The split

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The split is the title of a novel by Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer . First published in 1979 and awarded the Hermann Hesse Prize in 1980, the history of its origins goes back to 1959.

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The novel describes the breakdown of the student Lutz Landmann, who, living in the GDR, tries to get to his lover in Frankfurt am Main, but fails because of the division of Germany. When the couple met in Berlin, he was targeted by the authorities, as the state deprived him of the foundations of his existence. Dreyer works to illustrate the psychological processes of the protagonist in a naturalistic way with numerous experimental devices. A special feature is the precise tracing of the dialects of the characters involved.

At the same time, the novel gives a very precise picture of the mentality in the former GDR .

structure

The novel is laid out in four books, books 2 to 4 are preceded by a page with the corresponding Roman numeral, which is missing in the first part. The first book is also the only one that is more finely divided into three chapters (with an additional "extra sheet"); its first chapter, unlike the other chapters of the first book, is also not overwritten. The first and last page of the text form two short, one-sided prose pieces, the introductory section is entitled "Der Bote", the final section is untitled.

  • The messenger (p. 5)
  • Untitled (first book)
    • Untitled (pp. 6–74)
    • Book One , Chapter Two (pp. 77–119)
    • First book, extra sheet (pp. 119–124)
    • First Book, Third Chapter (pp. 127–164)
  • II (pp. 167-236)
  • III (pp. 239–400)
  • IV (pp. 403-482)
  • Untitled (p. 483)

On pages 30, 35, 43, 75 and 97 of the first book there are increasingly progressive spirals of fifths shown on individual pages , others are placed in front of the other books.

Due to this and numerous other musical references in the novel and Dreyer's profession as a musicologist, reviewers repeatedly pointed out the structural similarity between the “split” and musical works, as Hans Krieger wrote, “ ... the large form can be understood musically as a four-movement symphony with an Allegro first movement, minuet plus trio, broad-flowing adagio and a quick finale. "And Gisela Ullrich " His compositional process is more oriented towards musical laws than literary ones. The novel is built like a four-movement musical work with allegro, minuet, slow movement and finale. "

History of origin

At a meeting of Group 47 in Elmau Castle from October 23 to 25, 1959, shortly after moving from the GDR to the Federal Republic, Dreyer read from the prose text " The Beard ". Since Dreyer but very bad read, was soon canceled the reading of the text as a "schoolboy prose" panned . Despite this failure, Klaus Piper (owner of the publishing house of the same name) commissioned him to write a novel about the division of Germany.

He worked on this work for around 15 years and completed it in 1974. Piper had meanwhile withdrawn the publication promise for the novel due to the long time, and Dreyer was unable to find a new publisher for the demanding and laboriously printed work, “ Ich I couldn't get rid of this novel for years. “So in 1979 he decided to publish the" Spaltung ", which had meanwhile been revised several times, on his own in collaboration with a small publisher as a typescript with an edition of 500. The novel remained largely unnoticed until Dreyer was awarded the Hermann Hesse Prize in 1980 for "Die Spaltung", the novel was reprinted and received some excellent reviews. However, the sales figures were very limited and the book was soon sold off. More than 20 years passed until the next edition, and it was not until 2001 that a new publisher took up the novel and published it again, repositioned according to the author's request and provided with a detailed volume of material.

source

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Krieger: Reise ins Bodenlose - An author can be discovered: Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer , in: Die Zeit, 37, 1980, p. 45
  2. ↑ Gisela Ullrich: Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer , in: Kritisches Lexikon zur Deutschensprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur, 26th edition, p. 4, 1987
  3. ^ List of meetings of Group 47
  4. ^ Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer: Reply to the laudation , speech, given on November 7, 1980, in: Analle - Zeitschrift für Kultur , 6: 9/10, 1986, p. 9
  5. ↑ Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer in: Thomas Thieringer, "What is portrayed in my plays happens to us in front of our own noses!" - A conversation with the playwright Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer , in: Theater Heute , 2/89, p. 17