Defending Childhood
Defending Childhood is a novel by Martin Walser . The novel was published by Suhrkamp Verlag in July 1991 . The basis for this novel was the biography of the Dresden lawyer Manfred Ranft, who moved to the West in 1953. Walser acquired his estate with photos, letters, notes and other materials and researched relatives and acquaintances in Dresden.
content
Walser's novel has several levels: the family history and the “mother cult” of Alfred Dorn is connected with the loss of his homeland, beginning with the destruction of Dresden in 1945, the division of Germany and international tensions during the Cold War. The psychotic personality of the eccentric who rationally reflects his situation is superimposed with tragicomic personal relationships and grotesque bureaucratic structures in West-East Germany, v. a. concentrated on Berlin and Dresden between June 17th and the construction of the Berlin Wall. The outer life of Dorn consists of studying and working to finance his compulsive acts: Kp. I deals with law studies from 1953–1956 in West Berlin and visits to relatives in Dresden and their return visits, Kp. II deals with legal clerkship and the care of the Mother in Berlin until her death in 1960, Kp. III from working in a law firm for reparation claims and then at the "State Office for Reparation and Managed Assets" in Berlin, Kp. IV from working as a department head for theater, legal services and monument protection at the Hessian Ministry of Culture in Wiesbaden. His purpose in life, however, is to maintain a connection to his Dresden relatives and acquaintances through visits, intensive correspondence and gift packages, in order to document his own biography in his collection of memorabilia, pictures and witness reports with their help in labyrinthine actions and to recreate the lost time reconstruct. This endless project increasingly overwhelmed his strength and he died, a year before the end of the GDR system, at the age of 58 from an overdose of sleeping pills. In his last days, he repeatedly copied Kafka's signature, full of symbolism .
Chapter I.
The first chapter begins with the farewell to his parents at the train station. When we say goodbye, the reader learns that the parents have been separated for three years and that Alfred has a stronger bond with his mother than with his father.
In his studies, Alfred Dorn is not particularly respected by his lecturers and fellow students. Due to a lack of assertiveness, he takes on the role of an outsider. His appearance is very quiet and reserved. He often does not understand the jokes or suggestive remarks made by his colleagues.
The reader learns that Alfred Dorn studied law at the University of Leipzig from 1953 to 1955. There he was unable to finish his studies due to political inequalities. The following year he resumed his studies in Berlin and passed the first state examination in 1956.
The incentive for studying is not Dorn's own interests, but the expectations of others. In many parts of the novel it becomes clear that he actually wanted to choose the career of an artist. He is a talented pianist and has a keen interest in film and acting.
Chapter II
At the beginning of the second chapter, Alfred Dorn entered professional life. He begins his legal clerkship at the Berlin-Charlottenburg district court. During this time he undertook three projects, “1. Count Brühl's tailor. 2. The acquisition of the legal doctorate. 3. The collection of all documents, photos and messages in which his own past appeared. ”Achieving the doctorate is expected from other people, Alfred Dorn himself is this point a burden.
Martha Dorn, the protagonist's mother, falls ill and is diagnosed as a "nursing case". Shortly before his mother dies, Alfred finishes his examination for the second state examination with the grade “sufficient”. After his mother's funeral, Alfred set himself the goal of erecting a memorial for her.
Chapter III
First, Alfred Dorn worked on a trial basis in a law firm on Konstanzer Strasse. His two superiors are extending the induction phase by another two months because they are of the opinion that Dorn is not yet a fully-fledged employee. His employment relationship will not be extended after this period. Alfred Dorn then successfully applied to the State Office for Reparation and Assets Under Management. Alfred's job is to research the past and apply laws accordingly.
Dorn considers three of his four colleagues in office to be homosexual. Even with his boss, the Oberregierungsrat Dr. Courage, he had the feeling that he only spoke so often about his wife to cover up his homosexuality. Alfred Dorn is afraid he could be considered homosexual because his colleague Rosellen in particular was harassing him. Dorn does not want to enter into a sexual relationship with either a woman or a man. He turns to a psychotherapist and with his help can gradually assert himself against his colleagues.
He quits the position in the State Office for Reparation in order to take up a new position. When he said goodbye, Alfred Dorn was surprised that his colleagues had as good a picture of him as he did himself. He is supposed to fill the theater department in Wiesbaden in the art department.
