Department of German Studies

GE412
The Writer and Imperial Germany, 1871-1918








Crises of Identity in Early Twentieth-Century German Literature
The articulation of a crisis of identity in Thomas Manns Der Tod in Venedig
(1912) and Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten (1909)


QUESTION FIVE:
Even though Thomas Manns Der Tod in Venedig and Robert Walsers Jakob
von Gunten are very different in terms of style and theme, they both articulate a
crisis of identity. Focusing on the articulation of a crisis of identity, compare and
contrast the two texts. You must base your argument on ample examples from
the text.


Student
Andrew Jones

Module Convenor
Anne Fuchs
WORD COUNT
3979 excluding footnotes
GE412 THE WRITER AND IMPERIAL GERMANY, 1871-1918
Crises of Identity in Early Twentieth-Century Germany Literature
German Studies Andrew Jones 2014
1
Crises of Identity in Early Twentieth-Century German
Literature
The articulation of a crisis of identity in Thomas Manns Der Tod in Venedig
(1912) and Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten (1909)

The Unification of Germany in 1871 propelled the nation into the modern age.
By the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Germany had been transformed
from a country barely on the threshold of industrialisation
1
to the worlds
second strongest industrial power, rivalling Britain.
2
Unification proved to be the
catalyst for Germanys modernisation, for a period of rapid growth: the
population boomed, growing from around 40 million in 1871 to over 67 million
by 1914,
3
and became highly urbanised, the number of cities with over 100,000
inhabitants more than quadrupling in the same period.
4
Historians describe
unification and the concurrent rapid demographic and economic changes as a
double revolution, one they also see as a source of a distinctively
crisis-ridden German modernity.
5

This modernity was plagued by crisis, particularly for individuals, due to such
massive and unsettling changes. Indeed, whilst technologies such as the
railways and the telephone brought people closer together, they also set people
further apart. As Fairbairn explains:
A paradox of modern communication is that, while it links together
disparate regions and identities, it also creates new awareness of
disparities. It does not only homogenise things. Ideas blend and mix and
become hybrid, but in different ways in different places.
6

As a consequence, lines are blurred as the individual comes into more regular
contact with Otherness, an encounter that makes the individual more aware of
the self and thus more likely to question ones identity and place in society. In

1. Wolfgang J. Mommsen, Economy, Society and the State in the German Empire, 1870-1918, in
Imperial Germany, 1867-1918: Politics, Culture, and Society in an Authoritarian State, trans. Richard
Deveson (London: Arnold, 1995), 102.
2. Brett Fairbairn, Economic and Social Developments, in Imperial Germany 1871-1918, ed. James
Retallack (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 73.
3. See Mary Fulbrook, The Age of Industrialisation, 1815-1918, in A Concise History of Germany
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 137.
4. See Volker R. Berghahn, Demographic Structure and Development, in Imperial Germany, 1871-1918:
Economy, Society, Culture and Politics (New York: Berghahn Books, 2005), 42.
5. Fairbairn, Economic and Social Developments, 62.
6. Fairbairn, Economic and Social Developments, 77.
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more specific terms, due to the crisis of modernity, the individual suffers a crisis
of identity. Le Rider defines this crisis as a doubt of the self which makes the
individual regress through previous stages in the construction of his personal
identity, leading to the questioning of individuation.
7
This regressive process,
as Le Rider continues to explain, has two possible outcomes: either a new and
relatively stable identity is established or, failing that, the subject enters into a
state of permanent crisis.
8
Le Riders definition is particularly useful when it
comes to understanding both Thomas Manns Der Tod in Venedig and Robert
Walsers Jakob von Gunten, two literary works, which, written at the time of
Germanys crisis-ridden modernity, explore the interlinked crises of modernity
and identity.
Thomas Mann in Der Tod in Venedig articulates the identity crisis of the fictional
writer, Gustav von Aschenbach. A third person omniscient narrator establishes
the nature of this protagonists identity, which, with the narrator having access
to both the outside world and Aschenbachs inner thoughts, means the reader
gains insight into how Aschenbach is perceived by society (his outer-self) and
how Aschenbach perceives himself (his inner-self). To the wider world
Aschenbach is a man of high standing and recognised by the state, as implied
by the characters ennoblement,
9
from which it can also be inferred that he is a
conformist member of society. This conformity is further indicated when we
learn how die Unterrichtsbehrde ausgewhlte Seiten von ihm in die
vorgeschriebenen Schul-Lesebcher bernahm (TiV:19). He receives such
approval perhaps due to his traditional and conservative writing style:
Mustergltig-Feststehende, Geschliffen-Herkmmliche, Erhaltende, Formelle,
selbst Formelhafte (TiV:28f.). The narrator admires Aschenbachs discipline,
but, with his greater knowledge, voices doubt about the quality of this work, for
Aschenbach is apparently zu beschftigt mit den Aufgaben, welche sein Ich
und die europische Seele ihm stellten, zu belastet von der Verpflichtung zur
Produktion (TiV:15). In the narrators view, the writer has been held back by a
dominative Eurocentric mindset and strict social norms, which has resulted in

