''Bottom's Dream'' ( or ''ZETTEL’S TRAUM'' as the author wrote the title) is a novel published in 1970 by West German author

Arno Schmidt Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the p ...

. Schmidt began writing the novel in December 1963 while he and

Hans Wollschläger 150px, Signature, 1988 Hans Wollschläger (17 March 1935, in Minden – 19 May 2007, in Bamberg) was a German writer, translator, historian, and editor of German literature. Biography Wollschläger is widely known as the translator of '' Ulysse ...

began to translate the works of

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

into German. The novel was inspired by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's novel ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction whi ...

'', particularly Schmidt's use of columns (his "SpaltenTechnik"), which Schmidt claimed was borrowed from the ''Wake''. The story itself is based on the questions of translating Edgar Allan Poe, following a couple who visits the home of a Poe translator to discuss his work. It is written in an idiosyncratic style, one in which Schmidt attempts to apply a

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

understanding of language to the text by using various typographic features which alter the usual flow of text. The gargantuan novel was published in

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

format with 1,334 pages. The story is told mostly in three shifting columns, presenting the text in the form of notes, collages, and typewritten pages. The 2016 English translation by John E. Woods has 1,496 pages and weighs over .

Title

The title is an adaption from a character and a scene in Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''. At the end of Act IV, Scene 1, the awaking weaver

Bottom Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant * Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM * Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...

says: :"I have had a dream, past the wit of man to :say what dream it was: man is but an ass, if he go :about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there :is no man can tell what. Methought I was,—and :methought I had,—but man is but a patched fool, if :he will offer to say what methought I had. The eye :of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not :seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue :to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream :was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of :this dream: it shall be called Bottom's Dream, :because it hath no bottom;..."

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...

translated the play in 1762 into German prose. His weaver Bottom (bottom = ball of yarn) bears accordingly a German term of weaving as his name, Zettel, which was apt for a translation of the last line (to "weil darin alles verzettelt ist", roughly 'because in it all is mixed up'). Hence "Zettels Traum" is German for Bottom's Dream.

Summary

The novel begins around 4 AM on Midsummer's Day 1968 in the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...

in northeastern

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

in northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and concludes twenty-five hours later. It follows the lives of 54-year-old Daniel Pagenstecher, visiting translators Paul Jacobi and his wife Wilma, and their 16-year-old daughter Franziska. The story is concerned with the problems of translating

into German and with exploring the themes he conveys, especially regarding sexuality. The novel is divided into eight books, as follows:

References

Editions

* * *

Other sources

Citations

External links

* Esther Yi:
Page-Turner: A Great Translator Takes on One Final and Nearly Impossible Project
',

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

, 3. November 2016 {{Authority control 1970 German novels Novels by Arno Schmidt Works about Edgar Allan Poe