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22
Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law. libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If electronic transmission of r,eserve material is used for.purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

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Page 1: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions

The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law. libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If electronic transmission of r,eserve material is used for.purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Page 2: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

[}(~~ (U)~ W~@J~<b ,r

ESSAYS BY

KARL KRAUS

TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY

JONATHAN FRANZEN WITH ASSISTANCE

AND ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM

PAUL REITTER AND DANIEL KEHLMANN

A BILINGUAL EDITION

FOURTH ESTATE • London

Page 3: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

Fourth Estate An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.4thestate.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Fourth Estate in 2013

Simultaneously published in the US by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2013

Copyright© 2013 by Jonathan Franzen Footnotes by Paul Reitter copyright© 2013 by Paul Reitter

Footnotes by Daniel Kehlmann copyright © 2013 by Daniel Kehlmann

2

Jonathan Franzen asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

The original essays and afterwords in this volume are from Karl Kraus's collection Untergang der Welt durch schwarze Magie, ed. Christoph Wagenknecht

(Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1989). "Man frage nicht ... " appeared in Die Facke/ no. 888, October 1933.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN HB 978-0-00-751743-5 ISBN TPB 978-0-00-751824-1

Designed by Abby Kagan Hand-lettering and illustrations by Matt Buck

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives pk

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the

prior permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise

circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being

imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

D FSC www.fsc.019

MIX Paper from

reaponelbla sources

Fsc· coo1454 FSC™ is a non-profit international organisation established to promote the responsible management of the world's forests. Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come

from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations,

and other controlled sources.

Find out more about HarperCollins and the environment at www.harpercollins.eo.uk/green

TO

DORIS AVER~

AND IN MEMOR'

GEORGE AVEI

Page 4: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

ij,M

lQ) l

Q) 0

~~IH

IW~lL

T

ZU

M 5

0. T

OD

EST

AG

E

~'

I r ,¥ii: '~i r ..... rt f~ f: }' <· I' l ; '~, l !.i ti\

____,,,

II__

W~~

T~@

~•

~,MlQ

) 1@

~T~~

OT~

ON

TH

E F

IFT

IET

H A

NN

IVE

RSA

RY

O

F H

IS D

EA

TH

1.Jo

hann

Nes

troy

(180

1-18

62) w

as a

lead

ing

figur

e in

the

gold

en a

ge

of V

ienn

ese

thea

ter,

in t

he f

irst

half

of t

he n

inet

eent

h ce

ntur

y. A

l-th

ough

virt

ually

unk

now

n ou

tsid

e A

ustr

ia (o

win

g in

par

t to

the

Aus

-tr

ian

infle

ctio

n of

his

low

er-c

lass

cha

ract

ers'

lang

uage

), he

was

wid

ely

love

d at

hom

e fo

r his

com

ic g

eniu

s. L

ike

Shak

espe

are,

N es

troy

was

an

Page 5: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

Wir

kon

nen

sein

And

enke

n ni

cht f

eier

n, i

ndem

wir

uns

, wie

's ei

ner

Nac

hwel

t zi

emt,

zu e

iner

Sch

uld

beke

nnen

, di

e w

ir a

b-zu

trag

en h

aben

. So

wol

len

wir

sein

And

enke

n fe

iern

, ind

em w

ir

uns

zu e

iner

Sch

uld

beke

nnen

, die

wir

zu

trag

en h

aben

, wir

In-

sass

en e

iner

Zei

t, w

elch

e di

e Fa

higk

eit v

erlo

ren

hat,

Nac

hwel

t zu

sein

...

Wie

sollt

e de

r ew

ige

Bau

herr

nic

ht v

on d

en E

rfah

rung

en

dies

es J

ahrh

unde

rts

lern

en?

Seitd

em e

s G

enie

s gi

bt, w

urde

n sie

als

Tro

cken

woh

ner

in d

ie Z

eit

gese

tzt;

sie z

ogen

aus

und

die

M

ensc

hhei

t ha

tte e

s w

arm

er.

Seitd

em e

s ab

er I

ngen

ieur

e gi

bt,

wird

das

Hau

s un

woh

nlic

her.

Got

t er

barm

e si

ch d

er E

ntw

ick-

lung

! E

r las

se d

ie K

iinst

ler l

iebe

r ni

cht g

ebor

en w

erde

n, a

ls m

it

inve

tera

te b

orro

wer

of w

ell-w

orn

plot

s, w

hich

he

exec

uted

with

un-

apol

oget

ic p

anac

he, a

nd h

e ha

d a

Shak

espe

area

n gi

ft fo

r ren

deri

ng h

is

buff

oons

at o

nce

ridi

culo

us a

nd s

ympa

thet

ic. H

is la

ngua

ge w

as b

ril-

liant

and

his p

lot s

truc

ture

s wer

e cr

isp, b

ut b

ecau

se so

muc

h of

his w

ork

was

mis

taka

ble

for

wha

t K

raus

will

her

e ca

ll "r

outin

e," a

nd b

ecau

se

com

edy

is ev

eryw

here

(an

d es

peci

ally

in G

erm

any)

hel

d in

low

er e

s-te

em th

an tr

aged

y, h

is r

eput

atio

n at

the

tim

e of

Kra

us's

cele

brat

ion

of

him

was

clo

ser t

o G

ilber

t and

Sul

livan

's th

an to

Sha

kesp

eare

's.

In "N

estr

oy a

nd P

oste

rity

" (1

912)

, Kra

us w

as d

oing

the

inve

rse

of

wha

t he'

d do

ne tw

o ye

ars

earl

ier

in "

Hei

ne a

nd t

he C

onse

quen

ces"

-

136

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

l :(, r ~' '' 1: [~

',

__l_\j

' '

We

cann

ot ce

lebr

ate

his

mem

ory

the

way

a po

ster

ity o

ught

to, b

y ac

know

ledg

ing

a de

bt w

e're

calle

d up

on t

o ho

nor,

and

so w

e w

ant t

o ce

lebr

ate

his

mem

ory

by co

nfes

sing

to a

ban

krup

tcy

that

di

shon

ors

us, w

e in

habi

tant

s of

a tim

e th

at h

as lo

st th

e ca

paci

ty

to b

e a

post

erity

...

How

cou

ld th

e et

erna

l Bui

lder

fail

to le

arn

from

the

exp

erie

nces

of t

his

cent

ury?

For

as

long

as

ther

e ha

ve

been

gen

iuse

s, t

hey'

ve b

een

plac

ed i

nto

a tim

e lik

e te

mpo

rary

te

nant

s, w

hile

the

pla

ster

was

stil

l dry

ing;

then

they

mov

ed o

ut

and

left

thi

ngs

cozi

er f

or h

uman

ity.

For

as l

ong

as t

here

hav

e be

en e

ngin

eers

, how

ever

, the

hou

se h

as b

een

getti

ng le

ss h

abit-

able

. God

hav

e m

ercy

on

the

deve

lopm

ent!

Bet

ter

that

He

not

cham

pion

ing

an u

nder

rate

d w

rite

r ra

ther

than

taki

ng d

own

an o

ver-

rate

d on

e. T

he r

eade

r sh

ould

be

war

ned

that

the

Nes

troy

ess

ay is

, in

plac

es, e

ven

dens

er th

an th

e H

eine

. But

her

e ag

ain

Kra

us is

leve

ragi

ng

a se

emin

gly

intr

amur

al li

tera

ry fi

ght i

nto

a ver

y bro

ad cu

ltura

l cri

tique

, w

hich

is t

he e

ssen

ce o

f his

met

hod:

he j

umps

dir

ectly

from

a s

mal

l ill

( the

fact

that

N es

troy

is u

nder

rate

d, m

isrea

d, a

nd su

bsta

ntia

lly fo

rgot

-te

n) to

the

larg

est o

f ills

( the

deh

uman

izat

ions

of t

echn

olog

y, th

e fa

lse

prom

ises

of P

rogr

ess

and

Enl

ight

enm

ent)

. The

sta

kes

here

are

eve

n hi

gher

and

mor

e di

rect

ly re

leva

nt to

our

ow

n tim

es.

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 13

7

Page 6: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

dem

Tro

st, w

enn

sie a

uf d

ie N

achw

elt k

omm

en, w

iirde

die

se e

s be

sser

hab

en. D

iese

l V

ersu

che

sie e

s nu

r, si

ch a

ls N

achw

elt z

u fii

hlen

, und

sie

wird

iibe

r die

Zum

utun

g, ih

ren

Fort

schr

itt d

em

Um

weg

des

Gei

stes

zu

verd

anke

n, e

ine

Lach

e an

schl

agen

, die

zu

besa

gen

sche

int:

Kal

odon

t ist

das

Bes

te. E

ine

Lach

e, n

ach

eine

r Id

ee d

es R

oose

velt,

inst

rum

entie

rt v

on B

ernh

ard

Shaw

. Es i

st d

ie

Lach

e, d

ie m

it al

lem

fer

tig u

nd z

u al

lem

fah

ig i

st.

Den

n di

e Te

chni

ker h

aben

die

Brii

cke

abge

broc

hen,

und

Zuk

unft

ist,

was

138

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

". I? :i ! 1~ I\ al

low

arti

sts

to b

e bo

rn th

an w

ith th

e co

nsol

atio

n th

at th

is fu

ture

of

ours

will

be

bette

r for

thei

r hav

ing

lived

bef

ore

us. T

his w

orld

! L

et it

just

try

to fe

el li

ke a

pos

terit

y, a

nd, a

t the

insi

nuat

ion

that

it

ow

es i

ts p

rogr

ess

to a

det

our

of th

e M

ind,

it

will

giv

e ou

t a

laug

h th

at s

eem

s to

say

: Mor

e D

entis

ts P

refe

r Pe

psod

ent.

A

laug

h ba

sed

on a

n id

ea o

f Roo

seve

lt's

and

orch

estra

ted

by B

ern-

hard

2 Sh

aw. I

t's th

e la

ugh

that

's do

ne w

ith ev

eryt

hing

and

can

do

wha

teve

r. Fo

r the

tech

nici

ans

have

bur

ned

the

brid

ges,

and

the

2. S

ic. A

ltho

ugh

it's

no e

xcus

e fo

r m

issp

ellin

g hi

s na

me,

Kra

us h

ated

Sh

aw fo

r som

e of

the

sam

e re

ason

s he

hat

ed H

eine

. "Fo

r Kra

us,"

says

D

anie

l K

ehlm

ann,

"Sh

aw is

the

pro

toty

pe o

f th

e m

odem

, sh

allo

w,

med

ia-c

ompa

tible

joum

alis

t-lit

tera

teur

who

se f

ame

rest

s la

rgel

y on

ha

ving

inte

rest

ing

opin

ions

and

giv

ing

orig

inal

inte

rvie

ws:

who

talk

s to

eve

ry n

ewsp

aper

and

doe

sn't

have

the

leas

t int

eres

t in

lang

uage

it-

self.

" Ev

en in

Pyg

mal

ion,

whi

ch a

ppea

rs t

o be

pre

occu

pied

with

lan-

guag

e, H

enry

Hig

gins

is p

rese

nted

as

a sc

ient

ist o

f spo

ken

Engl

ish.

Sh

aw g

ives

Hig

gins

a b

ig a

nd p

redi

ctab

le e

mot

iona

l blin

d sp

ot-o

ur

eggh

ead

has

a le

sson

to le

arn

abou

t the

hum

an h

eart

, etc

.-w

hile

re-

mai

ning

pal

pabl

y in

fatu

ated

with

Hig

gins

's sm

arty

-pan

ts s

cien

tific

ha

uteu

r. R

egar

ding

Roo

seve

lt, P

aul R

eitte

r com

men

ts: "

No

fan

of A

mer

ica,

K

raus

dis

liked

The

odor

e R

oose

velt,

who

seem

ed so

ver

y A

mer

ican

; he

even

com

men

ted

snid

ely

on R

oose

velt'

s ga

me

atte

mpt

, in

191

0, t

o sp

eak

a lit

tle G

erm

an t

o a

Ger

man

cho

ral g

roup

. In

this

sen

tenc

e,

thou

gh, K

raus

has

in m

ind

Roo

seve

lt's p

ush

for t

echn

olog

ical

prog

ress

, hi

s m

oder

nizi

ng s

treak

. Kra

us w

asn'

t a t

echn

opho

be in

his

eve

ryda

y lif

e. In

1914

, whe

n V

ienn

a had

few

aut

omob

iles a

nd m

any

auto

mob

ile

acci

dent

s (s

ee t

he f

irst

scen

e in

Mus

il's

The

Man

With

out

Qua

litie

s),

Kra

us b

ough

t a c

ar a

nd h

ad h

imse

lf dr

iven

aro

und

by a

chau

ffeu

r. N

or

was

Kra

us a

vers

e, la

ter o

n, to

air

trave

l. B

ut a

roun

d 19

08 h

e ca

me

to

belie

ve th

at o

ur te

chno

logi

cal c

apab

ilitie

s and

our

imag

inat

ive f

acul

ties

wer

e goi

ng in

opp

osite

dir

ecti

ons-

the

form

er w

ere

goin

g up

and

, as a

re

sult,

the

latte

r dow

n-an

d th

is th

ough

t rea

lly s

care

d hi

m. I

t's w

hat

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 13

9

Page 7: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

sich

aut

omat

isch

ans

chlie

il.t.

Die

se G

esch

win

digk

eit w

eiil.

nich

t, da

il. ih

re L

eist

ung

nur w

icht

ig is

t, ih

r sel

bst z

u en

trin

nen.

Lei

bes-

gege

nwar

tig, g

eist

esw

ider

war

tig, v

ollk

omm

en w

ie s

ie is

t, di

ese

Zei t,

hof

ft si

e, w

erde

die

nac

hste

sie i

iber

nehm

en, u

nd d

ie K

inde

r, di

e de

r Sp

ort

mit

der

Mas

chin

e ge

zeug

t ha

t un

d di

e Ze

itung

ge

nahr

t, w

iirde

n da

nn n

och

bess

er l

ache

n ko

nnen

. B

ange

ma-

chen

gilt

nic

ht; m

elde

t sic

h ei

n G

eist

, so

heiil

.t es

: wir

sind

kom

-pl

ett.

Die

Wis

sens

chaf

t is

t au

fges

tellt

, ih

nen

die

herm

etis

che

Abs

chlie

il.un

g vo

n al

lem

Jen

seiti

gen

zu g

aran

tiere

n. D

ie K

unst

ve

rjage

ihn

en d

ie S

orge

, wel

chem

Pla

nete

n so

eben

die

Ged

an-

ken

ihre

r Vor

wel

t zug

utek

omm

en. W

as s

ich

da W

elt n

ennt

, wei

l

mad

e hi

m in

to th

e 'ap

ocal

yptic

satir

ist.'

In th

e es

say '

Apo

caly

pse'

( 190

8),

he w

rites

, 'Cul

ture

can'

t cat

ch it

s bre

ath,

and

in th

e en

d a

dead

hum

an-

ity li

es n

ext t

o its

wor

ks, w

hose

inve

ntio

n co

st u

s so

muc

h of

our i

ntel

-le

ct th

at w

e ha

d no

ne le

ft to

put

them

to u

se. W

e w

ere

com

plic

ated

en

ough

to b

uild

mac

hine

s and

too

prim

itive

to m

ake t

hem

serv

e us.

We

oper

ate

a w

orld

wid

e sy

stem

of

traffi

c al

ong

a na

rrow

rou

te i

n th

e br

ain.

"'

Cul

ture

can

't ca

tch

its b

reat

h: to

me

the

mos

t im

pres

sive

thin

g ab

out

Kra

us a

s a

thin

ker m

ay b

e ho

w ea

rly a

nd c

lear

ly h

e re

cogn

ized

the

di-

verg

ence

of t

echn

olog

ical

pro

gres

s fr

om m

oral

and

spi

ritu

al p

rogr

ess.

A s

ucce

edin

g ce

ntur

y of

the

form

er, i

nvol

ving

scie

ntifi

c ad

vanc

es th

at

wou

ld h

ave

seem

ed m

iracu

lous

not

lon

g ag

o, h

as r

esul

ted

in h

igh-

reso

lutio

n sm

artp

hone

vid

eos

of d

udes

dro

ppin

g M

ento

s in

to l

iter

bottl

es o

f Die

t Pep

si a

nd sh

outin

g "W

hoa!

