{"id":12193,"date":"2009-11-18T17:30:24","date_gmt":"2009-11-18T17:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2009\/11\/18\/theodor-haecker-on-literary-style-and-a-comparison-with-karl-kraus\/"},"modified":"2009-11-18T17:30:24","modified_gmt":"2009-11-18T17:30:24","slug":"theodor-haecker-on-literary-style-and-a-comparison-with-karl-kraus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2009\/11\/18\/theodor-haecker-on-literary-style-and-a-comparison-with-karl-kraus\/","title":{"rendered":"Theodor Haecker on Literary Style and a Comparison with Karl Kraus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theodor Haecker<\/span><\/a>, Tag- und Nachtb\u00fccher<\/em>, 1939-1945, hrsg. Hinrich Siefken, Innsbruck: Haymon-Verlag, 1989, S. 212:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Der pers\u00f6nliche und<\/em> gute Stil eines Schriftstellers ist die \u2014 oft durch gro\u00dfe Kunst erreichte \u2014 nat\u00fcrliche Einheit zweier<\/em> Naturen \u2014 der Natur des Schriftstellers und der Natur der jeweiligen Sprache, in der er schreibt, denn diese beiden Naturen sind nicht identisch, und die Einheit ist meist nur durch gegenseitige Kompromisse zu erreichen. Es kann einer einen reizvollen pers\u00f6nlichen Stil schreiben, der nur sprachlich gesehen, schlecht ist, weil er die Natur der Sprache im allgemeinen und im besonderen vergewaltigt, und ein braver Sch\u00fcler kann einen guten Stil schreiben, ohne etwas Pers\u00f6nliches zu verrraten. Der gro\u00dfe<\/em> Schriftsteller ist aber der, in dessen Stil beide Naturen eins geworden sind, die wieder auseinanderzulegen keinem mehr m\u00f6glich ist.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n


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A writing style that is at once both personal and<\/em> good is a natural unity of two natures, the nature of the author and the nature of the language in which he writes. Though natural, this unity is often achieved only by great artfulness since these two natures are not identical and their unity is usually only to be achieved through mutual compromises. A butcher of the language can write in a stimulating personal style while a good schoolboy can achieve a good style without betraying anything personal. The great writer, however, is the one in whose style both natures have become one and indeed in such a way that no one is able to prise them apart again. (tr. BV)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here is the way I would put the point. In a great writer, the language itself speaks, not merely the author: the latter deploys and orchestrates the language's own resources. At the same time, the great writer is not a mere conductor, but also a composer who expresses his own unique personal nature in the medium of the language in which he composes. Thus both speak and each is medium to the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Haecker's thought strikes me as more accurate than the thought expressed in this effusive, romantic, masochistic, yet intriguing passage of <\/span>Karl Kraus<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ich beherrsche die Sprache nicht; aber die Sprache beherrscht mich vollkommen. Sie ist mir nicht die Dienerin meiner Gedanken. Ich lebe in einer Verbindung mit ihr, aus der ich Gedanken empfange, und sie kann mit mir machen, was sie will. Ich pariere ihr aufs Wort. Denn aus dem Wort springt mir der junge Gedanke entgegen und formt r\u00fcckwirkend die Sprache, die ihn schuf. Solche Gnade der Gedankentrch\u00e4tigkeit zwingt auf die Knie und macht allen Aufwand zitternder Sorgfalt zur Pflicht. Die Sprache ist eine Herrin der Gedanken, und wer das Verhl\u00e4tnis umzukehren vermag, dem macht sie sich im Hause n\u00fctzlich, aber sie sperrt ihm der Schoss. (Beim Wort Genommen<\/em>, SS. 134-135<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not dominate language; she dominates me completely. She is not the servant of my thoughts. I live in a relation with her from which I receive thoughts, and she can do with me what she will. I follow her orders. For from the word the fresh thought springs, forming retroactively the language that created it. The grace of language, pregnant with thought, forces me to my knees and makes a duty of my expenditure of trembling conscientiousness. Language is a mistress of thought. To anyone who would reverse the relationship, she makes herself useful but denies access to her womb. (tr. BV)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I might have translated Herrin<\/em> as 'dominatrix' if I wanted to accentuate the masochistic tone of the passage. 'Mistress' is obviously to be read as the female counterpart of 'master.'<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Theodor Haecker, Tag- und Nachtb\u00fccher, 1939-1945, hrsg. Hinrich Siefken, Innsbruck: Haymon-Verlag, 1989, S. 212: Der pers\u00f6nliche und gute Stil eines Schriftstellers ist die \u2014 oft durch gro\u00dfe Kunst erreichte \u2014 nat\u00fcrliche Einheit zweier Naturen \u2014 der Natur des Schriftstellers und der Natur der jeweiligen Sprache, in der er schreibt, denn diese beiden Naturen sind nicht … Continue reading “Theodor Haecker on Literary Style and a Comparison with Karl Kraus”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,773,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haecker-theodor","category-kraus-karl","category-literary-matters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}