Peter Handke : « The Morawian Night » or the request of forgiveness

Peter Handke : « The Morawian Night » or the request of forgiveness

Cornelia Caseau
Head of the Department of Languages and Cultures
ESC Dijon/ Burgundy School of Business/ France
cornelia.caseau@escdijon.eu
Peter Handke : “The Moravian Night” or the request for
forgiveness
Introduction:
In my paper, I will speak about Peter Handke, the well-known Austrian writer, born in 1942
in the small town of Griffen, in Carinthia. He sparked off a scandal in 1996 after the
description of his journey to Serbia in his article entitled A Journey to the Rivers: Justice for
Serbia1 in which he defended Serbia during the Balkan war.2
His opinion shocked the public, because the Serbians were generally considered as the
perpetrators of all the troubles in the Balkans. In A Journey to the Rivers, he reproached the
western media for manipulating war correspondence and wanted to provide a different view
of this conflict. By doing this, he did not only provoke the indignation of the journalists, but
also lost the sympathy of many of his readers and admirers. In reaction to this, he undertook
lecture trips through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Serbia where he read passages of this
work which he qualified as text for peace. With varying degrees of success, he tried to explain
his arguments in favour of the Serbian population.
In 2008, shortly after his 65th birthday, with the long narration The Moravian Night, he took
up again the Balkan theme. This work allowed him to leave the field of pure political
controversy of the 1990s. In The Moravian Night, Handke presents to us a former writer who
gives an account of a recent trip through Europe - a kind of pilgrimage to countries like
Croatia, Spain, Germany, Austria and Serbia. The different stages of the trip produce
reflections about the human mistakes committed by the author against his family and his
friends.
1
P Handke, Eine winterliche Reise zu den Flüssen Donau, Save, Morawa und Drina, oder Gerechtigkeit für
Serbien, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/ Main 1996. First it was published in two parts in the SüddeutscheZeitung on the
5-6th and 13-14th January 1996.
2
In the same year he published a second book on this theme, see P Handke, Sommerlicher Nachtrag zu einer
winterlichen Reise, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main 1996. Already in 1991 he had written a book deploring the
declaration of independence signed by Slovenia and Croatia. P Handke, Abschied des Träumers vom Neunten
Land, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main, 1991.
1
After the difficulties of the previous years, we can suspect that Handke desired to close the
chapter on these controversies. In my paper I will thus try to see in which way this narration
can be considered as the author’s request for forgiveness. First I will analyse some of the
human errors which the writer, whom we may for the most part identify with Handke3,
reproaches himself and how he tries to obtain personal forgiveness. Second I will study the
political context of The Moravian Night. How does Handke approach the Balkan conflict?
Does he look for reconciliation with his critics and does he obtain their clemency?
I.
The pilgrimage of an author looking for apology
In his long narration The Moravian Night, published at the beginning of 2008, a former writer
invites 7 friends onto his houseboat, which was previously a hotel called The Moravian Night,
anchored about 100 kilometers south of Belgrade on the river Morava in the Serbian enclave
Porodin. The host, together with his most recent partner and his travelling companions spend
one entire night together before Easter. After a fine traditional dinner (compared by a critic
with The Last Supper4 where the friends take the role of his disciples5) they piece together the
lengthy trip of the author. The night atmosphere disperses supposed realities, the contours
become indistinct and give room for memory, thoughts and feelings.6 The reader participates
in a long Balkan or oriental night7, or 1001 Nights, a surreal world of fairytales8. The first 12
chapters provide an account of his journey, and in the 13th, everything disappears –the
woman, the friends, the boat and even the river. Has the whole story only been an illusion?
3
P Handke, "Wenn ich schreibe, beute ich eigentlich immer nur mein Bewusstsein aus".
Already in 1973 he claimed to use personal experiences in his writing, Ch Linder, 'Die Ausbeutung des
Bewusstseins', Interview with Peter Handke, FAZ 13 January 1973.
4
I Radisch, "Wer hierbei an die Jünger Jesu und das nachträgliche Verfassen der Evangelien denkt, muss nicht
ganz falsch liegen"in 'Die Geografie der Träume. Peter Handke erzählt in seinem neuen Buch "Die morawische
Nacht" das grosse Zaubermärchen seines Lebens', Zeit Online 03/2008
<http://www.zeit.de/2008/03/L-Handke >, viewed on 07 August 2008.