" whi

le th

ey ge

yser

. Tec

hno-

visi

onar

ies

of th

e 19

90s

prom

ised

that

the

Inte

rnet

wou

ld u

sher

in a

ne

w w

orld

of p

eace

, lov

e, a

nd u

nder

stan

ding

, and

Tw

itter

exe

cutiv

es

are

still

ban

ging

the

uto

pian

ist

drum

, cl

aim

ing

foun

datio

nal

cred

it fo

r th

e A

rab

Sprin

g. T

o lis

ten

to th

em, y

ou'd

thin

k it

was

inco

ncei

v-ab

le t

hat E

aste

rn E

urop

e co

uld

liber

ate

itsel

f fro

m t

he S

ovie

ts w

ith-

out t

he b

enef

it of

cell

phon

es, o

r tha

t a b

unch

of A

mer

ican

s re

volte

d ag

ains

t the

Bri

tish

and

prod

uced

the

U.S

. Con

stitu

tion

with

out 4

G

capa

bilit

y.

140

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

l . . ' . 1··•·

I i "S~ .;/ l

futu

re is

: wha

teve

r fo

llow

s au

tom

atic

ally

.3 Th

is v

eloc

ity d

oesn

't re

aliz

e th

at it

s ac

hiev

emen

t is

impo

rtan

t onl

y in

esc

apin

g its

el£

Pres

ent i

n bo

dy, r

epel

lent

in s

pirit

, per

fect

just

the

way

they

are

, th

ese

times

of

ours

are

hop

ing

to b

e ov

erta

ken

by t

he t

imes

ah

ead,

and

hop

ing

that

the

child

ren,

spa

wne

d by

the

unio

n of

sp

ort a

nd m

achi

ne a

nd n

ouri

shed

by

new

spap

er, w

ill b

e ab

le t

o la

ugh

even

bet

ter t

hen.

The

re's

no s

carin

g th

em; i

f a s

pirit

com

es

alon

g, th

e w

ord

is: w

e've

alre

ady

got e

very

thin

g w

e ne

ed. S

cien

ce

is se

t up

to

guar

ante

e th

eir

herm

etic

iso

latio

n fr

om a

nyth

ing

from

the

bey

ond.

Let

art

cha

se a

way

thei

r wor

ries

abou

t whi

ch

plan

et h

appe

ns to

be

bene

fitin

g fr

om t

he th

ough

ts o

f the

wor

ld

3. N

owad

ays,

the

refr

ain

is th

at "t

here

's no

stop

ping

our

pow

erfu

l new

te

chno

logi

es."

Gra

ssro

ots r

esis

tanc

e to

thes

e tec

hnol

ogie

s is a

lmos

t en-

tirel

y co

nfin

ed to

hea

lth a

nd sa

fety

issu

es, a

nd m

eanw

hile

var

ious

log-

ics-

of w

ar th

eory

, of t

echn

olog

y, o

f the

mar

ketp

lace

--ke

ep u

nfol

ding

au

tom

atic

ally

. We f

ind

ours

elve

s liv

ing

in a

wor

ld w

ith h

ydro

gen

bom

bs

beca

use

uran

ium

bom

bs ju

st w

eren

't go

ing

to g

et th

e job

don

e; w

e fin

d ou

rsel

ves

spen

ding

mos

t of o

ur w

akin

g ho

urs

text

ing

and

e-m

ailin

g an

d tw

eetin

g an

d po

stin

g on

colo

r-sc

reen

gad

gets

bec

ause

Moo

re's

law

sa

id w

e co

uld.

We'r

e to

ld th

at, t

o re

mai

n co

mpe

titiv

e ec

onom

ical

ly, w

e ne

ed to

forg

et a

bout

the

hum

aniti

es a

nd te

ach

our c

hild

ren

"pas

sion

" (t

o us

e Th

omas

Frie

dman

's w

ord

in a

201

3 Ti

mes

col

umn)

for d

igita

l te

chno

logy

and

pre

pare

them

to sp

end

thei

r ent

ire l

ives

ince

ssan

tly re

-ed

ucat

ing

them

selv

es to

kee

p up

with

it. T

he lo

gic

says

that

if w

e wan

t th

ings

like

Zap

pos.

com

or h

ome

DV

R c

apab

ilit

y-an

d w

ho w

ould

n't

wan

t the

m?-

we

need

to sa

y goo

dbye

to jo

b st

abili

ty an

d he

llo to

a lif

e-tim

e of

anxi

ety.

We

need

to b

ecom

e as r

estle

ss as

cap

italis

m it

sel£

N

ot on

ly am

I no

t a L

uddi

te, I

'm n

ot ev

en su

re th

e or

igin

al L

uddi

tes

wer

e Lud

dite

s. (T

hey h

ad n

o sy

stem

atic

bee

f with

tech

nolo

gy; i

t sim

ply

seem

ed p

ract

ical

to th

em to

smas

h th

e st

eam

-pow

ered

loom

s tha

t wer

e pu

tting

them

out

of w

ork.

) In

dev

elop

ing

this

boo

k, I

'm r

elyi

ng o

n so

ftwar

e an

d si

licon

to fa

cilit

ate

disc

ussi

ons w

ith K

ehlm

ann

and

Rei

t-te

r in

two

othe

r tim

e zo

nes,

and

I'm

enc

hant

ed w

ith e

very

thin

g ab

out

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 14

1

Page 8: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

es i

n fil

nfzi

g T

agen

sic

h se

lbst

ber

eise

n ka

nn, i

st fe

rtig,

wen

n es

si

ch b

erec

hnen

kan

n. U

m d

er F

rage

: Was

dan

n? g

etro

st in

s Aug

e zu

seh

en, b

leib

t ihr

noc

h di

e Zu

vers

icht

, mit

dem

Unb

erec

hen-

bare

n fe

rtig

zu w

erde

n. S

ie d

ankt

den

Aut

oren

, die

ihr d

as P

rob-

lem

, sei

es

durc

h Ze

itver

trei

b ab

nehm

en, s

ei's

durc

h B

estr

eitu

ng.

Abe

r sie

mui?

, jen

em fl

uche

n, d

em s

ie -

tot o

der

lebe

ndig

-al

s M

ahne

r od

er S

piel

verd

erbe

r zw

isch

en G

esch

aft u

nd E

rfol

g be

-ge

gnet

. Und

wen

ns z

um F

luch

nic

ht m

ehr

lang

t -de

nn z

um

Fluc

hen

geho

rt A

ndac

ht -

, so

lang

t's z

um V

erge

ssen

. Und

kau

m

besi

nnt s

ich

einm

al d

as G

ehir

n, d

ai?, d

er T

ag d

er g

roi?.

en D

urre

an

gebr

oche

n is

t. D

ann

vers

tum

mt

die

letz

te O

rgel

, abe

r no

ch

saus

t die

letz

te M

asch

ine,

bis

auc

h sie

stil

le s

teht

, wei

l der

Len

-ke

r das

Wor

tver

gess

en h

at. D

enn

der V

erst

and

vers

tand

nic

ht, d

ai?,

er m

it d

er E

ntfe

rnun

g vo

m G

eist

zw

ar in

nerh

alb

der G

ener

atio

n w

achs

en k

onnt

e, a

ber

die

Fahi

gkei

t ver

lor,

sich

for

tzup

flan

zen.

my

new

Len

ovo

ultr

aboo

k co

mpu

ter

exce

pt i

ts n

ame.

(W

orki

ng o

n so

met

hing

calle

d an

Idea

Pad

tem

pts m

e to

refu

se to

hav

e ide

as.)

I don

't m

ind

tech

nolo

gy a

s m

y se

rvan

t; I m

ind

it o

nly

as m

y m

aste

r. B

ut n

ot

long

ago

, whe

n I w

as i

ntem

pera

te e

noug

h to

cal

l Tw

itter

"du

mb"

in

publ

ic, t

he r

espo

nse

ofT

wit

ter a

ddic

ts w

as to

cal

l me

a L

uddi

te. N

yah,

ny

ah, n

yah!

I tw

as as

ifl'd

said

it w

as "

dum

b" to

smok

e cig

aret

tes,

exce

pt

that

in th

is c

ase

I had

no

med

ical

evid

ence

to

back

me

up. P

eopl

e di

d w

orry

, for

a w

hile

, tha

t cel

l pho

nes

mig

ht c

ause

bra

in c

ance

r, bu

t the

pu

rpor

ted

link

has b

een

reve

aled

to b

e fe

eble

to

none

xist

ent,

and

now

no

body

has

to w

orry

any

mor

e.

142

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

r Ji.__

ante

rior

to t

hem

.4 Th

is t

hing

that

cal

ls i

tsel

f a w

orld

bec

ause

it

can

tour

its

elf i

n fif

ty d

ays

is fi

nish

ed a

s so

on a

s it

can

do

the

mat

h.5

To

look

the

ques

tion

"Wha

t the

n?" r

esol

utel

y in

the

eye,

it

stil

l ha

s th

e co

nfid

ence

to

reck

on w

ith

wha

teve

r do

esn'

t ad

d up

. It

's gr

atef

ul t

o th

e au

thor

s w

ho r

elie

ve i

t of

the

prob

lem

, w

heth

er b

y di

vers

ion

or b

y di

sput

e. B

ut it

has

to c

urse

the

on

e-

livin

g or

dea

d-w

hom

it e

ncou

nter

s as

adm

onis

her o

r spo

ilspo

rt

betw

een

busi

ness

and

suc

cess

. And

whe

n cu

rsin

g no

long

er s

uf-

fice

s-be

caus

e cu

rsin

g im

plie

s re

vere

nce-

it's

eno

ugh

to fo

rget

. A

nd t

he b

rain

has

bar

ely

an i

nklin

g th

at t

he d

ay o

f th

e gr

eat

drou

ght h

as d

awne

d. T

hen

the

last

org

an fa

lls s

ilent

, but

the

last

m

achi

ne g

oes

on h

umm

ing

until

eve

n it

sta

nds

still

, bec

ause

its

oper

ator

has

forg

otte

n th

e W

ord.

6 Fo

r the

inte

llect

did

n't u

nder

-st

and

that

, in

the

abse

nce

of sp

irit,

it

coul

d gr

ow w

ell

enou

gh

wit

hin

its o

wn

gene

ratio

n bu

t wou

ld lo

se th

e ab

ility

to re

prod

uce

4. N

o m

atte

r how

man

y tim

es I

read

it, I

can

't m

ake

full

sens

e of

this

se

nten

ce, a

lthou

gh it

does

hel

p, a

littl

e bit,

to p

lug i

n th

e exa

mpl

e of t

he

ante

rior t

houg

hts o

f the

Fra

mer

s of o

ur C

onst

itutio

n an

d th

eir b

enef

it to

our

cur

rent

pla

net.

Keh

lman

n al

so h

elpf

ully

not

es: "

The

sent

ence

el

abor

ates

on

a lin

e of t

houg

ht th

at K

raus

beg

an in

his

poem

'To

Eter

-na

l Pea

ce':

that

ther

e's n

othi

ng m

ore

nobl

e th

an th

e pl

easu

re (a

ple

a-su

re e

xper

ienc

ed b

y K

ant,

who

m th

e po

em is

abo

ut) o

f kno

win

g th

at

futu

re g

ener

atio

ns w

ill h

ave

thin

gs b

ette

r tha

n on

e's o

wn.

Our

pres

ent

does

exa

ctly

the

oppo

site,

not

onl

y no

t wor

king

for l

ater

gen

erat

ions

bu

t act

ually

mak

ing

thin

gs w

orse

for t

hem

."

5. K

ehlm

ann

cons

ider

s it a

nea

r cer

tain

ty th

at so

mew

here

in a

n ea

rlier

ed

ition

of D

ie F

acke

/ is

a re

fere

nce

to s

omeo

ne's

havi

ng c

ircle

d th

e w

orld

in fi

fty d

ays-

a re

fere

nce t

hat K

raus

's re

ader

s wou

ld h

ave r

ecog

-ni

zed

here

. Rei

tter s

uspe

cts t

he re

fere

nce i

s to J

ules

Ver

ne's

Arou

nd th

e W

orld

in

Eigh

ty D

ays,

amen

ded

to f

ifty

beca

use

it's

fifty

yea

rs sin

ce

Nes

troy's

dea

th.

6. "T

he p

hras

e ab

out t

he o

pera

tor

forg

ettin

g th

e W

ord

com

es f

rom

G

oeth

e's p

oem

'The

Sor

cere

r's A

ppre

ntic

e."' -P

R

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

143

Page 9: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

Wen

n zw

eim

al z

wei

wir

klic

h vi

er is

t, w

ie s

ie b

ehau

pten

, so

ver-

dank

t es

dies

es R

esul

tat d

er T

atsa

che,

dail

, Goe

the

das

Ged

icht

»M

eere

sstil

le"

gesc

hrie

ben

hat.

Nun

abe

r w

eig

man

so

gena

u,

wie

viel

zw

eim

al z

wei

ist

, dail

, m

an e

s in

hun

dert

Jah

ren

nich

t m

ehrw

ird

ausr

echn

en k

onne

n. E

s mug

etw

as in

die

Wel

t gek

om-

men

sei

n, w

as e

s ni

e fr

iiher

geg

eben

hat

. E

in T

eufe

lsw

erk

der

Hum

anit

at. E

ine

Erfi

ndun

g, d

en K

ohin

oor

zu z

ersc

hlag

en, u

m

144

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

r ,~ f _j__

itsel

£7 I

f tw

o tim

es t

wo

real

ly is

fou

r, th

e w

ay th

ey s

ay it

is, i

t's

owin

g to

the

fac

t th

at G

oeth

e w

rote

the

poe

m "

Still

ness

and

Se

a." B

ut n

ow p

eopl

e kn

ow th

e pr

oduc

t of t

wo

times

two

so e

x-ac

tly t

hat i

n a

hund

red

year

s th

ey w

on't

be a

ble

to fi

gure

it o

ut.

Som

ethi

ng t

hat

neve

r be

fore

exi

sted

mus

t ha

ve e

nter

ed t

he

wor

ld. A

n in

fern

al m

achi

ne o

f hum

anity

. 8 A

n in

vent

ion

for s

hat-

teri

ng t

he K

oh-i

-noo

r to

mak

e its

lig

ht a

cces

sibl

e to

eve

ryon

e

7. H

ere's

a li

ttle

glim

pse

of w

hat's

get

ting

lost

in tr

ansl

atio

n: in

the

orig

inal

, "th

e in

telle

ct d

idn'

t und

erst

and"

is t

he b

eaut

ifully

repe

titiv

e de

r Ver

stand

ver

stan

d ni

cht.

Alth

ough

the

trans

lato

r is m

ostly

just

grin

-ni

ng a

nd b

earin

g th

ese l

osse

s, he

thou

ght h

e'd m

entio

n th

is o

ne.

8. In

the o

rigin

al, f

or "h

uman

ity,"

Kra

us u

nexp

ecte

dly u

ses t

he L

atin

ate

Hum

anit

iit r

athe

r tha

n th

e G

erm

anic

Men

schl

ichk

eit.

Keh

lman

n sa

ys:

"My

gues

s is

that

it's

an e

cho

of N

ietz

sche

, 'O

Vol

taire

, o h

uman

ity

[Hum

aniti

it], o

idio

cy!' A

ll of

Kra

us's

cont

empo

rary

read

ers w

ould

have

he

ard

a fa

int e

cho

of N

ietz

sche

and

his

loat

hing

of E

nlig

hten

men

t in

that

wor

d. B

ut th

at's

just

a gu

ess."

Fol

low

ing

a tip

from

a fe

llow

scho

lar,

Rei

tter n

otes

that

Kra

us is

also

pro

babl

y ec

hoin

g an

ofte

n-ci

ted

rhym

e by

the

Aus

trian

writ

er F

ranz

Gril

lpar

zer (

1791

-187

2 ):

Der

J#g

der n

euer

n Bi

/dun

g geh

t: Vo

n H

uman

itiit,

D

urch

Nat

iona

litiit

, Zu

r Bes

tialit

iit.

(The

road

of m

odem

educ

atio

n le

ads:

From

hum

anity

, Th

roug

h na

tiona

lity,

To

bar

barit

y.)

I'd li

ke to

unp

ack

this

sen

tenc

e fr

agm

ent f

urth

er, s

ince

, of a

ll of

K

raus

's lin

es, i

t's p

roba

bly

the

one

that

has

mea

nt th

e m

ost t

o m

e. A

n "i

nfer

nal m

achi

ne" i

s an

expl

osiv

e or

des

truct

ive

devi

ce c

onst

ruct

ed to

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

145

Page 10: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

sein

Lic

ht al

len,

die

es n

icht

hab

en, z

ugan

glic

h zu

mac

hen.

