A few weeks ago, I finished Günter Grass's spectacular 1977 novel The Flounder and was left with a bit of uncertainty as to what to make of its gender politics. And considering that gender politics are the abiding interest throughout the novel's entire 500+ page run, it seemed like a good idea to open up the floor for criticism and discussion.
The plot is quite layered and frankly convoluted, so it's not entirely productive to attempt to summarize it all here, but in short: a talking, immortal flounder has been advising men since the neolithic age, believing that if he advanced the so-called "male cause," he could help bring about a kind of utopia by bolstering the good qualities of masculinity (political ambition and creative ability seem to be the two primary qualities here); he then abandons the male cause after feeling that men have let him (and themselves) down by fighting wars, succumbing to petty politics, and committing atrocities against each other (Grass is, of course, always working through Germany's Nazi past) and instead decides to advise women in order to advance the "female cause." A high tribunal of radical feminists, however, put him on trial as the source of all patriarchal domination. There follows a lengthy history of the flounder's involvement in "masculine history" and the "female history" of cooking (this history of largely central/eastern European cuisine occupies about half the novel).
As for the general politics of the novel, a few generalizations could be made:
- Men are not portrayed as heroes at nearly any point in the novel but largely as bringers of war, destruction, and evil. The two main exceptions to this are in the neolithic era where men are shown to be a passive, dominated class in the early matriarchal society and in the modern era where men are subject to occasional subjugation and abuse by feminists and women influenced by feminism.
- War and destruction are seen as principally masculine activities and the product of unchecked masculinity.
- Women are portrayed largely as noble, heroic figures who saved Europe in times of famine and often resist the devastation brought about by men (the best example of this being the constant retelling of the slaughter of striking workers in Gdansk in 1970).
- The chief contribution of women to western civilization (I don't think I'm making a leap by equating Kashubia with western civilization more generally, here, as the book's style lends it to an allegorical reading) is f
Anyone here have an opinion, or information, about the similarities of these two authors?
I have to write an essay soon comparing two of their novels in style, amongst other things.
I’ve read Grass’s “Crabwalk” which I enjoyed. Next I have to read Mother Night.
I’m a Vonnegut newbie and just want some thoughts from others on him. And Grass, if you know anything.
Warum schweige ich, verschweige zu lange,
was offensichtlich ist und in Planspielen
geübt wurde, an deren Ende als Überlebende
wir allenfalls Fußnoten sind.
Es ist das behauptete Recht auf den Erstschlag,
der das von einem Maulhelden unterjochte
und zum organisierten Jubel gelenkte
iranische Volk auslöschen könnte,
weil in dessen Machtbereich der Bau
einer Atombombe vermutet wird.
Doch warum untersage ich mir,
jenes andere Land beim Namen zu nennen,
in dem seit Jahren - wenn auch geheimgehalten -
ein wachsend nukleares Potential verfügbar
aber außer Kontrolle, weil keiner Prüfung
zugänglich ist?
Das allgemeine Verschweigen dieses Tatbestandes,
dem sich mein Schweigen untergeordnet hat,
empfinde ich als belastende Lüge
und Zwang, der Strafe in Aussicht stellt,
sobald er mißachtet wird;
das Verdikt "Antisemitismus" ist geläufig.
Jetzt aber, weil aus meinem Land,
das von ureigenen Verbrechen,
die ohne Vergleich sind,
Mal um Mal eingeholt und zur Rede gestellt wird,
wiederum und rein geschäftsmäßig, wenn auch
mit flinker Lippe als Wiedergutmachung deklariert,
ein weiteres U-Boot nach Israel
geliefert werden soll, dessen Spezialität
darin besteht, allesvernichtende Sprengköpfe
dorthin lenken zu können, wo die Existenz
einer einzigen Atombombe unbewiesen ist,
doch als Befürchtung von Beweiskraft sein will,
sage ich, was gesagt werden muß.
Warum aber schwieg ich bislang?
Weil ich meinte, meine Herkunft,
die von nie zu tilgendem Makel behaftet ist,
verbiete, diese Tatsache als ausgesprochene Wahrheit
dem Land Israel, dem ich verbunden bin
und bleiben will, zuzumuten.
Warum sage ich jetzt erst,
gealtert und mit letzter Tinte:
Die Atommacht Israel gefährdet
den ohnehin brüchigen Weltfrieden?
Weil gesagt werden muß,
was schon morgen zu spät sein könnte;
auch weil wir - als Deutsche belastet genug -
Zulieferer eines Verbrechens werden könnten,
das voraussehbar ist, weshalb unsere Mitschuld
durch keine der üblichen Ausreden
zu tilgen wäre.
Und zugegeben: ich schweige nicht mehr,
weil ich der Heuchelei des Westens
überdrüssig bin; zudem ist zu hoffen,
es mögen sich viele vom Schweigen befreien,
den Verursacher der erkennbaren Gefahr
zum Verzicht auf Gewalt auffordern und
gleichfalls darauf bestehen,
daß eine unbehinderte und permanente Kontrolle
des israelischen atomaren Potentials
und der iranischen Atomanlagen
durch eine internationale Insta
It's never easy for a German to address issues around Israel, etc. Although Grass certainly has plenty of experience with tackling difficult subjects.
The poem was originally published (auf Deutsch) in Germany's Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. A somewhat weak translation is found here:
What must be said
Why I am silent, silent for too much time,
how much is clear and we made it
in war games, where, as survivors,
we are just the footnotes.
That is the claimed right to the formal preventive aggression
which could erase the Iranian people
dominated by a bouncer and moved to an organized jubilation,
because in the area of his competence there is
the construction of the atomic bomb.
And then why do I avoid myself
to call the other country with its name,
where since years – even if secretly covered -
there is an increasing nuclear power,
without control, because unreachable
by every inspection?
I feel the everybody silence on this state of affairs,
which my silence is slave to,
as an oppressive lie and an inhibition that presents punishment
we don’t pay attention to;
the verdict “anti-Semitism” is common.
Now, since my country,
from time to time touched by unique and exclusive crimes,
obliged to justify itself,
again for pure business aims - even if
with fast tongue we call it “reparation” -
should deliver another submarine to Israel,
with the specialty of addressing
annihilating warheads where the
existence of one atomic bomb is not proved
but it wants evidence as a scarecrow,
I say what must be said.
Why did I stay silent until now?
Because the thought about my origin,
burdened by an unclearing stain,
had avoiding to wait this fact
like a truth declared by the State of Israel
that I want to be connected to.
Why did I say it only now,
old and with the last inkI just finished The Tin Drum, by Grass, and I have to say it scratched that post-Gravity itch. The narrative structure, the era, the chaotic nature, the twisting timelines, it felt very reminiscent. I would highly recommend it to any fellow Paranoiacs looking for something similar.
Does anyone have a good suggestion for this title? The book gives me so many vides and I cannot place it in an exact theme or genre. Please, help
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/14/world/europe/gunter-grass-german-novelist-dies-at-87.html?_r=0