By building a memorial for his late mother, Alfred Dorn amassed over 4,000 marks in debt.
Chapter IV
A colleague of Alfred Dorn dies and Dorn is assigned his area. Now he is not only responsible for theater and legal services, but also for monument protection.
Dorn establishes contact with his aunt Lotte. Through her he learns that his father Gustav Dorn is getting worse and worse. The father's condition deteriorates, among other things, because his 20 years younger wife Judith Dorn does not show him enough consideration.
The father and Alfred Dorn's "Vice-Grandma" Miss Dr. Goelz, who was always at his side in an advisory capacity during his studies and afterwards, died shortly after Alfred accepted a position as senior government councilor.
In the novel it becomes increasingly clear that Alfred Dorn regularly takes sleeping pills and often came to work late as a result.
On his last return trip from Dresden, Alfred Dorn met a young man, Richard Fasold, who came to the home in 1968 at the age of eight and has no contact with his parents. He never met his father and his mother probably died. Dorn first sent this young man 50 marks and a later package with new trousers. After Richard has left the GDR, Dorn gradually takes on the role of father for him, helps him financially after dropping out of work and going into debt, and advises him so that he can stabilize his unsteady life, which however does not succeed. So he sent him more and more letters and money until he had amassed over 9,000 marks in debt. His further fate after Dorn's death remains open.
The novel ends in December 1988 with the death of Alfred Dorn due to excessive consumption of sleeping pills. For the author, it is not decisive whether pill abuse or a pill accident ends a tragic fate.
Alfred Dorn
Alfred Dorn was born in Dresden in 1929 as the son of Martha Dorn and Gustav Dorn. After all papers of the Dorn family were destroyed in a fire in 1945, his mother entered 1931 as his date of birth so that Alfred would not be eligible for the army's bazooka training.
In 1948 he passed the Abitur examination with the grade “very good” in Dresden. He studied law at the University of Leipzig for four years, but was unable to finish his studies there due to his political attitude. To continue his studies he moved to the West and completed his studies there in 1955. On July 11, 1956, he passed the first legal state examination with the grade “fully satisfactory”. He finished his second state examination with the grade “sufficient”.
Alfred Dorn becomes a lawyer because his relatives expect it of him. But after both parents and his "vice-grandma" died, he decided not to do a doctorate.
On the night of a Sunday, December 5th, Alfred died due to too high a dose of sleeping pills. The novel leaves open whether Alfred Dorn deliberately committed suicide or whether it is an accident.
The protagonist's parents live separately. After Alfred's sister Carla died, Martha Dorn joined the "Christian Science Sect". The separation of the parents began when Martha Dorn found out that she was pregnant with Alfred. She was convinced by the "Christian Science sect" that her child would become particularly clever if she withheld sexual intercourse from her partner.
Alfred himself also blames himself for the failure of his parents' marriage. In every photo of the family, Alfred stands between his parents. He remembers his father telling him that this marriage was a happy one before the children were born.
Motifs
Mother bond
The protagonist Alfred Dorn has a very close relationship with his mother and vice versa. After the parents split up, Alfred supports his mother and sees his father as a kind of opponent. He "compensates for the loss of the father through the intense attachment to [his mother]."
On his father's birthday, his mother forbids him to send his father a present. Alfred follows this prohibition, but writes a letter to his father.
While Alfred is studying in the West, he regularly writes letters to his mother. She made it clear to him that he was solely responsible for her well-being. As soon as he is faced with a problem, he writes to his mother and asks her for advice. During the first years in the West he often referred to her as "Muttchen". It becomes clear that Alfred is not yet ready to lead an independent life.
When Martha Dorn was diagnosed with “nursing care”, Alfred was by her side as often as possible. The senior doctor tells him that his love for his mother is unnatural. After Gustav Dorn said that his mother had to be taken to a home for care, Alfred looked for a new place to live with his mother. There he nursed her for a while until she was brought back to the clinic. Sister Anneliese and Alfred are now looking after the mother who is in need of care. She dies on August 3rd. Alfred reproaches himself for not paying enough attention to his mother.