Fi.i

nf-

zig J

ahre

lauf

t sch

on d

ie M

asch

ine,

in d

ie v

orn

der G

eist

hin

ein-

geta

n w

ird,

um

hin

ten

als

Dru

ck h

erau

szuk

omm

en, v

erdi

.inne

nd,

verb

reite

nd, v

erni

chte

nd.

Der

Geb

er v

erlie

rt, d

ie B

esch

enkt

en

vera

rmen

, und

die

Ver

mitt

ler h

aben

zu

lebe

n. E

in Z

wis

chen

ding

ha

t si

ch e

inge

bi.ir

gert,

um

die

Leb

ensw

erte

geg

enei

nand

er z

u Fa

lle z

u br

inge

n. U

nter

dem

Pes

thau

ch d

er In

telli

genz

schl

id?.

en

Kun

st u

nd M

ensc

hhei

t ihr

en F

ried

en ...

Ein

Gei

st, d

er h

eute

fii

nfzi

g Ja

hre

tot

ist

und

noch

im

mer

nic

ht l

ebt,

ist

das

erst

e O

pfer

die

ses

Freu

denf

este

s, i.

iber

das

sei

t da

mal

s sp

alte

nlan

ge

Ber

icht

e er

sche

inen

. Wie

es

kam

, dai?

. sol

ch e

in G

eist

beg

rabe

n

delib

erat

ely

caus

e ha

rm;

the

Ger

man

ter

m,

Teuf

elsw

erk

(lite

rally

"d

evil's

wor

k"),

shar

pens

the

Kra

usia

n pa

rado

x of

the

phra

se "

of h

u-m

anity

." K

raus

in th

is p

assa

ge is

evo

king

the

Sorc

erer

's A

ppre

ntic

e--

the u

nint

ende

d unl

eash

ing o

f sup

erna

tura

lly de

struc

tive c

onse

quen

ces.

Alth

ough

he's

talk

ing

abou

t the

mod

em n

ewsp

aper

, his

criti

que

ap-

plie

s, if

anyt

hing

, eve

n be

tter t

o co

ntem

pora

ry te

chno

-con

sum

eris

m.

For K

raus

, the

infe

rnal

thin

g ab

out n

ewsp

aper

s w

as th

eir f

raud

ulen

t co

uplin

g of

Enl

ight

enm

ent i

deal

s with

a re

lent

less

and

inge

niou

s pur

-su

it of

prof

it an

d po

wer

. Wit

h te

chno

-con

sum

eris

m, a

hum

anis

t rhe

t-or

ic o

f "em

pow

erm

ent"

and "

crea

tivity

" and

"fre

edom

" and

"con

nect

ion"

an

d "d

emoc

racy

" abe

ts th

e fra

nk m

onop

olis

m o

f the

tech

no-ti

tans

; the

ne

w in

fern

al m

achi

ne se

ems

incr

easin

gly

to o

bey

noth

ing

but i

ts ow

n de

velo

pmen

tal l

ogic

, and

it's

far

mor

e en

slavi

ngly

add

ictiv

e, a

nd fa

r m

ore p

ande

ring t

o pe

ople

's w

orst

impu

lses,

than

new

spap

ers e

ver w

ere.

Inde

ed, w

hat K

raus

will

late

r say

ofN

estro

y cou

ld n

ow b

e sai

d of K

raus

hi

mse

lf: "

He

atta

cks

his

smal

l env

irons

with

an

aspe

rity

wor

thy

of a

late

r cau

se."T

he p

rofit

s and

reac

h of

Mor

iz B

ened

ikt,

the

publ

ishe

r of

the

Neu

e Fr

eie

Pres

se, w

ere

pitif

ully

sm

all b

y th

e st

anda

rds

of to

day's

te

ch a

nd m

edia

gia

nts.

The

sea o

f triv

ial o

r fals

e or

empt

y da

ta is

thou

-sa

nds o

f tim

es la

rger

now

. Kra

us w

as m

erel

y pr

ogno

stic

atin

g w

hen

he

envi

sione

d a

day

whe

n pe

ople

had

forg

otte

n ho

w to

add

and

subt

ract

;

146

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

r \ _i_

who

doe

sn't

have

it.9

For

fifty

yea

rs n

ow it

's be

en r

unni

ng, t

he

mac

hine

into

whi

ch th

e M

ind

is pu

t in

the

fron

t to

emer

ge a

t the

re

ar a

s pr

int,

dilu

ting,

dis

trib

utin

g, d

estro

ying

. The

giv

er lo

ses,

the

reci

pien

ts a

re im

pove

rish

ed, a

nd th

e m

iddl

emen

mak

e a

liv-

ing.

A h

ybri

d th

ing

has

settl

ed in

to s

ubve

rt th

e va

lues

of l

ife b

y tu

rnin

g th

em a

gain

st e

ach

othe

r. In

the

pes

tilen

tial

mia

sma

of

the

inte

llect

, art

and

man

kind

mak

e th

eir p

eace

...

A s

piri

t who

's be

en d

ead

for f

ifty

year

s to

day,

and

who

stil

l isn

't al

ive,

is th

e fir

st

vict

im o

f thi

s fe

stiv

al o

f joy

, abo

ut w

hich

repo

rts

by th

e co

lum

n ha

ve a

ppea

red

ever

sin

ce.

How

it

happ

ened

tha

t a

spir

it lik

e th

is w

as b

urie

d:10

it c

ould

onl

y be

the

eno

rmou

s co

nten

t of h

is

now

it's

hard

to g

et th

roug

h a

mea

l with

frie

nds

with

out s

omeb

ody

reac

hing

for

an iP

hone

to r

etrie

ve th

e ki

nd o

f fac

t it u

sed

to b

e th

e br

ain's

resp

onsib

ility

to re

mem

ber.

The

tech

no-b

oost

ers,

of co

urse

, see

no

thin

g w

rong

her

e. T

hey

poin

t out

that

hum

an b

eing

s ha

ve a

lway

s ou

tsou

rced

mem

ory-

to b

ards

, hi

stor

ians

, sp

ouse

s, bo

oks.

But

I'm

en

ough

of a

child

of t

he si

xties

to se

e a d

iffer

ence

bet

wee

n le

tting

your

sp

ouse

rem

embe

r you

r nie

ces'

birth

days

and

han

ding

ove

r bas

ic m

em-

ory

func

tion

to a

glob

al c

orpo

rate

syste

m o

f con

trol.

9. T

he K

oh-i-

noor

, at 1

06 m

etric

car

ats,

was

onc

e th

e la

rges

t kno

wn

diam

ond.

It no

w re

sides

in th

e cr

own

of B

ritai

n's ~

een

Eliz

abet

h II

. 10

. Rei

tter

note

s: "W

hen

Kra

us p

ublis

hed

'Nes

troy

and

Poste

rity,

' in

May

of 1

912,

Nes

troy w

as g

ener

ally

cons

ider

ed, f

or a

ll his

popu

larit

y, to

be

no

mor

e tha

n an

auth

or sk

illed

at v

erna

cula

r far

ces-

a fun

and

som

e-tim

es v

ulga

r fo

rm o

f ent

erta

inm

ent t

hat d

idn'

t ulti

mat

ely

have

muc

h de

pth.

Onl

y K

raus

and

a fe

w ot

hers

thou

ght h

e was

a gr

eat a

rtist.

" K

ehlm

ann

cont

inue

s: "K

raus

's pe

rsis

tent

cha

mpi

onin

g of

Nes

troy

ha

d co

nseq

uenc

es: N

estro

y to

day

is ac

know

ledg

ed to

be

perh

aps

the

grea

test

com

ic g

eniu

s in

Aus

trian

lite

ratu

re. H

is p

lays

are

prod

uced

an

d he

's re

ad in

scho

ol; h

e's a

clas

sic w

hose

lite

rary

stat

us is

no

long

er in

di

sput

e--a

t lea

st in

Aus

tria.

In G

erm

any,

peo

ple

may

be k

now

just

the

nam

e. H

is p

lays a

re n

eith

er re

ad n

or pr

oduc

ed. A

nd th

is h

as n

othi

ng to

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 14

7

Page 11: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

wur

de:

es m

iii?.t

e de

r gr

oi?.e

Inh

alt

sein

es s

atiri

sche

n D

enke

ns

sein

, und

ich

glau

be, e

r dic

htet

wei

ter.

Er,

Joha

nn N

estro

y, k

ann

es s

ich

nich

t gef

alle

n la

ssen

, dai?

. alle

s bl

ieb,

wie

es

ihm

miM

alle

n ha

t. D

ie N

achw

elt w

iede

rhol

t sei

nen

Text

und

ken

nt ih

n ni

cht;

sie l

acht

nic

ht m

it ih

m, s

onde

m g

egen

ihn

, sie

wid

erle

gt u

nd

best

atig

t di

e Sa

tire

durc

h di

e U

nver

gang

lichk

eit

dess

en,

was

St

off i

st. N

icht

wie

Hei

ne, d

esse

n W

itz

mit

der

Wel

t lau

ft, d

er

sie d

ort

traf,

wo

sie g

ekitz

elt

sein

wol

lte, u

nd d

em s

ie i

mm

er

gew

achs

en w

ar, n

icht

wie

Hei

ne w

ird

sie N

estr

oy ii

berw

inde

n.

Sond

em w

ie d

er F

eige

den

Sta

rken

iibe

rwin

det,

inde

m e

r ih

m

davo

nlau

ft un

d ih

n du

rch

eine

n Li

tera

rhis

tori

ker

ansp

ucke

n lai

?.t. G

egen

Hei

ne w

ird m

an u

ndan

kbar

sein

, man

wird

die

Rec

hte

der M

ode

gege

n ih

n ge

ltend

mac

hen,

man

wir

d ih

n ni

cht m

ehr

trage

n. A

ber i

mm

er w

ird

man

sage

n, da

i?, e

r den

Hor

izon

t hat

te,

dai?.

er e

in B

efre

ier w

ar, d

ai?. e

r sic

h m

it M

inis

tem

abg

egeb

en h

at

und

zwis

chen

durc

h no

ch d

ie G

eist

esge

genw

art

hatte

, Li

ebes

-

do w

ith

thei

r be

ing

hard

to

follo

w:

the

righ

t way

to p

rodu

ce h

im, a

s K

raus

him

self

will

poi

nt ou

t, is

not i

n A

ustr

ian

dial

ect b

ut in

clea

r Hig

h G

erm

an w

ith

a sl

ight

Aus

tria

n in

tona

tion.

The

pro

blem

is t

hat

the

Prus

sian

can

on h

as, i

n ge

nera

l, ve

ry li

ttle

roo

m fo

r A

ustr

ian

wri

ters

an

d, in

par

ticul

ar, n

o in

tere

st in

hum

or. T

his i

s a su

bjec

t too

com

plex

to

be tr

eate

d pr

oper

ly e

ven

in fo

otno

tes

as d

evia

nt a

s ou

rs. B

ut G

oeth

e an

d Sc

hille

r wer

e ex

plic

itly

oppo

sed

to h

umor

in li

tera

ture

, the

re w

as

neve

r a

Vol

tair

e in

Ger

man

lette

rs, a

nd e

ven

a co

mic

gen

ius l

ike

Nes

-tr

oy o

r a

mas

ter

of w

itty

pole

mic

like

Kra

us f

inds

ver

y lit

tle t

ract

ion

wit

h re

ader

s an

d th

eate

rgoe

rs in

Ger

man

y. G

erm

ans

and

hum

or:

the

old,

gre

at, s

ad p

robl

em ..

. !"

"Kra

us h

imse

lf ha

d qu

ite a

bit

to sa

y ab

out t

his p

robl

em,"

Rei

tter

ad

ds. "

He w

as p

redi

ctab

ly h

ard

on w

hat h

e onc

e cal

led

'the o

verw

helm

-

148

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

r •

satir

ical

thin

king

, and

I be

lieve

he

cont

inue

s to

cre

ate.

He,

Joha

nn

Nes

troy,

can

not t

oler

ate

that

eve

ryth

ing

he fo

und

into

lera

ble

re-

mai

ned

in p

lace

. Pos

terit

y re

peat

s hi

s te

xt a

nd d

oesn

't re

cogn

ize

him

; it

doe

sn't

laug

h w

ith h

im, i

t lau

ghs

agai

nst h

im, i

t ref

utes

an

d co

nfirm

s his

sat

ire th

roug

h th

e un

dyin

g na

ture

of t

he su

bjec

t m

atte

r.11

Unl

ike

Hei

ne, w

hose

wit

agre

es w

ith t

he w

orld

, who

to

uche

d it

whe

re it

wan

ted

to b

e tic

kled

, and

who

m it

cou

ld a

l-w

ays

hand

le-t

he w

orld

won

't va

nqui

sh N

estr

oy th

e w

ay it

did

H

eine

. It

will

do

it t

he w

ay t

he c

owar

d ov

erco

mes

the

str

ong

man

, by

run

ning

aw

ay f

rom

him

and

get

ting

a lit

erar

y hi

sto-

rian

to

spit

on h

im. P

eopl

e w

ill b

e un

grat

eful

to

Hei

ne, t

hey'

ll en

forc

e th

e la

ws

of fa

shio

n ag

ains

t hi

m,

they

won

't w

ear

him

an

ymor

e. B

ut th

ey'll

alw

ays

say

that

he

had

wid

e ho

rizon

s, th

at

he w

as a

n em

anci

pato

r, th

at h

e ru

bbed

sho

ulde

rs w

ith s

tate

s-m

en a

nd st

ill h

ad th

e pr

esen

ce o

f min

d to

wri

te a

love

poe

m n

ow

ing

hum

orle

ssne

ss o

f Ger

man

lite

ratu

re.' A

nd w

here

it d

id a

ttem

pt to

be

funn

y, a

ccor

ding

to h

im, i

t ten

ded

to b

e fil

thy

in th

e m

ost p

ueril

e w

ay: '

No

expe

rienc

e is

mor

e im

port

ant t

o G

erm

an h

umor

ists

than

the

proc

ess o

f dig

estio

n."'

11. B

y "su

bjec

t mat

ter,"

Kra

us ap

pear

s to

mea

n "th

e obj

ect o

r con

tent

of

satir

e" (w

e're

up a

gain

st th

e tri

cky

wor

d "St

off"

agai

n), b

ut I

don'

t thi

nk

he gi

ves u

s eno

ugh

info

rmat

ion

here

to u

nder

stan

d th

e fin

al p

hras

e. I'

d un

ders

tand

it b

ette

r if h

e'd w

ritte

n "p

eren

nial

fasc

inat

ion"

inst

ead

of

"und

ying

nat

ure,

" bu

t unf

ortu

nate

ly h

e di

dn't.

Keh

lman

n's

com

men

t m

ay n

ever

thel

ess b

e illu

min

atin

g:"'

Stof

f' is a

key

wor

d fo

r Kra

us. I

n hi

s op

inio

n, w

e sh

ould

n't b

e la

ughi

ng a

t the

con

tent

of s

atire

, bec

ause

the

only

thin

g th

at m

atte

rs is

our

aes

thet

ic e

njoy

men

t of h

ow th

e co

nten

t is

arr

ange

d-th

e fo

rm, i

n ot

her w

ords

."

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 14

9

Page 12: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

.,.-

----

----

---,

~=

=~

----

:: ::. -

--

-

gedi

chte

zu

mac

hen.

And

ers

Nes

troy.

Kei

nen

Kad

osch

wird

m

an s

agen

. Kei

nem

Frie

djun

g w

ird e

s ge

linge

n, n

achz

uwei

sen,

da

£ D

er e

ine

polit

isch

e G

esin

nung

hat

te, g

esch

wei

ge d

enn

jene

,

150

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

r j

and

then

. Not

so N

estro

y. N

o K

addi

sh w

ill b

e sa

id.12

No

Frie

d-ju

ng13

will

suc

ceed

in d

emon

stra

ting

that

he h

ad a

pol

itica

l out

-lo

ok, l

et a

lone

the

kind

of o

utlo

ok th

at tu

rns

a po

litic

al o

utlo

ok

12. P

retty

clea

rly a

refe

renc

e to

Hei

ne's

trans

form

ativ

e im

port

ance

to

late

r gen

erat

ions

of G

erm

an-J

ewis

h w

riter

s, a

nd to

the m

aint

enan

ce o

f hi

s re

puta

tion

by n

ewsp

aper

s co

ntro

lled

and

subs

tant

ially

wri

tten

by

Ger

man

Jew

s. "

They

take

car

e of

thei

r ow

n," i

s pe

rhap

s th

e un

savo

ry

impl

icat

ion

here

, "an

d N

estro

y, b

eing

Gen

tile,

doe

sn't

have

that

adva

n-ta

ge."