7. Jacques Le Rider, Individualism, Solitude and Identity Crisis, in Modernity and Crises of Identity:
Culture and Society in fin-de-sicle Vienna, trans. Rosemary Morris (New York: Continuum, 1993), 40.
8. See Le Rider, Individualism, Solitude and Identity Crisis, 40.
9. Thomas Mann, Der Tod in Venedig (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2011), 9.
Subsequent references to this text shall appear in the body of the essay, appearing in parentheses
with the abbreviation TiV followed by the relevant page number.
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the repression of the inner-self, of his desires and personal happiness, that, in
turn, has limited his artistic potential. With the onset of writers block
Aschenbachs inner-self is attempting to reassert itself and break free.
For Aschenbach, a crisis of identity is triggered by the forces of modernity. Not
only is Aschenbachs position in society threatened by the waning influence of
the aristocracy and the rise of other more modern art forms, but his idea of
identity is challenged by the appearance of the exotic Other in the local, a
development facilitated by modernity. Walking in Munich, hoping to overcome
his writers block, Aschenbach encounters a rothaarigen man, offenbar [!]
nicht bajuwarischen Schlages (TiV:11). This encounter reawakens
Aschenbachs inner-self: eine seltsame Ausweitung seines Innern ward ihm
ganz berraschend bewut, eine Art schweifender Unruhe, ein jugendlich
durstiges Verlangen in die Ferne (TiV:13). The process of regression to a
previous (youthful) version of the self has begun.
The protagonists Unruhe and Verlangen in die Ferne is mistakenly identified
by Aschenbach as Reiselust (TiV:13), perhaps due to his subsequent vision of
the Exotic:
seine Einbildungskraft [!] schuf sich ein Beispiel fr alle Wunder und
Schrecken der mannigfaltigen Erde, die sie auf einmal sich vorzustellen
bestrebt war: er sah, sah eine Landschaft, ein tropisches Sumpfgebiet
unter dickdunstigem Himmel, feucht, ppig und ungeheuer, eine Art
Urweltwildnis. (TiV:13f.)
This primal wilderness where nature is king, with fettem, gequollenem und
abenteuerlich blhendem Pflanzenwerk (TiV:14) taking hold, symbolises the
endless untamed reproduction of nature and is a reminder of a force that cannot
be tamed and controlled by rationality and modernity. In regards to
Aschenbach, this force is the inner-self. It is natural and flourishing, close to
breaking point, trying to escape to the surface. The Verlangen in die Ferne is
thus rather a desire to escape the social constraints of society, where, away
from this Eurocentric constraint, he would not have to suppress his innermost
thoughts and desires. The vision can therefore also be considered as the
literary representation of new philosophical ideas, specifically of Freuds dream
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theories.
10
Freud theorised that dreams were the symbolic representation of
unruly desires through metaphoric images (Verdichtung), desires that are
transferred onto seemingly innocent dream sequences (Verschiebung). Thus,
as Reed argues, the sequence represents a revolt against repression.
11

