''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' (The city beyond the river) is a German language

existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...

novel by

Hermann Kasack Hermann Robert Richard Eugen Kasack (24 July 1896 – 10 January 1966) was a German writer. He is best known for his novel '' Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' (''The city beyond the river''). Kasack was a pioneer of using the medium broadcast for lit ...

, published in 1947 in Berlin. It is considered one of the most important novels written in Germany after World War II, dealing with the horrors of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, along with works such as

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

's '' Doctor Faustus'' and

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

' ''

The Tin Drum ''The Tin Drum'' (german: Die Blechtrommel, ) is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is the first book of Grass's ' (''Danzig Trilogy''). It was adapted into a 1979 film, which won both the 1979 Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best ...

''.

History

Hermann Kasack described a "Schreckensvision" (horror vision) initiating the writing of the novel: "'Ich sah die Flächen einer gespenstischen Ruinenstadt, die sich ins Unendliche verlor und in der sich die Menschen wie Scharen von gefangenen Puppen bewegten." (I saw a vast ruined city, extending endlessly, in which people moved about like imprisoned puppets). Kasack wrote the novel in two periods, first during the war from 1942 to 1944, then after the war in 1946. Kasack had not left

, but remained in what was later described as "Innere Emigration" (

inner emigration Inner emigration (german: Innere Emigration, french: émigration intérieure) is a concept of an individual or social group who feels a sense of alienation from their country, its government, and its culture. This can be due to the inner emigrants' ...

). He shows the individual, helpless in an incomprehensible society, questioning existence. A shortened version of the novel was published in the Berlin newspaper ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, s ...

'' in 1946 before the complete novel was published in 1947. The novel was well received and soon translated to several languages. The first translation to English by Peter De Mendelssohn was published in 1953 by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

in London and New York. A revised version of 1956 was published in 1960. Kasack's fictional vision of a city shows similarities to

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

's '' Heliopolis''. In 1949 Kasack was awarded the Fontane Prize of the city of Berlin for this work.John R. Frey
Hermann Kasack
jstor.org 1957 He was the first recipient of this prize. Kasack himself used the novel as the base for an opera

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

. The work ''

Die Stadt hinter dem Strom ''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom'' (The city beyond the river) is a German language Existentialism, existentialist novel by Hermann Kasack, published in 1947 in Berlin. It is considered one of the most important novels written in Germany after World W ...

'', termed an "Oratorische Oper" (Oratorio Opera), by Hans Vogt was premiered at the

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...

in 1955.

Plot

The protagonist is the orientalist Dr. Robert Lindhoff, introduced to the reader just as Robert. He travels by railroad on a mission which is unclear to him to a foreign city, which appears as strange and incomprehensible. He meets people whom he believes to be dead, such as his father and his beloved Anna. Robert receives the order from an invisible authority of the city to write a "Chronik" (chronicle) of the city. Robert is called the Chronicler, and he explores the city, partly on his own, partly guided. The city is a

megalopolis A megalopolis () or a supercity, also called a megaregion, is a group of metropolitan areas which are perceived as a continuous urban area through common systems of transport, economy, resources, ecology, and so on. They are integrated enoug ...

under a cloudless sky, full of

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

, without music. Its people appear more and more strange and incomprehensible to him. The people resemble shadows and perform senseless, repetitive and destructive tasks. Two factories employ many of them, one producing building blocks from dust, one destroying building blocks to dust. Robert feels unable to write the chronicle. The authority who ordered it thanks him anyway for his work full of insight. Back in his home country, Robert travels restlessly, lecturing on the sense of life. In the end he travels to the city, as in the beginning.

Editions in German

* Berlin 1946, shortened version in

* Berlin 1947 * Frankfurt am Main 1960,

Suhrkamp Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010 the ...

, revised version of 1956 * München/Zürich 1964, Knaur paperback * Frankfurt am Main 1983, Suhrkamp, Weiße Reihe * Frankfurt am Main 1988, Suhrkamp, volume 296 of Bibliothek Suhrkamp * Leipzig 1989

Translations

* ''Staden bortom floden'', Stockholm 1950 * ''La ville au delà du fleuve'', Paris 1951 * ''La città oltre il fiume'', Milano 1952 * ''Kaupunki virran takana'', Helsinki 1952 * ''The city beyond the river'', London, New York, Toronto 1953 * ''Byen og elven'', Oslo 1954 * ''La ciudad detras del rio'', Buenos Aires * ''Город за рекой'', Moscow 1992 * ''奔流之后的城市'' Chinese translation of the book *''강물 뒤의 도시'' Seoul 1984 *''流れの背後の市'' japanese translation of the book,1954

Literature

: ''Die Stadt hinter dem Strom. Eine Selbstkritik'',

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

, No. 142, 29 November 1947, p. 2 *

Wolfgang Kasack Wolfgang Kasack (russian: Вольфганг Германович Казак, ''Volfgang Germanovich Kazak''; Potsdam, 20 January 1927 – Much, 10 January 2003) was a German Slavic studies scholar and translator. After his death, his academic e ...

: ''Hermann Kasack. "Die Stadt hinter dem Strom" in der Kritik. Eine Bibliographie der wichtigsten Aufsätze und Besprechungen.'', Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, 1952 * Lothar Fietz: ''Strukturelemente der hermetischen Romane Thomas Manns, Hermann Hesses, Hermann Brochs und Hermann Kasacks'', Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte 40, 1966, p. 161-183 * Ehrhard Bahr: ''Metaphysische Zeitdiagnose: Hermann Kasack, Elisabeth Langgässer und Thomas Mann'', in: Gegenwartsliteratur und Drittes Reich, H. Wagner, Stuttgart 1977, p. 133-162 * Gene O. Stimpson: ''Zwischen Mystik und Naturwissenschaften. Hermann Kasacks "Die Stadt hinter dem Strom" im Lichte des neuen Paradigmas'', Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 1 - 1503, Frankfurt am Main 1995 * Mathias Bertram: ''Literarische Epochendiagnosen der Nachkriegszeit'', in: Deutsche Erinnerung. Berliner Beiträge zur Prosa der Nachkriegsjahre (1945-1960), Ursula Heukenkamp, Berlin 2000, p. 11-100 * ''Hermann Kasack: Die Stadt hinter dem Strom''. Essay in German
www.Signaturen-Magazin.de

References

External links

University of Potsdam The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It is mainly situated across three campuses in the city. Some faculty buildings are part of the New Palace of Sanssouci which is known ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stadt Hinter Dem Strom, Die 1947 German novels Novels adapted into operas Existentialist novels