5
H Gollner, 'Die morawische Nacht', Kultur und Sprache 18 September 2007 “sie haben Jünger-Funktion”
viewed on 07 August 2008,
<http://www.kulturundsprache.at/index.php?id=54&tx_skbookreview_pi1%5Bookrev....>.
6
R Bode, ‘Vom Bluten und Fluten des Herzens’ oder das Zittern der Stimme im Alltag’, Die Drei 06/2008, p.3235.
7
R Bode, ibid.
8
R Bode, ibid.
2
All the stages of this trip which we might compare with a pilgrimage relate to the real life of
Peter Handke. The most important event in his pilgrimage is his arrival at the home port, his
native town in Austria.9 From the beginning, the inner conflicts and reflections of the author
have at least the same importance as the observations about his adventures.10 He undergoes an
internal discovery and Iris Radisch, one of the most famous German critics, supposes there
were personal and professional stages of atonement.11 Consequently, the author’s pilgrimage
through Europe is accompanied by numerous confessions.12 As if he had wanted to establish a
catalogue of all the reproaches and objections spoken against him during his life, he confesses
to us his weaknesses and his faults.13 Never before had Handke judged himself so harshly.14
For the critic Ulrich Weinzierl, it is a sign of maturity15 and for Sigrid Löffler, such ruthless
self-representation opens the way to a new orientation16 a condition for reconciliation17 and
forgiveness.
I will give three examples from The Moravian Night, where Handke shows us the failings that
he seems to apologize for:
1) the lack of human warmth and attachment to others, in particular women, and his need
to withdraw from others
2) his opposition to his German stepfather and everything related to Germany
3) his tyrannical attitude towards his family when writing, and for leaving the family
home prior to the suicide of his mother 18
9
R Bode, ibid.
E Falcke, 'Peter Handke über die morawische Nacht', Büchermarkt 10 February 2008, viewed on 01
November 2008, <http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/buechermarkt/736056/ >.
11
I Radisch, ibid. "Seine wichtigsten persönlichen und beruflichen Stationen der Wiedergutmachung werden in
dieser nächtlichen Reiseerzählung auf dem Hausboot an der Morawa noch einmal abgeschritten."
12
M Bandar, 'Die morawische Nacht. Balkan-Monolog-Leben wie im Traum', Stuttgarter Zeitung Online, 23
January 2008, viewed on 2 January 2009,
< https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/stz/page/1617606_0_2147_peter-handke-die-morawische-nacht.html>.
13
V Hage, 'Der übermütige Unglücksritter', Der Spiegel, 07 January 2008, viewed on 07 November 2008,
<http://wissen.spiegel.de/wissen/dokument/98/64/dokument.html?titel=Der+%C3%BC... >.
14
V Hage, ibid.
15
U Weinzierl, ‘Handke reist mit dem Hausboot ins eigene Ich”, Welt Online 12 January 2008, viewed on 07
August 2008, <http://www.welt.de/kultur/article1541890/Handke_reist_mit_dem_Hausbootins_eigene_Ich.html>.
16
S Löffler, op.cit. "ein Abschied vom Traum-Balkan, Handkes Privat-Paradis, dem utopischen Modell eines
friedlichen Vielvölker-Staats".
17
A Breitenstein, 'Die groβe Versöhnungstour. "Die morawische Nacht"- Peter Handke zieht eine selbstironische
Bilanz eines Dichterlebens, NZZ Online 15 January 2008, viewed on 07 November 2008,
<http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/kultur/aktuell/die_grosse_versoehnungstour_1.651518......>.
18
This fault is, like the others, autobiographical :
"[…] da bin ich unheimlich egoistisch gewesen. Ich war schon zu Hause der Typ, der alle tyrannisiert hat."
in Interview with André Müller, July 1971. Müller, André : Im Gespräch mit Peter Handke.Weitra : Bibliothek
der Provinz 1993, p.28, cit. E Schwagerle, 'Peter Handke et la France. Réception et Traduction', Thèse dirigée
10
3
In each of the three cases Handke portrays a selfish and egocentric person who followed his
personal ambitions for his whole life.