The coffin Alfred chooses for his mother is reinforced on the inside with zinc plates to slow down the decay. At this point you can already guess that Alfred would later like to be buried next to his mother.
As a souvenir of her, he asked Sister Anneliese to cut off some of her mother's hair and had an impression made of her hands.
After his mother was buried in a triple grave, Alfred firmly decided to erect a memorial in front of her. An animal figure in the form of a lamb is said to appear on this monument. At first, Alfred is dissatisfied with the design because it doesn't look young enough. It is intended to make it appear that it is the first time trying to get up. The lamb is said to be on the mother's monument as a symbol for Alfred. He sees himself as a "young animal" and does not want to grow up.
Not only did he fail to understand adults during his studies, even after his parents passed away and he had long since arrived at work, he emphasized that he had "lost his [former] classmates to adulthood."
This wish to preserve childhood is shaped by his strong bond and his intimate relationship with his mother and prevents him from entering into interpersonal and, above all, sexual relationships.
sexuality
Alfred doesn't have a good relationship with sexuality or intimacy. He refuses them. When he is in the cinema with his father and his wife, he suffers from the intimacy of the couple. He is uncomfortable with how familiar they are with one another.
His dislike probably arose in his childhood. His mother forbade him to please himself. Even when he was a student, she reproached him for not obeying this ban and that his masturbation was the reason for his migraines. It is "harmful, ugly and evil."
He feels caught and judged by his parents. And even if they don't notice the broken prohibition, there is still Christianity as a higher judicial authority.
Even with sexual terms he feels immense shame. In his opinion, words like "penis" or "panties" are perfectly acceptable.
Alfred himself says to protect himself that he is not interested in men or women. He has never learned to deal with feelings of intimacy and is very careful to cut off contacts directly if the distance he needs is no longer available. "Distance was just a substitute for a relationship that he didn't succeed."
He is constantly accompanied by the fear that one could associate him with homosexuals or even consider him homosexual himself. His music teacher, Heribert Priebe, is only employed for a short time. His homosexuality is rumored to be a reason for his transfer. Towards the end of Alfred's legal traineeship, Priebe invited him to a concert. On the way back, Priebe grabbed Alfred's hand because it was so dark and the path was so uneven that he couldn't walk safely due to his war injury. Alfred feels sexually harassed as a result and has been avoiding the former music teacher ever since.
When Alfred works at the State Office for Reparation, he fears that three of his four colleagues are homosexual. He was concerned that he was only hired because he looked like a homosexual. With one colleague, Dr. de Bonnechose, whom he does not consider homosexual, he uses contact in order to create a heterosexual impression. During his entire term of office, he racked his brains about who of his colleagues might even desire him. When he takes a new job, he summons up his courage and asks Dr. de Bonnechose to listen to his colleagues. Shortly afterwards, the latter informed him that none of his colleagues had ever considered Alfred homosexual, on the contrary, some were convinced that he had a relationship with a woman. You were just having fun.
Alfred seeks advice from the psychotherapist Dr. Permoser. He can talk to him openly about his feelings and feels understood by him but not judged. This benevolence supports him in revealing emotional details. At the beginning of the sessions, Alfred distances himself from the idea of being homosexual until he wants Dr. Permoser perceives him as a homosexual. Dr. Permoser claims that Alfred is not satisfied as a non-practicing homosexual and replies that he is also a non-practicing heterosexual.
In order to find out more or just to keep his own desire small, Alfred goes to baths with a "nude program". However, he avoids contact with anyone there. “If that wasn't enough, he overtook a boy in the Biebrich Castle Park, then turned into the bushes in front of him and waited for him to come. When that was over, he trotted home, just as happy as unhappy because something was missing again. "Until his death, Alfred is uncertain about sexual inclinations.
Lost artist soul
Even as a child, Alfred Dorn is a very talented pianist. Miss Dr. Goelz, whom he calls Vice-Grandma, describes him as a fine, humanistically educated, artistically and musically gifted person. At university, too, he was asked about his artistic talent, albeit mockingly, when he was scribbling on paper in a lecture.
Gustav Dorn didn't like it when Alfred danced to music as a child. He was of the opinion that this did not make his son man enough. Alfred, however, feels free and secure in his movements to the music.
