Readings after the market – Tauben im Gras

On 29.07.2023 our program “After the Market” was entitled “Nachlese”. The program was inspired by the current discussions on the topic “Language in literature in the respective historical context”. About 20 participants came to the Künstlerhaus for this event.

Rainer Beuthel, former librarian at the Eckernförde public library and board member of the “otte1 – Schleswig-Holsteinisches Künstlerhaus”, introduced the topic and then read from the novel “Tauben im Gras” by Wolfgang Koeppen (first published in 1951), which is considered one of the most important German-language novels of the 20th century. Rainer Beuthel selected passages that have led to the novel’s use as school reading due to frequent use of the “N-word” in public debate.

After nearly 30 minutes of reading, questions were first posed to Rainer Beuthel to also learn about the main points of the novel in addition to the selected passages. Afterwards, there was feedback from the participants with their own feelings, perceptions and experiences of language used in current and historical contexts. Discussed was the right to use language in historical context versus offensive and insulting use in current times. Another topic was the right to the artistic work versus external influence to change the work (also in terms of content) or to adapt terms to the current language.

Controversial opinions were also exchanged about the fact that the teacher in Baden-Württemberg, who brought the controversy into the public eye, quit her job to avoid being exposed to the novel. Interesting in this discussion was also the assessment of a younger participating university lecturer, that the selection of high school literature needs urgent review, because it does not contain current topics / novels and is little diverse, not only in the sense that very few female authors are included.

This again very stimulating event went beyond the intended time frame. Rainer Beuthel ended the event after a total of 75 minutes.