How does he proceed? After living for 10 years on his houseboat in Porodin, his refuge and
his castle,19 the narrator leaves this enclave. Perhaps he flees a woman, perhaps he only wants
to escape from himself. His first stop out of Serbia leads him to a Croatian island, where the
young author, a long time ago, had met his first girlfriend during the summer. It was also the
summer when he started writing his first novella. Near the entrance of a church, he finds his
first love again, an old beggar woman who reproaches him for abandoning her so many years
ago in favour of his writing. She makes him feel guilty, and Handke seizes the opportunity to
recognize his own lifelong hesitations between writing and love.
The relationship between Handke and women has always been one of conflict.20 He
frequently left his girlfriends and wives whom he often considered as his enemies or was
abusive to them. He exhibited also impatience and total lack of self-control. Even if he felt
like a traitor, the desire to write was so much stronger than his need for human contact. Being
a writer and at the same time a lover was perceived by him as a fault21 with regard both to
humans and to writing22. He sought to flee the real world by writing and avoided taking sides
with anybody. His maxim was: “Halt dich heraus!” which could be translated by “Keep out
(of it)!”23 an attitude that people were less and less ready to forgive.24
Another important step of his pilgrimage is the visit to his father’s place of origin, a small spa
town in the Harz (formerly East Germany). He seeks to discover the region where his parent
(Handke’s father was a soldier of the Wehrmacht) grew up. On this occasion he finds a
peaceful countryside and forgets all his prejudices with regard to Germany. Handke had felt a
lot of anger against Germans. During the Second World War, two of his uncles, the beloved
par M.Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler et M.Gerald Stieg. Université Paris III.Sorbonne Nouvelle. Universität Wien.
Paris/Wien 2006, p.131-132.
19
P Handke, "Flucht- und Trutzburg", Die Morawische Nacht, Erzählung, Suhrkamp , Frankfurt/Main 2008, p.7.
20
H Höller, Peter Handke, Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2007,
Handke had notorious liaisons with several actresses, for example Jeanne Moreau.
21
V Hage, op.cit.
22
P Handke, "An dem Zwiespalt, als Beruf den des Schreibers, oder Aufschreibers, auszuüben, ausüben zu
sollen, und andererseits Liebhaber oder Geliebter zu sein, war dann nichts mehr zu genieβen. Es war eine
Schuld. Es war die Schuld. Beides zusammen war die Strafwürdigkeit. Entweder-Oder." 'Die Morawische Nacht'
(M.N.) p.131-132.
23
P Handke, "Auch Ausstellungen, Konzerte, Lesungen erschienen ihm als Parteiveranstaltungen, aus denen er
sich herauszuhalten hatte […] Und selbst mit einer « aus dem anderen Geschlecht » zusammen sah er sich als
Partei. Und Teil einer Partei zu sein, das war nichts für ihn.", M.N. p.138.
24
P Handke, "Sein Hin und Her wurde ihm nicht mehr vergeben", M.N. p.139-140.
4
brothers of his mother who had Slovenian origins, were forced to fight in Hitler’s army where
they died on the field of honour.25 At the German cemetery where the writer is finally
looking for reconciliation, he becomes aware that he knows nothing about his father. He
should have questioned his mother so much more when she was still alive. Having missed this
opportunity makes him remorseful and angry with himself. Afterwards, he meets a butterfly
that transforms into an old woman and she accuses him of selfishness: His rejection of his
father due to his lack of human curiosity has to be paid. A fatherless child can never grow
up.26 Without his father he is not free, but an outlaw. For having denied his father in former
times, he has to leave this town immediately. “Du hast hier nichts zu suchen”27 – You have no
business being here! And: “Gute Weiterreise!”28 Have a good trip. And thus, without having
obtained forgiveness at the grave of his father, he has to continue his pilgrimage to his native
country.
The countryside of his childhood seems so strange. After a dreamlike night of wandering
where he meets key figures of his life and his homeland, he makes a stop at the cemetery to
collect his thoughts at the grave of his forefathers. At home, his brother does not recognise
him after his long absence. In a conversation with him the narrator learns how, in his youth,
he had tyrannised his family because of his ambitions to be a writer29. He had disrupted
domestic life, had created divisions and even discord within the family. When the writer goes
to bed, he tries to think about his past, to become aware of things he had lived, suffered, done,
omitted, or crimes he had committed.30 However, he is too tired and falls asleep immediately.
