eJournals Colloquia Germanica 39/3-4

Colloquia Germanica
cg
0010-1338
Francke Verlag Tübingen
Es handelt sich um einen Open-Access-Artikel, der unter den Bedingungen der Lizenz CC by 4.0 veröffentlicht wurde.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/91
2006
393-4

WILLIAM KINDERMAN AND KATHERINE R. SYER (EDS.): A Companion to Wagner’s Parsifal. Rochester: Camden House, 2005. 376 pp. $ 90.

91
2006
Rachel Nussbaum Wichert
cg393-40413
Besprechungen / Reviews 413 zum eigenen Vorteil? Hie Franz, dort Bismarck und seine Presseleute.» The chain of associations rounds itself off by bringing in Gerd Minde from Grete Minde, the novel whose «politische Relevanz» (158) is championed here by the reminder that the similarly named Geert von Innstetten in Effi Briest is «Bismarcks enger Mitarbeiter» (157). Such passages might lead a reader to see in Der versteckte Fontane not just the coincidences that are proof of Fakten, as Anderson puts it in his introduction, but also the sort of Theorie that he simultaneously opposes to Fakten. Indeed, if the connections Anderson presents seem at times to bear the marks of not just theory but conspiracy theory, complete with the cover-up implied by Fontane’s idea of the Versteckspiel, then this is as much an advantage to his study as it is a drawback. For despite the occasional moments at which the links appear to go further than credibility or argument can support, the more frequent windfall of Anderson’s careful attention to possible concealed patterns in Fontane’s writings (including his novels, occasional poems, letters, journalism, and autobiography) is a deeper appreciation of the substantial wit and narrative subtlety of a canonical figure. California State University, Chico Geoffrey Baker W ILLIAM K INDERMAN AND K ATHERINE R. S YER (E DS .): A Companion to Wagner’s Parsifal. Rochester: Camden House, 2005. 376 pp. $ 90. The essays in this collection depict Wagner’s last work from a number of different perspectives, focusing on text, musical structure, reception and interpretation - though this last aspect is handled somewhat superficially. Parsifal, as every one of the contributors acknowledges, is a fascinating and highly controversial work. It went through a long period of composition and had many inspirations - Christian ideas, the philosophy of Schopenhauer, and even Buddhist thought. Mary Cicora explains in her chapter on the literary background of the opera that Wagner, as in many of his other works, was using medieval material to address problems of the nineteenth century. Thus while he did much to popularize medieval literature, he used it for his own purposes: Cicora demonstrates how Wagner’s interpretation of his source, Wolfram von Eschenbach, was distinctly modern in ignoring issues of time and space, and she illustrates the various ways Wagner’s characters reveal much more psychological depth than Wolfram’s. James McGlathery’s chapter on erotic love in Parsifal shows convincingly that Wagner departed dramatically from the portrayal of this subject in his sources, particularly Chrétien de Troyes. Whereas Wagner’s Grail knights are an all-male community, the medieval sources show a much more conventional picture of relations between the sexes. Both Wolfram and Chrétien refer frequently to erotic love, but Wagner shifts this to a focus on chastity and asceticism. McGlathery concludes that the opera is a celebration of the power of erotic passion. Ulrike Kienzle considers the status of Parsifal as a sacred work, particularly a Christian one. Clearly, it does not reflect institutionalized Christianity, but rather an idealized form of this, combined 414 Besprechungen / Reviews with the philosophy of Schopenhauer and possibly some Buddhist ideas. Strangely, Kienzle sees this as an entirely benign philosophy and barely addresses the charges of anti-Semitism made by many scholars in recent years. The issue merits only a footnote in her essay. The editors of the volume address different aspects of Wagner’s compositional process. Kinderman attempts to reconstruct the different stages of Wagner’s work on the music. He refers to the idea of «tonal pairing» as a key aspect of the music, eventually resolved in the closing passages of the third act. This resolution serves as a symbol of redemption. Syer continues with analysis of the Act 1 Grail scene, pointing out that the scene makes extensive use of invisible voices in order to indicate that the Grail exists beyond the visible realm. Interestingly, Syer points to the use of boys’ voices placed above the realm of the knights. Could this be because the boys are non-sexual, whereas the Grail knights have to struggle with their sexuality? She briefly indicates that this might be the case but does not explore it extensively. In a further essay on the musical structure, Warren Darcy analyzes the first scene of Act 2 and explores the difference between Parsifal’s music and that associated with Klingsor and Kundry. Probably the most remarkable piece in this volume is Roger Allen’s attempt to restore the reputation of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Wagner’s son-in-law. While acknowledging Chamberlain’s status as a racist theorist, Allen maintains that racial ideas did not inform his writings about Parsifal, which he maintains are completely non-ideological. Of course, even if this is the case, it is hard to imagine that many will change their opinion of Chamberlain. Allen may consider Chamberlain «a significant historical resource» on the topic of Parsifal, but surely it is important to keep in mind his leading role in pan-German ideology, and that he met with Hitler as early as 1923. Allen argues that much of Chamberlain’s writings simply reflect the later writings of Wagner, but of course many of these are explicitly racist. Finally, Katherine Syer presents a useful discussion of production history, describing productions of Parsifal beginning in the pre-1914 era, in which the opera was «artificially protected» by the ban on performances outside Bayreuth. In the 1920s, the Bayreuth festival became increasingly associated with the far right, leading to the familiar story of the 1930s, followed by the postwar era and the innovations introduced by Winifred Wagner. In conclusion, this book will be very helpful to those interested in the literary and musical aspects of Parsifal, even if it is somewhat weak on historical and cultural background. Pacific Lutheran University Rachel Nussbaum Wichert O LIVER J AHRAUS : Kafka: Leben, Schreiben, Machtapparate. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2006. 482 pp. € 22,90. With this book, Oliver Jahraus offers a new look at the circumstances in which Kafka’s work was conceived and brought to fruition: the power relationships in which he was entwined, his professional and private life, as well as the process of writing and publishing. The study unfolds over two parts, the first of which is concerned with