| dc.description.abstract | The novel „The Wall” („Die Wand”, 1963) by the Austrian writer Marlen
Haushofer (1920-1970) is analyzed from the perspectives of modern literary
anthropology. Attention is focused on the poetics of everyday life and the ways of
communication during total isolation.
The phenomenon of the barrier that separates the nameless first-person narrator
from the usual coexistence with people is considered. The gradual reception of a
conditional wall with certain stages is emphasized: identification through naming,
state of fear and impulse to destroy an object, its visualization (finding of a material
form), equating it to a weapon of mass destruction and consciously ignoring the
irritant.
The adaptation means of the female protagonist to the new reality with the
opposition „city-village”, and „man-animal” are studied. The poetics of everyday life
is clearly demonstrated in the detailed daily routine with the adaption of home (a
hunting lodge with outbuildings and a mountains hut), the struggle for the harvest of
potatoes and legumes, hunting for wild animals and caring for domestic animals, hay
and firewood harvesting for the winter.
The role of animals in human survival is emphasized on the physical and
mental levels. The continual company of the protagonist is Bella the cow (a symbol
of motherhood and vitality) and the Cat (a symbol of female rebelliousness and
independence), harmoniously complementing each other. Later Pearl the kitten and
Tiger the tomcat and then Bull will join them for a while. It is believed that the death
of the younger generation, which did not know life outside the ghetto, indicates the
inability of living beings to new realities. Another member of the post-apocalyptic
community, the dog named Lynx, is an attentive listener, a tireless companion for
walks in the woods, a cheerful comforter and a good-natured protector. Lynx becomes
a true friend and source of optimism for the first-person narrator unhappy by nature.
The novel also represents the call: „Do not kill”, which is one of the leitmotifs
of the writer’s work. Therefore, the thesis that there is no more reasonable feeling
than love helps to overcome the boundaries between humans and animals, radically
revising the traditional forms of interaction between them. This fact intensifies
the hidden misanthropy of the character, which she gradually realizes and finally
accepts after meeting a stranger who destroyed her fragile world with his unexpected
appearance. Thus, anthropocentrism is replaced by biocentrism: a human does not just
become one with other living beings but loses his status as a superbeing.
The chain of events after the catastrophe, presented by the heroine in a
memory diary with flashbacks into the „common” past, demonstrates attempts at self-
reflection of the person in a crisis, where the wall is only a trigger of existence. Forced
detachment from human fuss puts before the protagonist some traditional ontological
and eschatological questions, which she had not really thought about before. The
reports replace the possibility of habitual communication and become one of the forms
of isolated communication of an individual with a hypothetical interlocutor or with his
hidden self. The results of the protagonist’s introspection also relate to determining
her gender and age. A different rhythm of life with a predominance of hard physical
labour and a monotonous diet against the background of internal extrasituation’s
experiences affects the physique and perception of her body as an ex-city dweller. The
climax of the protagonist’s inner metamorphosis takes place in the second summer
“behind the wall” in the alpine meadows. This technique allows M. Haushofer to
highlight the coordinates of the antinomy „top-bottom” and „civilization-nature”.
The open ending of the novel, which seems to be the most life-affirming episode
in the general narrative, intensifies the protagonist’s antisocial character, readiness for
loneliness and the struggle for survival. The woman’s stories end with a phrase about
a white crow that is waiting for her. The albino bird complements the novel bestiary,
its image corresponds with its semantic colouring, and therefore it is equated with an outcast and demonstrates the perception of the Alien / Other. In allegorical form M. Haushofer depicts the detachment and loneliness of a marginal person in modern
society among a false community of identical persons.
At the same time, the white crow personifies hope, because it appears in the
third autumn when the woman internally reconciles herself with factors beyond her
control and begins to simply live, despite future difficulties. Isolation for outcasts
means a chance to adapt to a new reality when much depends not on society as an
institution of control, but you.
In our case, the Austrian version of isolation is presented. The Austrianness of
the situation in the novel reveals in the author’s figure and its socio-historical context.
M. Haushofer creates a typical image of an ordinary 40-year-old Austrian, recently
widowed mother of two daughters. Moreover, her sporadic family memories are either
neutral (husband) or negative (problem teenagers). The Alpine valley and meadow –
the limited heroine’s area could be regarded as a symbol of Austria in the middle of
the 20th century – a small tourist country on the huge geopolitical map of the world.
In conclusion, M. Haushofer’s novel is an original invariant of man’s adaptation
to the new reality during a catastrophe and/or in the post-apocalyptic world. The
metaphor of the wall allows the author to mark the borderline between society and
people, civilization and nature. Total isolation makes it possible to take a fresh look
at the stereotyped relationships between people and animals, which are not opposed
but radically revised from the standpoint of communication on an equal footing. The
poetics of everyday life reveals concrete mechanisms and models of the adaptation of
living beings to isolation from the perspective of literary anthropology. | uk_UA |
