Der Generationenroman als Figuration historischer Übergänge. Arno Geigers 'Es geht uns gut'

Abstract

Assuming that the contemporary generational novel is a kind of reflection (Widerspiegelung) of historical transitions, which is remarkable first of all on the level of commercial reception (book covers, reviews inter alia), the aim of this essay is to examine the connections between the novel’s presentation of history and history itself. In the first part of the paper the terms of reflection, identity and example are proven useless to describe the problem of presentation of history in one single family’s fate. Its nature is figuration – a metaphorical approach depicted by Erich Auerbach in his Mimesis in respect of the Bible and religious writings up to the Renaissance. The second part of the paper focusses on Auerbach’s and his commentator’s conclusions in order to uncover the figurative potential of the generational novel. Its main figure seems to be the metonymy with the assumption of pars pro toto (a part taken for the whole). Here the family metaphorically reflects the course of history through one part of its possible realizations. It differs though from the former applications by the lack of religious reference. Thus the analysis in crowned by a new “secular” allegorization of historical image in generational novels crowns.