452 



LITERATURE, CONTINENTAL, IN 1899. 



introduction to Germanic mythology, not with- 

 out value poetically) ; Anna Hitter's Gedichte 

 (" modestly sensual, yet womanly and healthy 

 in tone"); M. G. Conrad's Salve Regina: ly- 

 rischer Cyklus (author more u figliter than poet "; 

 the most pleasing poems are those on family and 

 fatherland) ; Phantasus, by Arno Holz (a former 

 materialist, now among the idealists, preaching 

 the " new romanticism, . . . that of the nerves ") ; 

 Lcuchtende Tage: Neue Gedichte, by Ludwig 

 Jacobowski, a sympathetic personality, of healthy 

 development (Holz and Jacobowski, once collab- 

 orators, are the " theoretical founders of German 

 naturalism''): Hans Benzmann's Sommersonnen- 

 gliiek (a treasure of "delicately individualized 

 nature mood"); Karl Henckell's Gedichte (still 

 some superfluous pathos, but a healthy founda- 

 tion: nothing decadent, weak, or artificial); J. 

 H. Mackay's Gesammelte Dichtungen (poems of 

 life, mirroring the doubts and wishes of modern 

 man) : Hymnen Pilgerfahrten Algabal, Biicher 

 der Hirten. and Jahr der Seele, three little vol- 

 umes by Stefan George (an interesting newcomer, 

 a symbolist, who " deals with impressions of the 

 soul"; artistic and artificial); Ferdinand von 

 Saar's Nachkliinge (poems and short stories) ; 

 and some further poetry by beginners: W. E. 

 Ernst's Gedichte, E. Berger's Lieder des Lebens 

 und der Liebe, and M. v. Biehler-Buehensee's 

 Lebenskliinge (all 1898). A "deepening influ- 

 ence'' is felt in German literature; the slavish 

 copying of nature is being abandoned. A tend- 

 ency toward more subjective treatment is, we 

 are told, shown in plays such as Sudermann's 

 Die drei Reiherfedern. This " fairy play " has 

 been much criticised; it is the story of a moral 

 visionary with a fictitious ideal which he seeks, 

 losing the good that is near at hand. It shows 

 " a certain forced grandeur in the heroic parts 

 and an equally forced vulgarity in the subordi- 

 nate figures." The author's symbolism is vague; 

 nevertheless, the play " testifies to the deepening 

 of his art." The record of the drama further- 

 more includes four one-act plays: Die Frage an 

 das Schicksal (" too much theoretical disquisi- 

 tion and the fact that the principal scenes are 

 played mutely caused the public to remain cold "), 

 Der grime Kakadu (" a fantastic caprice "), Para- 

 celsus (rather uninteresting), and Die Gefahrtin 

 (delicate mood painting), by Arthur Schnitzler, 

 who here abandons realism for " vague ideas of 

 hypnosis and cabalism " ; Die Frau im Fenster 

 Die Hochzeit der Sobeide Der Abenteurer und 

 die Sangerin: Theater in Versen (dramatic struc- 

 ture lacking; good character drawing; "a riot 

 in moods "; fine style), by Hugo von Hoffmanns- 

 thai, a disciple of art for art's sake, with a touch 

 of the decadent; Joh. Schlaf's drama, Die Feind- 

 lichen (tragic development mainly indicated by 

 mute play); L. Fulda's Jugendf reunde ; Max 

 Halbe's Die Heimathlosen (faithful to life) ; 

 Georg Hirschfeld's Pauline (a " kitchen comedy "; 

 farcical beginning, sociological speculations at 

 the end) ; Max Dreyer's Hans (lifelike picture 

 of a studious woman softened by love) and the 

 one-act plays Unter blonden Bestien and Liebes- 

 traume, both showing much healthy humor; E. 

 v. Wildenbruch's historical tragedy Gewitter- 

 nacht (disappointing and queer mixture of in- 

 trigue of the French school and patriotic drama; 

 an attempt to unite historic foundation and the 

 modern spirit); Martin Greif's General. York: 

 Vaterliindisches Schauspiel ("passable"); O. E. 

