Naturalistische Dramen Gerhart Hauptmanns by Klaus Hildebrandt (review)

Book Reviews255 discourse appears then to be a locus of the figurative representations of the different forms of human communication, produced from tension, and of returns to equilibrium." LEE H. DOWLING University of Houston KLAUS HILDEBRANDT. Naturalistische Dramen Gerhart Hauptmanns. München: R. Oldenburg Verlag, 1983. 116 p. This informative study examines, analyzes, and evaluates the sources, thematic development, and structural problems of Hauptmann's most enduring naturalistic tragedies, Die Weber, Rose Bernd, and Die Ratten. In writing this volume for the series "Analysen zur deutschen Sprache und Literatur," Hildebrandt wished to provide for teachers and students a summary of factual material and of the extensive scholarly research published about these dramas. The author, a recognized specialist in this area of scholarship, regularly reports on Hauptmann publications in the periodical Schlesien. It is gratifying to find significant American and Canadian Hauptmann investigations cited along with the German research. The introductory pages sketch the literary and nonliterary background against which German Naturalism developed in the 1880s. Ernst Haeckel, the German sponsor of Darwin's writings, Ludwig Büchner, and Karl Marx in Germany, and foreign writers like Zola, Strindberg, Ibsen, and Tolstoy prepared the way for Hauptmann's generation. Hildebrandt reminds us that Hauptmann's earliest literary efforts are rooted in the epigonic patterns ofthe nineteenth century. Only his own literary growth and development made his naturalistic dramas possible. His later work was sometimes misunderstood because it reflected highly subjective reactions and avoided contemporary fashions and popular themes. These naturalistic dramas of the years 1892, 1903, and 1911 have constantly maintained their effectiveness. They may well be called timeless. After a briefexamination of all of Hauptmann's naturalistic dramas — and it is regrettable that Fuhrmann Henschel (1898) could not be included in the detailed analyses — the three tragedies are discussed fully. To indicate the usefulness of this study a brief examination of one of the main sections will suffice. The discussion of Die Weber begins with agenesis of the drama. Hildebrandt cites Hauptmann's own recollections from his autobiographical narratives, supported by documentary evidence of the historical uprising of the weavers in 1844 and its ruthless suppression by the government. Hauptmann's use ofsuch factual material in depicting the plight of the weavers was supported by his own observations when visiting these areas of Silesia. The linguistic analyses ofthe dialect version and the modified High German revision reveal Hauptmann's skill in reflecting the cultural level of individual characters in their use of the vernacular. The unusual combination of epic and dramatic elements in the structure of the drama are examined and their significance for the development of the conflict on the stage are pointed out. The delineation of the individuality of the important characters stands in sharp contrast to the effective use ofthe collective mass of rioting weavers. 256Rocky Mountain Review The excellence of this useful study that provides the necessary foundation for the understanding and interpretation of these important dramas should make further printings necessary. For that edition a few slight corrections can be suggested. The misreading of the early title of Einsame Menschen as Martin und Martha (24), that has perpetuated itself since Behl/Voigt gave it in their 1957 Chronik (33), has recently been corrected by Machatzke in his edition of Hauptmann's Notiz-Kalender 1889-1891 (Propyläen Verlag, 1982, 280 and footnote, 443) to read Maria und Martha. Hoefert's Gerhart Hauptmann was first published in 1974 and not 1964 (113). The erroneous date is also used in the text (38), but given correctly in the notes (106, n. 32). An enlarged second edition of this study, published 1982, is listed in the bibliography, but citations refer to the first edition. As the pagination of the two editions differs, references to both should perhaps be given. A comma should follow the word Edelmann (44, 6 lines from bottom) to separate the clauses. In note 93 (108) the study cited is in the same series of analyses but lacks the word deutschen. WALTERA. REICHART University of Michigan ELAINE H. KIM. Asian American Literature: An Introduction to the Writings and Their Social Context. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1982. 363 p. Of the many striking vignettes offered throughout...