Rei

tter a

dds:

"At l

east

som

e ofK

raus

's re

ader

s wou

ld ha

ve k

now

n th

at 'n

o K

addi

sh w

ill be

said

' is a

Hei

ne q

uota

tion.

The

sour

ce is

Hei

ne's

poem

'Mem

oria

l Ser

vice

' ('G

edac

htni

sfei

er').

" 13

. "H

einr

ich

Frie

djun

g (1

851-

1920

) was

an

assi

mila

ted J

ewis

h hi

sto-

rian

and

jour

nalis

t who

wro

te fo

r the

Neu

e Fr

eie

Pres

se a

nd s

hare

d its

du

al c

omm

itmen

ts to

libe

ralis

m a

nd a

Ger

man

pat

riot

ism

that

cou

ld

go o

ver i

nto

a sab

er-r

attli

ng n

atio

nalis

m. H

e ha

d, in

shor

t, al

l the

mak

-in

gs o

f a K

raus

targ

et. B

ut it

was

thro

ugh

a se

nsat

iona

l act

of g

ullib

ility

th

at F

ried

jung

got

Kra

us's

full

atte

ntio

n. In

190

9, i

t loo

ked

as i

f the

Se

rbia

n re

spon

se t

o A

ustri

a's a

nnex

atio

n of

Bos

nia

mig

ht g

ive

the

Aus

tria

n-H

unga

rian

gov

ernm

ent

the

oppo

rtun

ity t

o in

vade

Ser

bia.

Th

us th

e go

vern

men

t fou

nd it

self

in n

eed

of a

mor

al ju

stifi

catio

n fo

r th

e w

ar it

wan

ted.

The

Aus

tria

n fo

reig

n m

inis

ter t

urne

d to

non

e ot

her

than

Fri

edju

ng, h

andi

ng h

im fo

rged

doc

umen

ts th

at h

e pr

ocee

ded

to

run

with

. Wri

ting

in th

e Neu

e Fr

eie

Pres

se, F

ried

jung

trie

d to

mak

e th

e ca

se th

at th

e Aus

tro-

Hun

gari

an re

gion

al ad

min

istr

atio

n in

Bos

nia h

ad

ente

red

into

a c

onsp

iracy

with

the

anti-

Hab

sbur

g go

vern

men

t in

Bel

-gr

ade.

Soo

n, ho

wev

er, t

he S

erbs

bac

ked d

own.

The

thre

at o

f war

abat

ed,

whe

reup

on th

e re

gion

al a

dmin

istr

atio

n th

at F

ried

jung

had

acc

used

of

trea

son

brou

ght

a lib

el s

uit

agai

nst

him

-and

won

. Fo

r K

raus

, th

e re

ally

dam

ning

thin

g was

a p

oint

that

F ri

edju

ng h

ad m

anag

ed to

pro

ve

in h

is de

fense

: he

hadn

't kn

own

that

the d

ocum

ents

on

whi

ch h

e'd b

ased

hi

s cl

aim

s w

ere

forg

erie

s. K

raus

's es

say

on t

he a

ffair

('The

Tri

al o

f Fr

iedj

ung,

' 190

9) c

onta

ins

som

e m

emor

able

rem

arks

abo

ut th

e fo

rces

dr

ivin

g A

ustr

ian

hist

ory-

'its

even

ts a

re a

func

tion

of th

e co

nflic

t be-

twee

n st

upid

ity a

nd m

ndom

ness

'-but

his

focu

s is

on th

e re

late

d is

sue

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 15

1

Page 13: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

I I' j: I

die

die

poli

tisc

he G

esin

nung

ers

t zu

r G

esin

nung

mac

ht.

Was

la

g ih

m a

m H

erze

n? S

o vi

el, u

nd d

arum

nic

hts

vom

Fre

isin

n.

Wah

rend

dra

ui?,

en d

ie S

chus

ter f

ur d

ie id

eals

ten

Gii

ter k

iim

pfte

n,

of th

e st

ate

of re

adin

g in

Aus

tria

. 'A

ustr

ia in

orb

e ul

tima:

in

a w

orld

th

at's

been

dec

eive

d, A

ustr

ia h

as k

ept i

ts c

redu

lity

long

er th

an a

nyon

e el

se. I

t is j

ourn

alis

m's

mos

t will

ing

vict

im, f

or it

not

onl

y be

lieve

s wha

t it

sees

in p

rint

, it b

elie

ves

the

oppo

site

whe

n it

sees

that

in p

rint

, too

.' Th

e re

ason

Fri

edju

ng m

erits

onl

y on

e m

entio

n in

'Nes

troy

and

Pos

-te

rity

' is t

hat K

raus

had

just

wri

tten

an e

ssay

dea

ling

excl

usiv

ely

with

Fr

iedj

ung'

s (19

08) a

ttem

pt to

inte

rpre

t Nes

troy

as a

'moc

king

bird

' with

a

liber

al o

utlo

ok. U

nsur

pris

ingl

y, K

raus

was

n't a

bout

to le

t sta

nd th

e ul

timat

e ba

d re

ader

's re

adin

g of

Nes

troy

, but

her

e, a

ccor

ding

to K

raus

, Fr

iedj

ung

may

act

ually

hav

e be

en a

war

e of

the

tend

entio

usne

ss o

f his

in

terp

reta

tion.

Fin

ding

som

e da

rk so

lace

in th

at, K

raus

writ

es, '

Onl

y th

is ti

me

it is

n't q

uite

bel

ieva

ble

that

Her

r Fr

iedj

ung

is ac

ting

out o

f ho

nest

belie

f.'" -

PR

152

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

" l I I \1 ---

--i,j]L

into

an

outl

ook

in t

he f

irst

pla

ce. W

hat

mat

tere

d to

him

? So

m

uch,

and

ther

efor

e no

thin

g o

f lib

eral

ism

.14 W

hile

the

cobb

lers

ou

tsid

e w

ere

figh

ting

for

the

mos

t ide

al o

f war

es, h

e w

as h

avin

g

14. "

So, w

as K

raus

, who

se e

xper

imen

tal s

tyle

inf

luen

ced

Bre

cht a

nd

Scho

nber

g, a

reac

tiona

ry m

oder

nist

? Wal

ter B

enja

min

onc

e sug

gest

ed

as m

uch.

His

ess

ay'K

arl K

raus

' (19

31) d

escr

ibes

its s

ubje

ct's

wor

k as

a

mix

of'r

eact

iona

ry th

eory

and

revo

lutio

nary

pra

ctic

e.' B

ut as

Ben

jam

in

him

self

knew

, thi

s for

mul

atio

n w

as m

isle

adin

g.

"The

ori

gina

l mot

to o

f Die

Fac

kelw

as 'W

hat w

e ki

ll.' I

n 18

99, o

n th

e fir

st p

age

of th

e fir

st is

sue,

Kra

us p

rocl

aim

ed th

at 'n

othi

ng' w

ould

m

ove

him

from

a 's

tand

poin

t' th

at w

as o

penl

y po

lem

ical

and

radi

cally

in

depe

nden

t--a

s op

pose

d to

Vie

nna'

s be

tter

new

spap

ers,

whi

ch

feig

ned

open

ness

and

impa

rtia

lity

but i

n fa

ct a

dher

ed to

libe

ral p

ietie

s an

d pl

ayed

to th

e m

ater

ial i

nter

ests

of t

heir

bac

kers

. Beh

olde

n to

no

one

and

to n

o pa

rty

line,

Kra

us w

ould

be

able

to

'car

ry o

ut p

olem

ics

from

all

pers

pect

ives

,' as

he

put i

t a li

ttle

late

r. Y

et e

ven

as h

e un

der-

scor

ed h

is in

depe

nden

ce, h

e di

dn't

shy

from

tyin

g it

to a

n ag

enda

that

in

vite

d hi

m to

be

take

n fo

r a p

rogr

essi

ve re

form

er. I

n th

e fir

st is

sue

of

Die

Fac

kel h

e an

noun

ced

his

inte

ntio

n to

exp

ose

the

obfu

scat

ions

of

the

esta

blis

hed

pres

s so

that

it w

ould

be

easi

er to

'rec

ogni

ze th

e ur

gent

so

cial

mat

ters

.' Ano

ther

ear

ly m

issi

on s

tate

men

t em

phas

ized

that

Die

Fa

ckel

wou

ld 'g

ive

the

oppr

esse

d a v

oice

.' "K

raus

was

ted

no ti

me

in m

akin

g go

od o

n hi

s pl

edge

s. H

e ha

m-

mer

ed aw

ay at

all s

ides

in re

port

ing

on th

e dy

sfun

ctio

n in

Aus

tria'

s par

-lia

men

t, an

d in

190

0 he

took

up

the

caus

e of

the

Gal

icia

n co

al m

iner

s w

ho h

ad g

one

on st

rike

agai

nst '

thei

r exp

loite

rs.' T

his h

elpe

d w

in h

im a

follo

win

g am

ong

wor

kers

' gro

ups

in V

ienn

a. I

f the

re h

ad b

een

Vie

n-ne

se p

rost

itute

s' gr

oups

, he

mig

ht h

ave

had

a fo

llow

ing

amon

g th

em,

too.

The

plig

ht o

f pro

stitu

tes r

eson

ated

with

Kra

us, a

nd h

e ad

dres

sed

it

repe

ated

ly in

cov

erin

g w

hat h

e sa

w as

em

blem

atic

inst

ance

s of

dise

n-fr

anch

isem

ent a

nd in

just

ice.

In h

is e

ssay

'Med

al o

f Hon

or' (

1909

), he

re

late

s th

e st

ory

of a

pros

titut

e w

hose

clie

nt d

idn'

t tip

her

but

inst

ead

gave

her

a de

cora

tive

med

al, w

hich

she

pro

ceed

ed to

put

on.

Unf

ortu

-na

tely

for h

er, t

his w

as p

oten

tially

aga

inst

the

law. I

t als

o 'a

rous

ed,' t

o

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

153

Page 14: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

--

---=

--

-~-~--:--

----

~ ...

--

--~

--

use

Kra

us's

phra

sing

, th

e in

dign

atio

n of

the

brot

hel's

pat

rons

, who

tu

rned

her

in. A

t her

seco

nd tr

ial-

the

first

judg

e pr

onou

nced

her

in-

noce

nt, b

ut th

e pr

osec

utor

app

eale

d th

e de

cisi

on-t

he ju

dge

rein

ter-

pret

ed th

e st

atus

of t

he d

ecor

ativ

e cr

oss,

and

the

pros

titut

e w

as f

ined

tw

enty

crow

ns fo

r 'un

auth

oriz

ed w

eari

ng o

f a m

ilita

ry m

edal

.' As

Kra

us

saw

it, t

he ca

se il

lust

rate

d no

t jus

t the

ext

rem

e fat

uous

ness

and

hyp

oc-

risy

of th

e le

gal

syste

m's

atte

mpt

s to

pre

serv

e de

cenc

y, b

ut a

lso

the

syste

m's

perv

erse

tend

ency

to c

ome

dow

n ha

rdes

t on

the v

ery

peop

le it

fa

iled

to p

rote

ct. H

e en

ds th

e pi

ece

by d

ecla

ring

that

the

real

'who

re' i

n th

e st

ory

is ju

stic

e in

Aus

tria.

"O

f cou

rse,

Kra

us to

ok o

ther

kind

s of s

tand

s, to

o. H

e he

aped

scor

n on

the

supp

orte

rs o

f Alf

red

Dre

yfus

. He

belit

tled

the

wom

en's

mov

e-m

ent {

and w

rote

unk

ind

apho

rism

s abo

ut w

omen

: 'at

nig

ht, a

ll co

ws a

re

blac

k, e

ven

the

blon

d on

es').

And

in th

e ye

ars

befo

re th

e Fi

rst W

orld

W

ar, w

hich

he

fam

ousl

y de

crie

d, K

raus

sid

ed w

ith t

he o

ld A

ustr

ian

soci

al o

rder

. Aft

er th

e w

ar, h

e w

ent t

hrou

gh s

omet

hing

of a

soc

ialis

t ph

ase,

but

then

, to

Ber

tolt

Bre

cht's

dis

may

, he

gave

his

impr

imat

ur to

En

gelb

ert

Dol

lfu6

, Aus

tria's

rig

ht-w

ing

chan

cello

r fr

om 1

932

until

19

34; K

raus

bel

ieve

d th

at D

ollf

u6 m

ight

effe

ctiv

ely

resi

st th

e re

ach

of

Naz

i G

erm

any

and

was

thu

s th

e 'le

sser

evi

l' in

Aus

tria

n po

litic

s. B

ut

Kra

us's

polit

ical

int

erve

ntio

ns,

or r

eally

his

per

egri

natio

ns u

p an

d do

wn

the

polit

ical

spec

trum

, are

n't t

he m

ain

reas

on he

's so

har

d to

pla

ce

polit

ical

ly. H

e ha

d tw

o pr

imar

y pr

ogra

ms i

n tr

ying

to im

prov

e so

ciet

y,

and

whi

le th

ese

prog

ram

s wer

e al

way

s int

erde

pend

ent,

they

had

diff

er-

ent p

oliti

cal v

alen

ces.

Rea

ctio

nary

theo

ry a

nd r

evol

utio

nary

pra

ctic

e di

dn't j

ust c

oexi

st in

Kra

us 's

wor

k: th

ey fe

d of

f eac

h ot

her.

"For

Kra

us-a

s fo

r, sa

y, M

arx-

libe

ral f

aith

in

prog

ress

was

the

w

orst

sor

t of

ideo

logy

. Tec

hnol

ogic

al p

rogr

ess

was

bei

ng d

rive

n by

hu

bris

and

gre

ed, a

nd it

was

incr

easi

ng c

ivili

zatio

n's

dest

ruct

ive

capa

-bi

litie

s, n

ot ju

st it

s pr

oduc

tive

ones

, and

Kra

us w

as f

righ

tene

d by

the

enor

mou

s po

tent

ial f

or a

buse

. An

apho

rism

from

aro

und

1908

read

s:

'Pro

gres

s cel

ebra

tes t

he p

yrrh

ic v

icto

ry o

ver n

atur

e.' A

noth

er: 'P

rogr

ess

will

mak

e w

alle

ts o

ut o

f hum

an s

kin.

' A k

ey fa

ctor

for

Kra

us w

as th

at

tech

nolo

gy a

nd m

oder

niza

tion

wer

e di

min

ishi

ng t

he s

pace

tha

t th

e im

agin

atio

n ne

eded

to th

rive.

Onc

e th

e po

pula

r im

agin

atio

n ha

s at

ro-

154

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

O D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

'!""" l

phie

d, th

e lik

elih

ood

that

tech

nolo

gy w

ill b

e m

isus

ed h

arde

ns in

to a

ce

rtain

ty. L

amen

ting A

ustri

a's r

elat

ions

hip

to G

erm

any,

in 19

08, K

raus

w

rote

, 'Unt

il th

e hyp

ertr

ophy

of o

ur te

chno

logi

cal d

evel

opm

ent,

whi

ch

our b

rain

s ca

n't h

andl

e, le

ads

to a

gen

eral

cat

astr

ophe

, it i

s th

e fa

te o

f pe

ople

who

eat

mea

t and

wer

e bo

rn to

mot

hers

to b

e sw

allo

wed

up

by

peop

le w

ho w

ere

born

to m

achi

nes

and

are

nour

ishe

d by

them

.'Whe

n th

e ge

nera

l cat

astr

ophe

then

arr

ived

, in

the

form

of t

he F

irst

Wor

ld

War

, Kra

us b

elie

ved

that

it w

as c

ause

d in

larg

e pa

rt b

y a

failu

re o

f the

A

ustr

ian

imag

inat

ion,

whi

ch w

asn'

t str

ong

to b

egin

with

, and

whi

ch

had

been

fata

lly e

nfee

bled

by

the

mas

s pr

ess,

at a

mom

ent o

f unp

aral

-le

led

tech

nolo

gica

l mig

ht. N

ot lo

ng af

ter t

he w

ar b

egan

, Kra

us c

laim

ed

that

the v

ery

sign

atur

e of

our t

ime

is th

e th

reat

our

lack

of i

mag

inat

ion

has

com

e to

pos

e: 'i

n th

is ti

me

in w

hich

wha

t peo

ple

coul

d no

long

er

imag

ine

is p

reci

sely

wha

t hap

pens

, an

d in

whi

ch w

hat

they

can

no

long

er im

agin

e ha

s to

hap

pen,

and

if t

hey

coul

d ha

ve i

mag

ined

it, i

t w

ould

n't h

ave

happ

ened

... '

"Par

t of K

raus

's re

spon

se to

this

dia

gnos

is m

ight

be c

hara

cter

ized

as

rom

antic

con

serv

atis

m. O

ften

with

nos

talg

ia fo

r be

tter d

ays

he h

adn'

t ex

perie

nced

him

self,

Kra

us f

ough

t to

keep

ope

n sp

ace

for t

he im

agin

a-tio

n by

cam

paig

ning

aga

inst

the

mod

em th

ings

that

got

in it

s way

: the

fe

uille

ton,

with

its

addi

ctiv

e, a

nd th

us lu

crat

ive,

off

erin

g of

prep

acka

ged

emot

iona

l res

pons

es t

o th

e ne

ws;

psyc

hoan

alys

is, w

hich

, acc

ordi

ng to

K

raus

, 'an

alyz

es th

e dr

eam

s in

to w

hich

the

disg

ust i

t elic

its tr

ies

to e

s-ca

pe';

etc.