Moreover, we gain a deeper understanding of the vision if it is also considered
in the context of Nietzsches theories on art.
12
In Ancient Greece Dionysus was
the Greek God of Wine, Merry Making, and Ecstasy, representing passion,
dreams and fusion in regards to art, whilst Apollo, on the other hand, the God of
Art, Light and Knowledge, stood for form, clarity and order. Nietzsche saw
Greek tragedy as the highest form of art as it managed to mix aspects of the
Dionysian and Apollonian into a cohesive whole, which allowed the audience to
experience the full spectrum of the human condition, something that
Aschenbachs work fails to do. Aschenbachs writing is far too one sided
because it is solely based on the discipline of the Apollonian with little regard for
the passion of the Dionysian, and the dream, as Reed also argues, symbolises
how Dionysus is reasserting his power against the too harsh rule of Apollo.
13

Aschenbach is seemingly unaware of the true meaning of his vision, but it can
be inferred that he is aware subconsciously, for he travels to Italy, one of the
centres of antiquity and a favourite haunts of German writers.
14
Goethe, for
example, wanting to escape the demanding service of the Duke of Weimar, also
went to Italy where his encounter with and appreciation of antiquity established
his artistic outlook. Aschenbachs journey is different, however, due to the dawn
of modernity. Not only has Aschenbachs crisis of identity been accelerated by
the forces of modernity, with his travels enabled by modern modes of mobility
such as the train, motorboat and steamboat (TiV:31f.), but the Venice of the
novella is now deeply embedded in a modern world that interconnects
countries, cities and continents a cosmopolitan meeting point of different
nations, including russische Familie, englische Damen, deutsche Kinder

10. See Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, trans. James Strachey (London: Allen & Unwin,
1954).
11. T.J. Reed, Mann and History, in The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Mann, ed. Ritchie Robertson
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 6.
12. See Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, trans. Douglas Smith (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2000).
13. Reed, Mann and History, 6.
14. See Elizabeth Boa, Global Intimations: Cultural Geography in Buddenbrooks, Tonio Krger, and
Der Tod in Venedig, Oxford German Studies 35, no. 1 (2006): 28.
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(TiV:49). Venice has the potential to be inspiring but also destabilising. Boa
consequently refers to this journey as a double quest where [Aschenbach] as
a European [is] looking for cultural origins and renewal, and as a German
looking for exotically erotic Others.
15
Aschenbach finds both in Tadzio.
Upon arrival in Venice, Aschenbach encounters Tadzio, ein langhaariger
Knabe von vielleicht vierzehn Jahren (TiV:50). Aschenbachs sense of identity
is further destabilised for mit Erstaunen bemerkte Aschenbach, da der Knabe
vollkommen schn war. Sein Antlitz [!] erinnerte an griechische Bildwerke aus
edelster Zeit (TiV:50). It would initially appear that this interest could be for
artistic reasons, yet Aschenbach observes the boy perhaps longer than he
should, the narrator mediating Aschenbachs thoughts on what he sees for
several pages. Aschenbachs personal interest in the boy is indicated when, in
apparent pathetic fallacy, das Wetter lie sich am folgenden Tage nicht
gnstiger an. Landwind ging. Unter fahl bedecktem Himmel lag das Meer in
stumpfer Ruhe (TiV:54f.). After seeing the boy, the conditions in Venice are
emulating the oppressive conditions of Aschenbachs vision in Munich, with the
use of similar vocabulary forging the link in the readers mind. Aschenbach
subconsciously recognises this as a warning sign, for Verstimmung befiel ihn.
Schon in diesem Augenblick dachte er an Abreise (TiV:55). Seeing the boy
once again, however, changes his mind: [Er] erschrak ber die wahrhaft
gotthnliche Schnheit des Menschenkindes, and he decides ich bleibe hier,
solange du bleibst! (TiV:57). Aschenbach has found his inspiration, his muse,
but this inspiration will prove to be his downfall. Aschenbachs feelings for the
boy are symbolic of his failure to balance his artistic and personal desires, the
self and inner-self.
Aschenbach subsequently goes to the beach, where he observes the boy for
several hours, before heading to the city centre where eine widerliche Schwle
lag in den Gassen (TiV:67). The weather gets worse and worse, the town ever
more labyrinthine, as Aschenbachs increasing obsession with Tadzio grows.
Aschenbach once again decides to leave, realising da diese Stadt bei dieser
Witterung ihm hchst schdlich war (TiV:67). His potential departure, however,
is both aided by the rise of modernity, travelling to the train station by