At this moment he hears the voice of his dead mother.
He had often dreamed of her, thinking that she was still alive, dead tired, slaving away for
him and the others. The relationship between Handke and his mother had been a very close
and exclusive one. When he had left home for his studies, he continued to write to her and to
send her his literary works. Her suicide in 1971 had instilled in him a feeling of guilt. In the
25
P Handke/P Hamm, Es leben die Illusionen. Gespräche in Chaville und anderswo. Wallstein Verlag,
Göttingen 2006, p.120 "Dass zwei Slawen, die eigentlich für Jugoslawien hätten kämpfen wollen, oder
zumindest gegen Deutschland, für das sogenannte Groβdeutsche Reich ihr Leben gelassen haben – das war
eigentlich das Bestimmende. […] ich glaube ich habe eine Grundwut [……..] auf alles, was Deutschland als
Staat ist. Das werde ich nie akzeptieren."
26
P Handke, "keines-Vaters-Kind wird nie ein Erwachsener.", M.N. p.203.
27
P Handke, ibid. p. 305
28
P Handke,ibid. p.305
29
P Handke, speaks of « Schreibtyrannei », M.N. p.498.
30
P Handke, "Und als er sich zu Bett legte, in der Absicht, so lange er nur könnte, sich bewuβt zu machen und
zu wiederholen, wo er da war und was er in der Zeitenfolge da nacheinander im einzelnen erlebt, erlitten, getan,
unterlassen, anderen angetan und verbrochen hatte […]" M.N.p.499.
5
dreams she had appeared to him only one time, some weeks after her suicide. This time she
does not appear, but speaks to him, invisible, without any face or eyes. And she forgives him
unconditionally. For her, her son is innocent. He should stop feeling guilty.31 She encourages
him to leave behind him all his guilt and to start to live with others: enough of this confessing
and these self-tormenting reflections!
His arrival at his hometown and the forgiveness of his mother constitute the key scene of the
author’s pilgrimage. During the whole trip he had behaved as if he were a pilgrim: most of the
time he went by foot, visited churches and holy places, learned the sense of community in the
exchange with other travellers, meditated and in doing that, became conscious of his errors.
The confession of the faults in The Moravian Night seems thus to be a request for forgiveness.
The numerous religious symbols that Handke, a former student of a seminary, uses - the
churches, a crypt, cemeteries, angels, devils, prayers, and the religious language (we can even
find quotations from the Bible and sentences of Catholic liturgy),32 might confirm the
character of this trip as a pilgrimage.
II.
The Balkan dream – a forgiven fantasy?
In this section I would like to analyze the political side of Handke’s reflections and see, if The
Moravian Night constitutes a turning point in his writing. Does he change his attitude towards
the Balkans, and does his latest book reconcile his critics?
Dating back to the fall of Yugoslavia which took place in 1991, Handke often went to the
Balkans to get a personal impression of the war by being there. His initial intention was not to
deliver a political statement with regard to the arguments of the nations at war, but to present
a discourse in opposition to the mainstream. Due to his Slovenian origins on his mother’s side
he had a particular attachment to this country and wished deeply that the Yugoslavian state
could remain whole. He never accepted the Slovenian and Croatian independence movements.
That’s why his former love for Slovenia turned into an attachment for Serbia as the last
representative of the former multiracial state.
31
P Handke, "Du mit deinem ewigen Schuldbewuβtsein und deinem Schuldsuchen auch bei den anderen. Du bist
unschuldig, du dummer Kerl […]", M.N. p.501.
32
C Hell, 'Bei uns am Balkan', Die Furche 06/2008, viewed on 01 November 2008,
< http://www.furche.at/system/downloads.php?de=file&id=667 >.
