uon Vogelscheuchen warden wir behutet.

35 'Die Uogelscheuche wird nach dem Bild des Flenschen erschaffen'. The depersonalisation of man is registered in the humanisation of the inanimate world. The scarecrows participate in a nocturnal ritual reminiscent of the hat-swapping episode in Beckett's Waiting for Godot as they bow, wave and converse with the lettuce:

Sind Vogelscheuchen Saugetiere?

Es sieht so aus,als ob sie sich uermehren, indem sie nachts die Hute tauschen:

schon stehn in meinem Garten drei, verneigen sich und winken hoflich

und drehen sich und zwinkern mit der Sonne 3 6

und reden, reden zum Salat.

'Totemic and other ritual symbols are the ideological landmarks that keep 37

an individual on his course' observes the anthropologist Fortes, And Claude Leui-Strauss describes the social significance of totemism and of such symbols as flags and presidents,kings and scarecrows when he writes:

In order that social order shall be maintained,,. it is necessary to assure the permanence and solidarity of the clans which compose the society. This permanence and solidarity can be based only on individual sentiments, and these, in order to be expressed efficaciously, demand a collective expression which has to be fixed on concrete objects:

34.Grass,G, Die Uoqalscheuchen. Gd. P,34, 35.Grass,G. Hundejahre.^ R o w o h l t . 19 6 a . P . 3 2 . 36.Grass,G, Die \/oqelscheuchen, Gd. P,34,

p.85 individual sentiments of attachment

ritualized collectiue conduct

38

object representing the group

In Grass's poem the first three stanzas are the record of these 'individual sentiments of attachment', of an uncomprehending

identification with the scarecrows which is reflected in the three-fold 'Ich weijB nichtl The posing of a question('Sind l/ogelscheuchen

t! 39

Saugetiere?') "introduces a note of objectivity in the fourth stanza. The temporary suspension of the poet's subjectivity enables the totemic creatures to engage in 'ritualized collective conduct' before they become

'objects representing the group' in the final stanza. The meaning of the scarecrows' behaviour is beyond the understanding of the 'bricoleur' for whom the various aspects of the garden's reality are now subsumed under a broader social category ~ that of traditional religion:

Ich weij3 nicht,was das Unkraut will,

weip nicht,was jene Blattlaus will bedeuten, weip nichtjOb alte 3acken,alte Hosen,

uenn sie mit Loffeln in den Dosen rostig und blechern windwSrts lauten, zur Uesper,ob zum Ave lauten,

zum Aufstand aller Uogelscheuchen lauten^*^

The scarecrow-totem thus represents both man's dehumanisation and his salvation, as the spoons rattling in rusty tins announce the Last Judgment and the resurrection of all scarecrows.

Another figure in this totemic landscape is the hen which also is assigned traditional religious associations - as in the short lyrical autograph In eiqener Sache;

flan sagt:

Er glaubt an Geflugel,

3B,Levi-Strauss,C.Totemism, Penguin.l969.Pc130, 39,Grass,G, Die l/oqelscheuchen, Gd, P.34.

p.87 Der Heiiige Geist grupt ihn

41 in Gestalt einer Henne.

The hen-totem is a central motif of one of Grass's best poems: Die Ballade v/on der schuarzen'bJolke. The description of an act of

communion between a hen and a black cloud extends ouer twelve three-line stanzas with a single concluding line. The builders have just finished constructing a wall and on the sand beneath it there broods a hen:

Uon links,

von dort kam auch immer die Eisenbahn, zog auf eine schwarze Uolke,

Makellos war die Henne

und hatte fleiBig uoni Kalk gegessen,

42 den gleichfalls die Tlaurer gelassen hatten»

The actual coming-together of cloud and hen is reminiscent of the creation story in Genesis, of the Spirit brooding upon the waters. In what may well be a delicate allegory of phallic erection the cloud is seen to distend and contract as it gathers its potency from within itself:

II

Die Wolke aber nahrte sich selber, ging ucn sich aus

und blieb dennoch geballt,'^^

The hen, serious and protective, awaits the inspirational force of the black cloud which will enable her to continue the brooding process:

Ernst und behutsam ist das Uerh'^ltnis

44 zwischen der Henne und ihren Eiern.

With masterly skill in understatement the poet gives an account of the relationship between the hen and her dark consort by describing the conduct of both participants in terms of their essences:

41,Grass,G. In eiqener Sache. Gd.P,77,

42,Grass,G. Die Ballade von der schwarzen Uolke. Gd.Pp,23-24. 42a.Grass.G.Die Ballade von der schwarzen liJolke. Gd.P.23, 43,Grass,G, Die Ballade von der schwarzen lilolke. Gd.P.23, 44,Grass,G, Die Ballade von der schwarzen klolke, Gd.P.23.

p. 88

Als die schwarze bJolke

uber der makellosen Henne stand, uerhielt sie,wie liJolken uerhalten, Doch es hielt auch die l-lenne, uie Hennen uerhalten,

wenn uber ihncn Wolken uerhalten. Dieses V/erhaltnis aber

bemerkte ich,

45 der ich hinter dern Schuppen der Maurer stand.