15. Boa, Global Intimations, 28.
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steamboat, but also hindered by it, with his luggage going astray (TiV:73).
Modernity is once again playing a role in the identity crisis.
The writers interest in Tadzio continues, with the boys artistic beauty curing his
writers block, resulting in the writing of one of his best works to date, nie hatte
er die Lust des Wortes ser empfunden (TiV:87). Away from the social
constructs and the discipline that constrain him at home, Aschenbach has been
liberated. However, if the general public knew the source his inspiration, they
would be shocked and repulsed (TiV:88). Admiration has turned into obsession
and desire. Venice has transformed from a centre of cultural refinement to a site
of titillating anxiety, especially when cholera hits the city. But even with the
outbreak of cholera, der Verliebte [Aschenbach] besorgte nichts, aus da
Tadzio abreisen knnte, und erkannte nicht ohne Entsetzen, da er nicht mehr
zu leben wissen werde, wenn das geschhe (TiV:100).
Aschenbachs regression to a previous, more youthful self is completed when
he decides to stay in the city, despite his knowledge of the epidemic, and also
when he dyes his hair and dresses in youthful clothing (TiV:129ff.). In a
delirious state, he purchases strawberries (TiV:133), which causes him to
contract cholera and to die a few days later. The fruit of passion, a forbidden
fruit of sorts, represents how his uncontrollable inner-self has caused his
demise. Aschenbach fails to establish a new and relatively stable identity,
leading to permanent crisis and his eventual death.
In contrast to Der Tod in Venedig, the articulation of an identity crisis in Jakob
von Gunten is not as explicit, yet, in a similar vain to Mann, who criticises a
repressive society, Walser criticises a similarly repressive society, one that
frowns upon difference and individuality. The novella is set in the Institut
Benjamenta, a school for servants, which, whilst increasingly obsolete in the
modern world, is representative of education at the time. It is an institution
dedicated to eradicating individuality and instilling social norms, a school where
man lernt [!] sehr wenig, the lessons existing hauptschlich darin, uns
Geduld und Gehorsam einzuprgen.
16
Walser is parodying the concept of

16. Robert Walser, Jakob von Gunten: Ein Tagebuch (Zrich: Suhrkamp, 1985), 7.
Subsequent references to this text shall appear in the body of this essay, appearing in parentheses
with the abbreviation JvG followed by the relevant page number.
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Wilhelmine education as well as the literary conventions of the Bildungsroman,
a genre that propagates the continued existence of such social structures and
norms, concepts that caused Aschenbach to deny his inner-self leading to his
ultimate destruction. Walsers novella is additionally semi-autobiographical,
drawing on the authors own experiences with Walser, like his protagonist,
having similarly attended a school for servants in Berlin.
17
Manns text is also
based on his own experiences,
18
but, nevertheless, a key difference is Walsers
skewing of the literary conventions. As Summerfield and Downward explain, in
autobiography the author and the protagonist have the same points of view
while in the Bildungsroman the author creates an ideal, which allows for
symbolic interpretation.
19
The ideal Walser creates is the titular protagonist
whose (purported) diaries form the narrative.
In Jakob we have a character that appears aware of his creation and artificiality,
claiming ich war eigentlich nie Kind [!]. Ich bin nur so gewachsen, alter
geworden, aber das Wesen blieb (JvG:144). He also struggles to differentiate
between the conscious and the subconscious, with Evans noting how Jakob
can never figure out whether he is awake or dreaming, mov[ing] effortlessly
from past to present and back again,
20
one such instance being when he writes
about becoming a Kriegsoberst (JvG:108). Additionally, as Tobias notes,
Jakobs knowledge exceeds that of an ordinary diarist,
21
for he seemingly
knows how his story will end when it is only just beginning, especially when he
states that von Kraus werde ich sehr viel reden mssen (JvG:25). The diary
appears to be written from a later, reflective moment in time, and, as the entries
remain undated, the reader is deprived of any concept of time or a sense of
how the entries link chronologically. Jakob is thus able to manipulate the truth,
self-censoring and avoiding the judgement of a moralising omniscient narrator
as seen in Manns work, but, in turn, the reader is also deprived of a mediating