6
With his travel writing A Journey to the Rivers, Justice for Serbia in 1996, Handke had
defended Serbia and attacked the western media, an act harshly criticized by the public. His
sympathy for Serbia had finally turned into a public partisanship, particularly after the NATO
bombings at the end of the 1990s. During the NATO campaign, Handke went to Serbia to
show his solidarity with the victims of the attacks. In his anger about the bloodshed taking
place in the Balkans he abandoned his former poetical concept and found himself
involuntarily involved in the delicate role as a correspondent between a poetical and a
journalistic mission.33 The least understood of his actions however, was his visit to Slobodan
Milosevic in prison in The Hague34 and his delivery of a speech during the burial ceremony of
‘The Butcher of the Balkans’, in 2006 in Posarevac. For Handke, Milosevic had represented
Yugoslavia and by his participation in the burial ceremony, wanted to be part of the last act of
the existence of this state.35 In 2007 he once more went back to Serbia with his friend and
theatre director Claus Peymann, to offer the sum of 50,000 Euros which he received for the
Berlin Literary Prize, to a Serbian enclave in Kosovo.36 With this gesture he showed again his
attachment to the Serbian population.
In his book The Moravian Night which takes place in the future, the Balkan War is lost and
the political dream of a united Yugoslavia is finished. Tito’s Yugoslavia is a forgotten empire.
During the whole narration, Handke never utters the word Serbia which has caused so much
controversy some years earlier. He speaks of the Balkans, the beauty of the landscape and the
precarious political situation. It is a satirical and elegiac farewell to the Yugoslavian dream
and nightmare,37 a goodbye to his private paradise, the utopian model of a peaceful
multiracial state.38 At the same time it is a farewell to trauma: the Balkans disfigured by the
war, a land scarred by the debris of war and a society torn apart by hostilities.39 Nevertheless,
33
Ch Parry, Peter Handke, Kritisches Lexikon zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur-KLG., H.L. Arnold
(ed.), edition text + kritik, München, 80. Nlg., June 2005, p.24 – 26.
34
P Handke, ‘Die Tablas von Daimiel, Ein Umweltzeugenbericht zum Prozess gegen Slobodan Milosevic’,
Suhrkamp Sonderdruck, Frankfurt/ Main, 2006.
35
APA/Red. (no name), 'Handke spendet serbischem Dorf im Kosovo 50.000 Euro'. Interview, Die Zeit, cit.Die
Presse 11 April 07, "Mit Milosevic endete Jugoslawien. Bei diesem letzten Akt wollte ich dabei sein."
36
tso/dpa (no name) – Handke und Peymann beschenken serbische Enklave, in tagesspiegel.de 7 April 2007,
viewed on 07 August 2008,
<http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/Handke-Peymann-Heinrich-Heine-Preis-Velica-Hoca;art117,1881926>
37
U Weinzierl, op.cit.
38
S Löffler, op. cit.
39
S Löffler, ibid.
7
the disappeared Yugoslavia remains for Handke a country of the heart.40 His affection for the
Balkans is not only a geographical one, but also bound by images in his imagination.41
In his book, he still takes the side of Serbia42, in a discreet manner however. The houseboat on
the Morava is decorated with the huge flag of the disappeared country, and it is painted in the
colours of the sunken empire.43 Handke operates with allusions, like the disappearance of the
Cyrillic writing, 44 and he does not use words to defend Serbia directly anymore.45 The
conductor of the bus which brings the author from Porodin to the Serbian frontier expresses
his rage against renegade countries of former Yugoslavia, however without giving names.46
With this work, Handke has achieved a more nuanced view of the Balkan conflict, and in the
last chapter of The Moravian Night even questions himself about the usefulness of his former
commitment47 and wonders, if the lost person was not perhaps himself?48
The critics seem to appreciate this new, self-reflecting tone in his writing. Nearly all of them
praise The Moravian Night. For Michael Rutschky, the so-called nationalism of Handke,
similar to the nationalism of the 19th century, is, when not expressed politically, a literary
process 49 to which we owe wonderful books. In the 1990s critics had reproached him a too
frequent change between the role of the narrator and the role of the speaker.50 Now they
welcome Handke’s return to a more poetical writing51 and praise the collection of gentlepoetical confessions.52 They underline the author’s longing for a peaceful existence with
40
E Falcke, op.cit.
K Gasser, op.cit.
42
F Hafner, Peter Handke. Unterwegs ins Neunte Land, Zsolnay, Wien 2008, p.334.
