The Christoph Hein Forum
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
Lieber Herr Wiedenmann!
Vielen Dank für Ihre Frage. Ich habe selber nie erahnt, daß Claudia möglicherweise lesbisch sein könnte. Mir scheint es, sie ist eher emotionell gelähmt, und kaum zur Liebe von jeder Sorte fähig. Es interessiert mich, welche textlichen Stellen diese Deutung angeblich unterstürzen. Die Schulfreundin vielleicht?
Was Hein betrifft: Wenn if das letzte mal mit ihm sprach, in 1998, er interessierte sich noch nicht für das Internetz. Leider habe ich keinen Grund, das zu glauben, dass er diese Seite ließt. (Wenn doch, kann er auch selbst meine Vermutung widerlegen!)
-Sunday, November 10, 2002 at 16:33:10 (EST)
almut wiedenmann
almut.wiedenmann@gmx.de
Deutschland
Ich hoffe, dass dies vielleicht auch Herr Hein liest, denn ich habe eine Frage zu seiner Novelle "Der fremde Freund".
Wir besprechen es gerade im Leistungskurs, 13. Klasse, und da kam letzte Woche die Frage auf, ob Claudia lesbisch sei, ich kann mich dem nicht so wirklich anfreunden, und wollte wissen, was Sie, Herr Hein, sich gedacht haben.
Ich würde mich über eine E-mail von Ihnen mit der Antwort wiklich freuen, denn bis jetzt hatten wir schon viele und hitzige Diskussionen.
Schöne Grüße
Almut
-Sunday, November 10, 2002 at 12:40:03 (EST)
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-Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 11:15:58 (EDT)
Marty Kerr
mkerr@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
-Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 11:02:24 (EDT)
Charlotte Larat
c.larat@beltz.de
Germany
Dear Mr Robinson,
the new title will be published in Germany and we try to get international interest for it. This text will appear on our homepage:
New Manuscript: MUM HAS LEFT by Christoph Hein
She dies. She leaves her family. Christoph Hein found the words to speak of sadness and bereavement. This is a really literary Work.
More about the author: ogeechee.litphil.georgiasouthern.edu/heinpage.html
You wish to get proofs? Contact foreignrights@beltz.de
Best wishes
Charlotte Larat
-Friday, July 19, 2002 at 09:25:15 (EDT)
Charlotte Larat
c.larat@beltz.de
Germany
Dear Mr Robinson,
the new title will be published in Germany and we try to get international interest for it. This text will appear on our homepage:
New Manuscript: MUM HAS LEFT by Christoph Hein
She dies. She leaves her family. Christoph Hein found the words to speak of sadness and bereavement. This is a really literary Work.
More about the author: ogeechee.litphil.georgiasouthern.edu/heinpage.html
You wish to get proofs? Contact foreignrights@de
Best wishes
Charlotte Larat
-Friday, July 19, 2002 at 09:23:50 (EDT)
Charlotte
-Friday, July 19, 2002 at 09:13:51 (EDT)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
Dear Ms. Larat,
Mentions of and links to this page are always welcome. Please keep me informed of any information about the new book so that I can
also link to it from the Hein Page.
Is this title going to be published in English as well as German? That would be interesting.
Best wishes,
David Robinson
-Friday, July 19, 2002 at 08:26:44 (EDT)
Charlotte Larat
c.larat@beltz.de
Germany
http://www.beltz.de
Dear Mr Robinson,
Beltz & Gelberg publishes in Spring 2003 a children's novel by Christoph Hein entitled MAMA HAS LEFT. Can we mention
the address of your homepage in our foreign rights newsletter? Please let us know asap. Thank you.
With kind regards
Charlotte Larat
Beltz & Gelberg
-Friday, July 19, 2002 at 03:49:04 (EDT)
David W. Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
In response to Sandro Stucki, I would first have to say go look at my article on Claudia's abortions (in New German Critique 58, pp. 65-78). Most of the elements of the opening dream recur in more than one place: the scene where Claudia is photographing a ruined building and nearly falls, the scene where Henry has sex with her in the woods, and the abortion memory. There are also echoes in the account of Katherina. What holds true in all of these scenes is Claudia's alienation or isolation, her fear of human contact, her powers of self-deception, her desire to forget -- to treat her real situation in life as a dream from which she will awake into a kind of false rationality, a contructed life without background, connections, or depth -- just surfaces, like the pictures. In other words, Claudia in weak or tired moments fears (with good reason) that she is going insane, that her human griefs and disappointments will render her non-functional in the "normal" world society offers her.
