Ahasver (novel)

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Ahasver is a novel by Stefan Heym . It was published by Bertelsmann Verlag in 1981 .

In this novel, Stefan Heym takes up the legend of the Eternal Jew . This tells of Ahasver, a Jewish shoemaker on the Via Dolorosa , who did not let Jesus rest in front of his house when he was carrying his own cross on the way to his crucifixion site. Therefore he is condemned by Jesus to wander around the earth until the last day .

Stefan Heym elevates this legend into the mythical by depicting Ahasver as a fallen angel who was overthrown by God next to Lucifer on the sixth day because he refused to be humble in front of humans.

The novel consists of three spheres of action, which replace each other chapter by chapter: a mythological sphere that extends from Genesis , from the creation of the world, to Armageddon , the end of the world, and which forms the framework of the novel; a (not realistic) biography of the reformer Paul von Eitzen , in which, among other things, his encounters with the “Eternal Jew” are described; and an exchange of letters between a scientist at the (fictional) Institute for Scientific Atheism in the GDR and an Israeli scientist about the question of whether the "Eternal Jews" really exist.

The common theme of these spheres of action is the dialectical question of how revolutionaries become the most ardent advocates of order. This is seen as a relation between the Ahasver figure and Stefan Heym's biography, who was a dissident in three different political systems under Hitler, McCarthy and Ulbricht.

Plot and form

Spheres of action

The novel consists of three spheres of action: Firstly, a story told by a first-person narrator called Ahasver, which stretches from the fall of Lucifer to Armageddon and the location of which is unclear: The first chapter begins with the fall “[d] urch the endlessness of upper heaven, the fiery, which is made of light [...] ”, the last plays in the“ endlessness of the abyss, which is space and time at the same time and in which there is no below and no above, and no right and no left , only the streams of particles that have not yet been separated into light and dark [...] ”, a chapter plays in“ the depths of space called Sheol , which extends outside of creation, without darkness or light , everywhere, in endless curvature. ”Second, the career of the Lutheran theologian Paul von Eitzen , which begins with a journey by the young Eitzens to Wittenberg and ends with his death and the fact that the devil takes him. Thirdly, an act documented with the means of the letter novel, which contains the correspondence between a professor from the (fictional) “Institute for Scientific Atheism” in the GDR and a professor from Jerusalem. This plot is told using letters and documents, and extends from “19th December 1979 "to" 12. January 1981 "

These three spheres are formally clearly distinguishable from each other by the different narrative perspectives . They are connected to one another through similarities and references. This connection occurs on the one hand through the chapter headings, which not only direct the reader's reception, but also assert a narrative authority overriding the respective narrator. On the other hand, there are thematic parallels, such as the recurrence of the name “Lucifer” as “Jochanaan Leuchtentrager” in the correspondence and - in its Germanized form - as “Hans Leuchtentrager” in the Eitzen story. This initially only formal parallel turns out at the latest after the proper end of mugwort and Eitzen as a common feature in the personnel of the spheres of activity: Lucifer and Ahasver appear in all three spheres of activity. In addition, the GDR plot and the Eitzen plot are linked with one another in that the correspondence relates to the Eitzen plot.

The mythological plot

The novel begins with the legend of the angel's fall . In Heym's version, Ahasver is one of the angels who, together with Lucifer, refuse to admire the newly created Adam. As a punishment, God banishes them from his presence.

Lucifer sees all of creation and man as faulty. Therefore, he believes that he can quietly wait until the world is perished of its own inadequacy. He sees his task in promoting the world order in order to accelerate this development. Wherever he can, he therefore supports the authorities.

Ahasver, on the other hand, also sees the positive possibilities in Adam. Its goal is to change and improve the flawed world order. As a result, he is involved wherever people rise up against their oppressors. In addition, Ahasver is looking for a way to be received again by God.

When Jesus - in the novel Reb Joshua - is sent to earth, Ahasverus tries to persuade him to use his power to lead the people in the struggle for freedom. Heym uses biblical stories for this, which he then freely retells. As an example of the 8th chapter of Matthew's Gospel is said that the devil Jesus tried and offers him dominion over the world. With Heym, it is Ahasver who demands that Jesus rise to the rank of king in order to finally establish a just world.