"In "Die morawische Nacht" wird dafür der-serbischen- Gegenposition explizit und ausführlich Platz
eingeräumt, bezeichnenderweise in der Figurenrede des Busfahrers, der es vermeidet, jene, die ihn und
seinesgleichen mit ihrem Hass verfolgen, beim Namen zu nennen."
43
P Handke, M.N. p.35.
44
U Weinzierl, op.cit.
45
S Sattler, Stephan, 'Triumph der Sprache', Focus Online, 07 January 2008, viewed on 07 August 2008,
<http://www.focus.de/kultur/buecher/literatur-triumph-der-sprache_aid_232605.html.>.
46
P Handke, "Der Zorn des Buschauffeurs äusserte sich folgend : "Sie haben uns immer gehasst. Sie haben alles
bekommen, was sie wollten, und hassen uns weiter. Mehr denn je. Blindwütiger denn je. Blinder denn je. Sie
haben ihren Staat bekommen", M.N. p.103.
47
P Handke, "Was hatte er bloβ bei den Verlorenen auf dem Balkan zu suchen gehabt ?", M.N. p.557
48
P Handke, "Der Verlorene, war das nicht in Wirklichkeit er ?", M.N. p.557
49
M Rutschky, 'Falkenfeder und Rehbock', taz.de 19 February 2008, viewed on 16 September 2008,
<http://www.taz.de/1/leben/buch/artikel/1/falkenfeder-und-rehbock/?type=98>.
"Sein Nationalismus ist, sofern er sich nicht politisch äuβert (und dann auf ein fernes Land bezieht), ein
literarisches Verfahren –dem seine Leser diese wunderschönen Bilder verdanken."
50
L Baier, 'Krieg im Kopf', in Noch einmal für Jugoslawien. Peter Handke.Th Deichmann (ed). Suhrkamp,
Frankfurt/ Main 1999, p.37 "zu oft wechselt der Autor von der Rolle des 'Erzählers ' in die des 'Sprechers' […]".
51
M Rutschky, op.cit."Wer das Buch liest, wird groβe Mühe haben, es nicht wunderschön zu finden."
52
U Weinzierl, op.cit. "eine Sammlung sanftmütig-poetischer Bekenntnisse des Autors."
41
8
himself and with others53 and testify to the conciliatory aspect of the publication.54 Even if
Handke affirms that it is not possible to separate the poetical from the political writing55, with
his last narration, he has abandoned the political struggle and has returned from a polemical to
a poetical prose.56 This is probably the reason why the book is generally considered as a
liberating step allowing him to leave his position on the sideline.57 As proof of recognition,
the jury of the most important German literary prize, the “Deutscher Buchpreis” has
nominated this book as one of the top twenty books of 2008.58
To conclude this section, I would just like to make a short comparison between the two
contemporary writers Peter Handke and the German author and Nobel-prize winner Günter
Grass. As mature writers, both have been accused in public for their political actions or
positions. Grass, the political conscience of Germany, was criticised for joining the Waffen
SS during the Second World War, and his late confession of it in his autobiographical book
Peeling the Onions in 2006. Whereas Handke was attacked for his verbal meddling in the
Balkan affairs in the 1990s. Do the writers forgive each other’s mistakes? The two men had
already met at Princeton in the United States in 1966, where the young Handke had attacked
the generation of authors like Grass for their traditional way of writing.59 Later, Handke
considers Grass’memoirs as a shame for literature60 and reproaches him 50 years of selfrighteousness and lack of inwardness.61 He cannot believe that a 17-year-old boy was not
aware of the evil. For his part, Grass, who like Handke, did not approve the NATO bombing
of Serbia, thinks that his younger colleague has gone too far with his statements and actions
concerning Milosevic and Serbia.62
53
K Gasser, op.cit. "[…] Sehnsucht nach so etwas wie einem friedlichen Mit-Sich und Miteinander-Sein
Können."
54
L Struck, op.cit.
55
Cit. : Peter Handke im Gespräch mit Joze Horvat, Noch einmal vom neunten Land, Klagenfurt/Salzburg 1993,
in Tontic, Stevan – Reisen des Träumers ins « Erste Land », Noch einmal für Jugoslawien. Peter Handke. Th
Deichmann (ed). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/ Main 1999, p.41.