But

anot

her p

art o

fKra

us's

resp

onse

was

to p

rom

ote

Enlig

ht-

enm

ent i

n th

e K

antia

n se

nse-

-tha

t is,

to ca

ll fo

r men

tal m

atur

ity: '

I wan

t th

e fru

it of

my l

abor

s to

be th

at re

adin

g is

done

with

shar

per e

yes.'

Kra

us,

to b

e su

re, s

omet

imes

dire

cted

his

read

ers t

o se

e hi

s wri

ting

as th

e re

sult

of a

kind

of m

ystic

al s

ubm

issi

on to

lang

uage

: 'I h

ave

only

mas

tere

d th

e la

ngua

ge o

f oth

ers.

Lan

guag

e its

elf d

oes w

hate

ver i

t wan

ts to

with

me.

' Y

et h

e st

ress

ed, a

s wel

l, th

at a

n im

port

ant p

urpo

se o

f his

'rev

olut

iona

ry,'

extre

mel

y ch

alle

ngin

g sty

le w

as to

forc

e re

ader

s to

read

mor

e al

ertly

, in

the

hope

of r

evita

lizin

g th

e Aus

tria

n m

ind.

His

audi

ence

'sho

uldn

't ne

c-es

saril

y re

ad d

iffer

ent n

ewsp

aper

s, th

ey sh

ould

read

diff

eren

tly.'

"The

y sh

ould

spe

ak a

nd w

rite

diff

eren

tly, t

oo. K

raus

exh

orte

d hi

s re

ader

s to

thin

k as

har

d as

the

y co

uld

abou

t the

ir li

ngui

stic

opt

ions

.

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

155

Page 15: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

-. -

--=::;--

:--_~~~

--:.,:

-·-_ ""

'""'

c'~

---

--

hat e

r die

Sch

neid

er C

oupl

ets

sing

en la

ssen

. Er h

at d

ie W

elt o

ur

in K

lein

gew

erbe

trei

bend

e un

d H

aush

erre

n ei

nget

eilt,

in

Her

-au

fgek

omm

ene

und

Her

unte

rgek

omm

ene,

in v

azie

rend

e H

aus-

knec

hte

und

Parti

kulie

rs. D

ai?, e

s abe

r nic

ht d

er L

eita

rtik

el, s

onde

m

die

Wel

t war

, die

er

so e

inge

teilt

hat

, dai?

. sei

n W

itz

imm

er d

en

Weg

nah

m v

om S

tand

in d

ie M

ensc

hhei

t: so

lch

unve

rsta

ndlic

hes

Kap

itel

iiber

blat

tert

der

Hau

sver

stan

d. B

litze

am

eng

en H

ori-

zont

, so

dai?.

sic

h de

r H

imm

el ii

ber

eine

m G

ewiir

zgew

olbe

off-

net,

leuc

hten

nic

ht e

in. N

estr

oy h

at a

us d

em S

tand

in d

ie W

elt

Doi

ng so

was

, he

belie

ved,

the

best

pra

ctic

e fo

r eth

ical

dec

ision

mak

-in

g. B

ecau

se o

ur d

elib

erat

ing

over

lang

uage

usu

ally

take

s pl

ace

with

ne

ither

the t

hrea

t of p

unis

hmen

t nor

the

pros

pect

of g

ain

hang

ing

over

it,

it ca

n te

ach

us, i

n a u

niqu

ely

unco

nstra

ined

way

, to

hesi

tate

, to

have

'sc

rupl

es,' a

nd to

be

sens

itive

to n

uanc

e an

d th

us to

par

ticul

arity

. The

re

was

a ti

me

whe

n th

ese

idea

s res

onat

ed; m

ore

even

than

Kra

us's

clai

ms

abou

t jou

rnal

ism

and

the

Gre

at W

ar, t

hey'

re w

hat p

rom

pted

criti

cs to

cr

edit

him

with

seei

ng, a

s one

of t

hem

put

it, '

the

conn

ectio

n be

twee

n m

istre

ated

wor

ds a

nd m

istre

ated

bod

ies.'

"I

t's a

lso b

een

said

that

Kra

us's

Enlig

hten

men

t pro

ject

was

a b

ust.

Elia

s C

anet

ti, fo

r exa

mpl

e, ar

gued

that

Kra

us w

as to

o au

thor

itaria

n a

figur

e to

enco

urag

e in

telle

ctua

l ind

epen

denc

e in

othe

r peo

ple,

and

that

hi

s sty

le o

verw

helm

ed re

ader

s mor

e tha

n it

stim

ulat

ed th

eir c

ritic

al fa

c-ul

ties.

That

Kra

us h

ad a

n En

light

enm

ent p

roje

ct, w

hich

is o

ne o

f Ca-

netti

's po

ints

of d

epar

ture

, is h

arde

r to

cont

est.

And

that

Kra

us n

ever

ga

ve u

p on

the

proj

ect,

rega

rdle

ss o

f its

succ

ess o

r uns

ucce

ss, i

s im

pres

-siv

e, es

peci

ally

giv

en h

is lo

w o

pini

on o

f the

peop

le w

hom

he w

as a

ble t

o re

ach.

He

was

onl

y ha

lf jo

king

whe

n he

qui

pped

that

the

wor

st th

ing

his a

udie

nce

mem

bers

cou

ld sa

y ab

out h

im w

as: '

I kno

w K

raus

per

son-

ally

.'" -P

R

Keh

lman

n po

ints

out

that

Die

Fac

kel's

orig

inal

mot

to, "

Was

wir

um

brin

gen,

" is a

play

on

the h

ackn

eyed

new

spap

er m

otto

" 1¼

s wir

brin

-ge

n" -

"Wha

t we

brin

g." S

o I

mig

ht su

gges

t a le

ss li

tera

l tra

nsla

tion:

"W

e bri

ng yo

u th

e no

ose.

"

156

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

i-·

li:,

---,,IIL

.__

his

tailo

rs s

ing

lam

poon

s.15

He

lim

ited

his

par

titio

ning

of

the

wor

ld to

smal

l bus

ines

smen

and

land

lord

s, to

the

up-a

nd-c

omin

g an

d th

e do

wn-

and-

out,

to p

ensi

oner

s an

d un

empl

oyed

por

ters

. B

ut t

hat

it w

as t

he w

orld

, not

the

edito

rial

pag

e, th

at h

e pa

rti-

tion

ed l

ike

this

; th

at h

is w

it w

as f

orev

er t

akin

g th

e ro

ad f

rom

so

cial

sta

ndin

g to

hum

anity

: co

nven

tiona

l wis

dom

lea

fs p

ast

a ch

apte

r as i

ncom

preh

ensi

ble

as t

hat.

16 F

lash

es o

n a

narr

ow h

ori-

zon

-th

e he

aven

s ope

ning

ove

r a g

roce

ry s

tore

-are

not

enl

ight

-en

ing.

Nes

troy

's th

inki

ng p

roce

eded

fro

m s

ocia

l sta

tus

into

the

15. "

A r

efer

ence

to N

estro

y's

farc

e ab

out t

he r

evol

utio

n of

184

8, 7

he

Lady

and

the

Tailo

r (18

49),

whi

ch F

riedj

ung

had

fram

ed a

s an

expr

es-

sion

ofN

estro

y's l

iber

al co

nvic

tions

. Kra

us w

ould

late

r bac

k aw

ay fr

om

his

atte

mpt

to d

ista

nce

this

par

ticul

ar w

ork,

as w

ell a

s Nes

troy

in g

en-

eral

, fro

m l

iber

al p

oliti

cs.

Dur

ing

the

early

192

0s, w

hen

Kra

us w

as

alar

med

by

the

Fasc

ist m

ovem

ents

in

Ger

man

y an

d A

ustri

a, h

e se

t ab

out s

how

ing

that

the

play

'isn'

t und

emoc

ratic

.'" -P

R

16. T

o re

turn

, in

a rou

ndab

out w

ay, t

o th

e co

nnec

tion

betw

een

Kra

us's

ange

r and

his p

rivile

ge, I

shou

ld n

ote t

hat h

is po

litic

al sy

mpa

thie

s wer

e su

bsta

ntia

lly c

onse

rvat

ive

whe

n he

wro

te th

is e

ssay

. Hen

ce h

is ir

rita-

tion

at th

e sp

ecta

cle

of H

eine

, an

outs

poke

n if

som

ewha

t inc

onsi

sten

t lib

eral

, bei

ng li

oniz

ed b

y th

e la

tter-

day

liber

al p

ress

, whi

ch K

raus

be-

lieve

d ov

erva

lued

Hei

ne's

artis

tic a

chie

vem

ents

bec

ause

his

polit

ics

wer

e co

rrec

t. W

here

con

serv

ativ

e A

mer

ican

crit

ics

such

as

Din

esh

D'S

ouza

dire

ctly

appl

y the

crud

e lab

el "P

C" t

o w

ork l

ike A

lice W

alke

r's,

Kra

us h

ere

mor

e sub

tly, b

ut in

a sim

ilarly

cons

erva

tive s

pirit

, moc

ks th

e w

ord

"enl

ight

ened

." (H

e do

es th

is in

"H

eine

and

the

Con

sequ

ence

s,"

too:

"And

they

wan

t to

be e

nlig

hten

ed ab

out e

very

thin

g, ju

st n

ot ab

out

Hei

ne."

) Sin

ce a

lmos

t eve

ryth

ing

Kra

us sa

ys a

bout

Nes

troy

appl

ies

to

him

self

as w

ell, h

is in

sist

ence

that

Nes

troyw

as n

eith

er li

bera

l nor

ant

i-lib

eral

cle

arly

conn

ects

with

his

ow

n ra

ther

cont

ortio

nist

effo

rts to

re-

mai

n po

litic

ally

inde

finab

le, a

t lea

st in

pub

lic.

In p

rivat

e, K

raus

was

a p

rivile

ged

rent

ier w

ith a

stro

ng st

ake

in th

e st

atus

quo

. Ind

eed,

par

t of w

hat i

ntox

icat

ed h

im a

bout

Sid

onie

Nad

-

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

157

Page 16: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

111,

-·-

~----"':

:..

.--

-~

--------

-

hern

y, w

hen

he m

et h

er in

191

3, w

as th

at sh

e be

long

ed to

the

land

ed

aris

tocr

acy:

he

fell

in lo

ve n

ot o

nly w

ith h

er b

ut w

ith h

er fa

mily

's co

un-

try

esta

te. H

is lo

ng-r

unni

ng sa

tiric

pre

occu

patio

n w

ith fi

nanc

ial m

al-

feas

ance

-fir

st w

ith th

e pe

tty c

orru

ptio

ns o

f Vie

nna's

pre

war

libe

ral

pres

s, la

ter w

ith th

e ra

mpa

nt pr

ofite

erin

g, by

Jew

ish

busi

ness

men

espe

-ci

ally

, in

the

Firs

t Wor

ld W

ar-c

an b

e se

en a

s a w

ay o

f ele

vatin

g hi

m-

self

abov

e the

mon

ey-m

inde

d lib

eral

bour

geoi

sie.

It w

as o

nly a

t the

end

of

the

war

that

Kra

us b

ecam

e fu

lly d

isill

usio

ned

with

the

mon

arch

y an

d ca

me o

ut fo

r the

Soc

ialis

ts, a

nd ev

en th

is co

nver

sion

was

shak

y and

shor

t-liv

ed.

The w

orks

ofK

raus

's tw

o pl

ayw

right

her

oes,

Sha

kesp

eare

and

Nes

-tro

y, a

re r

oote

d in

wor

lds

of fix

ed s

ocia

l sta

ndin

g. T

he w

onde

rful

con

-tr

ast b

etw

een

the

dict

ion

ofD

ogbe

rry

and

the

dict

ion

of B

eatri

ce, a

nd

betw

een

Nes

troy'

s se

rvan

ts a

nd N

estro

y's

mas

ters

, dep

ends

on

firm

di

stin

ctio

ns b

etw

een

soci

al cl

asse

s. Sa

tire,

too,

thriv

es o

n co

ntra

sts,

and

so t

he p

rosp

ect o

f lib

eral

dem

ocra

cy, i

n w

hich

eve

ryon

e is

iden

tical

ly

entit

led

and

even

tual

ly c

omes

to s

peak

iden

tical

ly, t

hrea

tene

d K

raus

's ve

ry fo

unda

tions

as

an a

rtist

. Thi

s spe

cter

of u

nifo

rmit

y-m

oder

nity

's

effa

cem

ent o

f dijf

eren

ce--

wou

ld la

ter h

aunt

thin

kers

as

vario

us a

s th

e an

thro

polo

gist

Cla

ude

Levi

-Stra

uss,

with

his

not

ion

of "c

ultu

ral e

n-tro

py,"

and

the

post

mod

ern

nove

list W

illia

m G

addi

s, w

ith h

is la

men

t fo

r a lo

st er

a of S

tatu

s in

whi

ch h

igh

art w

as h

igh

and

low

was

low

. The

un

com

fort

able

dis

sona

nces

of t

heir

pos

ition

s (L

evi-S

traus

s's "

Plea

se

don'

t cha

nge

until

we'v

e th

orou

ghly

stud

ied

you"

and

Gad

dis's

"Ple

ase

hold

still

whi

le I

kick

you"

) are

ver

sion

s of t

he m

ore g

ener

al d

isco

mfo

rt

with

whi

ch c

reat

ive

peop

le v

iew

the

leve

lings

of m

oder

nity

. To

wri

te

wel

l abo

ut s

lum

dw

elle

rs, o

r ab

out A

ndam

an is

land

ers,

you

nee

d to

ha

ve s

ympa

thy

with

them

-pre

cise

ly th

e ki

nd o

f lib

eral

sym

path

y th

at

also

mak

es y

ou w

ant

bette

r sc

hool

s fo

r th

e sl

ums

or W

este

rn-s

tyle

am

eniti

es f

or t

he A

ndam

an I

slan

ds.

Goo

d na

rrat

ive

art

thus

ten

ds

tow

ard

liber

alis

m. B

ut go

od ar

tists

also

cra

ve co

ntra

st. U

nles

s you

wan

t to

tell

the

sam

e st

ory

of gl

obal

mon

ocul

ture

's tr

ium

ph o

ver d

iffer

ence

s, ag

ain

and

agai

n, y

ou w

ant s

lum

dia

logu

e to

keep

soun

ding

dist

inct

ivel

y lik

e the

slum

s, an

d yo

u do

n't w

ant A

ndam

an is

land

ers t

o st

art u

sing

the

sam

e iP

hone

s an

d w

earin

g th

e sa

me

sens

ible

sne

aker

s as

Am

eric

ans;

158

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

,.,.,.,,

i I I ' _j__

t, '

you

wan

t th

em t

o ke

ep d

oing

inte

nsel

y, i

nter

estin

gly

And

aman

is-

land

er th

ings

. Thi

s mak

es y

ou a

cons

erva

tive.

Or,

actu

ally

, wor

se th

an a

cons

erva

tive,

bec

ause

you

, as a

n ar

tist,

wan

t to

be ab

le to

mov

e lib

eral

ly

and

sym

path

etic

ally

am

ong

vario

us c

lass

es a

nd c

ultu

res-

just

lik

e Sh

akes

pear

e di

d-w

hile

secr

etly

hop

ing

that

ever

yone

who

's no

t an

artis

t w

ill s

tay f

ixed

in pl

ace.

Thi

s is t

he m

onst

rous

sort

of p

rivile

ge th

at ca

n be

cl

aim

ed o

nly

by a

pers

on li

ke C

orde

lia, w

ho fe

els

entit

led

to sp

eak

un-

wel

com

e tru

ths a

nd st

ill b

e lov

ed. I

t's p

art o

f the

dub

ious

mor

al ch

arac

-te

r tha

t arti

sts a

re fa

med

for.

