Redeeming Words: Language and the Promise of Happiness in the Stories of Döblin and Sebald

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Redeeming Words SUNY series, Intersections: Philosophy and Critical Theory ————— Rodolphe Gasché, editor Redeeming Words Language and the Promise of Happiness in the Stories of Döblin and Sebald David Kleinberg-Levin Cover image: “Figure on Road” 1987–1988 by Josef Herman © The Estate of Josef Herman, courtesy Flowers Gallery, London Published by State University of New York Press, Albany© 2013 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Eileen Nizer Marketing by Kate McDonnell Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kleinberg-Levin, David Michael, 1939– Redeeming words : language and the promise of happiness in the stories of Döblin and Sebald / David Kleinberg-Levin.     pages cm. — (SUNY series, Intersections: Philosophy and Critical Theory) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-4781-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Döblin, Alfred, 1878-1957—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Sebald, Winfried Georg, 1944–2001—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Language and languages in literature. I. Title. PT2607.O35Z7174 2013 833'.912—dc23 2012045688 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 An Michael: . . . trotz ihrer Vergänglichkeit, unvergessbar die Zeiten . . . Every epoch [. . .] bears its end within itself and unfolds it—as Hegel already noticed—with cunning. [. . .] Each epoch not only dreams the one to follow [Michelet], but [by remembering its past] in dreaming, it precipitates an awakening [of the present]. —Walter Benjamin, “Paris, Capital of the Nineteenth Century,” The Arcades Project Novels arise out of the shortcomings of history. —Novalis, Philosophical-Theoretical Work 1799–1800 What cannot be said must above all not be silenced, but written. —Jacques Derrida, The Post Card What has never been written—read! —Walter Benjamin, On the Mimetic Faculty ...