17. See Idris Parry, A Study in Servitude: Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten, German Life and Letters
30, no. 4 (1977): 283
18. See Frederic Amory, The Classical Style of Der Tod in Venedig, The Modern Language Review 59,
no. 3 (1964): 399.
Also see Francis Lamport, Arts of Ambivalence: Der Tod in Venedig and Die Leiden des jungen
Werthers. Oxford German Studies 31, no. 1 (2004): 7.
19. Giovanna Summerfield and Lisa Downward, Introduction, in New Perspectives on the European
Bildungsroman (London: Continuum, 2010), 1.
20. Tamara S. Evans, A Paul Klee in Prose: Design, Space, and Time in the Work of Robert Walser,
The German Quarterly 57, no. 1 (1984): 38.
21. Rochelle Tobias, The Double Fiction in Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten, German Quarterly 79,
no. 3 (2006): 302.
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authority to guide interpretation. The entries, however, are littered with omission
and contradiction, indicating that his identity is unstable. This becomes
apparent when he writes his Lebenslauf (JvG:50ff.), which also contains the
confession that er lgt, bringing into doubt his reliability as a narrator. He is an
eccentric outside the bounds of society, a society that would consider him to be
suffering an identity crisis, his unstable identity conforming to Le Riders
definition.
Indeed, we can presume that prior to the beginning of his journals, Jakob had
already suffered a crisis of identity. A doubt of his aristocratic Self would have
been triggered by the coming of the modern age, where the role of the
aristocracy is ever diminishing. As an aristocrat in the modern world, Jakob
would need to find a new role to play, for was ist man eigentlich in dieser Flut,
in diesem bunten, nicht endenwollenden Strom von Menschen? (JvG:38).
Jakobs apparent solution is to become an individual and he does this by
becoming an enigma: ich [habe] es bereits fertiggebracht, mir zum Rtsel zu
werden (JvG:7). He takes pride in hiding his true self, telling the reader that
nichts ist mir angenehmer, als Menschen, die ich in mein Herz geschlossen
habe, ein ganz falsches Bild von mir zu geben (JvG:26). Withholding his true
identity from the world, engaging in continual role-play, puts him in a position of
power. It opens up a gap between the inner-self and outward appearance,
which, in turn, preserves his inner freedom and individuality. It would thus
appear that his crisis has ended, resulting in the establishment of a new and
relatively stable identity. Nevertheless, this is not the case. Jakob has still yet to
find a place in society and so the doubt of the self continues, entering a state of
permanent crisis.
The term crisis, however, is perhaps inappropriate in regards to Jakob, for he
seems to relish the instability of the self. It is as if he wants to be challenged, as
if he wishes for continued crisis. In joining a school for servants, it will be
challenging to continue being an individual, an enigma. In his first diary entry
Jakob also contradictorily states how he in fact wants to become subservient, a
move that would certainly deprive him of individuality:
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das Eine wei ich bestimmt: Ich werde eine reizende, kugelrunde Null im
spteren Leben sein. Ich werde als alter Mann junge, selbstbewute,
schlecht erzogene Grobiane bedienen mssen, oder ich werde betteln,
oder ich werde zugrunde gehen (JvG:8)
This desire, a desire to regress rather than to progress, is counter to the
conventions of the Bildungsroman. Jakobs stated desire, however, is
paradoxical, for wenn zum Beispiel ein Zgling des Institutes Benjamenta nicht
wei, da er artig ist, dann ist er es (JvG:90). If Jakob discovers that he has
become nothing, he has at least become something. As Frederick explains, if
one tries to do it, one has already forfeited the possibility of attaining it, because
to attain it presupposes the absence of striving.
22
This inverted ambition
instead indicates Jakobs awareness of the inner-self. It represents a desire to
stand out, an aspiration to be the best at being nothing far from the
regimented subservient Vorbild that the school strives for. As a Null, he would
move into a central position in society, a position of power.
It would appear that Jakob is already amassing his desired power very early on,
demonstrated in his fleeting moments of assertiveness and confidence, such as
when he demands his money back from the Vorsteher (JvG:19). He is able to
do this however, as the Vorsteher, a supposed authoritarian figure, is reluctant
to assert his power. The Vorstehers encounter with Jakob, an eccentric Other,
in addition to the continually increasing obsolesce of his school in the modern
world, causes the Herr to doubt his place in the society, to doubt the self, and,
consequently, an identity crisis has been triggered. This crisis becomes
apparent when we consider that, although Jakob is the supposed subordinate,
he must compel Herr Benjamenta to assume the role of lord or master.
23
The
Herr has regressed to a previous non-authoritative self.
Jakob eventually succeeds in making the Herr assert his authority, but, in a
paradoxical chain of events, the dynamic changes in Jakobs favour when the
Herr admits: Ich habe eine seltsame, eine ganz eigentmliche, jetzt nicht mehr
zu beherrschende Vorliebe fr dich gewonnen (JvG:94). Jakob realises this
dynamic change too, noting that von diesem Augenblick an war etwas