And

it he

lps m

akes

sens

e of h

ow fu

rious

ly

Kra

us r

ejec

ted

polit

ical

cat

egor

ies.

He

was

n't j

ust

resi

stin

g th

e lin

-gu

istic

ally

deb

ased

slo

gane

erin

g of

pol

itics

. He

was

ins

istin

g on

the

artis

t's u

niqu

ely

priv

ilege

d pl

ace i

n so

ciet

y. H

e ar

gued

for m

aint

aini

ng

diff

eren

ces

beca

use

he k

new

tha

t hi

s ki

nd o

f ar

t-m

aybe

all

good

ar

t-de

pend

s on

it.

Cliv

e Ja

mes

, in

a pe

rcep

tive

piec

e in

the

Aust

ralia

n Li

tera

ry R

e-vi

ew, c

onte

nds

that

afte

r the

Fir

st W

orld

War

Kra

us b

egan

to lo

se h

is

way

as a

satir

ist.J

ames

not

es th

at K

raus

's hu

mor

and

his a

nger

with

the

liber

al b

ourg

eois

ie, e

spec

ially

the J

ewis

h bo

urge

oisi

e, re

mai

ned

viab

le

only

as

long

as t

he g

ente

el o

ld o

rder

surv

ived

: Kra

us c

ould

saf

ely

in-

dulg

e in

a lit

tle a

ntis

emiti

sm b

ecau

se th

e an

tisem

ites w

ere

still

arg

uing

w

ithin

the

rul

e of

law

, and

bec

ause

he

coul

d do

ant

isem

itism

mor

e de

ftly

and

wic

kedl

y th

an th

e an

tisem

ites

them

selv

es. E

ven

the

titan

ic

horr

or o

f the

Fir

st W

orld

War

was

susc

eptib

le to

his

met

hods

, bec

ause

pe

ople

of a

ll et

hnic

ities

wer

e co

llect

ivel

y su

ffer

ing;

bec

ause

wha

t Kra

us

calls

Ver

stand

(int

elle

ct, r

easo

n), i

n th

e fo

rm o

f war

theo

ry, w

as re

spon

-sib

le fo

r it;

and

beca

use,

as R

eitte

r poi

nts o

ut, h

is sa

tiric

al ta

rget

s did

n't

chan

ge a

ll th

at m

uch.

(Rei

tter n

otes

that

"wha

t Kra

us h

ad d

ecrie

d be

-fo

re th

e w

ar w

as a

lso o

pera

ting

duri

ng th

e war

: the

ben

ight

edne

ss a

nd

inco

mpe

tenc

e of

aris

tocr

atic

lead

ers,

the

post

urin

g an

d co

mpl

icity

of

the

bour

geoi

s lite

rati,

the

glee

ful c

ruel

ty o

f the

trog

lody

te e

lem

ents

in

Aus

tria

n so

ciet

y, a

nd, o

f cou

rse,

the

rapa

city

and

war

ping

effe

cts o

f the

pr

ess."

) But

then

alo

ng c

ame

the

irra

tiona

l Naz

is a

nd d

emol

ishe

d th

e ol

d V

ienn

ese

orde

r tha

t Kra

us h

ad ra

ged

agai

nst a

nd th

rived

in.

Tha

t Kra

us h

ad "n

othi

ng to

say"

abo

ut H

itler

is a

fact

so w

idel

y ac

-ce

pted

that

it on

ce cl

eare

d Th

e New

Yor

ker's

fact

-che

cker

s and

appe

ared

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

159

Page 17: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

in it

s pag

es. I

t's tr

ue th

at h

e di

d on

ce w

rite

"I ca

n't t

hink

of a

nyth

ing

to

say

abou

t Hitl

er."

But

this

was

the

first

line

of a

hoo

k-le

ngth

doc

umen

t ab

out H

itle

r and

the

Naz

is. P

ublis

hed

post

hum

ousl

y as

7he

Thi

rd W

al-

purg

is N

ight

, it

bra

vely

and

cle

ar-s

ight

edly

take

s th

eir

mea

sure

, and

D

anie

l Keh

lman

n co

nsid

ers

it K

raus

's fin

est w

ork.

To

me,

thou

gh, i

t ha

s the

feel

of a

des

pair

ing

exer

cise

. The

pro

blem

, as J

ames

poi

nts o

ut,

is th

at th

e N

azis

wer

e no

t lyi

ng (

ten

year

s be

fore

the

Fina

l Sol

utio

n,

they

wer

e al

read

y sa

ying

pla

inly

wha

t the

y in

tend

ed to

do

to th

e Jew

s)

or w

ere

so o

bvio

usly

lyin

g as

not

to re

quire

sat

irica

l exp

osur

e, a

nd th

at

they

wer

e ge

nera

lly to

o da

nger

ous t

o be

laug

hed

at. A

nd so

Kra

us's

last

bo

ok is

n't f

unny

the

way

so m

uch

of hi

s ear

lier w

ork

was

, and

its t

ake-

away

-tha

t the

Naz

is w

ere

evil

and

insa

ne--

does

n't r

etai

n th

e bi

ting

rele

vanc

e of

his

ide

as a

bout

lite

ratu

re o

r of

his

crit

ique

of

mod

em

med

ia.

Jam

es d

oesn

't cl

aim

tha

t K

raus

's ar

tistic

dile

mm

a vi

s-a-

vis

the

Naz

is w

as u

niqu

e. In

deed

, he

seem

s to

sugg

est t

hat n

o fo

rm o

f wri

ting

can

be e

ffec

tive

in th

e fa

ce o

f irr

atio

nal a

nd g

enoc

idal

vio

lenc

e--t

hat

only

the

coun

ter-

appl

icat

ion

of ra

tiona

l vio

lenc

e w

ill a

vail.

(H

is p

iece

w

as p

ublis

hed

duri

ng th

e Ir

aq W

ar.)

Wha

t thi

s sa

ys to

me

abou

t art

is

that

it's

the

child

of a

wel

l-or

dere

d ho

use.

Kra

us w

as th

e ki

nd o

f priv

i-le

ged

child

who

was

ang

riest

, and

ther

efor

e fu

nnie

st, e

n Jam

i/le.

Whe

n so

met

hing

alie

n or

irra

tiona

l com

es a

long

and

sm

ashe

s th

e ho

use's

win

dow

s, th

e ga

me

ceas

es to

be

fun.

T

o w

hich

Rei

tter i

llum

inat

ingl

y ad

ds:

"One

of t

he d

isor

ient

ing

thin

gs a

bout

read

ing

Kra

us to

day

is th

at

he o

ften

soun

ds si

mul

tane

ousl

y un-

PC a

nd P

C. I

n a P

C w

ay, h

e bas

hes

the

liber

al c

ultu

re o

f the

pre

ss fo

r its

leve

ling

of di

ffer

ence

, but

he

does

th

is in

a w

ay th

at's

calc

ulat

ed to

sou

nd w

ildly

un-

PC (w

hich

of c

ours

e ha

s th

e ef

fect

of i

ntro

duci

ng m

ore

diff

eren

ce in

to th

e di

scus

sion

). H

is

criti

que

in 'H

eine

and

the

Con

sequ

ence

s' is

a gr

eat e

xam

ple:

the

prob

-le

m w

ith

feui

lleto

nist

s is

at o

nce

thei

r m

indl

ess

wor

ship

of a

can

on

(Hei

ne) a

nd th

eir d

iffer

ence

-leve

ling

false

sub

ject

ivity

. The

feui

lleto

n-is

ts a

ll 'ta

ste

alik

e.' T

he e

arly

Fac

kel i

s ful

l of s

uch

lines

: 'th

e ne

wsp

aper

sp

eaks

like

the w

orld

, bec

ause

the w

orld

spea

ks li

ke th

e ne

wsp

aper

, "th

e to

ne is

alw

ays

the

sam

e.' T

hus

Kra

us's

PC-s

eem

ing

pred

ilect

ion

for

160

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

O D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

l l , Jl____

min

or a

nd m

argi

naliz

ed f

orm

s (v

aude

ville

, Je

wis

h-di

alec

t th

eate

r, N

estro

y, e

tc.)

is ve

ry m

uch

in k

eepi

ng w

ith

his h

atre

d of

the

liber

al c

ul-

ture

of t

he ti

me,

whi

ch h

e sa

w a

s an

ass

imila

tion-

driv

en, i

mpo

ssib

ly

snob

bish

age

nt o

f con

form

ity, w

ith a

nar

row

and

cul

tura

lly c

hauv

inis

t no

tion/

fetis

h of

Bi/d

ung.

It's

also

wor

th n

otin

g th

at K

raus

's ea

rly (a

nd

pers

pica

ciou

s) c

ritiq

ue o

f Zio

nism

was

that

it w

as o

ften

ass

imila

tion-

ism

mas

quer

adin

g as

a m

ovem

ent

devo

ted

to s

usta

inin

g di

ffer

ence

. Zi

onis

m w

as t

he J

ews'

'imita

tion

natio

nalis

m,'

to c

ite a

phr

ase

that

K

raus

like

ly in

spire

d. T

his c

an b

e a p

retty

PC

arg

umen

t the

se d

ays,

and

KK

mad

e it

in 1

898!

"A

nd h

ere's

a s

ad ir

ony:

Kra

us's

fight

aga

inst

the

clic

he h

as le

nt it

-se

lf to

bei

ng c

hara

cter

ized

in c

liche

d te

rms.

Eve

n C

live

Jam

es d

oes

som

e of

that

, for

all

the

perc

eptiv

enes

s of

his

piec

e. T

o re

ad Ja

mes

on

Die

Fac

kel,

you'

d th

ink

that

Kra

us 't

irele

ssly

' wen

t aft

er ev

ery

plat

itude

an

d sl

oppy

form

ulat

ion

that

bot

here

d hi

s ear

s. Th

us, '

Not

hing

got

pas

t hi

m.'

Or

at le

ast,

'Any

one

who

let s

lip a

loos

e ph

rase

live

d to

rue

it if

K

raus

cau

ght h

im.'

Wha

t the

se w

ell-

wor

n ov

erst

atem

ents

obs

cure

is

that

Kra

us w

as in

tere

sted

in th

e em

blem

atic

infe

liciti

es, t

he o

nes

that

he

cou

ld re

veal

to b

e bo

th a

sym

ptom

and

a c

ause

of s

ocia

l ills

. At i

ts

best

, Kra

us's

cultu

ral c

ritic

ism

pre

sent

s us w

ith a

feed

back

loop

whe

rein

ba

d ci

rcum

stan

ces a

nd m

otiv

es le

ad to

bad

pro

se th

at m

akes

the w

orld

va

stly

wor

se. T

he p

ress

may

hav

e beg

un to

gai

n th

e up

per h

and,

the v

ir-

tual

real

ity o

f the

med

ia m

ay ha

ve b

egun

to d

eter

min

e the

exte

rnal

real

-ity

that

it's

supp

osed

to c

over

-'sha

dow

s now

thro

w bo

dies

,' in

Kra

us's

form

ulat

ion-

but K

raus

did

n't i

mag

ine

that

the

lang

uage

of t

he p

ress

de

velo

ped

inde

pend

ently

of i

ts m

ater

ial c

ondi

tions

. Oft

en, i

n fa

ct, t

he

impo

rtan

ce o

flan

guag

e m

isus

e is

that

it al

low

s us

to re

cogn

ize

a da

n-ge

rous

und

erly

ing

corr

uptio

n: 't

hat o

ne is

a m

urde

rer d

oesn

't ne

cess

ar-

ily te

ll us

som

ethi

ng ab

out h

is s

tyle

; but

his

sty

le c

an te

ll us

that

he's

a

mur

dere

r.' B

ecau

se Ja

mes

mis

ses

this

poi

nt, i

t's e

asy

for h

im to

acc

use

Kra

us o

f bei

ng m

ore

one-

side

d ab

out h

isto

rica

l cau

salit

y th

an h

e w

as.

Acc

ordi

ng to

Jam

es, K

raus

, the

lang

uage

-obs

esse

d sa

tiris

t, fa

iled

to ap

-pr

ecia

te su

ffic

ient

ly th

at 't

he w

orld

is m

ade

up o

f mor

e th

an la

ngua

ge.'

Sim

ilarly

,Jam

es re

proa

ches

Kra

us fo

r com

ing

'clos

e to

sugg

estin

g th

at

the w

ar h

ad b

een

caus

ed b

y ba

d jou

rnal

ism

,' the

n ad

ds, w

ith an

impl

ied

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

161

Page 18: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

!j

geda

cht,

Hei

ne v

on d

er W

elt

in d

en S

taat

. Und

das

ist

meh

r.

Nes

troy

ble

ibt

der

Spai

?,m

ache

r, de

nn s

ein

Spa£

., de

r vo

n de

r H

obel

bank

zu

den

Stem

en sc

hlug

, kam

von

der

Hob

elba

nk, u

nd

von

den

Stem

en w

isse

n w

ir n

icht

s. E

in i

rdis

cher

Pol

itike

r sa

gt

uns

meh

r al

s ei

n ko

smis

cher

Han

swur

st. U

nd d

a un

s di

e V

er-

meh

rung

uns

erer

int

elle

ktue

llen

Hau

smac

ht a

m H

erze

n lie

gt,

habe

n w

ir n

icht

s da

gege

n, da

R. d

ie ir

disc

hen

Han

swur

ste

Nes

troy

ge

lege

ntlic

h zu

m P

oliti

ker

mac

hen

und

ihn

zwin

gen,

das

Be-

kenn

tnis

jene

r lib

eral

en B

ezir

ksan

scha

uung

nac

hzut

rage

n, o

hne

sigh

ofi

mpa

tienc

e, 'i

f onl

y it

had

been

that

sim

ple.

' Jam

es a

lso c

onje

c-tu

res t

hat K

raus

'mig

ht ha

ve fo

und

inst

ruct

ion

in th

e des

potic

pas

t, ha

d he

bee

n m

ore

hist

oric

ally

min

ded.

' "T

here

's ce

rtain

ly so

met

hing

to th

e las

t cla

im. K

raus

show

ed n

o in

-cl

inat

ion

for t

rack

ing

how

his

toric

al ev

ents

unf

old

over

tim

e, o

r for

fig-

urin

g ou

t how

com

plex

web

s of

fact

ors

prod

uce

them

. You

cou

ld s

ay

that

he

anal

yzed

key

feat

ures

of h

is ag

e in

a se

ries o

f aph

oris

ms,

som

e fu

nny

and

som

e no

t, w

hich

he

supp

orte

d w

ith th

ousa

nds

of pa

ges

of

com

men

tary

and

pai

nsta

king

, oft

en b

reat

htak

ing

wor

k w

ith th

e ev

i-de

nce,

but

whi

ch h

e did

n't t

ry to

put

into

mea

ning

ful n

arra

tive c

onte

xts

(see

'Hei

ne a

nd th

e C

onse

quen

ces')

. For

me,

wha

t's st

rikin

g ab

out T

he

Thir

d W

alpu

rgis

Nig

ht is

n't s

o m

uch

the l

ack o

f hum

or o

r effe

ctiv

e sat

ire

as t

he a

bsen

ce o

f aph

oris

tic in

sigh

ts. T

his

abse

nce,

inci

dent

ally

, may

ex

plai

n th

e bo

ok's

odd

shap

e. W

itho

ut s

uch

insi

ghts

to g

roun

d hi

m

(he

ofte

n bu

ilt u

pon

the

apho

rism

s th

at h

e in

serte

d in

to h

is es

says

), K

raus

app

ears

to

be a

t sea

. He

goes

on

and

on:

The

Thir

d W

alpu

rgis

Nig

ht is

pro

babl

y fiv

e tim

es lo

nger

than

Kra

us's

seco

nd-lo

nges

t ess

ay.

Of c

ours

e, m

uch

of w

hat K

raus

writ

es in

it h

as m

erit.

The

boo

k is,

in-

deed

, 'cle

ar-e

yed.

'lt co

ntai

ns d

etai

led

acco

unts

ofN

azi v

iole

nce,

and

it

forc

eful

ly c

alls

out c

ultu

ral a

utho

riti

es-m

en su

ch a

s G

ottf

ried

Ben

n an

d M

artin

Hei

degg

er-w

hose

sup

port

hel

ped

legi

timat

e th

e N

azi

mov

emen

t by c

onfe

rrin

g upo

n it

the c

ache

t of p

oetr

y and

philo

soph

y in

the

coun

try

that

fanc

ied

itsel

f the

land

of

Dic

hter

und

Den

ker.

