Aging and Old-Age Style in Günter Grass, Ruth Klüger, Christa Wolf, and Martin Walser. The Mannerism of a Late Period by Stuart Taberner (review)

A study of the late work of these four significant authors is timely in at least two ways. All of them are either nearing the end of their literary careers, or—in the case of Christa Wolf—have already passed away. Thus, Taberner provides us the opportunity to reflect back on their role in German culture over the last several decades at a point in time when we can better assess the impact of their work. Additionally, his exploration allows us to think through many of the issues related to aging in contemporary culture generally and specifically in German culture. Furthermore, as the editor of numerous collections on contemporary German literature and culture, Taberner clearly possesses broad comparative resources to draw from as he builds a case for a (possible) connection between “old-age style” and “late style” in these authors and the “lateness” of German society itself. After identifying the origin of the term in art history, he suggests that most scholars would agree that old-age style encompasses rule-breaking, condensation and accentuation, fragmentation, ambivalence and lack of definition, openness, and “going beyond” (24). Taken individually, there is little about these words that should be linked specifically to old-age style. Nonetheless, the individual readings in the chapters devoted to Grass, to Wolf and Klüger, and to Walser are very thoughtful and thought-provoking. Anyone with an interest in these four authors and in the specific topic of old-age writing should read the book.

The book as a whole has a rather tentative tone to it. Taberner is quite conscious of this tenor and addresses it in the conclusion of the book. He notes there that he often found himself “speaking of how this or that piece of evidence might intimate a connection between these disparate aspects of aging.” He suggests that one of the possible explanations for this quality is that the connection is “allusive rather than concrete, part of our ‘cultural imaginary’ rather than a ‘fact’” (211). His explanation may be reasonable, but one could also argue that his effort to address the issue was a bit cursory and—itself—rather late. The fact that his explanation doesn’t come until the conclusion means that the preceding chapters all have a rather speculative aspect to them that does not do his argument justice. After all, the interpretation of cultural artifacts is always somewhat allusive rather than just a series of facts. His caution, therefore, is at a minimum unnecessary and may even undermine the reader’s readiness to see the argument as persuasive.

In the main chapters of the book, he explores the topic of old-age style primarily in Grass, Wolf, and Walser, with an excursus on Klüger included in the chapter on Christa Wolf. While his argument about Klüger is intriguing, the discussion seems out of place and, thus, appears to give Klüger either less or more attention than her work deserves. In other words, it might have been better either to leave her out or to devote an entire chapter to her work. Included within the chapter on Christa Wolf, it almost feels as if Taberner is lumping them together to make a point about gender (and to a certain extent ethnicity) that even he himself admits is rather cursory and—so he concludes—perhaps not of primary importance: “I hope … to have hinted at what might at any rate have been already obvious—old-age style is impacted by gender, ethnicity, and generation, but that need not mean that it is determined by these factors” (196).

Taberner’s readings of these authors on the whole are well-balanced and nuanced. In their work he identifies both a number of common traits as well as dynamics...