In the following, I would like to introduce you to the handbook mentioned in the title of this presentation, an endeavour whose beginnings date back to the first years after my appointment to the Catholic University of Eichstätt in 2002 and which I hope will come to a happy conclusion in the foreseeable future. However, I will not go into the several-year history of this project, about which there are certainly a number of things worthy of consideration, but will concentrate in five sections on certain key points and guidelines that were instrumental in its realisation. These sections are entitled The Project, The Concept of Literature, The Field of Observation, then outline an expansion of the field of observation and conclude with the "all-important question".
The project
You can find out what it's all about in the following announcement on the Aschendorff-Verlag website:
"This handbook is a mirror of Catholic intellectual life in German-speaking countries in the 20th century. More than 300 biographical articles portray the writings of Catholic socialised authors from the perspective of literary, intellectual, educational and scientific history. In doing so, they not only redefine the concept of 'literary Catholicism', namely from a broad literary concept that extends beyond fiction to the lifelong, theory-led and journalistic production of Catholic authors. By placing a wealth of little-known names alongside the 'greats', a new perspective is opened up on the cultural Catholicism of the last century as the polyphony of 'Catholicism': as inner plurality and the dynamics of pluralisation."
As you can see, this is based on a certain optimism: the "present" is only a handbook in the making. But it is nevertheless recognisable that it is based on a solid concept. As a "mirror of Catholic intellectual life", it deals with the literary production of Catholic socialised authors, i.e. authors who were baptised Catholics and grew up in a Catholic environment, in the German-speaking countries of the 20th century, including Austria and Switzerland. The fact that the encyclopaedia works with a "broad concept of literature" means that the focus is not primarily on so-called fine literature, i.e. novels, dramas, stories and poems by well-known authors (such as R. Schneider or W. Bergengruen) and authors (such as E. Langgässer), although they are of course not excluded, but that the writings of Catholic authors are taken into account in their entire breadth: theological works, especially if they have had an impact beyond the boundaries of an academic specialist audience (Guardini!), but also literature that accompanies life, such as bridal books or titles that accompanied young people through puberty; then the historical-philosophical and cultural-critical essays of, for example, Haecker and others; also ethnological and linguistic works in which Catholic authors have been influential, and much more.
Incidentally, the latter is also of interest in terms of the history of science; while German-language historiography may have been dominated by Protestants in the 19th century, ethnology was in many ways covertly influenced by Catholics. (And who, if they hadn't come across it on the internet, would have realised that the inventor of the planned language Volapük was the Catholic clergyman Johann Martin Schleyer [1831-1912]?) - It is clear what the encyclopaedia is not: unlike the old 'Kosch', it does not collect Catholic representatives of the most diverse classes and professions in the state, economy and society, but concentrates solely on their literary and journalistic contribution to Catholic intellectual life in the 20th century. Nor is it an encyclopaedia of political Catholicism, still less a Catholic martyrology of the 20th century.
The diversity and "polyphony" of "Catholicism" in the 20th century referred to in the last sentence of the text published by Aschendorff can be illustrated by looking at just the first nine authors covered in this encyclopaedia. These are:
- Herbert Achternbusch (1938-2022), storyteller, playwright, filmmaker and actor
- August Adam (1888-1965), theologian, writer, pedagogue
- Karl Adam (1876-1966), priest a. theologian
- Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), social philosopher
- Otl Aicher (1922-1991), communication designer
- Magda Alberti (1864-1932), convert, storyteller
- Alois Albrecht (born 1936), priest, author of spiritual songs, plays and scenes
- Elisabeth Alexander (1922-2009), writer (novels, short stories, volumes of poetry, children's books), critical supporter of the women's and students' movement in the German parliament.
Movement - Stefan Andres (1906-1970), short stories and dramas
It is probably only with Stefan Andres that we encounter an author who, with his novels and stories, is still known to at least some of you as a representative of Christian literature and a member of the "inner emigration" or a literature of exile. But Herbert Achternbusch, the Bavarian anarchic provocateur of religion? Of course he belongs here - only Catholics, it was once said, are capable of certain blasphemies; like Günter Grass and others, they show themselves to be connected to Catholicism through negation.
