In this blog post, I will examine the changes in postwar German literature following World War II and explore the role Peter Handke has played in expanding his literary universe within that context.
Changes in Postwar Literature and Peter Handke
The changes in the literary world over the thirty-odd years following World War II surpassed those that had taken place over the preceding centuries. This was true not only in people’s external lives but also in their inner worlds of consciousness. As the upheavals caused by the war and the various efforts and trials and errors surrounding reconstruction either developed or dissolved, a single current gradually began to take shape, and the literary world was no exception.
This phenomenon was particularly pronounced among the German people, who had played a central role in both world wars. Young intellectuals, physically and mentally shattered, returned home from the front lines to find their homeland in a state of devastation so profound that no words could adequately describe it. They had no choice but to start anew from the ruins, for there was no past left to draw upon.
From there, literary activity began anew. Groups dedicated to rebuilding postwar literature were formed, and the work of the postwar literary schools centered around Heinrich Böll continued as a collective movement, giving rise to new writers such as Günter Grass and Uwe Jönsson and allowing literature to blossom once more.
However, societal transformation occurred too rapidly for these blossoms to bear fully ripened fruit. The devastated economy was rapidly rebuilt, and affluence and wealth began to erode human life; this change demanded a new ethics and a new literature, bringing about an inevitable shift. If the “Group ’47” represented the process of rebuilding and recovery for the German literary world, the subsequent New Era Movement can be viewed as the birth of a new literature. This movement did not stop at changes in narrative techniques or themes; it questioned the very function of literature and its interpretation.
Handke’s Emergence and Literary Contributions
It is astonishing that the writer who prophesied the birth of a new literature and became its leading figure was a young author barely over thirty at the time. The view that Peter Handke was undoubtedly the leading figure of this new literature—and that he remains so today and will continue to be so in the future—was widely held in the German literary world at the time.
Handke was born in 1942 in Carinthia, Austria, grew up in Germany, and was active in the German literary scene. In 1966, at a meeting of the Group 47 held in the United States, he launched a full-scale critique of the group, providing the direct catalyst for its dissolution; at the same time, he turned his attention to the most fundamental issue in literature—‘language’—and made it entirely his own.
By mastering language and coining numerous neologisms and artificial words, he expanded the expressive range and possibilities of the German language. Furthermore, rather than merely exploring the inner space of consciousness, he linked it to temporal space, uniting the present, past, and future, and unifying the human external and internal worlds. By making the “second reality” arising from this his literary subject, he expanded the scope of literary expression.
Handke’s Literary Career and Major Works
He began his literary career in 1965 and, just six years later in 1970, had already become a prominent figure in the German literary scene; in 1973, he was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize. He originally made his literary debut with plays, and from the very beginning, he caused a stir in the literary world with works that were utterly incomprehensible to the general public or to those accustomed to realist theater.
This was based on the aforementioned “magic of language” and the expansion of his subject matter.
His novels include ‘The Wasp’ (1965), ‘The Peddler’ (1967), ‘The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick’ (1970), ‘Short Letter, Long Farewell’ (1971), ‘The Wrong Move’ (1975), ‘Slow Homecoming’ (1976), ‘The Gravity of the World’ (1977), and ‘The Stranger’ (1983), among others; he also wrote numerous short stories, including ‘Misfortune Without Hope’ (1972) and ‘The Left-Handed Woman’ (1976), through which he began to gain public recognition.
His major works of prose include ‘The Supervisory Board’ (1967), ‘The Inner World and the Outer World’ (1969), and ‘The Inhabitants of the Ivory Tower’ (1972). His plays include ‘Offending the Audience’ (1966)—the work that first brought him fame—as well as ‘Kaspar’ (1967), ‘The Knight on Lake Constance’ (1971). He has also written radio plays and poetry, and currently resides in Paris, where he continues to write.
Characteristics of His Work and Analysis of Major Novels
Hantke’s novels are always underpinned by the suspense found in detective or mystery novels, along with intriguing questions that draw the reader in. The overall atmosphere is shaped by a world of chaos reminiscent of modern abstract art, which draws the reader in, and within this context, the author freely reveals the message he intends to convey. The mystery elements that initially captured the reader’s curiosity are ultimately revealed to be devices the author used to lead the reader along.
In ‘The Peddler’ as well, the author takes as his starting point various forms of murder—possible not only in reality but also in the realm of fantasy—and leads readers to contemplate the possibility of murder occurring within normal human life.
First introduced in Korea in 1977, ‘Short Letter, Long Farewell’ offers readers boundless imagination through the elusive character of Yuditz, the cryptic letters she writes, and the protagonist’s wanderings and investigations, prompting them to embark on a journey to a foreign land—America. The protagonist meets a woman named Claire and, while watching ‘Don Carlos’, discusses the relationship between the real world and the world of the stage; in an empty hotel room, he masturbates but, unable to conjure the image of a woman, resorts to the aid of a nude photograph.
He also meets his younger brother, who works at a lumber mill, and reminisces about the emotional world of his boyhood; furthermore, he meets film director John Ford, exchanges thoughts on nature and history, and begins to reflect on other eras. The author presents the process by which a young writer, faced with America as a foreign civilization, disintegrates and collapses yet simultaneously develops and grows anew, by tracing his inner world.
Strictly speaking, this novel can be viewed as a form of the so-called “development novel”—a genre that has flowed through German literature since Goethe and become part of its mainstream—and, in its exploration of urban loneliness, wandering, and the consciousness of the people encountered there, it can also be described as a modern-day version of James Joyce.
‘The Left-Handed Woman’ topped the bestseller list in the German literary world immediately upon its publication, demonstrating that at the time, Handke’s name alone was enough to ensure the book’s success. The work is read as a portrait of a woman who has become aware of her existence amid the emptiness of modern life, presenting the archetype of a woman who refuses to trade away her solitude for anything.
Upon hearing her husband Bruno say, “I think I can live without you,” she decides to end the marriage on her own. However, no one truly understands her decision. Her husband views her actions as a passing fad, while those around her suspect she has found another man. Although everyone around her wants her to socialize, she does not desire it. Even as she reflects on her solitude, the lines of life gradually become more clearly etched on her face.
The Left-Handed Woman goes about her daily routine—riding the subway, shopping, drinking, listening to music, and doing the dishes—just like anyone else, yet she is always a solitary figure. She also reveals the duality that modern women harbor deep within their hearts. She is not portrayed as the conventional woman who hides this duality and carries on with her daily life as if nothing is wrong, but rather as a woman who honestly acknowledges it, does not deceive herself or others, and openly reveals it.