The element of naughtiness inherent in the relationship which is

deliberately camouflaged by connotations of propriety {'Makellos', 'uie... uerhalten' accentuated by the perspectiue from which the union is

obserued - from behind the builders' shed. It is of course left tD the reader's imagination to discouer the true nature of this unusual liaison. Is the hen an allegory for Germany's recouery and reconstruction? Is the black cloud a metaphor of past catastrophe and destruction out of which will grow a new world? Grass's fundamental pessimism would scoff at any such interpretation. The Ballade concludes on an ambiguous note as the prospect of passion or uiolence proves illusory and the cloud fades into the distance as surely as the lecomotiue which had giuen rise to it:

Nein,fuhr kein Blitz aus der Wolke

und reichte der Henne die Hand, Kein Habicht nicht,

der aus der Uiolke

in makellos Federn fiel» Von links nach rechts, wie es die Eisenbahn tat,

4 6 ^ zog hin die liJolke,uerkleinerte sich.

45,Grass,G, Die Ballade ucn der schwarzen iiJolke, Gd.Pp,23-24, 45,Grass,G, Die Ballade uon der schwarzen 'oJolke, Gd,P,24» 45a,Grass,G,Die Ballade von der schwarzen lu'olke, Gd.P,24,

p.89

And what of the eggs and the promise of rebirth? The reader is loft in suspense as the final four lines present an enigmatic cameo in which the eggs, the hen and the cloud reappear as a group:

Und niemand wird jemals gewip sein, was jenen uier Eiern

unter der Henne,unter der Wolke 47 im Sand der Waurer geschah.

The mood of resigned melancholy and quasi-religious lamentation which 48

underlies such poems as Die Ballade von der schwarzen lilolke,

Lamento boi Glatteis'^^and Lamento bei Reqen^'^is present in one Picassoesque 51

piece entitled GeflCiqel auf dem Zentralfriedhof. Once more Grass has chosen chickens to represent in allegorical fashion the workings of his surrealistic imagination:

rieine Huhner lachen nicht, messen die Uierecke aus, ordnen uerflossene Schleifen,

stehen,Portale zwischen den Grabern, der Kundschaft entgegen,

der schwarzen,sich rauspernden Raupe, die zfigernd, den Hut in der Hand, das Kastchen bringt voller kaltem 52 witzlosem Pleisch fur die Huhner.

The poem's climax is a comical episode illustrative of Grass's irreverent approach to traditional religion:

Draupen hinter den Ulmen, im Gasthaus zur Pietat,

taucht der Humor seinen Finger

in ein Glas Bier und ruhrt und ruhrt...

47.Grass.G.Die Ballade von der schwarzen Uolke. Gd.P.24 48.Grass.G.Die Ballade von der schwarzen yolke. Gd.Pp.23-24 49.Grass.G.Lamento bei Glatteis. UbJ. Ppo36-37.

51 .Grass,G.Gefluael auf dem Zentralfriedhof, Gd. Pc61o 52 .Grass.G.Gefluqel auf dem Zentralfriedhof. Gd. P.61. 53 -Grass.G.Gefl'Jqel auf dem Zontrajfriedhof. Gd. P.61.

p.90 Gunter Grass displays a fine humour in his n^o^rtrayal of n u n s . The chapter in Die Blechtrnmmal entitled M J i i ^ i ^ ^ i w h i c h depicts the umbrella dance of the nuns of Lisieux finds in Zauberei mit den Brauten Christi an obvious parallel:

Sie sind nur fur den Wind g e m a c h t , Sie segeln immerjohne auch zu l o t e n ,

II

Was ihnen himmlisch B r a u t i g a m , heisst andernorts K l a b a u t e r m a n n , Ich sah einst N o n n e n ,

eine ganze Flotte.