There is no need to say a word here about Karl Adam, who became world-famous for his book The Essence of Catholicism and who considered himself to be in agreement with National Socialism in many respects - he deserves a detailed (and critical) article; but Theodor W. Adorno? Well, he was baptised a Catholic, maintained close relationships throughout his life with leading representatives of Catholic intellectual life such as the composer Ernst Krenek or the Kösel publisher Heinrich Wild and recommended the Catholic philosopher Hermann Krings for a philosophical professorship at the LMU Munich.
The rebellious Otl Aicher is known to have belonged to the circle around the Scholl siblings, socialised with Muth and Haecker and wrote a book of experiences and confessions (innenseiten des krieges, 1985), which shows him to be an uncompromising critic of militarism, National Socialism and fascism - zur debatte recently commemorated him on the occasion of his 100th birthday (Otl Aicher. Der Gestalter und Mensch, 1/2023, p. 38).
The religiously searching Magda Alberti, married to a Protestant pastor, wrote stories that trace her difficult path into the Catholic Church, while Elisabeth Alexander produced plenty of unpopular poems; the article dedicated to her in the second edition of Killy's literary lexicon describes her as a "master of the short form", but also refers to attributions such as "rebel", "plebeian" and "pornographer". The "pluralisation dynamic" of "the Catholic" cited above certainly does not come to this end - but it does show what could be set in motion in this literary field in the transition from Alberti, who died in 1932, to Alexander, who was born a decade earlier (1922).
The concept of literature
Let's take a brief look at the literary term that guides this encyclopaedia. It comes from the Heidelberg Germanist Wilhelm Kühlmann, who was a key pioneer in a phase of the handbook's prehistory, and reads:
"Literary Catholicism is understood as the epitome [...] of a reading, writing, publishing and magazine culture whose representatives think, write, argue and symbolise in formerly or currently Catholic, traditionalist or reformist defined contexts of questions and discourse and who, in overwhelming numbers but with quite different colouring and intensity, reflectively profess this in the context of their personal value orientation - albeit often differently in different phases of life up to total negation. The decisive factor in this definition is the objectively ascertainable assignment of authors, works, periodical publications and literary institutions to the virulent stocks of memory, knowledge links, discourses and networks in the Catholic cultural sphere."
In addition to its definitional acuity, the far-sightedness of this literary concept lies in the fact that it defines Catholic authorship less in terms of a commitment to faith, i.e. a subjective and fluctuating date, and more in terms of the fields of discourse in which it operates. This has to do with a change in the concept of Catholic authorship itself, which Hans Maier, one of the most important initiators at several conferences at Hirschberg Castle on the initial path to this encyclopaedia, once summarised as follows: "In the 19th century, a Catholic writer was a Catholic writer; in the 20th century, he is someone who was Catholic as a child." In other words, many of those who are active in the field of literary Catholicism today have experienced the Catholic milieu of their childhood as life-defining, but have also largely detached themselves from their ties to the church as a result of the experiences they had there and write about Catholicism by turning against it. This does not apply to everyone! But it follows that Martin Mosebach belongs in the lexicon just as much as Josef Winkler.
The field of observation
If we take this broad but easily manageable concept of literature as a basis, what fields of observation and possibilities for observation in this field of 'literary Catholicism' then open up? You can answer this question by taking a look with me at a relatively randomly selected double-page spread from a very valuable finding aid: the Bücherkunde des katholischen Lebens compiled by the Austrian librarian Friedrich Rennhofer. You can see from the title that Rennhofer was already working with a broad concept of literature in 1961, the year of publication of this Bücherkunde, before Kühlmann gave it a more precise definition; Rennhofer is talking about Catholic "life" in all its (also period-specific) contexts and the literature related to it.
Firstly, something quite external: the circulation figures. Two editions each of titles by A. Franke, H. Spaemann, P. Eismann, H. Adam, A. Brems, R. Bösinger, Ph. Crawford, Cl. Pereira. Three editions: J. Kunz, E. Rommerskirch, P. Louis, P. Eismann, M. Raymond, G. Schmid. Four editions: A. Krautheimer, E. Lutz, H. Hilger, G. Schmid. Five editions: P. Schulte, the "Flying Father". Six editions: F. Mahr, K. Tilmann. Sometimes only the number of printed copies is given: 13-22 thousand by A. Fuger, 24-28 thousand by G.A. Lutterbeck, 27-31 thousand by K. Tilmann.
