Working Papers in the Humanities
Astrid Ensslin, Jennifer Shepherd
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The Wende in the Light of Bert Papenfuß’s Poem ‘hunger, durst & sucht’
Christoph H. Esser
doi:10.59860/wph.a3853cd

This working paper examines the poem ‘hunger, durst & sucht’ [hunger, thirst & drugs] written by Bert Papenfuß around 1995. My wider research project is the literary response to the Wende (the collapse of the GDR and German reunification) in 1989–90 by the poets of Prenzlauer Berg in East Berlin, who were famous for their resistance to the literary and political establishment of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Papenfuß was one of their leading poets pre-Wende and became even more famous after reunification. The paper will ask how Papenfuß responds to German reunification in this poem. The argumentative model that I have chosen involves using an existing, but at best partial interpretation of the poem as both a springboard and a foil. In particular, I argue that Jörg Döring’ s interpretation can be considered a ‘western’ reading that fails to take account of the particular intellectual heritage and life experiences of East German subversive poets. I will argue that this poem shows that living conditions for the authors of Prenzlauer Berg in reunited democratic Germany are even worse than they were under the dictatorial GDR regime. It is worthwhile examining this poem in particular because it shows the Wende as a turning point from misery to even greater misery. For the poets of Prenzlauer Berg, the living conditions of a united Germany destroy their writing culture, exclude them from the variety and richness of cultural life and, above all, they take away their pride. This is a perspective which is hardly discussed in secondary literature. Scholars seem to take for granted that the change from a dictatorial regime to a democratic system would automatically improve working conditions for authors. However, my reading of the poem demonstrates that this is not true for the writers of Prenzlauer Berg.

Shakespeare’s Widows of a Certain Age: Celibacy and Economics
Dorothea Faith Kehler
doi:10.59860/wph.a47c16a

Often more honoured in the breach than the observance, the prevailing discourse of early modern England encouraged widows to live as celibates, to epitomize piety, and to devote themselves to safeguarding their children’s interests. Of these injunctions, celibacy was crucial. Among Shakespeare’s elderly widows, all but Mistress Quickly remain single, a condition most vehemently prescribed by Catholic writers, who reluctantly exempted only the youngest widows— prejudged as concupiscent by virtue of their nubility and gender. In print, if not practice, Catholics and Protestants alike appeared to regard celibacy as the only suitable state for older widows. My paper briefly considers five widows of a certain age: Mistress Quickly, who violates the injunction when, between Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, she weds Ancient Pistol; Paulina of The Winter’s Tale who, by the end of Act V, has not formally accepted Camillo as a substitute for Antigonus; and the celibate, child-focused widows of Coriolanus and All’s Well That Ends Well, ‘widows indeed’. Whether these characters remarry or remain celibate depends, to a significant extent, on their financial situations, those with greater economic needs remarrying if they can.

Arthur Schnitzler, ‘Einer der Modernsten unter den Modernen’: The Significance of Schnitzler’s Associations with das Junge Wien for his Critical Reception in Vienna 1890-1900 as Documented in his Press Cuttings Collection
Holly Sayer
doi:10.59860/wph.a58b5b1

My paper looks at the critical reception of Schnitzler’s works in Vienna from 1890 to 1931 as documented in his press cuttings collection. Although the focus of my doctoral study is the significance of the question of Jewish identity, Schnitzler’s associations with the Jung Wien literary group clearly played an important role in shaping the reception of his early works and this is the focus of my first chapter. By addressing the following questions, this paper will explore to what extent and in what ways the critical reception of Schnitzler’s early works Anatol and Liebelei was affected by his associations with the Jung Wien, and what, if any, impact this had on his subsequent critical reception: firstly, it will assess the role that Schnitzler played in the Jung Wien and the relative importance of the group for Schnitzler’s literary development; secondly, it will examine the significance of his being labelled a representative of both specifically modern and specifically Viennese literature; finally it will evaluate how, together with his identity as a Jewish writer, his links with the Jung Wien group were detrimental to the critical reception of his works in Vienna throughout his lifetime.