56
U Weinzierl, op.cit.
57
S Löffler, 'Peter Handke - Die morawische Nacht' op.cit. "Das Buch ist auch ein Befreiungsschlag, mit dem
Handke sich aus dem Abseits befreien will, in das er sich mit seiner Jugoslawien-Haltung manövriert hat."
58
However Handke renounced the nomination to leave the field open to younger authors, ber/dpa (no author)
Deutscher Buchpreis : Peter Handke verzichtet auf Nominierung, Spiegel Online 04. September 2008, viewed
on 16 September 2008,
<http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literautr/0,1518, druck - 576234,00.html>.
59
H Höller, op.cit. p.46 "[…] und die ebenso beständige Feindschaft mit Günter Grass resultiert aus Handkes
Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber dem Neuen Realismus, während Grass nichts für die mimosenhafte
Sprachempfindlichkeit und die 'Innerlichkeit' seines jungen Kontrahenten übrighatte […]".
60
P Handke, 'Grass Erinnerungen. Schande für das Schriftstellertum', Focus, 18 September 2006.
61
Ibid."50 Jahre Selbstgerechtigkeit. Ein bisschen Innerlichkeit würde ich ihm wünschen."
62
Ch Siemes, 'Konsequenz ist keine Kunst'. Gespräch mit Günter Grass über Peter Handke, Zeit Online 25/2006,
viewed on 07 August 2008,
9
Even if Handke took back some of his political statements, the two writers never really
apologized in public. On the contrary! In interviews, they claimed their innocence and
expected the understanding of their audience. They hoped that the arguments, expressed in
their literary work would be sufficient to convince their opponents.
We can establish that their aberration finds its origin in the past, when the authors were
young. Grass had signed up for the Waffen SS during puberty, to flee the confinement of the
parental environment in Danzig, whereas Handke had defended the Balkan dream,
considering Yugoslavia as the country of his childhood, his second homeland 63. Perhaps it is
the reason why they expect our comprehension and unconditional forgiveness.
Conclusion:
For both of them, the distinction of the role of a writer as a political or literary person seems
the crucial question. Peter Handke and Günter Grass are not the only intellectuals in the 20th
century to take sides with dubious political actions. There was also Knut Hamsun, Ezra
Pound, Lion Feuchtwanger, Céline and others64. The forgiveness they could expect was a
vindication of their literary creation, of their genius as authors and not the acceptance of their
political ideas. In this way, Handke has been rehabilitated and forgiven as a creator of an
extraordinary literary work – and even his recent support for the ultranationalist Serbian
presidential candidate Tomislav Nikolic65 disappears behind the praise of his latest book.
Nevertheless I will finish in quoting a sentence spoken by the philosopher Martin Heidegger
to justify his own entanglement in National Socialism “Wer groβ denkt, muss groβ irren“66
which I would like to transform into a question: Is a big thinker allowed to make big errors?
< http://www.zeit.de/2006/25/Interv_Grass-xml>.
"Ich bin mit ihm [Handke] in der Einschätzung Milosevics und Serbiens weiβ Gott nicht einer Meinung. Er hat
sich verrannt. Aber bei diesem Thema gibt es bis heute auch eine ganze Reihe Tabus. Zum Beispiel die
Mitschuld der euopäischen Staaten an dem Desaster in Jugoslawien."
63
See the article of F Meyer-Gosau, ‘Kinderland ist abgebrannt’, Peter Handke, Heinz Ludwig Arnold (ed.),
Text + Kritik VI/99, München 1999, p. 3-20
See also : A Breitenstein, ‘Die Schule der Eigentlichkeit’, NZZ, 5 May 2006.
64
U Greiner, ‘Darf groβ irren, wer groβ dichtet ?’, Die Zeit, Nr.24, 8 June 2006. « Wer groβ denkt, muss groβ
irren ».
65
R Wagner, ‘Peter Handke verliert die Wahlen in Serbien’, Die Achse des Guten, 4 February 2008, viewed on
07 August 2008,
<http://www.achgut.com/dadgdx/index.php/dadgd/article/peter_handke_verliert_die_wahlen_in_serbien/>.
66
U Greiner, op.cit.
10
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