Certainly not sensational 'bestsellers', but nevertheless: these books - all "youth books" - obviously found their readers, here especially among male Catholic youths ("girls' books" are listed separately by Rennhofer under this lemma); they had their effect, however inconspicuous it may have been.
We can then identify specific publishing locations; the contours of a Catholic publishing landscape emerge that had survived the 'Third Reich' and had been enriched by individual new foundations after the war: Innsbruck (Tyrolia), Graz (Styria), Lucerne (Rex-Verlag), Einsiedeln (Benziger), Freiburg (Herder), Munich (Don Bosco-Verlag), Donauwörth (Cassianeum), Nuremberg (Glock&Lutz), Würzburg (Arena-Verlag), Regensburg (Pustet, Habbel), Aschaffenburg (Pattloch), Cologne (Bachem), Düsseldorf (Haus Altenberg), Kevelaer (Butzon&Bercker), Recklinghausen (Paulus-Verlag), Paderborn (Bonifatius), and several others. Many of these were founded in the 19th century; the Matthias Grünewald publishing house, founded in 1918, is an exception here - also in that it publishes the (non-Catholic but influential) Friedrich Wilhelm Förster, with his books on lifestyle. A book for young people and life lessons. Ein Buch für Knaben und Mädchen (A book for boys and girls), the publisher achieved high print runs (147-151 and 96-100 thousand copies).
Finally, the titles as trend indicators: books on life management and guidance for adolescents stand out, such as Jungen von heute - Männer von morgen. Eine Lebenskunde, edited by E. Bercker, Unterwegs zum Mann by J. Vienjean and A. Lötscher; Aufbruch ins Leben. Ein Buch der Selbsterziehung für junge Menschen by F. Mahr or Zwischen 13 und 17 by Clemens Pereira SJ; then the missionary (Christus im Urwald by Fr Louis) and martyr stories, whereby the adventurous nature of the missionary stories provides an (additional) material incentive to read (Glocken am Kururu. Das Abenteuer einer Indianermission by A. J. Burks), while the martyr stories have a contemporary, if not always anti-communist thrust (Junger Held der neuen Zeit. The blood witness of Christ Alois Grodze from Slovenia [1923-1943]. A victim of godless communism by G. Schmid; Ders.: Buben im Sturm. The victorious struggle of young heroes and martyrs from all periods of church history; Ders: Bubentrotz, Bubentreue. On the struggles and victories of young heroes of faith; Kl. Tilmann: Todesverächter. A factual report from the history of the church in Korea; R. Bleistein: Fu-Lin and the Red Tiger. A story about the fate of Christians in China; G.A. Lutterbeck: Die Jagd über die Inseln. A tale of the struggles of the Japanese church).
Exemplary development stories trace the path from "sportsman to saint" (M. Korda: Vom Sportler zum Heiligen. Stefan Kaszap) or from "cowboy to Trappist" (!) using unusual life stories (M. Raymond: Ein Mensch wird fertig mit Gott. From cowboy to Trappist. [Life of John Green Hanning]). In addition, we find prayer books, books for work, for group and leadership training (F. Feuling: Der junge Christ. Ein Buch der Jungführer; A. Brems: Die Runde der Treuen. Werkstoff zur Schulung und Bildung katholischen Jungführertums), Christ books (L. Esch S.J.: Jesus Christus, Lehrer und Meister. The life of the Lord as an answer to the deepest questions of young people) and others.
Overall, even this cursory examination reveals the outlines of an intensive, milieu-specific socialisation of readers through Catholic books in adolescence. Obviously, one did not become a recipient of Catholic literature only in adulthood and with Bergengruen readings, but due to a book and reading culture that preceded them, in which adventurous and exciting things could have a formative effect together with exemplary life stories calling for discipleship and emphatically presented attitudes to life. It therefore seems undeniable to me that the authors of such lingering, but missing from the canon of 'great' Catholic poetry must find their place in a lexicon of literary Catholicism. Who still knows Peter Dörfler or W. Matthießen, whose pathological anti-Semitism made him unbearable, with his youthful tale Das rote U (The Red U), albeit set in the old town of Düsseldorf in the 1920s, which is true to the milieu and atmospherically vivid?
An expansion of the field of observation
This insight into the reader socialisation (and reader guidance!) of young readers in the Catholic milieu raises the further question of how the relationship of Catholics to books in general and in particular to works of 'fine literature' written by non-Catholic authors was shaped. To what extent was it possible for Catholics to participate in and engage with a literary culture that originated outside their milieu and without the reassurance of its artistic, moral and religious values?
