Literary Concepts of Masculinity in Christian Kracht’s Imperium and Steffen Kopetzyk’s Risiko
Saniye Uysal ÜnalanChristian Kracht’s Imperium and Steffen Kopetzky’s Risiko can be described as historical adventure novels, which deal with the Wilhelminian Era. In both novels it is significant that the context of the German colonialism plays an important role. Closely related to the specific configuration of the male subjects of colonialism, these novels open up a critical perspective on the typical perception of masculinity of the Wilhelminian Era, in which masculinity is associated with solidity, selfassertion, control and force. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that Kracht’s Imperium as well as Kopetzky’s Risiko can be seen as narratives which vehemently question conventional images and discourses of heroic masculinity. The study refers to literary studies which focus on the literary conception of masculinity. After a short outline of the cultural discourses about masculinity at the beginning of the 20th century, I will analyze the male figures. The illustration of the discursive link between the fictional configuration of masculinity and the imperial world politics of Germany constitutes a crucial point of the analysis. Therefore, I will also concentrate on the significance of the body. In this sense, it could be ascertained that the images and configuration of masculinity in Kracht’s Imperium and in Kopetzky’s Risiko are dominated by colonial discourses, which turn out to be negative. So, the literary conception of masculinity serves as a critical dimension, that reveals the negative aspects of German colonialism politics in the Wilhelminian Era.
Literarische Männlichkeitsentwürfe in Christian Krachts Imperium und Steffen Kopetzkys Risiko
Saniye Uysal ÜnalanDie Romane Imperium von Christian Kracht und Risiko von Steffen Kopetzky können als historische Abenteuerromane bezeichnet werden, die sich mit der Zeit des Wilhelminischen Deutschland auseinandersetzen. Die zeitliche bzw. kulturgeschichtliche Verortung der erzählten Welt beider Romane im Kontext des Kolonialismus ist hierbei von besonderer Wichtigkeit. Anhand der spezifischen Konfiguration der männlichen Träger bzw. Akteure des Kolonialismus eröffnen diese Texte eine dezidiert kritische Perspektive, die sich vor allem auf eine grundsätzliche Infragestellung der mit Solidität, Selbstbehauptung, Kontrolle sowie Macht enggeführten Männlichkeitskonzipierung des Wilhelminischen Deutschland bezieht. In der vorliegenden Untersuchung wird das Argument stark gemacht, dass Krachts Imperium wie auch Kopetzkys Risiko insbesondere im Hinblick auf die Konstruktion der männlichen Heldenfiguren sowie der damit verknüpften Handlungs- und Erfahrungswelten als solche Narrative beschreibbar werden, in denen tradierte Bilder und Diskurse von heldenhafter Männlichkeit vehement in Frage gestellt werden. Vor dem Hintergrund der literaturwissenschaftlich begründeten Männlichkeitsforschung werden die fiktionalen Bilder und Konfigurationen von Männlichkeit in den Fokus genommen. Der kurzen Nachzeichnung der kulturellen Diskurse über Männlichkeit zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts folgt die Analyse der Männerfiguren. Dabei wird die diskursive Verknüpfung der fiktionalen Konfiguration von Männlichkeit mit der imperialen Weltpolitik Deutschlands veranschaulicht. Anschließend konzentriert sich die Arbeit auf die Signifikanz des Körpers, anhand dessen die ambivalente Verfasstheit von kolonialer Männlichkeit und die Kritik an der Kolonialpolitik Deutschlands pointiert zum Ausdruck kommen. Festgestellt werden konnte in diesem Zusammenhang, dass die in beiden Romanen konfigurierten Männlichkeitsbilder unmittelbar im Zeichen des ins Negative umschlagenden Kolonialismus-Diskurses stehen und gerade daher als dessen Negativfolie fungieren.
Christian Kracht’s Imperium and Steffen Kopetzky’s Risiko can be described as historical adventure novels, which deal with the Wilhelminian Era. While Kracht’s Imperium presents the eccentric life story and visions of the historical figure August Engelhardt who travels to the South Pacific, Kopetzky’s Risiko deals with the historical German-Ottoman expedition to Afghanistan during World War I. In both novels it is significant that the context of German colonialism plays an important role. The travel of the male figures to an exotic topography, the associated adventures and strains as well as the embedding of these aspects in the context of colonialism take on a special meaning for the argumentation of this study. Closely related to the specific configuration of the male subjects such as actors of colonialism, these novels open up a critical perspective on the typical perception of masculinity of the Wilhelminian Era, in which masculinity is explicitly associated with solidity, self-assertion, control and force. With regard to the construction of the male figures and their experiences, the aim of this study is to demonstrate that Kracht’s Imperium and Kopetzky’s Risiko can be seen as narratives which vehemently question and deconstruct conventional images and discourses of heroic masculinity. Based on the assumption that these novels contain postcolonial aspects and references to the political discourses and the colonial context of the Wilhelminian Era, this study will focus on the fictional images and configurations of the male figures in both novels. In this context, the study refers not only to literary studies which focus on the literary conception and configuration of masculinity, but also to sociological categories such as hegemonic and marginalised masculinity. In doing so, the fictional images and configurations of masculinity that can be observed in both novels will be related to the discourses of the Wilhelminian Era. After a short outline of the cultural discourses about masculinity at the beginning of the 20th century the study concentrates on an analysis of the male figures of the novels. The ideals of maleness and power particularly represented by Wilhelm II have been read as a form of male self-assertion and thus of hegemonic masculinity, which also correlates with the military and cultural expansion policy of that time. This very point constitutes the referential framework for the configuration and conceptualization of the male figures such as August Engelhardt in the novel Imperium or Oskar Niedermayer and Sebastian Stichnote in the novel Risiko. So, the illustration of the discursive link between the fictional configuration of masculinity and the imperial world politics of Germany constitutes a crucial point of the analysis. Therefore, the study concentrates on the significance of the body. Moreover, it becomes clear that both novels criticize the colonial ambitions of Germany by reducing the male characters to their bodies and simultaneously reveal the ambivalent character of colonial masculinity. In this sense, it could be ascertained that the images and configuration of masculinity in Kracht’s Imperium as well as in Kopetzky’s Risiko are dominated by the colonial discourses which turn out to be negative. So, the literary conception of masculinity serves as a critical dimension that reveals the negative aspects of German colonialism politics in the Wilhelminian Era. The utopia of August Engelhardt turns into in a barbaric cannibalism, which can be regarded as an anticipation of Nazi-Germany. Meanwhile the actors of the expedition reach the very limits of a human being, for they experience a significant reduction in bodies only. From this perspective the study makes clear that both novels undermine not only the myth of colonialism, but also the concept of the white man through the presented stories of important historical and fictional male figures.
