Sundergrund (novel)
Sundergrund is the second novel by Roland Reichen. It was published in 2014 by edition taberna kritika and was published in Bern . The novel tells of a desolate family story in the Bernese Oberland that becomes more and more tragic over four generations. The protagonist is Fieder (Fridolin) from the youngest generation, who most recently became addicted to drugs. What is striking about the book is the special language: Reichen mixes Bern German with standard German . This is probably due to the location. Because Fieder grew up in the Bernese Oberland, more precisely in the Krutzlihüttli in Sundergrund, to which the name of the novel refers.
The story is based on real events.
author
Roland Reichen was born on March 22, 1974 in Spiez, Bernese Oberland. He grew up in a working-class family and later studied German and history at the University of Bern . He started his first attempts at writing in the summer of 1998, which he had to spend at home because of glandular fever . His first novel was published in 2006 after the publication of a few short stories. Since 2010 he has been working as a research assistant for the historical-critical Jeremias Gotthelf Edition at the University of Bern.
action
The main character is Fridolin "Fieder" Kleinjenni. Growing up in the Bernese Oberland, in the so-called Sundergrund, he lived in the city of Bern in his adulthood . Flashbacks describe the family history that goes back over three generations.
At the beginning, the stepgroup gets to know the little jenni, who is her tormentor first. When they meet again many years later at the grave of their mother Marie, he and his first wife Madleen already have two children of their own, Wili ("Schlufi") and Sämi, and also an adopted child from Germany, Hedwig "Hörnere". When Madleen dies, the little jenni marries the stepgrosi. In addition to the death of their birth mother, the three children Schlufi, Sämi and Hedi live a childhood marked by violence: In a sudden angry attack, the little jenni throws his son Schlufi out of the window, who suffers a cranial brain trauma as a result. The sad death of Sami is also typical of the tragic family history. Like a dog chained to a tree, it is washed away in a flood.
Schlufi later marries his adoptive sister Hedi and treats his two children Fieder and Höhn just as badly. When Hedi is finally admitted to psychiatry, Fieder and Höhn both lose the only constant in their everyday life. Höhn himself goes mad and follows his mother to the institution. Fieder slipped into the Bernese drug scene as a teenager. There he met his girlfriend, Judlla. Although it helps the plumage to lead a more structured life again, it is trapped in the same drug swamp as the plumage. So he finally infected himself with "the beetle" through a dirty syringe from the Judla. That's what ultimately dies.
characters
Wili (Schlufi): Schlufi, whose real name is Wili, was thrown out of the window by his father. After this event he fell silent for a whole year. He also becomes shy and often begins to hide from other people. Therefore he got his nickname Schlufi, because he always tried to “sniff out” (= hide) from them. In his youth he did a special apprenticeship as an assistant carpenter. Finally he marries Hedi.
Hedwig (Hedi / Hörnere): When she was young, Hedi, actually Hedwig, had to flee Germany because of the Second World War. She is then taken in by the Kleinjenni family and from now on is called "horns" because of her hat with the two tips that look like horns. Hedi takes care of the house and the brother Sämi. But when he disappears, she turns to Schlufi, whom she then marries.
Fieder : When Fieder was in sixth grade, his mother Hedi was admitted to psychiatry. He suffers a lot from this and is also beaten by his father Schlufi. Since he wants to be one of the popular students, he tries drugs. So he develops a dependency on various addictive substances. His life gets out of hand until he meets Judlä. They become a couple and use drugs together. He becomes infected with hepatitis and eventually dies of a pulmonary embolism in hospital.
Höhn: Höhn is Fieder's younger brother. After seeing a science fiction film, he becomes increasingly delusional. Thereupon he too is admitted to the psychiatry in Münsingen. After five years he will be transferred from the closed to the half-open institution. He is also offered a job there.
Kleinjenni: Kleinjenni is the father of Sämi and Schlufi and therefore also the grandfather of Fieder and von Höhn. His aim all his life is to become a big jenni or at least a middle jenni. He met the mother of his children, Madleen, at an estate called Orgöö, where he worked and even became a foreman. At the insistence of the little jenni, they went back to the Kirreltal together because the little jenni was homesick. However, when he realized the bad location of his hut, it soon became clear to him that he would never become a grand jenni. Like his son Schlufi, he tends to be aggressive.
Sami: Sami is the son of Little Jenni and the brother of Schlufi. His identity is not obvious from the start, as he is described with many animal characteristics and so it is not clear at first reading whether he is a dog or a person. But if you take a closer look, it turns out that it must be a human being. The mental development of Sämi is somewhat slowed down because Little Jenni hit the mother in the stomach during pregnancy and he was born too early.
Judlla: Judlla is Fieder's friend. He met her at work. In order to earn some additional money, she occasionally goes on the street.
