‘WAS GLÄNZT, DAS SIEHT’: MECHANISMS OF SURVEILLANCE AND OPPRESSION IN HERTA MÜLLER'S DER FUCHS WAR DAMALS SCHON DER JÄGER

Abstract

AbstractThis article focuses on the recurring themes of surveillance and oppression in Müller's novel Der Fuchs war damals schon der Jäger. Using Foucault's concept of the panoptic gaze, as well as art historian W. J. T. Mitchell's idea of the ‘hypericon’ as theoretical frames, it examines how Müller relies on the disruptive force of shiny details to expose and denounce mechanisms of surveillance and oppression in her novel. As implied in the novel's leitmotiv ‘Was glänzt, das sieht’, all things that shine and glitter help reveal the haunting effect of being monitored and threatened by the intrusive tactics of the Securitate, Romania's notorious secret police under Ceauşescu's dictatorial regime. By drawing attention to Müller's verbal imagery, and more specifically to the symbolic meaning which she grants to shiny, fragmented details in her novel, this article's aim is also to demonstrate how this procedure is yet another literary and aesthetic strategy used by Müller to further shatter and condemn totalitarian ideologies in her narratives.