Author: Hughes, Jon

Source: Austrian Studies, Volume 15, Number 1, 1 December 2007 , pp. 80-95(16)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Abstract:

The artist and illustrator Alfred Kubin's only novel Die andere Seite (1909) has been assessed, variously, as an example of modish gothic or fantasy literature, of protosurrealist writing comparable with that of Franz Kafka, or as an allegorical anticipation of the end of empire. The text's hybridity makes all of these readings plausible. In this article I argue that the text's concern with conflict and contrast forms part of a satirical critique of modernity, central to which is the pairing of two symbolic figures: the ruler of a mysterious `Dream Kingdom' and his American rival. I consider the cultural and political resonances of this apparently clear opposition and argue that it is informed by an ambivalence in the assignment of symbolic roles, and dependent not so much upon conflict as upon merging and synthesis.

German
Den einzigen vom Künstler und Zeichner Alfred Kubin verfassten Roman Die andere Seite (1909) hat die Wissenschaft unterschiedlich als Beispiel der modischen `schwarzen' Literatur, einer mit Kafka vergleichbaren protosurrealistischen Literatur oder als allegorische Vorahnung des Untergangs des Kaiserreichs verstanden. Diese Interpretationen werden durch die Vielschichtigkeit des Texts plausibel. In diesem Artikel wird die These vertreten, dass die im Text augenfällige Konfliktthematik als Teil einer satirischen Modernitätskritik zu verstehen ist, in der zwei Symbolfiguren eine Schlüsselrolle spielen: der Herrscher des rätselhaften `Traumreichs' und sein amerikanischer `Widersacher'. Behandelt wird unter anderem die kulturelle und politische Resonanz dieses scheinbar eindeutigen Gegensatzes, in dem die Symbolik eigentlich ambivalent ist und das Verschmelzen weitaus größere Bedeutung besitzt als der Konflikt.

Keywords: Alfred Kubin; Die andere Seite; fantasy literature; protosurrealist; Franz Kafka; hybridity; satirical critique of modernity; ambivalence; Alfred Kubin; Die andere Seite; `schwarzen' Literatur; Kafka; protosurrealistischen; satirischen Modernitätskritik; ambivalent

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Royal Holloway, University of London

Publication date: 2007-12-01

More about this publication?

• Austrian Studies is an annual journal reflecting sustained interest in the distinctive cultural traditions of the Habsburg Empire and the Austrian Republic. By publishing a wide range of articles in English, together with a selection of book reviews, it aims to make recent research accessible to a broadly based international readership.
  
  The focus is on Austrian culture from 1750 to the present. Literature is considered in relation to psychology, philosophy, political theory, music, theatre, film, and the visual arts. 'Austrian' includes German-language culture of former areas of the Habsburg Empire, such as Prague and the Bukovina, as well as the work of people of Austrian origin living abroad. Austrian interactions with other linguistic and ethnic groups -- the Jewish communities of Austria-Hungary, for example -- are also taken into account.
  
  Each volume of Austrian Studies has a coherent but broadly conceived theme, and reviews of the most important recent publications in the field of Austrian studies. Each volume also includes a number of substantial review essays devoted either to keeping readers up to date with major cultural debates and events, or to areas of scholarship in which activity has been particularly intense.

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