Dr. Ueli Maurer: Maurer is Hedi's doctor. He gave birth to Fieder, contrary to his will, with a so-called Kindlisauger . The name given to Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer comes from the fact that he spoke out against abortion when the novel was being written.
Interpretative approaches
The naming is particularly striking in the second chapter. Wili (short for Wilhelm), husband of Hedi (Hedwig), works for the Austrian Männdu (Hermann). This figure constellation is strongly reminiscent of Friedrich Schiller's Wilhelm Tell . Only the scolded father does not defend himself against the Austrian in Sundergrund , but lets his anger out on his own children and his wife.
The figures in Sundergrund are often described as animals. For example, the Sämi, who looks a lot like a dog. According to his own statements, the author wanted to draw attention to the sometimes tragic fate of life in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century, which has often not yet been dealt with in Swiss history (keyword: Verdingkind ).
language
Characteristic of the language used in the book is the strong reference to Swiss standard German . This basically means the use of the High German language, although a Swiss German sentence order and a large number of Swiss German words ( Helvetisms ) are used. The language does not follow any fixed rules. This harmonizes with the content of the book: Just as Fieder does not correspond to social norms, the language used does not correspond to grammatical rules.
Example: "They look like three wet socks, where they come from the rain pod into the Rossgagelpintli."
High German words are also used as “swiss” (Christian = Krischtlich). The words are written as a Bernese would pronounce them.
Example: “I used to be in a crazy rock band. I plucked the bass with the Hallelujah Braders. But then unfortunately the Drögs came. "
The sometimes humorous language stands in stark contrast to the tragic plot of the book. Alexander Sury justifies this supposed contrast as follows: In his review in Der Bund he points out that the defective language consciously tells of the disadvantaged and the mentally ill. Correspondingly, the defective language reflects the content.
This is also supported by the 850 footnotes. Loose from any scientificity they alienate the text on an additional level. Thus, both content, language and form have defective norms.
Book review
In Nahaufnahmen.ch Noemi Jenni says that Sundergrund was a book in which we always think that it could not get nasty and sad and then put Roland rich yet again one on top.
Markus Kestenholz from the Jungfrau Zeitung writes: “The story of the drug addict Fieder Kleinjenni and his short life would be overwhelmingly depressing if it were not told in dialectically colored language. When the feathers have been suffering from the beetle since a few Mönet öppen, because one of the Sprützine was not totally clean after all, and his girlfriend, the Judla lingged on the Wobble suitor, a subtle comedy creeps into the one based on real facts Story. "
In Der Bund of June 23, 2015, Alexander Sury writes that Reichen shows with his first novel “Growing Up” and now “Sundergrund” that he is close to the socially disadvantaged, to people who do not conform to social norms. These lifeworlds are represented by the “defective language”. Reichen is part of a line of tradition with Austrian post-war literature, in which a mixture of high-level language and dialect can also be observed.
Carolina Bohren wrote something similar in the Berner Zeitung in May 2014. In “Sundergrund” Reichen designed a genealogy of outsiderhood, whereby the characters only have one place in society - that at the very edge. Bohren also goes into the linguistic qualities of the text: Due to the dialect, the characters appear not only authentic, but also personable. Bohren praises the fact that “Sundergrund” is a strong piece of literature that describes soberly and ironically without denouncing.
Awards
In 2015 Reichen received the canton of Bern's literary prize for Sundergrund .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roland Reichen: Sundergrund . edition taberna kritika, Bern 2014.
- ↑ Markus Kestenholz: In love with Bern German. Jungfrau Zeitung, accessed on June 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Roland Reichen: Sundergrund . edition taberna kritika, Bern 2014.
- ↑ http://www.bilgerverlag.ch/index.php/Autoren/Roland-Reichen , (1.6.2017)
- ^ University of Bern. Retrieved June 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Claudio Habicht: How do you feel about religion? Tagesanzeiger, December 9, 2008, accessed June 14, 2017 .
- ↑ Roland Reichen: Sundergrund . edition taberna kritika, Bern 2014, p. 125 .
- ↑ Roland Reichen: Sundergrund . edition taberna kritika, Bern 2014, p. 80 .
- ↑ Alexander Sury: He wants the language to rattle. Der Bund, accessed on June 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Noemi Jenni: The Krutzhüttli - generations alluvium. Close-ups.ch, accessed on May 31, 2017 .
- ↑ Markus Kestenholz: In love with Bern German. Jungfrau Zeitung, accessed on May 31, 2017 .
- ↑ Alexander Sury: He wants the language to rattle. Der Bund, accessed on June 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Carolina Bohren, Chronicle of a Decline, Berner Zeitung, May 2014.
- ^ Office for Culture of the Canton of Bern: Canton awards seven literary awards. May 26, 2015, accessed June 13, 2017 .