Now, as for what specific symbols may mean, I think that here we are on thin ice. I doubt that Hein intended any particular interpretation of these, because unlike the complex of emotions I was just describing, these dream symbols do not necessarily recur, they don't all contribute to some motif. In his response to the criticism of this book, Hein was not displeased at the diversity of interpretation, though he believed it to be more revealing about the critics than about the novella. I think some of these things -- the runners, the runes -- are potential hazards for the reader if they are interpreted concretely (as they were by at least one GDR critic who implied the rune was a swastika). This is in contrast to other aspects of the dream, like the abyss and the need/inability to cross it; something like this is clearly connectd with the whole fabric of the book and it's possible to make reliable assertions about it.
This is not to say that I always buy Hein's disclaimers about his evident symbols. He doesn't like emphasis being placed on the tank in the middle of the book, for instance. I think this is a little disingenuous, thouh I understand his desire to discourage reductive readings. When I brought up the tanks that show up at the end of Tangospieler, he deflected the point with a wisecrack: that there was nothing special about the tanks, because in the 20th century, the tank had been a perfectly normal mode of transportation.
Anyway, I hope this answers the question to some extent.
-Friday, June 22, 2001 at 09:56:15 (EDT)
Sandro Stucki
sast@gmx.ch
Switzerland
I've got some questions to the dream of Claudia at the first pages of the novel. In my opinion it is the same dream that appears later on, when she talks about her abortions in chapter seven almost at the end. There are few symbols I don't understand. For example: What mean the sportsmen (runners) who pass her and her companion when they are crossing the bridge. Are these her approaching fears? Or are they a symbol for time that passes? What mean the runes on their shirts? Is the broken railing her relationship to Katharina, that gave her hold during her childhood and which she's missing now? I guess that the bridge is her life or a main part of it. And the reason why it's broken, and why she fears to fall down is her loneliness and inability to love others. But why aren't the runners passing her on her side? They don't even touch her. This is an enigm to me. Any comments or further interpretations are welcome!
yours faithfully
-Sandro Stucki
-Thursday, June 21, 2001 at 08:24:53 (EDT)
Abigail Dunn
Jamesd@net.ntl.com
England
I desperately need to find information on the relationship between Nature and Civilization in "Der fremde Freund". Thanks!
-Wednesday, December 27, 2000 at 10:39:43 (EST)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
Responding to R. Fontayne -- I would translate "Von allem Anfang an" as "right from the start" or "from the very beginning," but that's not based on any familiarity with the expression. Maybe somebody can confirm or correct this.
I was very interested to read the account of how you first came across Hein's writing. Perhaps other people could describe how they discovered Hein. I'm sure there would be some interesting stories, and I'll tell my mildly interesting one when I have more time.
-Monday, November 20, 2000 at 21:56:07 (EST)
R. Fontaine
rfontayne@hotmail.com
USA
I discovered Hein when I was in Germany in 1986 for a technical training course in knitting. I picked up a Catholic magazine in West Germany that had a review of Drachenblut. The magazine excerpted the part in the book where the female protaganist talks about betraying her childhood friend, who was a believer, during what must have been the crisis of 1956.
What attracted me most to Hein initially, is that his German is so clear and easy to understand. As a non-native reader of German who enjoys German, that means a lot. (Another such author is Barbara Honigman, also a former East German.)
Later I returned to France to work in 1989 and took a trip to Leipzig during that exciting time. At the time, it felt wonderful. The change was coming in East Germany and three of my most favorite authors were seemingly at the head of Neues Forum! Hein, Crista Wolf, and Stefan Heym. What amazed me in East Germany was you couldn't get Hein's books there! When I would ask for his books in an East German bookstore, they wouldn't even answer. I would just get stares. Luckily I had picked up Der Tangospieler in West Berlin, before crossing over--his best book in my opinion, one I've read many times.
Well, I just got sent back to Germany for work again last month for a week, and returned with Willenbruch, Von Allem Anfang An, and Der Napolien-Spiel and some short story books. Enough to last me a while.
What a wonderful thing to have this home page. I must thank you, because my trip was for less than a week and from your page I was able to get titles of books I wanted, so that I was able to order them the day I arrived and pick them up before I had to leave. Thanks!
-Monday, November 20, 2000 at 21:20:07 (EST)
R. Fontaine
rfontayne@hotmail.com
USA
What is the meaning of "Von Allem Anfang An" ? How would you translate it?
