Lenz (tailor)

Lenz is a short story by Peter Schneider that was published by Rotbuch Verlag in 1973 .

The story was related in so far as the poet Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (as it mainly through the novel Lenz of Georg Büchner remained to the present day present), as a young intellectuals are also described in her the difficulties, which deals with the conflict himself, his relationships and his time.

content

Lenz, a young intellectual and writer living in Berlin at the end of the 1960s , is a member of various left-wing political groups and working groups and takes part in their discussions. In order to be closer to the working class , to understand them better and to be able to agitate them, he works as a worker in a company . At the same time, however, he suffers from the separation from his former girlfriend. The political stereotypes in speaking, acting and dealing with one another within his group are becoming more and more questionable. His gaze is directed inwards and, contrary to the zeitgeist, becomes subjective .

To gain distance, he travels to Rome, where he has friends and where he stays for a long time. The way Italians deal with one another personally, but also politically, is closer to him than that of Germans. He begins to be politically active in Italy too. Eventually he is arrested and deported to Germany. When he arrives back in Berlin, it becomes clear to him that this is the right place for him. The last sentence of the story is: “What Lenz wants to do now. 'Stay there', replied Lenz. "

Subject

The book achieved a high circulation and public attention, as it was the first time in the left-wing contemporary discussion that it emphasized the point of view of the subject in relation to historical and socio-political realities and their political-economic analysis.

The blurb of the original edition says: “Peter Schneider retells Büchner's novel of the same name: The story of a young intellectual who walks through the landscape at high speed in the late 1960s, the landscape of the shopping streets, factory halls, pubs, the big cities and the small groups. Lenz encounters emotional barriers which - even in the left-wing groups - stand in the way of his claim to a dialectic of hatred and happiness, emotional and political needs. 'Lenz' is about the psychological and political insecurities of the left intelligentsia - it shows that sensitivity and radicalism are quite compatible. "

The story can thus also be seen as a pioneer of a new inwardness , as it then emerged in the literature of the 70s and 80s, for example with Peter Handke .

output

Peter Schneider: Lenz , Rotbuch Verlag Berlin, 1973, ISBN 3-88022-004-2

Web links

Lenz in the German National Library