Statute of limitations (Wohmann)
A short story by Gabriele Wohmann from 1965, which appeared in 1968 in the short story collection Ländliches Fest at Luchterhand in Neuwied , is statute-barred .
The first-person narrator reflects on her own past in a distant or less considerate way: The confession begins with lies and then the truth comes out drop by drop.
content
The narrator makes it clear to her partner Reinhard that the long-term holiday neighbors in the beach hut are nice people. Fifteen years ago these neighbors wished for the quiet life in harmony that they have long since found with their poodle .
The narrator tells of the former troubled life of that nice couple. At that time the man had run over a child. It was the child's fault. More precisely - the father had run over his own little daughter. The couple had blamed each other for the accident.
The list of deaths in the vicinity of these vacation neighbors continues. The man's mistress had committed suicide.
The narrator suddenly poses as a liar. It turns out that the narrator is actually talking about herself and her husband Reinhard the whole time. She takes the blame for the accidental death of their child.
After the accident, the narrator ran away with Gilbert, her son's biological father. Reinhard had not tolerated his wife's illegitimate child in his house. The narrator continues to unpack: Reinhard had also refused to take the narrator's father into the house. The old man had died in the old people's home.
Finally, the above-mentioned unity becomes clear: The couple has come to rest since they “haven't talked much to each other” about what is already barred.
literature
First edition
- Statute of limitations. In: Gabriele Wohmann: Ländliches Fest. Stories. Luchterhand, Neuwied 1968, ISBN 3-472-61204-5 .
Used edition
- Statute of limitations. In: Gabriele Wohmann: Everything for the gallery . Stories. With a comment by Günther Cwojdrak. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1972, pp. 113–117.
Secondary literature
- Statute of limitations. In: Irene Ferchl : The role of the everyday in the short prose by Gabriele Wohmann. Bouvier Verlag , Bonn 1980, ISBN 3-416-01542-8 , pp. 47-49.
- Günter Häntzschel , Jürgen Michael Benz, Rüdiger Bolz, Dagmar Ulbricht: Gabriele Wohmann . (= Author's books. Volume 30). Verlag CH Beck, Verlag edition text + kritik, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-406-08691-8 .
- Jochen Vogt: Gabriele Wohmann: Statute of limitations . In: German short prose of the present. Interpretations. Edited by Werner Bellmann and Christine Hummel. Reclam. Stuttgart 2006. pp. 15-23.
Web links
- Georg Magirius : Complete stories by Gabriele Wohmann. Alphabetical index June 28, 2015 (PDF)