-Monday, November 20, 2000 at 21:05:04 (EST)
JOZEF DABAL
jdabal@interia.pl
Poland
-Saturday, November 04, 2000 at 09:58:12 (EST)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
When my translation of "Knights of the Round Table" was published in "Contemporary Theatre Review," the fact that I was editing the issue was a big help! In more normal circumstances, I would suggest simply submitting the translation to German acadmemic journals and seeing if one of them is interested. There are also presses that specialize in printing plays mainly for use by theatre people, but there has to be more marketability than Hein's plays apparently have in the USA.
There is also nowadays the option of self-publishing things like this on the internet. I would certainly be happy to put it online here!
This isn't much but I hope it helps.
-Sunday, August 27, 2000 at 22:44:43 (EDT)
Henry Pickford
HWPickford@compuserve.com
USA
I've translated Hein's play "Passage" and would like to publish it. Any suggestions of where I might submit it?
Thanks for your help.
-Friday, August 11, 2000 at 11:09:09 (EDT)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
My apologies to people who have attempted to post to the forum recently; there was a configuration error which I have only just now fixed.
-Friday, August 11, 2000 at 09:54:11 (EDT)
David W. Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
My thanks to Howard Burman of the Theatre Department at Cal State University Long Beach for his notice of the upcoming American production of "Knights." Unfortunately, Hein himself will not be able to attend the premiere as planned (or so he told me recently in a letter, pleading the pressures of his PEN presidency). See the main Hein page for details about the production.
-Saturday, February 05, 2000 at 14:18:01 (EST)
Kirstine Zehl
kirstinez@hotmail.com
The Netherlands
Can anyone help me to get information about the
"grotesque" in the works of Christoph Hein? I'm writing my thesis about this subject and it is hard to find any specific info. Thanks a lot!
-Monday, January 31, 2000 at 15:24:33 (EST)
Howard Burman
hb@planetmail.com
USA
There may be interest in Cal Rep's production of Hein's "Knights of the Round Table," in Long Beach. The Cal Rep show, which features Kevin McCarthy as King Arthur, opens on February 25. Hein will be present for the opening. There will also be a reading after the performance of "In Acht und Bann."
-Thursday, December 16, 1999 at 17:30:01 (EST)
David Clarke
cld@fb14.uni-mainz.de
Germany/GB
In further response to the query about Hein and the committee investigating Stasi and police violence, transcripts of the meetings of the committee (including questions posed by Hein himself) can be found in 'und diese verdammte Ohnmacht...' (sorry I haven't got the full title to hand!) which was published by BasisDruck in Berlin in the early 1990s (1991?) and which was edited by Daniela Dahn and Fritz-Jochen Kopcka.
-Tuesday, December 07, 1999 at 10:39:42 (EST)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
In belated response to Katie Pritchard, I would say that the best overview of Hein's 1989-90 activities is to be found in:
Lothar Baier, Christoph Hein: Texte, Daten, Bilder (Luchterhand, 1990).
This book provides historical and critical essays, pictures, and a timeline.
Best wishes,
David Robinson
-Wednesday, December 01, 1999 at 08:54:19 (EST)
Manden
manden2@hotmail
Denmark
-Wednesday, December 01, 1999 at 07:58:52 (EST)
Katie Pritchard
u6c11@keele.ac.uk
England
Does anyone know where I could find information about Christoph Hein's work on the committee that investigated the Stasi attacks on demonstrators in Autumn 1989? Or just about what he was up to generally when the wall came down?
-Friday, November 05, 1999 at 14:20:55 (EST)
Charlotte
-Tuesday, May 25, 1999 at 08:35:58 (EDT)
David Clarke
GMCLARKE@SWANSEA.AC.UK
Wales
Does Hein tell the truth?- It depends what you mean by 'the truth', I suppose. As far as the author as an individual is concerned, he certainly hasn't be tainted with accusations for having worked for the 'Stasi', and appears to have been honest about his dealings with the GDR authorities. As a writer, Hein famously describes himself as a 'Chronist' and has frequently defined this role in terms of recording what goes on in the society he lives in 'ohne Hass und Eifer', in other words, I suppose, without a particular axe to grind. Whether this amounts to telling the 'truth' is another matter. After all, he does write works of fiction! Moreover, the activities of the 'Chronist', even according ro Hein himself, remain subjective. He writes about the world as he sees it ('natürlich meinem Verständnis gemäß', he says at somewhere), so that his texts are, in essence, autobiographical. This doesn't mean that he writes his own life story, but that he presents the reader with a depiction of the world born of the author's own subjective experience. Of course, the above is all just Hein's explanation, and some critics have argued (convincingly, I think) that he certainly does have very particular points to make about the societies he portrays. His claim to write 'ohne Botschaft', then, shouldn't be taken at face value. If you need some more information, I could provide you with a list of interviews with/articles by Hein which look at these issues, and with a list of critics it would be worth looking at.