 Hartleben's Die Befreiten: Ein Einakter-Cyklus 

 (four one-act plays Die Lore, Die sittliche For- 

 derung, Abschied vom Regiment, Der Fremde; 

 the theme, liberation from Philistinism and the 



right of individuality, is not very earnestly at- 

 tacked) and Die Erziehung zur Ehe (pleasing and 

 witty dialogue can not conceal faults; carica- 

 ture rather than satire); Das liebe Ich, by Karl- 

 weiss (mixture of Raimund and Anzengruber; 

 excess of moral " tendency ") ; Andreas Bockholdt 

 (1898), an unsuccessful tragedy, by W. v. Polenz; 

 Josef Lauff's historical drama Der Eisenzahn 

 (scene laid in Berlin, 1447) ; Hermann Bahr's com- 

 edy Der Star (dramatic force lost in virtuose but 

 all too detailed delineation of secondary matters 

 and of varying moods ; author has talent, but has 

 changed his manner with every new wind that 

 blew in the literary atmosphere) ; F. v. Hinder- 

 sin's Wuotans Ende (epic spirit outweighs the 

 dramatic; free-thought tendency) ; R. Skowron- 

 nek's No. 17, a three-act village comedy (pseudo- 

 realism) ; Richard Landsberger's drama Pflicht 

 (places the ego above the public weal; not con- 

 vincing) ; Anton von Perf all's Die Krone (" fairy 

 drama " ; laughed at and hissed at the Royal 

 Theater of Berlin as aiming at the protection of 

 those of " divine right," instead of striving for 

 the applause of true friends of art) ; Der junge 

 Fritz (a mediocre " Hohenzoller " play; forbid- 

 den by the censor), by Franz Baier (pseudonym 

 of the actor Ferdinand Bonn) ; Hugo Lubliner's 

 comedy Das fiinfte Rad (only halfway success- 

 ful) ; Stefan Vacano's Mutterherz (unsuccessful) ; 

 Friedrich Fiirst Wrede's Recht auf sich selbst (re- 

 jected by the public) ; H. Eulenberg's tragedy 

 Dogengliick ("Shakespeare run wild"); and the 

 usual batch of ephemera, mostly farcical, such 

 as Auf Strafurlaub, by G. v. Moser and T. v. 

 Trotha; Madel als Rekrut, farce, by Kraatz and 

 Strobitzer (piquant, improbable, and laughable) ; 

 the comedy Renaissance, by F. v. Schonthan and 

 Koppel-Ellfeld (a graceful bit of play; no depth) ; 

 Busch und Reisenbach (the usual wild hodge- 

 podge of ludicrous situations), by Heinrich Lee 

 and Wilhelm Meyer-Forster ; Als ich wieder- 

 kam . . . (continuation of Im Weissen Rossi), by 

 Blumenthal and Kadelburg; and Die neue Rich- 

 tung, a poor farce, by Marco Brociner and Alex- 

 ander Engel. 



In Plattdeutsch literature we have Felix Still- 

 fried's novel De unverhoffte Arwschaft; and, as 

 a local production, Hie gut Wiirttemberg alle- 

 wege! Ein litterarisches Jahrbuch aus Schwaben 

 (Vol. I, 1898) is also noted. 



Interesting news comes from Alsace, especially 

 in an article by F. Curtius (Deutsche Rundschau, 

 July, 1899). Political conditions and fear of ma- 

 terial loss attending a free expression of opinion 

 make it difficult to determine in how far the Al- 

 satians have become Germans. The best index 

 to the soul of the people is the nonpolitical lit- 

 erature. It is a pleasing symptom that poetic 

 production has begun again, after having been 

 silenced by the guns of the victor. This produc- 

 tion finds expression in 'that dialect which sur- 

 vived the French period. The new Alsatian the- 

 ater in Strassburg met with a success which 

 proves that the new movement is on the right 

 road. The most noteworthy dramatic, products 

 of this direction are G. Stoskopf's comedy Der 

 Herr Maire (1898; satire on the peasantry; friend- 

 ly to the French) and Der Pfingstmondaa vun 

 hitt ze Daa: dramatisches Culturbild aus dem 

 Elsass vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts (lifelike 

 picture of the process of fermentation w r hich Al- 

 satian society is undergoing), by Heinrich Schnee- 

 gans. The latter is especially of political (or 

 culturgescMcJitlich) interest. It borrows its title 

 from the Pfingstmontag of Arnold, the master- 

 piece of Alsatian dialect literature. Fritz Lien- 

 hard (who does not share the enthusiasm of Cur- 