Heym also reinterprets the core of the Ahaz-laying legend. On the way to Golgotha , Jesus asks Ahasver to be allowed to rest in the shade of his house. Ahasver explains once again that he does not expect Jesus to suffer in silence, but that he should act as a revolutionary. When Jesus refuses to do this, he drives him off his doorstep out of spontaneous anger - not out of malice - and is cursed for walking on earth until the end of time, which basically does not concern Ahasverian any further, since he is already a fallen angel has always belonged to the eternal beings.

Later Ahasver seeks Jesus in heaven to explain to him that his suffering has changed nothing at all, because humanity is still corrupt and still acts as selfishly as in Jesus' time. Jesus, who previously believed that he had redeemed mankind, rises up against God and thereby triggers the apocalypse . In a new angel's fall, Ahasverian unites with Jesus, and because Jesus is identical with God, Ahasverian has returned to God.

The Eitzen plot

The main plot tells of the theologian Paul von Eitzen , who several times in his life meets Lucifer and the eternal Jew Ahasver. Lucifer has repeatedly supported him in the course of his career, partly because there is an unspoken pact with the devil , partly because Lucifer and Eitzen have common interests, because both are uncompromising defenders of the ruling order. In addition, Eitzen never misses an opportunity to incite against the faithless Jews. As a punishment for this he is taken by the devil at the end of the novel.

The GDR story

A professor Jochanaan Leuchtentrager (Lucifer) from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem begins an exchange of letters with his colleague Siegfried Beifuß from the Institute for Scientific Atheism about the real existence of the eternal Jew. Leuchtentrager always brings new evidence that is irrefutable in the context of the novel. But mugwort is repeatedly pointed out by his superiors that he has to refute Leuchtentrager for ideological reasons, no matter how convincingly he argues. As a punishment for this narrow-mindedness, mugwort is finally brought by the devil.

analysis

The narrators

In the mythological plot, Ahasver is the first-person narrator. From his point of view, the well-known myths and biblical stories always get an unknown twist. Paul von Eitzen's life story is told by a narrator from the perspective of the main character. This creates a contrast between the reader, who knows from the other parts that Ahasver and Lucifer exist, and Eitzen himself, who simply does not want to admit that his helpful travel acquaintance is not just a simple Hans Leuchtentrager. The correspondence between Leuchtentrager and Mugwort has naturally no narrator.

language

Heym tries to adapt his language to the current time and imitates the baroque language and the language of the Bible. In the correspondence he caricatures the customs of modern scholars and towards the end of the novel he quotes the documents about the disappearance (escape from the republic) of Professor Mugwort, when he was actually taken by the devil. This is a satire on a bureaucracy that is completely overwhelmed once it is confronted with the supernatural.

Sometimes Heym also changes style levels to create a comical effect.

literature

Secondary literature

  • Hans-Peter Ecker: Poetization as Criticism. Stefan Heyms redesign of the story of the Eternal Jew. Series: Mannheim Contributions to Literary Studies, 13. Tübingen 1987
  • Gabrielle Oberhänsli-Widmer : Stefan Heym Ahasver (1981) , Church and Israel: KuI; Neukirchener theologische Zeitschrift 23 (2008), pp. 166–177, [1]
  • Anja Reuter: The piety of doubt. Biblical-messianic motifs and their socially critical function in the novel "Ahasver" by Stefan Heym. Series: European University Writings. Peter Lang, Frankfurt 2001
  • Marc Temme: Myth as Social Criticism. Stefan Heyms "Ahasver". Texts 4 of the RLS . Karl Dietz Verlag , Berlin 2000 ISBN 3320020137

Reviews

swell

  1. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: Munich 1998. (Approved paperback edition, 1st edition), p. 7 (first chapter): "The voice of God arose and spoke to me and said: And you, Ahasver [...]"
  2. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: München 1998. (Approved paperback edition, 1st edition) p. 5 (first chapter)
  3. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: München 1998. (Approved paperback edition, 1st edition), p. 259 (twenty-ninth chapter)
  4. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: Munich 1998. p. 144 (seventeenth chapter)
  5. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: München 1998. (Approved paperback edition, 1st edition), p. 26 (third chapter)
  6. ↑ Stefan Heym: Ahasver. Novel. Goldmann: München 1998. p. 26 (twenty-seventh chapter)
  7. ↑ Hans-Peter-Ecker: Functions of the chapter heading. In: the same: poetization as criticism. Stefan Heyms redesign of the story of the Eternal Jew. Tübingen: Narr 1987, pp. 88-90.