But

K

raus

's pe

rfor

man

ce n

ever

thel

ess

feel

s 'w

rong

-foo

ted,

' to

use

Jam

es's

162

/ N

ES

TR

OY

UN

D D

IE N

AC

HW

EL

T

r' I I 1 Li -------

wor

ld,

Hei

ne's

fro

m t

he w

orld

int

o th

e st

ate.

And

tha

t is

mor

e.17

Nes

troy

rem

ains

a j

oker

bec

ause

his

joke

s, w

hich

sho

t fr

om th

e w

orkb

ench

to th

e st

ars,

cam

e fr

om th

e w

orkb

ench

and

w

e kn

ow n

othi

ng o

f the

sta

rs. A

n ea

rthl

y po

litic

ian

says

mor

e to

us

tha

n a

cosm

ic b

uffo

on. A

nd s

ince

wha

t m

atte

rs t

o us

is i

n-cr

easi

ng o

ur s

tore

s of

con

vent

iona

l w

isdo

m,

we

don'

t m

ind

if

som

e ea

rthl

y bu

ffoo

ns o

ccas

iona

lly m

ake

Nes

troy

into

a p

olit

i-ci

an a

nd fo

rce

him

to s

peak

the

kind

of l

iber

al p

reci

nct-

opin

ion

wit

hout

whi

ch w

e ca

n no

long

er c

once

ive

of a

dead

sat

iris

t. T

he

wor

d. L

iber

ally

tran

slat

ed, K

raus

's op

enin

g lin

e re

ads '

No

idea

s ab

out

Hitl

er o

ccur

to m

e' ('M

ir fa

llt z

u H

itler

nic

hts

ein'

), an

d it

prov

es to

be

an a

pt w

arni

ng. K

raus

was

n't a

ble

to m

uste

r for

Naz

ism

the

kind

s of

pr

ovoc

ativ

e ap

horis

tic d

istil

latio

ns th

at se

rve

as th

e ba

sis fo

r so

muc

h of

his w

ork.

The

clo

sest

he

gets

in T

he T

hird

Wal

purg

is N

ight

is th

at fa

-m

ous f

irst s

ente

nce.

" R

ight

. The

wit

of K

raus

's ap

horis

ms

was

gro

unde

d in

a c

ompr

e-he

nsib

le w

orld

and

was

alw

ays

ther

efor

e, a

t so

me

leve

l, op

timis

tic.

To sa

y th

at "s

hado

ws n

ow th

row

bod

ies"

is n

ot o

nly

to in

voke

a fo

rmer

w

orld

in

whi

ch b

odie

s th

rew

sha

dow

s bu

t to

impl

y th

at th

is p

rope

r re

latio

n co

uld

be re

stor

ed if

peop

le w

ould

stop

swal

low

ing

the

med

ia's

man

ipul

atio

n of

rea

lity.

Naz

i id

eolo

gy w

as b

eyon

d an

y su

ch r

e-de

mpt

ion-

ther

e w

as n

o w

ay to

flip

it o

ver,

via

para

doxi

cal a

phor

ism

, in

to so

met

hing

pot

entia

lly m

elio

rabl

e.

I m

ight

add

tha

t Jam

es n

ot o

nly

prop

agat

es a

sm

alle

ning

clic

he

abou

t Kra

us b

ut im

plic

itly b

uys i

nto

an ag

gran

dizi

ng cl

iche

abo

ut S

ad-

dam

Hus

sein

-nam

ely,

that

his

thre

at to

the

wor

ld b

ore

com

paris

on

with

Hitl

er's.

Bad

jour

nalis

m m

ay n

ot h

ave

caus

ed th

e Ir

aq in

vasi

on

( whi

ch Ja

mes

seem

s to

belie

ve w

as a

nec

essa

ry re

spon

se to

Hitl

er-le

vel

evil)

, but

Judi

th M

iller

's sh

oddy

repo

rtin

g on

WM

Ds,

in th

e Ti

mes

, did

do

a lo

t to

neut

raliz

e opp

onen

ts o

f the

war

. Her

WM

D sh

adow

s thr

ew

bodi

es.

17. I

n ot

her w

ords

, Hei

ne is

mor

e "i

mpo

rtan

t" th

an N

estro

y. K

raus

m

eans

this

iron

ical

ly, a

s the

follo

win

g se

nten

ces m

ake c

lear

.

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

163

Page 19: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

die

wir

uns

ein

en t

oten

Sat

irike

r ni

cht

meh

r de

nken

kon

nen.

D

ie P

hras

eure

und

Ris

eure

geb

en d

ann

gem

zu, d

ail, e

r ein

Spo

tt-vo

gel w

ar o

der

dail,

ihm

der

Sch

alk

im N

acke

n sa

K U

nd d

en-

noch

sail,

er n

ur ih

nen

im N

acke

n un

d bl

ies

ihre

Kal

abre

ser u

m.

Und

den

noch

sei

jene

n, d

ie s

ich

zur

Kun

st h

erab

lass

en u

nd ih

r de

n Sp

ielr

aum

zw

isch

en d

en H

oriz

onte

n go

nnen

, so

von

der i

n-di

vidu

elle

n N

ullit

at b

is zu

r so

zial

en Q

yant

itat,

mit

ziem

liche

r G

ewiil

,hei

t ge

sagt

: W

enn

Kun

st n

icht

das

ist

, was

sie

glau

ben

und

erla

uben

, so

nder

n di

e W

egw

eite

ist

zw

isch

en e

inem

Ge-

scha

uten

und

ein

em G

edac

hten

, von

ein

em R

inns

al z

ur M

ilch-

strai

l,e d

ie k

iirze

ste

Ver

bind

ung,

so

hat

es n

ie u

nter

deu

tsch

em

Him

mel

ein

en L

aufe

r ge

gebe

n w

ie N

estro

y. V

erst

eht

sich

, nie

un

ter d

enen

, die

mit

lach

ende

m G

esic

ht z

u m

elde

n ha

tten,

dail

, es

im L

eben

hai

l,lic

h ei

nger

icht

et se

i. W

ir w

erde

n se

iner

Bot

scha

ft de

n G

laub

en n

icht

des

halb

ver

sage

n, w

eil

sie e

in C

oupl

et w

ar.

Nic

ht e

inm

al d

esha

lb, w

eil e

r in

der G

esch

win

digk

eit a

uch

dem

H

orer

etw

as z

ulie

be g

esun

gen,

wei

l er

mit

Ver

acht

ung

der

Bed

iirfn

isse

des

Pub

likum

s sie

bef

ried

igt

hat,

um u

ngeh

inde

rt

empo

rden

ken

zu k

onne

n. O

der w

eil e

r se

in D

ynam

it in

Wat

te

wic

kelte

und

sei

ne W

elt

erst

spr

engt

e, n

achd

em e

r sie

in

der

Obe

rzeu

gung

bef

estig

t ha

tte, d

ail,

sie d

ie b

este

der

Wel

ten

sei,

und

wei

l er

die

G

emiit

lichk

eit

zuer

st e

inse

ifte,

wen

n's

ans

Hal

sabs

chne

iden

gin

g, u

nd s

onst

nic

ht w

eite

r in

kom

mod

iere

n w

ollte

. Auc

h w

erde

n w

ir, d

ie n

icht

dar

auf a

us s

ind,

der

Wah

rhei

t di

e E

hre v

or d

em G

eist

zu g

eben

, von

ihm

nic

ht d

esha

lb g

erin

ger

denk

en,

wei

l er

oft

mit

der

Unb

eden

klic

hkei

t de

s O

rigin

als,

da

s W

icht

iger

es v

orha

t, si

ch d

as S

tichw

ort v

on T

heat

erw

erke

rn

brin

gen

lieK

Der

Vor

wur

f, de

r Nes

troy

gem

acht

wur

de, i

st a

lber

-ne

r als

so m

anch

e Fa

bel,

die

er e

inem

fran

zosi

sche

n H

andl

ange

r

164

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

"". j \ I l l

phra

seur

s and

rise

urs a

re th

en h

appy

to a

dmit

that

he

was

a m

ock-

ingb

ird

and

a cu

tup.

And

nev

erth

eles

s, h

e w

as o

nly

cutti

ng th

em

dow

n an

d bl

owin

g of

f the

ir C

alab

rian

hat

s.18

And

nev

erth

eles

s,

to th

ose w

ho c

onde

scen

d to

art

and

gra

nt it

free

pla

y be

twee

n th

e ho

rizo

ns-t

hat i

s, fr

om th

e in

divi

dual

nul

lity

to th

e so

cial

qua

n-ti

ty-l

et it

be

said

with

con

side

rabl

e ce

rtain

ty: I

f art

is n

ot w

hat

they

conc

eive

and

con

done

but

inst

ead

is th

e st

retc

h fr

om s

ome-

thin

g se

en t

o so

met

hing

tho

ught

-the

sho

rtes

t lin

k fr

om t

he

gutte

r to

the

Milk

y W

ay-t

hen

ther

e ha

s ne

ver

been

a r

unne

r un

der

the

Ger

man

sky

like

Nes

troy.

Nev

er, i

t goe

s w

ithou

t say

-in

g, a

mon

g th

ose

who

bro

ught

the

new

s, w

ith l

augh

ing

face

s, th

at li

fe is

arr

ange

d in

an

ugly

way

.19 W

e w

on't

deny

cre

denc

e to

hi

s m

essa

ge b

ecau

se i

t was

a la

mpo

on. N

ot e

ven

beca

use,

in h

is

rush

, he

also

san

g so

met

hing

for t

he li

sten

er; b

ecau

se, i

n hi

s co

n-te

mpt

for t

he n

eeds

of t

he a

udie

nce,

he

satis

fied

them

, so

that

his

th

ough

ts c

ould

soar

unh

inde

red.

Or b

ecau

se h

e sw

addl

ed h

is d

y-na

mite

in c

otto

n an

d bl

ew u

p hi

s wor

ld o

nly

afte

r rei

nfor

cing

its

conv

ictio

n th

at it

was

the

best

of a

ll pos

sibl

e w

orld

s, an

d be

caus

e he

laid

on

the

soft

soap

of c

onge

nial

ity b

efor

e he

sta

rted

slit

ting

thro

ats,

and

oth

erw

ise

didn

't w

ish

to in

conv

enie

nce

anyo

ne. N

or,

not

bein

g in

tere

sted

in

hono

ring

tru

th b

efor

e sp

irit,2

° w

ill w

e th

ink

less

of h

im b

ecau

se h

e of

ten,

with

the

car

eles

snes

s of

an

orig

inal

who

has

mor

e im

port

ant t

hing

s on

his

min

d, b

orro

wed

pu

nch

lines

from

sta

geha

nds.

The

repr

oof t

hat w

as le

vele

d ag

ains

t N

estr

oy is

sill

ier t

han

any

plot

line

he li

fted

from

a F

renc

h flu

nky,

18.

"Cal

abri

an h

ats

(Kal

ahre

ser)

wer

e th

e fe

lt ha

ts f

avor

ed b

y th

e re

volu

tiona

ries

ofl

848.

"-P

R

19. I

.e.,

peop

le li

ke H

eine

. 20

. Keh

lrna

nn, t

he V

ienn

ese a

nd m

ajor

Kra

us fa

n: "I

hav

e no

idea

wha

t he

mea

ns w

ith th

is p

hras

e. It

doe

sn't

mak

e sen

se to

me.

"Nor

to m

e. B

ut

the

sens

e of

the

sent

ence

as a

who

le is

that

the

orig

inal

ity o

fNes

troy

's

spir

it m

atte

rs m

ore t

han

the

non-

orig

inal

ity o

f his

plo

ts.

NE

ST

RO

Y A

ND

PO

ST

ER

ITY

/

165

Page 20: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

abna

hm, a

lbem

er a

ls si

ch ir

gend

eine

s de

r Qio

dlib

ets

im D

ruck

lie

st, d

ie e

r de

m V

olk

hinw

arf,

das

zu a

llen

Zeite

n de

n H

umor

er

st u

nges

chor

en la

g t, w

enn

es a

uch

den

Ham

ur b

ekom

mt,

und

dam

als s

ich

erst

ent

scha

digt

wug

te, w

enn

es m

it ei

nem

Viv

at d

er

vers

amm

elte

n H

ochz

eits

gast

e na

ch H

ause

gin

g. E

r na

hm d

ie

Scha

blon

e, d

ie a

ls Sc

habl

one

gebo

ren

war

, um

sei

nen

Inha

lt zu

ve

rste

cken

, der

nic

ht S

chab

lone

wer

den

konn

te. D

ag a

uch

die

nied

rige

Thea

terw

irkun

g hi

er ir

gend

wie

der

tief

eren

Bed

eutu

ng

zugu

te k

am, i

ndem

sie

das

Publ

ikum

von

ihr s

epar

ierte

, und

dag

es

sel

bst w

iede

r tie

fere

Bed

eutu

ng h

at, w

enn

das

Orc

hest

er d

ie

Philo

soph

ie m

it Tu

sch

vera

bsch

iede

t, sp

iiren

die

Lite

rarh

isto

-rik

er n

icht

, di

e w

ohl

fahi

g si

nd, N

estr

oy z

u ei

ner

polit

isch

en

Obe

rzeu

gung

, abe

r nic

ht, i

hm z

u de

m T

ext z

u ve

rhel

fen,

der

sein

un

ster

blic

h Te

il de

ckt.

Er

selb

st h

atte

es

nich

t vor

gese

hen.

Er

schr

ieb

im S

tegr

eif,

aber

er

wug

te n

icht

, d

~ d

er R

itt i

iber

s R

eper

toire

hin

ausg

ehen

wer

de.

Er

mug

te n

icht

, wie

woh

l jed

e N

estro

ysch

e Ze

ile d

avon

zeu

gt, d

aB e

r es

geko

nnt h

atte

, sic

h in

ki

inst

leris

che

Selb

stzu

cht v

or je

nen

zurii

ckzi

ehen

, die

ihn

nur f

ur

eine

n Lu

stig

mac

her h

ielte

n, u

nd d

er m

ilder

e St

oB d

er Z

eit v

er-

sagt

e de

r A

ntw

ort

noch

das

Bew

ugts

ein

ihre

r En

dgilt

igke

it,

jene

n se

ligen

Anr

eiz,

die

Rac

he a

m S

toff

im G

enug

der

For

m z

u

166

/ N

EST

llO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

'!l!'r.

silli

er t

han

the

prin

ted

look

of a

ny o

f tho

se p

otpo

urris

tha

t he

used

to to

ss to

the

peop

le, w

ho, t

hen

as n

ow, w

on't

give

hum

or a

fre

e pa

ss u

nles

s th

ey're

also

giv

en th

eir h

ardy

-har

-har

, and

who

, in

thos

e da

ys, w

eren

't co

nvin

ced

they

'd g

ot th

eir m

oney

's w

orth

un

less

they

wen

t hom

e w

ith a

che

er fo

r the

ass

embl

ed w

eddi

ng

gues

ts.21

He

chos

e th

e ro

utin

e, w

hich

had

bee

n bo

rn as

a ro

utin

e,

in o

rder

to c

once

al h

is su

bsta

nce,

whi

ch c

ould

nev

er b

e a

rout

ine.

Th

at ev

en th

e lo

w th

eatri

cal e

ffec

ts h

ere

som

ehow

cont

ribu

ted

to

the

deep

er m

eani

ng, b

y se

para

ting

the

audi

ence

fro

m i

t-an

d

that

, ag

ain,

the

re's

deep

er m

eani

ng e

ven

in t

he f

anfa

re w

ith

whi

ch t

he o

rche

stra

sen

ds o

ff p

hilo

soph

y-es

cape

s th

e lit

erar

y hi

stor

ians

, who

may

wel

l be

capa

ble

of he

lpin

g N

estro

y to

a p

o-lit

ical

con

vict

ion,

but

not

to t

he t

ext t

hat e

ncom

pass

es t

he i

m-

mor

tal p

art o

f him

.22 H

e hi

mse

lf h

adn'

t bar

gain

ed f

or t

his.