-Monday, May 17, 1999 at 14:19:40 (EDT)
Clare Ollerhead
C.L.Ollerhead@drama.hull.ac.uk
Britain
Does Christoph Hein seek to tell the truth?
-Tuesday, May 11, 1999 at 07:33:03 (EDT)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
As the last two posts indicate, there is a demand in Hein/Cyber-Space for basic reference materials and summaries of Hein's works. (I have received countless other requests of this sort in personal e-mail.) Does anybody have such materials to contribute to this site? I would be glad to make them available from the main page. I will shortly be finishing my project of publishing my old notes on Hein on the Web, as well as some additional bibliographical material borrowed from my book (due out in August from Camden House). But I would appreciate help in gathering useful materials, and in effect establishing a Christoph Hein FAQ. Submissions welcome in either German or English, ist ja egal. Send them to me directly or post them in the Forum.
-Sunday, May 09, 1999 at 12:21:33 (EDT)
Bemelmans Sven
reinhold.bemelmans@skynet.be
Belgium
Ich brauche dringend eine Zusammenfassung des Buches "Der fremde Freund". Bitte helft mir!!!! Es ist dringend!!
-Sunday, May 09, 1999 at 06:29:47 (EDT)
hjk
Germany
Wo finde ich eine liste mit allen büchern die christoph hein je veröffentlicht hat?
-Tuesday, May 04, 1999 at 13:08:52 (EDT)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
Excellent news! Thanks to David Clarke for his posting. Now the problem is to get hold of a copy.
-Saturday, May 01, 1999 at 10:50:49 (EDT)
David Clarke
GMCLARKE@SWANSEA.AC.UK
Wales
Hein's new writing for the theatre is just becoming accessible to the
public.
'In Acht und Bann' (a sequal to 'Die Ritter der Tafelrunde'), 'Bruch',
'Zaungaeste' and 'Himmel auf Erden' have just been published in a new
Aufbau-Verlag volume simply entitled 'Stuecke' (ISBN 3-351-02891-1). 'In
Acht und Bann' is about to be premiered i
n Weimar (details are available on the theatre web-site), and Bruch has
already been premiered (see the 'Freitag' website acrhive for a review).
The latter deals with the twighlight years of a famous doctor, who cannot
accept that he is now too old to ope
rate. The other plays in volume focus on the demolition of the Leipzig
University Church in 1968 ('Zaungaeste'), and the visit of two workers to a
new bar with 'exotic dancing' somewhere in the former GDR ('Himmel auf
Erden').
As far as 'In Acht und Bann' is concerned, this time the knights are behind
bars, having been imprisoned by Mordret. Keie, Orilus and Lancelot sit
every day in a shadow cabinet, planning the day when they will, they
believe, return to power, whilst Parziv
al is occupying himself with planting flowers.
I am at the moment compiling a Hein bibliography for a new volume of essays
to be published at the end of the year. If anyone comes across reviews of
the above plays or the volume in which they are being published, I would be
grateful to receive the detai
ls!
-Saturday, May 01, 1999 at 07:10:34 (EDT)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
As noted in the news items on the main page, the title
of one play is "Himmel auf Erden," which is to be put on by the Berliner Ensemble early this year. Hein is cagey (as always) about the content or theme, but I would expect some connection with the short story "Moses Tod," where "Heaven on Earth" is a sardonic reference to socialism.
-Tuesday, January 05, 1999 at 20:49:24 (EST)
David Clarke
GMCLARKE@SWANSEA.AC.UK
WALES
As mentioned on the Hein Homepage and in Hein's recent 'Spiegel' interview, three new plays by Hein are about to be performed in Germany. Does anyone have an idea where and when?
-Thursday, December 17, 1998 at 09:48:30 (EST)
David Robinson
dwrob@georgiasouthern.edu
USA
This is the pagemaster speaking: Welcome to the Forum! I am
heading off to Germany for ten days, and when I come back,
I hope to see lots of comments here. Whether you are a
student or a Germanist or just a fan, your views are
welcome in this virtual space.
-Sunday, November 29, 1998 at 23:28:42 (EST)
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