Sie wehten fort zum H o r i z o n t . Ein schoner Tag,ein S e g e l t a g ,

tags drauf Trafalgar,die Armada sank,^ _I Was ujusste Nelson schon von Nonnen,"

In this satirizing of religion God himself does not escape unscathed from the biting humor of Gunter G r a s s . The Almighty is reduced to

household s i z e , rendered innocuous and ridiculed in images laden with Biblical associations. Bei Tisch^^represents a mock crucifixion whereby the fish becomes an object of culinary - and theological - scrutiny:

Die Schwierigkeiten beim T o t e n , weil sich Nachleben in der Pfanne: Gott lebt i Gott lebt I

und krummt sich kategorisch : Acht sind es.Acht.^^

The poem continues with an examination of the crucified fish's bodily

o r g a n s . Allusions to v i n e g a r , w a t e r , legend and the lessons of the Divinity teacher follow as the children proceed to count the fish's 'wounds'. The culmination of this piece of blasphemous nonsense comes in the final line of the second stanza:

57 S c h a u t , wieviel Glaube ihnen das Wasser e r s e t z t ,

Bei Tisch bears witness to the author's thorough-going pessimism and to his 54.Grass.G.Die Blechtrommel. Luchterhand.Neuwied und Berlin.1 950.Pp.656-685 543.Grass.G.Zauberei mit den Brautsn Christi.Gd. Pp,49-51.

54b.Grass.G.Zauberei mit den Brauten Christi»Gd. P » 5 1 . 55.Grass.G.Bei T i s c h . A g . P , 3 6 .

56.Grass.G.Bei T i s c h . A g . P . 3 6 . 57.Grass.G.Dei T i s c h . A g . P . 3 6 .

p . 9 1 p h i l o s o p h y G f s c G p t i n i s m f o r i P u l a t G d acu J i e r i n r] i n £ J o. o R l; G i a u b s h i n , Glaube her, hier wird g e z w e i fe l t ' . ^ ^ In the third stanza hostility is toned do'ain and blatant a g g r e s s i o n bGComec mere cosy indifference:

Dies und das schmeckt uns, macht uns gesprachig bei Tisch

59 Wie heisst dieser schmackhafte Fisch?

By far the most sensational of Grass's lyrical attacks on religion is contained in a poem entitled Per Hsrr Jesus Christ ujar einst Kommiinist and which earned for the author the publicity of a court action.

Contemporary political figures such as Brandt Strauss and Globke are endowed with celestial qualities:

0 heiliger Franz, erltise uns ganz

von Strauss und Konsorten, soldatischen Worten;

erst im himmlischen Saal gewinnen wir die Wahl,^*^^

Gunter Grass has a keen eye for the absurdity of history and its effects on the life of the individual. Die Blechtrommel does this in a number of chapters which show the impact of the Second World uiar on Oskar and his friend Lankes when they visit the coast of Wormand/P'^'^n his lyrics Grass achieves this by means of short poignant episodes which

conclude with a humorous comment or observation. Die Sesschlaeht"'^ recognizes the absurdity of warfare and celebrates the persistence of human optimism in the face of catastrophe:

Ein amerikanischer Flugzeugtrager und eine gotische Kathedrale versenkten sich

mitten im Stillen Dzean gegenseitig.

Bis zum Schluss

spielte der junge Uikar auf der Orgel.-

58,Grass,G. Funf Uoqel. l"aJ. P.39. 59.Grass,G. Bei Tisch. Ag. P.35,

60.Grass,Ge Der Herr Jesus Christ war einst Kommunist. In;Kunst oder Pornooraphie? Per ProzeB Crass qeqen Ziesel.

Eine Dokumentatj on, D.F.Lehinanns Uerlag, [iunchen.l 969.Pp.64-65„ 60a.Grass,G.Der Herr Jesus Christ war einst Kommunist. In rKunst oder

Pornoviraphie? Per ProzeB Grass qeqcn Ziesel^ Cine Dokumentation. j.r.Lehmanns Uerlagv i'lunch.en.l 959. P.64.

6Db.GrasG.G.Die Blechtronmsl.LuchtcrhandJ\leuwied und Berlin 1 960„Ppo405~42B 61, Grass,G.Die SecsGhlacnto Gd.P.39.

p. 92 Nun hangen Flugzeuge und Engel in der Luft

" 62 und konnen nicht landen.

The comedy of the incident arises from the juxtaposition of air-craft carrier and gothic cathedral, the reciprocity of the action of sinking (which almost suggests complicity between the Church and the Army) and the precise description of place('mitten im Stillen Ozean')^^ as well as the incongruity of the event witli the name of the ocean. The absurdity of existence is the thems of this humorous situation which portrays the vicar at his organ who 'right to the end' continues his performance beneath angels and aeroplanes which have both become pawns in the game of history.