22. Samuel Frederick, A Bursting Zero of Unknowing: Overcoming the Paradox of Infinite Knowledge in
Heinrich von Kleist's ber das Marionettentheater and Robert Walser's Jakob von Gunten, The
Germanic Review 88, no. 4 (2013): 383.
23. Tobias, The Double Fiction in Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten, 296.
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zwischen uns getreten, das fhlte ich, ja, ich fhlte es nicht nur, ich wusste es
sogar (JvG:94). The pairs relationship can be seen as a literary depiction of
the master-slave dialectic as theorised by Hegel.
24
Hegel hypothesised about a
mythical past, where the first encounter of the Self with the Other resulted in a
battle of wills, one becoming the master and the other the slave. However, as
the master becomes ever more reliant on the slave, the slave begins to achieve
self-consciousness and realises his worth. As Tobias points out, a servant is
master of his fate because he is free free to serve anyone who is in need.
25

Jakob never truly intends to serve in the traditional sense however; rather he
intends to be free and serve others by liberating them. Society expects identity
to be stable, but Jakob has found his so-called (continuing) crisis to be
liberating and he thus wishes to awaken the repressed inner-selves of others,
liberating them too.
As the school empties and the Herr and Jakob are the only two left, the Herr
realises his reliance of Jakob, the dialectic coming full circle:
Jetzt, Jakob, bist du nicht mehr mein Zgling. Ich will nicht mehr bilden
und lernen, sondern ich will leben und lebend etwas wlzen, etwas
tragen, etwas schaffen. (JvG:160).
But instead of becoming subservient, both the Herr and Jakob shall become
free and individual equals, separate from the masses of modernity. Weg jetzt
mit dem Gedankenleben writes Jakob, Ich gehe mit Herrn Benjamenta in die
Wste (JvG:164). Their individualism is threatened by a repressive Europe and
as such they must escape its confines to survive.
Consequently, whilst it is apparent that both texts largely differ in terms of style
and theme, both authors exhibit pessimism about the coming of the modern
age. Modernity, far from being emancipating, appears to have instead
complicated an already fragile and repressive society. It has failed to bring
about a utopian future that many had envisioned, many seeing new
technologies as a mere alternative to pre-modern methods of enslavement and