During his student days he discovered a passion for cinema and opera. He is fascinated by the actors and the world that the Hollywood films reveal to him. When he receives bad news or feels harassed by a situation, he takes refuge in this world and feels understood by it. He not only distracts himself from reality through cinema and culture, but also follows the social and ideological trend.
In Wiesbaden he was finally able to incorporate his own interests into his job when he was offered the position for the theater lecture. "You are actually looking for a lawyer with an understanding of art."
Pergamon project
The need to repeat the past and to preserve it is shaped after Alfred's parents' house was destroyed by bombs in February 1945. Many pictures, letters and other documents from his childhood also burn with his parents' house. Alfred is ashamed of wanting these documents back while between 100 and 200,000 people have been killed. But it was still important to him to get it back. He ponders whether the documents could have been saved back then if he had dug in the ruins of the house.
Alfred often imagines what the “Alfred Dorn Museum” would look like. In his ideas, a painting of his mother hangs in his museum, as large and beautiful as the Madonna in a Sistine chapel that they visited together.
Alfred is very careful to cherish his memories. Once you've forgotten something, for him it's like it never happened. He is of the opinion that everyone deserves to keep his life in a museum.
He set himself the goal of creating such a museum for his life and especially for his childhood. “If you could rebuild the Pergamon Altar after two thousand years , you can also rebuild your childhood.” To be able to realize this project, he needs family, friends and acquaintances and for years he has to put together every smallest detail. "After all, he only lives to secure traces of the past and the passing of time."
For Alfred, the present and the future are inescapable and undesirable constraints. “He would love to plaster photos from the past every day. Then he could indulge himself there and be away from here and now. "
reception
“For a long time there has not been a novel in the German language that - without taking its eyes off its character - has allowed insights into historical and political events to this extent and is permeated with reality.” - Time
“Walser has seldom been funnier than in this novel. The dry joke makes the portrayed pain bearable. ”- Spiegel
“What bothers me about this novel is one thing that often bothers me about novels: I don't like having idiots as heroes. The man is stupid [...] he is a neurotic person. [...] The man is completely infantile. ”- Marcel Reich-Ranicki
literature
- Martin Walser: Defending Childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, ISBN 3-518-38752-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerald A. Fetz: Martin Walser. Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, pp. 139f.
- ↑ Martin Walser An insatiable greed for the past . Interview with Christine Meffert, ZEITmagazin No. 5/2015 February 14, 2015
- ↑ Elbhangkurier 2015/03. Martin Walser traced February 13, 1945.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 9.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 74ff.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 184.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 195.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 252.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 286.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 299.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 317.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 327f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 332f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 394.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 390.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 414.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 420.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 404, p. 433, p. 475, p. 506.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 460.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 485.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 517.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 509.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 184.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 286.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 409.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 516f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 261f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 431.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 9.
- ↑ Ursula Reinhold: Figures, Topics and Narration. In: Heike Doane, Gertrud Bauer Pickar (ed.): Reading experiences with Martin Walser. New contributions to his texts. Fink, Munich 1995, p. 198.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 80f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 71.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 252f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 286ff.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 290.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 299.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 355.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 151.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 132.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 175.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 176.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 373.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 344.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 419.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 95.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 304.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 334.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 388.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 498.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 498.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 52.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 100.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 346.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 238-244.
- ^ Anthony Waine: Houston German Studies. In: Heike Doane, Gertrud Bauer Pickar (ed.): Reading experiences with Martin Walser. New contributions to his texts. Fink, Munich 1995, p. 84.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 390.
- ↑ Gerald A. Fetz: Martin Walser. Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, p. 141.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, pp. 116f.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 197.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 198.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 138.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 228.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 263.
- ↑ Ursula Reinhold: Figures, Topics and Narration. In: Heike Doane, Gertrud Bauer Pickar (ed.): Reading experiences with Martin Walser. New contributions to his texts. Fink, Munich 1995, p. 201.
- ↑ Martin Walser: The defense of childhood. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991, p. 323.
- ↑ Volker Hage: Walser's German Requiem. In: The time. No. 33, 1991. (online)
- ↑ Joseph von Westphalen: A German mother's son. In: Der Spiegel. No. 33, 1991, p. 171.
- ↑ Marcel Reich-Ranicki: The literary quartet. In: ZDF Kultur. October 10, 1991.