Anneliese's House by Lou Andreas-Salomé (review)

Written mostly in 1904 and published in 1921, Das Haus: Eine Familiengeschichte vom Ende vorigen Jahrhunderts (The house: A family history from the end of the last century) was Lou Andreas-Salomé's final novel. The translators of this work, Frank Beck and Raleigh Whitinger, state that their goals were to provide "English speakers access to the novel" and also to offer "a broader view of the development of Andreas-Salomé's skill in recasting, in poetically adroit narrative form, her own struggle for social and intellectual independence" (x). They assert that her fiction presented contemporary audiences with a "range of perspectives on the potential of—and the problems with—women's moves towards autonomy" within and outside of marriage (x). This underscores their decision to expand the original title to Anneliese's House, first to avoid the book "being confused with a host of other novels bearing a similar title, but also to suggest the poetic tone that the main female protagonist, Anneliese Branhardt, imparts to her household, by thought and deed" (lvii). The novel's German subtitle indicates the temporal setting of the novel but not necessarily that this house—Anneliese's—embodies the dominant patriarchal norms, and questioning thereof, in late-nineteenth-century Germany. The translators take great care in providing the context for this novel, while also commenting on other works in their comprehensive three-part introduction and in the extensive chapter endnotes.

First, in the "Biographical Sketch" they discuss many of the mutual influences of Andreas-Salomé's life. Most familiar are Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke; their influence underscores her interest in philosophy, psychology, and literature. Her knowledge of and expertise in these fields is evident throughout the novel. Indeed, many of her friendships and personal relationships, female and male, find their way into Das Haus, as the translators note. They also emphasize just how independently and confidently Andreas-Salomé encountered each of her "illustrious friends and confidantes on her own terms" and explored diverse possibilities in her writing, both fiction and nonfiction (xxviii). Next, in "The Critical Fortunes of Andreas-Salomé and Das Haus," Beck and Whitinger discuss the mixed reception the author received, particularly within the scope of the women's movement. Some of her noted contemporaries (including Christine Touaillon and Gabriele Reuter) praised this work, while others (such as Hedwig Dohm) questioned, generally, her commitment to the feminist cause. The translators expand this debate by tracing critical reception through the decades. In "Grasping the Novel: Interpretive Trends and Points to Ponder," they locate the novel "as a familial mirror of the greater context of the Wilhelmine-era 'Frauenbewegung' [women's movement] and the ideals of emancipation that the author herself lived and [ … ] shared with her feminist colleagues and contemporaries" (xxxviii). They also examine more recent interpretive readings of Das Haus and suggest further interpretations to ponder.

The introductory analysis of the author's biography, of the novel within the backdrop of the Wilhelmine era, and of the critical reception of Andreas-Salomé from her lifetime until today prepares the reader well for approaching the novel itself. Beck and Whitinger adhere closely to the original, making an effort to "preserve both the meaning and character of the author's" nuance in the thoughts and dialogue of the characters (lvii). In their notes they explicitly lay out their four guiding principles. These clearly alert the reader to their translation process and to the deviations from or expansions to the text for clarity, always explained in the chapter endnotes. In addition, the endnotes explicate events in the text by providing context or critical comment, as well as intertextual, biblical, artistic, and biographical references to enhance the reading experience.

This translation makes Andreas-Salomé's last novel accessible to English speakers and offers an important addition to the growing body of critical work on the author. The translators point out that much has been written on the importance of Andreas-Salomé's nonfiction work and her role...