24. See Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, trans. A.V. Miller (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1977).
25. Tobias, The Double Fiction in Robert Walsers Jakob von Gunten, 296.
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control.
26
Indeed, whilst Mann acknowledges the development of new
technologies and their emancipatory potential, he is critical of the society in
which they reside. Although technology may have progressed, human nature
has remained constant and Boa rightly notes that Manns text subverts the
Western bourgeois subject [!] and the master narrative of enlightened
progress
27
. Aschenbach is not the refined disciplined figure that he portrays to
the world, his inner-self instead harbours a rather different character. He is
forced to repress aspects of his identity due to a repressive society, which has
devastating consequences. Mann demonstrates the importance of a healthy
balancing of the conscious and subconscious, of the Dionysian and the
Apollonian. Walsers work, as Moser rightly argues, is, by contrast, eine einzige
ruhige Absage an das Ideal einer starken Identitt, an jede Entwicklung zu
Grerem und Hherem hin.
28
He similarly challenges the idea of progress
but, through the portrayal of the ever-changing power dynamics between the
Self and Other, demonstrates how identity, rather than fixed, is a fluid concept.
Walser even demonstrates how the inner-self can be preserved through
performance and Jakobs inner-self, instead of repressed, is rather intentionally
supressed. This throws the whole notion of permanent crisis into doubt. The
idea that identity should be fixed and stable is instead a construct imposed on
and by a repressive society. This potentially unstable and continuous
performance is, however, a situation that the individual must learn to live with or
face exile from Europe, where one can express true subjectivity in the realm of
the conscious as well as the subconscious.
The authors pessimism is characteristic of the modernist movement and,
indeed, their texts can even be described as belonging to it, for modernism
responded to developments such as industrialisation and new philosophical
ideas,
29
but also attempted to render human subjectivity in ways more real than

26. See Peter Childs, Introduction, in Modernism (London: Routledge, 2008), 18.
27 Boa, Global Intimations, 21.
28. Petra Moser, Einleitung: Der Bildungsroman/Jakob von Gunten als seine Kontraktur?/Zum Verhltnis
von Erziehungswissenschaft und Literatur, in Nah am Tabu: Experimentelle Selbsterfahrung und
erotischer Eigensinn in Robert Walzers Jakob von Gunten (Bielefeld: Transcript, 2013), 10.
29. Childs, Introduction, 21.
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realism.
30
Walser and Manns critique of society through the articulation of the
identity crisis is achieved through the use of such modernist techniques.
One such technique is evident in Manns engagement with Nietzsche and
Walsers with Hegel. Moreover, of particular importance is both authors interest
in psychology, particularly with the theories of Freud. Through the
representation of the conscious and subconscious, the self and inner-self,
seldom explored previously, we as readers are able to gain a greater
understanding of the protagonists and their respective crises. The interpretive
subtexts of the dream sequences, for example, articulate the identity crises to a
greater extent than a focus solely on the conscious possibly could.
Narrative perspective also proves to be key. Fictitious writing style is of
particular interest, for Jakob uses his writing as a means to express his
inner-self, his eccentric subjectivity, whilst Aschenbachs writing supresses the
inner-self. The omniscient narrator in Der Tod in Venedig also allows the reader
access to both Aschenbachs outer and inner-self, contextualising and
mediating the characters perceptions of such concepts, providing an extra
interpretative layer and, consequently, a greater understanding of the
characters crisis. We are given greater access to the protagonists inner-self in
Jakob von Gunten, which, whilst interesting, proves an interpretative
conundrum. This is reflective of the nature of identity itself, the perception of the
Self and of the Other differing from individual to individual, an enigma to
everyone involved. Indeed, just like identity itself, modernist texts are often
slippery and indeterminate, epistemologically uncertain and shifting with each
reading or reader,
31
and this statement is certainly true when it comes to these
two particular texts, which are definitely open to interpretation.

30. Childs, Introduction, 3.
31. Mia Carter and Alan Warren Friedman, Introduction: Literary Modernisms, in Modernism and
Literature: An Introduction and Reader, ed. Mia Carter, et al. (New York: Routledge, 2013), 7.
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