Kleist-Handbuch. Leben—Werk—Wirkung (review)

The Kleist-Handbuch is a useful, multifaceted reference tool that combines interpretations of all of Kleist’s works with biographical information, cultural contexts, and overviews of motifs, reception, and critical approaches. As Ingo Breuer states in the foreword, his guiding principle in compiling the handbook was to present scholarly viewpoints “über Grenzen (und Gräben) zwischen unterschiedlichen Schulen, Methoden und ‘Lagern’ hinweg” (vii). While the methods and perspectives encompassed by the Kleist-Handbuch are indeed diverse, the provenance of its contributors seldom extends beyond Europe. The work contains entries by sixty-two scholars: fifty-six from Europe, and six from Australia, Japan, and China.

The chapter devoted to analyses of individual texts—at 168 pages by far the longest in the handbook—thoroughly treats all of Kleist’s narratives and plays, as well as his letters, poetry, journalism, and anecdotes. It begins with discussions of the genres in which Kleist wrote, providing both the nuanced detail required by scholars and ample introductory material for students. The textual analyses were written by specialists including Bernhard Greiner, Klaus Müller-Salget, Helmut Schneider, and Anthony Stephens. To choose a representative example, the entry on Die Familie Schroffenstein was composed by Louis Gerrekens, author of a touchstone interpretation of the play (Nun bist Du ein verschloßner Brief, 1988). Rather than critiquing the drama as a flawed first attempt, Gerrekens traces Kleist’s “raffinierte Kombinatorik” of themes “die nachher leitmotivisch sein Gesamtœuvre prägen sollten” (29). With great subtlety, he makes the case for Kleist’s deconstruction of the Trauerspiel genre, and thus for “die beeindruckende Modernität” of this debut work (33). For further example, the analysis of Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, written by Bernd Hamacher, focuses on the aporetic moments that require readers to make “Entscheidungen [ . . . ], für die der Text keine Handhabe bietet” (85). Hamacher then summarizes recent scholarly approaches that aim toward clarifying the drama’s ambiguities.

Chapter III considers the authors and literary movements that influenced Kleist’s work, including sections on Kant, Rousseau, Wieland, Goethe, and Schiller. The fourth chapter, entitled “Kontexte: Quellen, Diskurse, kulturelle Codes,” examines fifteen concepts relevant to Kleist’s writings, among them “Ästhetik,” “Recht und Justiz,” “Bildende Kunst” (with illustrations), and “Rhetorik.” In a manner reminiscent of László F. Földényi’s brilliant study, Heinrich von Kleist im Netz der Wörter (1999), chapter V explores individual motifs. Yet, while Földényi often devoted attention to unfolding small details (e.g. “Nuss,” “Oberlippe,” “Tuch”), the handbook considers larger-scale motifs such as “Erkenntnis und Wahrheit,” “Glaube und Aberglaube,” “Grazie,” “Identität,” und “Ironie.” The entry on irony, written by Jochen Schmidt, again provides an example of the handbook’s accessibility to a broad audience. It swiftly acquaints students with basic definitions of this complex trope, and then provides a sophisticated examination of Kleist’s ironic strategies. Schmidt argues that Kleistian irony most closely resembles the Socratic form, for Kleist obliquely prompts his readers toward autonomous realizations: “Allerdings treten seine ironischen Strategien meistens nicht offen zu Tage. Sie entfalten ihre kritische und oft subversive Energie indirekt, indem sie den Leser zu einer Hermeneutik des Verdachts herausfordern” (339).

The chapter on methodologies includes sections on psychoanalytical approaches; structuralism and poststructuralism; deconstruction; postcolonialism; and cultural, gender, and media studies. The handbook concludes with sections on “Rezeption und Wirkung,” first within Germany, then internationally. Individual entries examine the reception of Kleist’s works in France, Spain, Central and South America, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Russia and Eastern Europe, Japan, and China. However, just as no North American scholars contribute to the handbook, this section contains no discussion of Kleist’s reception in the United States or Canada.

The bibliography comprising chapter VIII contains editions of Kleist’s works, lists of secondary literature organized by type, and an index of names. Unfortunately, many of the scholars and sources cited within the body of the handbook are not included in these final indices. While the chapter is termed a selected bibliography, it would...