He

wro

te o

n th

e fly

, but

he

didn

't kn

ow th

e fli

ght w

ould

ext

end

be-

yond

the

rep

erto

ire. A

lthou

gh e

very

Nes

troya

n lin

e at

test

s th

at

he w

as c

apab

le o

fit,

he d

idn'

t hav

e to

with

draw

into

arti

stic

sel

f-di

scip

line

in th

e fa

ce o

f tho

se w

ho c

onsi

dere

d hi

m n

othi

ng m

ore

than

a h

umor

ist,

and

the

mild

er ja

rrin

g of

his

times

den

ied

his

resp

onse

the

cons

ciou

snes

s of

its f

inal

ity-

that

ble

ssed

ince

ntiv

e

21. U

ntra

nsla

tabl

e wor

dpla

y in

her

e. In

the

orig

inal

, "hu

mor

" is H

umor

an

d "h

ardy

-har

-har

" is

Ham

ur, w

hich

was

Vie

nnes

e sla

ng fo

r "hu

mor

."

The

impl

icat

ion

is th

at V

ienn

ese

audi

ence

s wou

ld fo

rgiv

e ge

nuin

e w

it

in a

pla

ywri

ght o

nly i

fhe o

r she

als

o ga

ve th

em co

mfo

rtin

g, ea

rthy

, low

-cl

ass l

augh

s. 22

. "Fo

r all

Kra

us's

dism

issi

vene

ss to

war

d lit

erar

y hi

stor

ians

, his

rel

a-ti

ons

wit

h th

em w

eren

't all

bad

. Ott

o R

omm

el, w

ho w

as t

he le

adin

g N

estr

oy sc

hola

r in

Kra

us's

day,

publ

icly

stat

ed h

ow m

uch

he a

dmir

ed

Kra

us;

and

whe

n, in

pri

vate

, Rom

mel

told

Kra

us t

hat h

e ha

d m

ade

it po

ssib

le fo

r hi

m t

o un

ders

tand

Nes

troy

, Kra

us p

roud

ly r

epor

ted

this

ac

know

ledg

men

t in

the

Fack

el."

-PR

NE

STll

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 16

7

Page 21: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

besi

egel

n. E

r ha

tte, w

are

er s

pate

r ge

bore

n, w

are

er i

n di

e Z

eit

des

jour

nalis

tisch

en S

prac

hbet

rugs

hin

eing

ebor

en w

orde

n, d

er

Spra

che

gew

isse

nhaf

t er

stat

tet,

was

er

ihr

zu v

erda

nken

hat

te.

Die

Zei

t, di

e da

s ge

istig

e Te

mpo

der

Mas

se v

erla

ngsa

mt,

hetz

t ih

ren

satir

isch

en W

ider

part

. Die

Zei

t hat

te ih

m k

eine

Zei

t meh

r zu

ein

er so

bei

lauf

igen

Aus

trag

ung

blut

iger

Feh

de g

elas

sen,

wie

sie

die

Biih

ne e

rlau

bt u

nd v

erla

ngt,

und

kein

Orc

hest

er w

are

mel

odis

ch g

enug

gew

esen

, den

MiE

ton

zwis

chen

sei

ner

Nat

ur

und

der n

achg

ewch

sene

n W

elt z

u ve

rsoh

nen.

Sei

n Ei

gent

lichs

tes

war

der

Wit

z, d

er d

er B

iihne

nwir

kung

wid

erst

rebt

, die

ser p

lane

n Ei

nmal

igke

it, d

er es

gen

iigen

muE

, das

Sto

ffiic

he d

es W

itze

s an

de

n M

ann

zu b

ring

en, u

nd d

ie i

m r

hyth

mis

chen

Wur

f das

Zie

l vo

r de

m G

edan

ken

triff

t. A

uf d

er B

iihne

, wo

die

Hof

lichk

eit

gege

n da

s Pu

blik

um i

m N

eglig

e de

r Sp

rach

e ei

nher

geht

, war

N

estro

ys W

itz

nur

zu e

iner

Spr

echw

irku

ng a

uszu

miin

zen,

die

, w

eita

b vo

n de

n M

ittel

n ei

ner

scha

uspi

eler

isch

en G

esta

ltung

, w

iede

r nur

ihm

selb

st g

elin

gen

konn

te. S

ein

Eige

ntlic

hste

s ha

tte

eine

zer

split

tert

e Z

eit z

ur s

tark

eren

Kon

zent

rier

ung

im A

pho-

168

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

"""". i

to se

al re

veng

e on

the

mat

eria

l in

his e

njoy

men

t of f

orm

.23 I

fhe'

d be

en b

orn

late

r, if

he'd

bee

n bo

rn in

to th

ese

times

of j

ourn

alis

tic

lang

uage

frau

d, h

e w

ould

hav

e co

nsci

entio

usly

repa

id e

very

thin

g he

ow

ed to

lang

uage

. Tim

es th

at re

tard

the

inte

llect

ual t

empo

of

the

mas

ses

inci

te t

heir

sat

irica

l cou

nter

part

. The

se t

imes

wou

ld

have

left

him

no

time

for a

s cas

ual a

pro

secu

tion

of a

bloo

dy fe

ud

as t

he s

tage

per

mits

and

insi

sts

on, a

nd n

o or

ches

tra w

ould

hav

e be

en h

arm

onio

us e

noug

h to

reso

lve

the

diss

onan

ce b

etw

een

his

natu

re a

nd th

e w

orld

that

gre

w u

p af

ter i

t. H

is e

ssen

ce w

as t

he

joke

that

runs

cou

nter

to th

e st

age

effe

ct, t

he fl

at o

ncen

ess

that

ha

s to

be

satis

fied

with

find

ing

a m

ate

for t

he jo

ke's

mat

eria

l and

w

hich

, in

its r

hyth

mic

salv

o, h

its th

e ta

rget

bef

ore

the

thou

ght.24

On

the

stag

e, w

here

pol

itene

ss t

owar

d th

e au

dien

ce p

arad

es

arou

nd in

the

negl

igee

of l

angu

age,

Nes

troy'

s w

it c

ould

onl

y be

co

ined

in th

e cu

rren

cy o

f rhe

toric

, whi

ch, f

ar r

emov

ed fr

om t

he

acto

r's t

ools

of

char

acte

rizat

ion,

was

som

ethi

ng a

gain

onl

y he

co

uld

pull

off.25

Fra

gmen

ted

times

wou

ld h

ave

driv

en h

is e

ssen

ce

23. I

invi

te th

e re

ader

to sk

ip o

ver t

he se

cond

hal

f of t

his

sent

ence

. As

Keh

lman

n sa

ys, "

The

sent

ence

is o

veri

nstr

umen

ted.

Bas

ical

ly K

raus

is

sayi

ng th

at N

estr

oy li

ved

in b

ette

r tim

es, w

hich

is to

say l

ess a

poca

lyp-

tic ti

mes

, and

so h

e was

spar

ed th

e fe

elin

g of

final

ity a

nd d

idn'

t hav

e to

use f

orm

( the

satir

ical

bri

llian

ce o

f the

sent

ence

s) to

reve

nge h

imse

lf on

hi

s co

nten

t (th

e th

ings

he

was

wri

ting

abou

t). N

ot a

gre

at s

ente

nce

of

Kra

us's,

I do

n't t

hink

. But

the

next

sent

ence

bel

ongs

with

it a

nd h

elps

m

ake s

ense

ofi

t."

24. K

ehlm

ann

agai

n: "

My g

uess

abo

ut w

hat K

raus

mea

ns b

y 'on

cene

ss'

is th

at a

n au

dien

ce h

ears

a s

tage

line

onl

y on

ce a

nd c

an't

go b

ack

and

rere

ad i

t, w

hich

mea

ns t

hat y

ou h

ave

to b

e si

mpl

e an

d im

med

iate

ly

unde

rsta

ndab

le w

hen

you

wri

te fo

r th

e th

eate

r."

25. T

here

's a

who

le li

ttle

out

brea

k of

subp

ar s

ente

nces

in h

ere.

Keh

l-m

ann'

s be

st g

uess

abo

ut th

is o

ne: "

It's

poss

ible

that

Kra

us m

eans

that

N

estr

oy a

chie

ves

rhet

oric

al e

ffec

ts s

o st

rong

that

they

func

tion

inde

-pe

nden

tly o

f the

qua

lity

of th

e ac

tor."

Rei

tter

add

s: "O

n se

cond

(or

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 16

9

Page 22: Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions (Title 17, States ...users.clas.ufl.edu/burt/LoserLit/Nestroy.pdfcan't catch its breath, and in the end a dead human-ity lies next to its

rism

us

und

in d

er G

loss

e ge

trieb

en,

und

das

viel

falti

gere

G

ekre

isch

e de

r Wel

t hat

te se

iner

ins I

nner

ste

des A

ppar

ats

drin

-ge

nden

Dia

lekt

ik n

eue T

onfi

lle z

ugef

ilhrt.

Sei

ner S

atire

gen

iigte

vo

rwie

gend

ein

bes

timm

ter

Rhy

thm

us,

um d

aran

die

Fad

en

eine

r w

ahrh

aft

geis

tigen

Bet

rach

tung

auf

zusp

ulen

. Man

chm

al

aber

sie

ht s

ich

die

Nes

troys

che

Klim

ax a

n, a

ls ba

tten

sich

die

Te

rmin

i des

jew

eils

per

orie

rend

en S

tand

esbe

wuB

tsei

ns z

u ei

ner

Him

mel

slei

ter g

estu

ft. Im

mer

ste

hen

dies

e vi

fen

Ver

trete

r ihr

er

Ber

ufsa

nsch

auun

g m

it ei

nem

FuB

in

der

Prof

essi

on, m

it d

em

ande

rn in

der

Phi

loso

phie

, und

wen

n sie

auc

h st

ets

ein

ande

res

fifth

) th

ough

t, I'm

not

so

sure

. I

thin

k th

at K

K is

stil

l re

ferr

ing

to

Nes

troy

the a

ctor

her

e. H

is p

oint

is th

at, a

s an

acto

r, N

estr

oy h

ad a

par

-tic

ular

tal

ent f

or t

he r

heto

rica

l par

t of t

he p

erfo

rman

ce. T

his

crea

tes

anot

her l

ink

betw

een

Nes

troy

and

Kra

us, s

ince

Kra

us's

publ

ic re

adin

gs

wer

e es

sent

ially

rhe

tori

cal p

erfo

rman

ces

who

se s

ucce

ss w

asn'

t a fu

nc-

tion

sim

ply

of hi

s wri

ting

but o

f his

voi

ce a

nd d

eliv

ery

as w

ell."

I m

ust s

ay th

at it

's a

relie

f to

see

Keh

lman

n an

d R

eitt

er st

rugg

ling

with

Kra

us's

lang

uage

. I fi

rst s

tart

ed tr

ansl

atin

g K

raus

in 1

983,

entir

ely

on m

y ow

n, a

nd b

ecau

se s

o m

any

of h

is s

ente

nces

yie

lded

bea

uty

and

mea

ning

ifl

enga

ged

in su

ffic

ient

sol

itary

stru

ggle

with

them

, I n

atu-

rally

ass

umed

it w

as m

y fa

ult w

hen

som

e of

them

did

n't;

I was

n't a

na-

tive

Ger

man

spe

aker

, aft

er a

ll. B

ut th

is is

the

dan

gero

us t

hing

abo

ut

liter

ary

diffi

culty

: the

fart

her

the

wri

ter

mov

es a

way

from

tran

spar

ent,

read

ily gr

aspa

ble l

angu

age (

and

you

can'

t mov

e muc

h fa

rthe

r aw

ay th

an

Kra

us d

id a

nd st

ill h

ope

to c

onve

y co

here

nt th

ough

ts),

the

grea

ter

the

tem

ptat

ion

to c

ut c

omer

s. I

don'

t thi

nk K

raus

him

self

cuts

ver

y m

any,

bu

t on

ce y

ou s

tart

wri

ting

sent

ence

s th

at a

re d

elib

erat

ely

opaq

ue o

n fir

st r

eadi

ng, t

he d

oor

is op

en to

wri

ting

sent

ence

s tha

t rem

ain

opaq

ue

on th

e hun

dred

th re

adin

g. T

here

's a k

ind

of m

oral

haz

ard

here

--lit

erar

y di

ffic

ulty

inc

lines

rea

ders

to

excu

se t

he w

rite

r, s

ince

neg

ativ

e st

ate-

men

ts ("

Ther

e is

no co

ncei

vabl

e way

to m

ake

sens

e of t

his"

) are

not

ori-

ousl

y res

ista

ntto

pro

of-a

nd it'

s one

that

less

scru

pulo

us av

ant-

gard

ists

st

ill ex

ploi

t in

a bi

g way

.

170

/ N

EST

RO

Y U

ND

DIE

NA

CH

WE

LT

!"""'"

to c

once

ntra

te i

tsel

f in

apho

rism

and

glo

sses

, and

the

wor

ld's

mor

e va

ried

scre

echi

ngs w

ould

hav

e in

trod

uced

new

cade

nces

to

his

dial

ectic

in it

s pe

netr

atio

n to

the

core

of t

he a

ppar

atus

.26 I

n hi

s sa

tire,

one

par

ticul

ar r

hyth

m a

bove

all

suffi

ces

as a

win

ding

po

st fo

r th

e th

read

s of

an o

bser

vatio

n th

at is

tru

ly o

f the

spi

rit.

But

som

etim

es a

Nes

troya

n cl

imax

will

look

as i

f the

term

inol

o-gi

es o

f cla

ss fe

elin

g, p

eror

atin

g in

succ

essi

on, h

ad a

rran

ged

them

-se

lves

as

the

step

s of

a Ja

cob'

s la

dder

. The

se li

vely

exp

onen

ts o

f th

eir p

rofe

ssio

nal p

oint

of v

iew

are

alw

ays s

tand

ing w

ith o

ne fo

ot

in t

heir

tra

de a

nd t

he o

ther

in p

hilo

soph

y, a

nd i

f the

ir fa

ce i

s

26. "

Acc

used

by

Fran

z W

erfe

l of

letti

ng a

Yid

dish

ism

slip

int

o hi

s pr

ose,

Kra

us re

spon

ded

that

the w

ord

in q

uest

ion

was

n't a

ctua

lly a

Yid

-di

shis

m, a

nd e

ven

if it

wer

e on

e, s

o w

hat?

'My

style

scr

eech

es w

ith

all

the

nois

es o

f th

e w

orld

,' K

raus

boa

sted

els

ewhe

re.

Som

ethi

ng

like

that

sta

tem

ent g

oes

for N

estro

y's

styl

e as

wel

l, in

Kra

us's

read

ing

ofi

t."-

PR

K

raus

, who

se o

wn

spec

ialti

es w

ere

apho

rism

s an

d gl

osse

s, is

mak

-in

g a

rath

er o

utra

geou

sly

self-

just

ifyin

g cl

aim

in

this

sen

tenc

e: "

If

Nes

troyw

ere w

ritin

g no

w, h

e'd b

e doi

ng w

hat I

'm d

oing

." O

r, co

nver

sely

, "I

fl'm

not

wri

ting

play

s lik

e N

estr

oy di

d, it

's be

caus

e I li

ve in

mor

e ur

-ge

ntly

bad

tim

es."

Kra

us d

id, t

o be

sur

e, w

rite

one

mon

umen

tal p

lay,

Th

e Las

t Day

s of M

anki

nd, a

satir

e of

Aus

tria

n co

rrup

tio~

and

lies

and

self-

dece

ptio

ns in

the

Firs

t Wor

ld W

ar, b

ut it

's re

mar

kabl

y la

ckin

g in

co

nven

tiona

l dra

ma.

Its

bac

kbon

e co

nsis

ts o

f ver

tabi

m q

uota

tion

and

exag

gera

ted

mim

icry

of a

rem

arka

ble

varie

ty o

f sou

rces

, alo

ng w

ith

glos

ses a

nd a

phor

ism

s pr

ovid

ed b

y th

e ch

arac

ter o

f the

Gru

mbl

er. I

t's

quite

a p

resu

mpt

ion

to im

agin

e th

at th

is is

the

kind

of t

hing

Nes

troy

w

ould

hav

e wri

tten

if he

'd b

een

born

seve

nty-

five y

ears

late

r. A

nd y

et,

says

Keh

lman

n, "

I co

mpl

etel

y ag

ree

with

Kra

us a

bout

N

estro

y's p

artic

ular

gifts

as a

writ

er. I

t's tr

ue th

at hi

s pla

ys ar

e ful

ly co

n-ve

ntio

nal f

rom

the

stan

dpoi

nt o

f sto

ry, b

ut h

is li

ngui

stic

cre

ativ

ity, h

is

wit,

and

his

aph

oris

tic p

ower

are

trem

endo

us; a

t the

ir b

est,

they

real

ly

are

com

para

ble

only

to S

hake

spea

re's.

Nes

troy

isn'

t a b

orn

dram

atis

t, a

NE

STR

OY

AN

D P

OS

TE

RIT

Y

/ 17

1