-Scandinavian studies, providingan example ofthe mutually influential relationship between the two literatures. The study touches on some aspects which might be worthy of furtherinvestigation, such as the differences between the Danish originals and the German translations that Mann knew. The appendix, containing a list of German translations of Bang's works published during Mann's lifetime, could be particularly useful foranyone with a furtherinterest in this area of comparative or translation studies. University College Dublin Sabine Strumper-Krobb Tucholsky and France. By Stephanie Burrows. (MHRA Texts and Dissertations, 55; Bithell Series of Dissertations, 25) London: Maney Publishing for the Modern Humanities Research Association and the Institute of Germanic Studies, Uni? versity of London School of Advanced Study. 2001. X+ 269PP. ?33. ISBN 1902653 -62-9. Stephanie Burrows' study of the journalist and satirist Kurt Tucholsky's relations with France and the French is impressively thorough. Beginning as a Nottingham Ph.D. thesis, it has made a highly professional transition to monograph form as a MLRy ioo.i, 2005 263 valuable addition to a distinguished series. She gives a considerably more detailed and nuanced picture of Tucholsky's interaction with France and the French than has hitherto been available, superseding the dominant view propounded by Fritz Raddatz that his sojourn there was of minor importance to his work and personality and failed to 'detach' him from German politics in the way that he supposedly intended. Bur? rows' study shows clearly the ebb and flow of a complex, ambivalent, and constantly developing interest in France. Burrows traces Tucholsky's preoccupation with...