Wedding in Constantinople

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Wedding in Constantinople is a novel by Irmtraud Morgner that was published in 1968 by Aufbau-Verlag Berlin and Weimar. The 44 short chapters are divided equally into a framework and an internal story. The framework describes the current (wedding) trip of a couple to “ Constantinople ”, a place on the Yugoslav Adriatic Sea called by the main character . In the internal plot, the main character Bele tells fantastic stories. Framework and internal plot create a “virtuoso mixture of fantasy and realistic description of everyday life”. With this novel, Irmtraud Morgner achieved the literary breakthrough in the GDR .

action

The framework story

Bele and Paul go on their honeymoon prematurely, prematurely, because Paul's professional plans do not allow a trip after the civil wedding . The trip to the Yugoslav Adriatic is made possible for the couple by the institute where Paul works.

The background story is an excerpt from the diary of Bele H. The itinerary is described day by day. Bele H. calls her vacation spot "Constantinople". On her honeymoon, Bele tries to awaken H. Paul's view of reality. For this she tells him a fantastic story every evening. On the one hand she packs anecdotes from her life into this, on the other hand she wants to get his attention for her person. Excursions for two or with the tour group are rare. Bele spends her time exploring the town, swimming, visiting bazaars and taking photos. Paul, on the other hand, sees the honeymoon as an opportunity to work undisturbed. So he often sits in his room and designs formulas, calculates and rummages in his books. Paul sees trips as wasted time.

Paul loves Bele. He is of the opinion that Bele "loved him [...] because he was a talented scientist ". Bele, however, does not complain that he works during her trip. Even if she doesn't have a fight with him because of this, the reader learns more about her thoughts in her stories ( internal plot ). The wedding celebration takes place spontaneously in connection with the farewell party of the travelers in the large dining room. The tour group eats a "hangman's or wedding meal [...]. Paul waved in silence. Big, sightless eyes. ”Immediately after the party, the travelers set off on their way back to Berlin . Paul also works during the flight. Once in Berlin, the couple are expected by Brandis, the institute professor, and his chauffeur. They drive to the registry office as quickly as possible. Paul also revises his lecture in the car, for which he flies to Budapest that evening . Bele lets the chauffeur stop, says goodbye to the gentlemen and Paul and dares: “The absolute experiment.” She leaves Paul even before they get married.

In the framework of the plot, however, the socio-political background of this time in the GDR is discussed. The main character Bele portrays the conflict of occupations (taxi driver at VEB, conductor at BVG), which are not typical for women. Paul always points out that she should have continued working as a laboratory assistant.

The equality of women was enshrined in the constitution of the GDR . Usually, however, the woman is exposed to a double burden (job and household). The female travel members criticize the current situation: "Occasionally one hears the opinion that democracy must begin in the family and work and that this also includes equal rights for women." Ms. Kunsch denounces that women are not entitled to a sex life: " A woman with unsuppressed sexuality would [...] be considered a nymphomaniac. "

The internal act

The novel is embellished with fantastic elements through the internal plot. Through her, the reader learns the past from Bele's life and gains insights into the young woman's world of thought.

Bele tells of her childhood war experiences, her post-war school days and the dream of studying. She remembers her grandmother's life, death, and faith. The inconvenience of being a conductor is also discussed. She speaks of the insurmountable contrast between the imagination of poets and the rationality of scientists, so to speak of the two opposing characters of the two lovers.

Towards the end of the novel, the questioning of the relationship through the stories becomes more evident. The chapter “Balance” describes how a man goes to the grave of his beloved wife every day and regrets not having spent enough time on love.

Paul's urge for professional awards is indicated in the chapter "How I was awarded a medal". Floating on clouds, in the afterlife, the medal is awarded and fades after a few days.

In the last fantastic story, the first-person narrator swallows a lump of earth. But this “clay dumpling was obviously bad for her” Bele no longer wants. She wants her own happy life back and a man who doesn't just have his work on his mind. A therapy, i.e. H. a change in life was necessary, even if the "case [...] made the headlines of the specialist press". But Paul is deaf to the stories. He cannot infer the allusions to the Liebesaus from these. In the last story, the first-person narrator also points to the social background of socialism: “My doctor processed [the illness] into a book [...] In its opening chapters, the work gave a historical outline of the position of women in the various Social formations and the resulting physiological consequences “for the female sex.

people

Bele

Bele lives in Berlin with her son Bruno. Her divorce from her husband Jens was 3 years ago. So far she has worked in various professions: taxi driver at VEB, laboratory assistant at the institute and conductor at BVG. Her mother is not proud of her career choice. She is of the opinion that "such professions [...] are only [mentioned] for objective reasons."

Bele is an adventurous young woman. Her passion is photography. Unlike Paul, she is very interested in the landscape on excursions together. She doesn't complain that Paul only thinks about work on vacation together. She is considerate of him. For her, Paul is not a desirable scientist, but "she loved him because he was a gifted lover."

