German amok
German Amok is a novel by the poet Feridun Zaimoglu , who in 2002 caused a sensation in the German feature pages , mainly because of linguistic provocations .
content
From the point of view of a first-person narrator, a penniless and unsuccessful painter, the Berlin art scene is described and the artist's attempt to acquire the properties of these “recession creatures”, the possibilities of these “art parasites” (Zaimoglu). The prominent protagonist is full of contempt and in his recurring outbursts of anger formulates ever more drastic words against the alternative Germans, migrants and foreigners, homosexuals of both sexes, animals and East Germans he meets. When an acquaintance referred him to Treptin as a set designer, he continued his random sexual intercourse there (only with the girl Clarissa, described as mentally confused, something like a real love affair developed), as well as his canon of abuse. The fact that the “Ostpack”, with whom he works here, wants to perform the three-part series “Harmony - Recovery - Total Gas”, leads the protagonist to the politically highly incorrect climax of his verbal rampage by finally introducing him to the subject of “Holocaust”.
Reviews
Steffen Richter from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung was of the opinion "Actually, a dozen citizens' initiatives should be formed on the spot to prevent this book." But he himself considers the work to be worth saving from "the bankruptcy estate of Pop": "in the Discourse of uninhibited nonsense (are) systematically woven into moments ”that unmask the text as“ nonsense with artistic claims ”. For example, “Zaimoglu's dazzling language with its cultivated subjunctive and elaborate vocabulary (there is a“ harm done ”) makes the superficial vulgar attacks recognizable as highly constructed. And of course Zaimoglu mixes his German in an original way with literally translated phrases from Turkish - without ever falling into the exotic trap. ”For Die Zeit , the work was“ more drastic than anything Feridun Zaimoglu has written so far ”. Even the Süddeutsche Zeitung could not make friends with the book. Your reviewer Christoph Bartmann saw the promised exposure of the art business as tempting, but believed that the author did not have sufficient specialist knowledge for a really big hit on this topic. Oliver Fink from the Frankfurter Rundschau saw, in addition to excellent passages, some of which were reminiscent of Michel Houellebecq , the work, especially in contrast to the previous novel, Liebeszeichen, scarlet red .
classification
Almost all reviews have in common a more or less horror at the language with which the first-person narrator attacks the art business: this is described from flat and mawing to the ultimate tastelessness. Even the first sentence of the novel “The artificial cunt cannot be overlooked: an ennuyantes wart girl, medium-sized and mediocre” was the subject of many a discussion in this regard. Jens Jessen from ZEIT even warned “anyone who is afraid of pornographic, political and other art abuse” against touching the book. There were also indignant reactions from the reading public: in his laudation on Zaimuglu for the 2007 Amerypreis, Rolf-Bernhard Essig described how he once saw the Zaimoglu “after an impressive reading performance with“ German Amok ”full of hate words and obscenity, full Drive and musicality responded to the questions of an indignant older gentleman with his own old-fashioned courtesy and quiet, almost deferential reserve, which completely upset the questioner. It was not planned that the cursing Turk turned out to be a polite German. - The elderly gentleman, a teacher, bought the book and had it signed. A victory that is reminiscent of the mythical Feridun of old legends. "
Sometimes the novel is counted as Zaimoglus, second after Liebesmarks, scarlet red , but sometimes also as the author's third novel. The reason for this is that the texts scrap were also declared as a novel without really being a novel in terms of form.
swell
- ↑ Steffen Richter: At the end of the provocations - Feridun Zaimoglu: "German Amok", Neue Zürcher Zeitung of March 29, 2003
- ↑ http://www.zeit.de/2002/46/interview_zaimoglu
- ↑ http://www.perlentaucher.de/buch/11760.html
- ↑ http://www.perlentaucher.de/buch/11760.html
- ↑ http://www.vs-bayern.de/kat8.php?c=b20070502065746 ( Memento from August 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )