Grundzüge einer Geschichte des deutschen Dramas von Lessing bis zum Naturalismus (review)

Bruce Duncan 243 Kafitz, Dieter, Grundzüge einer Geschichte des deutschen Dramas von Lessing bis zum Naturalismus. Königstein: Athenäum, 1982. 2 Bde., 351 Seiten. Yet another history of German drama from Lessing to Naturalism would, one might suspect, offer little more than redundancy. Yet Kafitz, though his basic premise is not new, has written an enormously useful book, carefully aimed at a student audience. It is obviously the work of a gifted pedagogue. At each step he defines his terms and discusses their history, reviews the concerns of other scholars, suggests topics for further consideration, and brings a variety of methodologies to bear. Each discussion of a literary period first focuses on the concept of the individual to examine aesthetic theory and social developments, often from a feminist perspective. It next analyzes characters from representative plays. Finally, it considers the implications of these developments for the plays' formal structure. As the title suggests, Kafitz is not interested in a full history. He explores the topic through a single organizational principle, what students used to call a "megacept." Modern German drama, he contends, begins when the Enlightenment introduces its individualistic Menschenbild. The new emphasis on personal autonomy has specific implications for the theater: it diminishes the importance of plot and emphasizes the development of individual character. Along with this new consciousness of human autonomy, however, comes a growing awareness of factors that impinge upon it. The subsequent history of drama centers on the evolving perception of the conflict between individual and society. "Der Weg verläuft, vereinfacht ausgedrückt, vom Vernunftoptimismus der Aufklärer zur Resignation im Bewußtsein allseitiger Determiniertheit im Naturalismus" (p. 11). Oversimplification is the obvious danger here, and Kafitz, though conscious of it, does not escape it entirely. As he himself points out, a history of drama that does not treat Schiller, Kleist, or Grabbe runs the risk of leaving gaps (p. 1). But the problem arises not so much from simple omission as from the concentration on exemplars. In his discussion of the Sturm und Drang, for example, Kafitz traces two dramatic types that originate out of an extreme individual consciousness: "der große Kerl," which finds its theoretical justification in Lenz's writings, and the victim of social circumstances, set forth by Mercier. The distinction is elegant, but the selection of Lenz and Mercier as the representatives of the two poles tends to distort their more complex relationship. Similarly, when Kafitz demonstrates how Weimar Classicism aims to cultivate the individual only within the given political structure, he makes his task considerably easier by relying on Goethe, rather than Schiller, as an illustration. While this concentration on the exemplary has its dangers, its benefits far outweigh them. The book does not defend its thesis polemically; rather it couples what is essentially a chapter in the history of ideas with a review of aesthetic developments. The result is a paradigm that invites the reader to investigate the subject further under any of a number of approaches. The effect is similar to that of a series of lectures, and one suspects that that is how the book began. Certainly it stays conscious of its student audience and often thoughtfully fills in possible gaps, as in the Exkurs on Aristotle's theory of tragedy. At such moments, however, Kafitz's balanced, informative approach rewards even the wellinformed reader. His discussion of the condition of women in the 18th century, for example, is particularly impressive. 244 GOETHE SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA For not readily apparent reasons—Kafitz refers cryptically to "verlagstechnische Gründe"—the book appears in two volumes, even though it totals only 351 pages. The division is not only inconvenient, it underscores a certain decrease in the study's effectiveness as it progresses into the later chapters. Kafitz's paradigm works beautifully for the late 18th and early 19th centuries (although it never deals with Romanticism). It even permits a new appreciation of Grillparzer. On the other hand, the penultimate chapter, on "vergessene Dramatiker des 19. Jahrhunderts," seems gratuitous. The book's value lies in its organization of a wealth of material into a manageable scheme. This anomalous chapter clutters things up with new information, much...