Bele tells her fiancé Paul a story every night. She justifies this by saying that she has to train storytelling for her son Bruno. In these stories, however, she packs memories of her childhood and school days. In these, however, she also quietly criticizes Paul's rational point of view and thinking and the life of relationships. In her last stories she expresses her displeasure with Paul more and more and constantly indicates the end of the relationship.

Paul

Paul is a very hardworking young atomic physicist. He spends his free time not practicing hobbies, but rather browsing through books, arithmetic and formulas so that one day he will achieve a lot of fame. He is constantly on the lookout for new discoveries that will make him famous even after his death. Through his professional activity, he has traveled a lot in the world, including a. to Berkeley, Brookhaven, Chicago, Dubrovnik. The trip to "Constantinople" is his first private trip. But even on this honeymoon he devotes many days to his work and spends a lot of time in his room. When Paul has a work fever, he eats a lot. According to Bele, he probably developed gastritis the days before and hardly eats (only rusks). In retrospect, he sees the trip to Sveti Stefan as wasted time and is annoyed about it. He doesn't really listen during Bele's evening stories.

Paul's parents are divorced. He doesn't get along well with his father, who owns a workshop. He currently lives with his mother. In order to work in peace, he "lived [...] in a furnished office where he could also receive women." His landlady finds Wiebke, Paul's former girlfriend, more personable. Paul and Wiebke never married because Paul also had difficulties finding an appointment for her honeymoon. However, Paul plans to rent an apartment after his wedding to Bele.

Paul loves Bele very much. “He swears her eternal love.” Nevertheless, he is always fixated on his work, Bele has to submit to it. The career choice of his fiancée does not correspond to his ideas. He often complains that she should have stayed at the institute and shouldn't have been a conductor.

More people

  • Tour guide Konstantin
  • Mrs. Kunsch
  • Mr. Borstmann (or Porstmann)
  • Rector in peace
  • Scientific teacher
  • Brandis: Professor at the same Paul’s institute, Paul's best man

shape

Formally, the novel is multi-layered - in two levels of action ( framework and internal story ). The “framework” (extradiegetic narration) is formed by the diary-like representation of the itinerary. The second text level - the internal narration (intradiegetic narration) - serves to illustrate and deepen the content by means of fantastic circumstances. In this way, the 44 short chapters experience not only a change in the levels of action, but also in the narrative situation (cf. “Typical forms of the novel”). The framework plot is represented by an authorial narrative situation. The narrator is outside of the action. He does not evaluate the event, but restricts himself to the representation of fictional reality. The narrative narration in the past tense is interrupted by smaller dialogues between the characters. These statements are marked with quotation marks. A change from the tense to the present tense takes place here. The internal plot is characterized by a change in the narrative situation. As a fictional narrator, Bele enters the reality presented. In connection with fantastic elements, which increased in the beginnings of the literary movements of the GDR, she describes her own experience. This allows the reader to empathize with the text. Here, too, the tense changes to the present tense in the increasing dialogues.

Framework and internal plot also differ in the choice of headings for the respective chapters. While the passages of the frame plot indicate a new chapter only through a date display, headings are chosen in the internal plot that indicate the content of the story.

The introduction to the novel is characterized by the description of the way to the airport in a short and concise language. The main characters are not presented separately.

The opening sentence “They actually wanted to travel to Prague” is repeated as the final sentence at the end of the novel. During the story, Bele suggests that Paul would have amused himself more in Prague, that he would have spent more time with her and that he would have stopped work during the vacation. The author indirectly indicates a break in the story. Irmtraud Morgner uses numerous stylistic devices to illustrate the story. Particularly noteworthy, however, is the use of the fossilized mythical animal - the faun . The petrification of the animal can be dissolved by a tear from Beles. For this she receives many confessions of love from him (alluding to her fiancé Paul). Ultimately, however, she has to understand that neither humans nor animals can change their character traits. The faun petrifies and she realizes that there are no fauns.

The cicada plays an immense role for Bele throughout the novel. She really wants to hear the singing of a cicada just once. This small insect is symbolic of song and music, but according to the Greek world of thought it also stands for “disembodied souls”. The soul of Beles is always far from its actual body, which Paul can perceive. Your thoughts are reflected in the fantastic stories that Paul hardly follows. After a long wait, Bele heard the singing of a cicada for the first time when she was at the engagement party of fellow travelers. Probably at that moment she realized that her soul is moving away from her body and that she has to change something in her life.

literature

Text output

  • Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople. Construction Verlag, 1st edition, Berlin / Weimar 1968.

Secondary literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 80 .
  2. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 172 .
  3. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 184 .
  4. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 53 .
  5. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 132 .
  6. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 175 .
  7. ↑ a b Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 179 .
  8. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 148 .
  9. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 149 .
  10. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 141 .
  11. ^ Franz K. Stanzel: Typical forms of the novel . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 1992.
  12. ↑ Irmtraud Morgner: Wedding in Constantinople . Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin 1968, p. 7 & 184 .
  13. ↑ Roland Achtziger, Ursula Nigmann: Cicadas in Mythology, Art and Folklore . In: Denisia . tape 4 , 2002, p. 1–16 ( PDF on ZOBODAT [accessed June 17, 2015]).