Trains as Stages in Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s Novels
Withold BonnerIn Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s literary texts, her protagonists typically perform like actors on a stage. Not much attention has been paid to the stage settings of Özdamar’s novels where her actors perform their roles. This article addresses the following questions: first, where are the stages on which Özdamar places her novel’s characters; and second, what is the historical and societal relevance being expressed by these particular stage settings? The role of trains in Özdamar’s novels is of special interest. As Foucault says, “A train is an extraordinary bundle of relations,” and this is true for her novels, where many diverse plays are performed using a railway compartment as the stage setting. In addition, the discussions of the motif of her use of German as her novels’ language are played out on trains. It is repeatedly evident that her narratives of solidarity are told in these railway compartments. Though the panoramic view from the railway window, and the changeover to imaginary literary landscapes constitute illusionary spaces, where for once the ‘actually existing socialism’ seems to be apparent, Özdamar’s protagonists are nevertheless aware of the problems German Democratic Republic’s (GDR) socialism. The continuous traveling between East and West Berlin on the urban commuter train transforms the contradictory and coinciding fragments of the protagonist’s identity into a horizontal coexistence. That is, although every railway journey must come to an end, one can always start a new, so that in spite of the protagonist’s disillusionment, a utopian moment of solidarity shines forth.
Gespräche wie bei Auftritten im Theater Eisenbahnen als Bühne in den Romanen Emine Sevgi Özdamars
Withold BonnerIm Hinblick auf die Texte Emine Sevgi Özdamars ist immer wieder festgestellt worden, dass deren Protagonisten wie Schauspieler auf einer Bühne agieren. Weit weniger Augenmerk wurde auf die Bühnenbilder der Romane gerichtet, in denen die Darsteller ihre Rollen zum Vortrag bringen. Dieser Beitrag geht der Frage nach, auf welche Bühnen Özdamar bevorzugt die Figuren ihrer Romane stellt und worin das geschichtlich bzw. gesellschaftlich Interessante besteht, das mit Hilfe dieser Bühnenbilder ausgesagt werden soll. Besonders augenfällig ist die Rolle, die Züge in den Romanen Özdamars spielen. Wie ein Eisenbahnzug von einem außergewöhnlichen Bündel von Relationen bestimmt ist (Foucault), so sind es höchst unterschiedliche Stücke, die auf der Bühne des Eisenbahnabteils zur Aufführung gebracht werden. Zunächst sind es Erörterungen der Motive für die Verwendung der deutschen Sprache, die dort lokalisiert werden. Dann sind es immer wieder Erzählungen von Solidarität, die in den Abteilen vorgetragen werden. Auch wenn der panoramatische Blick aus dem Zugfenster und die Zuwendung zur imaginären Ersatzlandschaft der Literatur kurzfristig einen illusionären Raum schaffen, an dem der ‚real existierende Sozialismus‘ wirklich stattzufinden scheint, sind sich Özdamars Protagonisten der Probleme des DDR-Sozialismus bewusst. Das ständige Oszillieren mit der S-Bahn zwischen West- und Ostberlin wiederum übersetzt die in sich widersprüchlichen Fragmente der Identität der Ich-Erzählerin in ein räumliches Nebeneinander. Trotz der Kritik am real existierenden Sozialismus bleibt ein Moment der Hoffnung. Denn obgleich jede Eisenbahnfahrt einmal endet und es nur verlorene Paradiese gibt, kann immer wieder eine neue Fahrt begonnen werden.
In Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s literary texts, her protagonists typically perform like actors on a stage, such as in Bertolt Brecht’s epic theater. Although the author is clearly well aware of the imaginary stages on which her actors perform their roles, surprisingly little attention has been paid to these stage settings in the literary criticism of her novels. This article addresses the following questions: first, where are the stages on which Özdamar places her novel’s characters, and second, what is the historical and societal relevance being expressed by means of these particular stage settings? Particularly eye-catching in the novels of her so-called her Istanbul-Berlin trilogy novels is the frequent appearance of spaces that Foucault calls heterotopias; that is, cemeteries, mirrors, theaters, brothels, ships, and trains. The role of trains in Özdamar’s novels is of special interest. As Foucault says, “A train is an extraordinary bundle of relations,” and this is true for her novels, where many diverse plays are performed using a railway compartment as the stage setting. At first glance, each book in the trilogy strengthens one’s impression that the trilogy is largely concerned with referential autobiographic writing. However, as a comparison of the highly diverging portrayals of the protagonist’s first railway journey from Istanbul to Berlin show, it is the staging of auto-fiction, not of autobiography, that is orchestrated on the revolving stage of the railway compartment. In addition, the discussions of the motif of her use of German as her novels’ language are played out on trains. It is in a train compartment where the protagonist reveals her choice of German as the language for her literary texts. In addition, her decision to employ a partly hybrid language in her early texts, such as in Mutterzunge and Das Leben ist eine Karawanserei, where the German is permeated with direct translations of Turkish phrases, is motivated by the author’s observations on the creative German-language use by many ‘Gastarbeiters’ during train journeys. It is repeatedly evident that her narratives of solidarity are told in these railway compartments. The cigarettes the travelers smoke together or offer each other become symbols of this ongoing solidarity. Though the panoramic view from the railway window, and the changeover to imaginary literary landscapes constitute illusionary spaces, where for once the ‘actually existing socialism’ seems to be apparent, Özdamar’s protagonists are nevertheless aware of the problems of GDR socialism. These include, among others, the remnants of fascist thinking in spite of the official GDR antifascist narrative. And, it is not only the staging of highly contradictory encounters in the train compartments that are facilitated by the protagonist’s persistent traveling on the urban commuter train between East and West Berlin. This perpetual oscillatory traveling transforms the contradictory and coinciding fragments of the protagonist’s identity into a horizontal coexistence. Although every railway journey comes to an end, one can always start a new, so that in spite of the protagonist’s disillusionment, a utopian moment of solidarity shines forth. Finally, the protagonist becomes an actor, theater director, and author. Eventually, the protagonist’s train journeys between Istanbul and Berlin and between East and West Berlin are followed by a journey to Paris, where she assists director Benno Besson with the staging of the Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht.
