Crucial question
As a generic term, Gretchenfrage refers to a direct question that goes to the core of a problem and is intended to reveal the intentions and attitudes of what is being asked. It is usually uncomfortable for the person asked because it is supposed to induce him to make a commitment that he has not yet made.
The origin of the concept and the concept is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's tragedy Faust . In it, the figure Margarete, known as Gretchen, asks the main character Heinrich Faust:
"Now tell me, how about religion? You are a very good man, but I think you don't think much of it. "
In the narrower sense of the word, the crucial question is the question of the religiosity of the person or social group addressed. In a broader sense, other questions with the explicit or implicit question structure "'ve How / do you think's with ..." as Gretchen questions referred.
Summary
The so-called “crucial question” from the drama Faust I by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1808 in Stuttgart / Tübingen, is set in the scene “Marthens Garten” and deals with Margarete's question about Faust's religious affiliation. Margarete, also called Gretchen, is a young girl around the age of 14 who is being courted by the older scientist Faust. After they kissed each other in the scene “Gartenhäuschen” (v. 3205 ff.), Margarete Faust in verse 3415 ff. In “Marthens Garten” asked the question about religion with the words: “Now say, how are you with her Religion? You are a very good man, but I don't think you think much of it. ”Faust evades despite Gretchen's inquiries (v. 3420 - v. 3465). Gretchen finally gives up questioning because she is sure that Faust has no Christianity (v. 3468: “Because you have no Christianity”).
Goethe allows two different figures to be discussed with one another: on the one hand, the very religious girl from simple, traditional relationships, who focuses on belief in God, and on the other hand, the scholar Faust, who argues that he could live just like Margarete, even without her belief to God. In this way, Goethe represents the two societies of his time, the strict believers and the enlightened scientists.
The crucial question with Goethe
Margarete, called Gretchen, is a very young girl who is being courted by the older, respectable scientist Faust. After they have already met and kissed several times, Gretchen Faust asks her question.
Since Faust evades and first asks in what sense she would like information, whether it is about the deeper contents of faith or the unquestioned following of the traditions, Gretchen finally gives up the question, because she does not feel up to this level of discussion . However, he cannot convince her: although Faust's justifications may seem fair, she comes to the definitive conclusion that Faust has no Christianity , which is true in so far as Faust made it clear in a monologue on Easter vigil that he believes (here: in the resurrection Jesus and the consequences of this process) are missing. Since Faust (which Gretchen does not know) has made a pact with the devil, she intuitively grasps Faust's “sore point” correctly through her question .
“Faust [s] dilemma can perhaps be described as follows: He can no longer believe and is not yet a combative atheist . His draft of a pantheistically tinged emotional religion, his spongy spirituality, cannot convince Gretchen. "
At this point, Goethe juxtaposes two designs with Gretchen and Faust: here the girl from simple, traditional relationships, who has adopted belief in God and ecclesiastical religiosity as the center of her own self-image, and there the learned Heinrich Faust, who in the sense of modern subjectivity also questions the traditional religion and argues that he could have the same feelings for the good, beautiful and decent as Gretchen. These values do not necessarily have to be preached from the pulpit to be heeded.
Since the time of Goethe, the Christian religion , the sexual morality defined, Gretchen wants to know what kind of attitude towards religion Faust, d. H. compared to the Christian faith that it should count. Your question about Faust's beliefs is also the question of his life practice and social integration.
Gretchen questions not related to Goethe's Faust
The term Gretchenfrage describes a “free lexeme ” outside the context of Goethean tragedy . A crucial question is not only recognizable by the fact that it is expressly designated as such; the syntactic structure and the introductory formula of the original question are also often imitated.
Example: [...] that the Socialist Party [of France] is asked the same crucial question from left and right: "How are you with the communists?"
Occasionally, an author who uses the term crucial question does not ask the associated question explicitly because he assumes that his readers are familiar with it. This happens e.g. E.g. in the article “The Somewhat Different Critical Question” by Stephan J. Kramer , in which the allusion in the heading is not explicitly explained in the text.
The term crucial question refers to a question of conscience (or a question about the will) that the respondent does not like to answer. Typically, the person who expresses them gets to the heart of a matter and demands a clear statement from the respondent on a topic that may have an unpleasant or ambivalent meaning for him. The questioner is often suspicious of the intentions of the person asked. His question is often asked at a moment of decision in which he wants to protect himself from “blindly falling into the trap” of the person asked. A crucial question does not necessarily have to be answered explicitly in order for the questioner to gain clarity; pressing around for an honest answer may be enough to indicate the respondent's plans.
A crucial question is to be distinguished from a simple trick question or a trap conclusion .
Web links
- DWDS: crucial question
- How about religion The anthology "Die Gretchenfrage". The Berlin literary criticism. May 13, 2008
- Crucial question - are religious women underestimated? Religiousness and Sexual Selection. April 4, 2008
Individual evidence
- ↑ Text excerpt from Faust I (verse 3415) at ScienceSoft.at
- ↑ Konrad Paul Liessmann: Gretchen's question and why Faust didn't know the answer. Lecture at the opening of the 11th Philosophicum Lech . ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. September 20, 2007. p. 3
- ↑ Michael Blume: Die (Kluge?) Gretchenfrage , 2007 ( Memento from June 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ How about the communists? Neue Zürcher Zeitung , January 27, 1981; quoted from: Harald Burger: Handbuch der Phraseologie. Berlin / New York, de Gruyter 1982, p. 47 ( online )
- ↑ Stephan J. Kramer: The somewhat different crucial question. In: From Politics and Contemporary History. Issue 24/2013, June 3, 2013 ( online )
- ↑ Ida Fröhlich: The crucial question - meaning and origin of the idiom