The absurd inevitability of historical processes and the humorous incapacity of the individual to adapt to change are a source of much of

64

the comedy in Normandie. The perspective on the lyrical events is from beach-level as the experience of successive invasions is registered in terms which reflect the poet's ambiguous relationship towards the past:

Die Bunker am Strand

konnen ihren Beton nicht loswerden, nanchmal kommt ein halboter General und streichelt Schiepscharten, Oder as wohnen Touristen

fur funf verqualte Minuten- Wind, Sand, Papier und Urin:

• ^ T . 6 5 Immer ist Invasion,

Once again we see the personification of inanimate objects and a concomitant dehumanising of people - with all the grotesque humor which such situations contain. The attempt at self-liberation on the part of the concrete bunkers mocks the war reminiscences of a moribund general enamoured of old

cartridges. And in turn these stages in the eternal invasion are made to appear ridiculous by the tourists who relieve themselves 'for five

agonizing minutes' on the windy beach. The landscape is eventually deprived of all semblance of the human as the tourists withdraw leaving behind the remnants of defecation, liJith the succinct reference to invasion

62,Grass,G. Die Seeschlacht. Gd. P,3g<, 63,Grass,G, Die Seeschlacht. Gd. P,39, 64,Grass,G. Normandie, Gd.P.SB, 65,Grass,G, Normandie, Gd.P,3B.

p. 93

in the last line the reader is abruptly reminded of the historical

significance of Normandy which is rendered absurd by the picture of human pettiness described in the preceding seven lines.

The intrusion of history into the daily life of the individual is depicted with Brechtian succinctness in a short narrative poem entitled Freitaq. The event recorded is the crash of the Hew York Stock Exchange on October 25th, 1929 - 'Black Friday' ~ which preceded the collapse of the world economy on the following Tuesday. The first five stanzas paint an idyllic picture of a simple event:bringing home herrings wrapped in news- paper, It is a sunny morning with a tnuch of frost in the air. Caretakers are spreading the street witli sand and the poet dispassionately describes the herrings as he climbs tlie stairs:

Im Treppenhaus erst begannen Herings

die Zeitung zu durchnassen. So musste ich Zeitungspapier von Heringen kratzen,

bevor ich Heringe ausnehmen konnte, Schuppen sprangen

und lenkten mich ab

a

weil Sonnenlicht in die Kuche fiel.

The newspaper itself is mentioned five times throughout the poem and each time undergoes a transformation in the general direction of

formalisation:the scrap of last week's paper which served to wrap herrings is gradually dissociated from its initial function and becomes a sign of impending disaster. Thus-

in Zeitung gewickelt (wrapping) die Zeitung (hindrance)

Zeitungspapier(dissociated)

65.Grass,G. Freitaq. Gd.Pp.14-15 67.Grass,G. Freitaq. Gd.P.14.

p.94 Tageszeitung (reading matter)

die Zeitung jedoch war an cinem Dienstag erschienen (sign)

Each transformation is produced by an accompanying uerbal form: gewickelt durchnassen kratzen lesen erscheinen

the last two in the series being preterite forms as the historical significance of this particular Tuesday gradually dawns on the lyrical speaker. The awareness of an imminent economic and social disaster is blurred by the sheer physical process of preparing food:

Schlimm sah es in der Welt aus: Kredite wurden uerweigert,

Ich aber walzte grune Heringe in trockenem Mehl.

The herrings themselves are described nine times including the partial designation of 'scales' in stanza 5. The subject-object relationship

between the 'I' of the poem and the herrings moues on three levels. The first is an inward movement whereby the gradual internalisation involved in the preparation of food brings the herrings (wrapped) from the outside world into house and kitchen (unwrapped) where they are rolled in flour cooked in a frying pan and eaten. The second level of symbolic movement alternates between active and passive meaning. The 'I' of the poem is the grammatical subject of the sentence in every first reference to herrings which are passive objects in the process of being cooked. Every second reference displays the active force of herrings as they attempt to resist their own destruction. In the final stanza the 'I' is depersonalised and the herrings 'downfall' has ironic undertones given the historical setting of the poem:

Uer aber

mag grunen Heringen

uom Untergang predigen? ^^

The third structure describes a circle in which the greenness of the

herrings mentioned in the opening line and suggesting hope returns strangely 68. Grass,G. Freitag. Gd.P.15.

p.95

in the cooking process with connotations of doom. The structural variety has its counterpart in semantic ambiguity - a favorite source of humor in Grass's poetry. Here a striking example is provided in the word 'ausnehmen' which refers both to the business of 'gutting' the herrings and to their removal from the surrounding newspaper. The double-meaning of 'Untergang' ('downfall and 'descent' i.e.digestion) highlights the situational

ambiguity of the poet himself about to be swallowed up by a world-wide catastrophe. The essential absurdity of the individual in the face of historical change is also captured in the image of the 'frightened' herrings in the frying-pan as the poet's fears crystallise after reading the news- paper. He realizes the uselessness of prediction 'after the event' and the

In document The poetry of Günter Grass (Page 90-108)