This is a question whose answer no longer belongs to the scope of the handbook, but which is nevertheless included in the horizon of perception from which it emerges. Hence a concluding example - the description of a group evening from a small paperback publication published in the 2nd edition in 1930 (Johannes Dombrowski; Otto Schreiber: Langenau. Thoughts on the Führer School. Potsdam: Verlag der Neudeutschen Ostmark ²1930 [Burgwacht; vol. 3], p.63f.). (It has not yet been possible to determine whether its author is identical to Johannes Dombrowski, who was executed in Berlin-Plötzensee in 1943. However, it is highly likely that he was a member of the Bund Neudeutschland). The quotation is somewhat long, but, as you will see, it is instructive for the issue raised. The small print in the original has been retained, blocking has been italicised:
"When [rainer maria] rilke died [in 1926, TP], his name was in the air, so I soon held a poetry evening about him. I wanted the evening to be unified, to create a cohesive effect. So I thought about the basic mood I could aim for. Eichendorff had a happy-romantic mood, Hölderlin a classical mood, George a melancholic-romantic mood; Rilke was always eerie, sad, profound and somewhat demonic to me. So I drew rilke's death mask on a large piece of cardboard with black charcoal, had the group sit at a long table in the dark room and lit two candles in front of the death mask at the top of the table, and we sang "es fiel ein reif" in three voices. The tragic story of two people, told in harrowing brevity, did not fail to have an effect. In order to strengthen it, the violins then played a restrained polyphonic piece of music, the mood was there. In a subdued voice, one person spoke a few words about rilke's closed melancholy, about his life, his blurred concept of god, but also about his constant restless search for god, about the strength of his loving heart and about his strange death. now the focus was on the centre. all concentration had been on this point so far, so now the first poem was read."
This first poem is An Gott ("Lösch mir die Augen aus: ich kann dich sehen; wirf mir die Ohren zu: ich kann dich hören..."), followed, after this powerful opening, by Der blasse Edelknabe spricht, Es tauchten tausend Theologen, das herrliche stück, Ein Pilgermorgen and, as the last of Rilke's poems, the one about Francis of Assisi "O wo ist er, der aus Besitz und Zeit...". However, it did not conclude the evening: "a song, the evening prayer and 'morning star of the dark night' marked the end."
Admittedly, there was nothing "strange" about Rilke's death - he died of leukaemia, and he wrested a last poem from the hellish agony of this illness, which, like no other, captures the isolation caused by pain in words and verses as a testimony to quite extraordinary poetic and human powers of comprehension ("Komm du, du Letzter, den ich anerkenne, / heilloser Schmerz im leiblichen Geweb..."). But one only has to recall Guardini's influential (and in some respects accurate) criticism of Rilke's 1953 interpretation of Dasein to see how the foundations of a specifically Catholic reception of Rilke had already been laid here, a quarter of a century earlier. For it is Catholic in both its aims and its methods: The arts (visual art, singing and violin playing) and atmospheric props (candlelight in the previously darkened room) create an atmosphere of concentration and internalisation that is as tentative as it is purposeful ("the mood was there"!), although Rilke is not brought back to Catholicism. The distance from his free-religious, church-distanced, "blurred concept of God" remains clear.
But with his "search for God", he is one of those exemplary figures that can be placed alongside young people's wanderings, and can therefore be brought back - if not into the Catholic realm, then at least into it - with the concluding evening prayer and Angelus Silesius' Morning Star of the Dark Night. A handbook that would have to consider an entry on traces of Catholicism in the work of Rilke (who was baptised a Catholic) could not ignore such confessional-cultural peculiarities of his reception; they belong, so to speak, to the mostly invisible substructures of the literary cathedrals erected on them.
The all-important question
In a volume of conversations (Ins Denken ziehen. A philosophical autobiography. In dialogue with Matthias Bormuth and Ulrich von Bülow, Munich 2021, p. 228), the philosopher Dieter Henrich, who died in December last year, said: "I often remember a remark by the musicologist Carl Dahlhaus, who died at an early age: anyone can make projects, but to really see them through to the end is the rare exception." So how could the all-important question be anything other than: When will the opus finally be published? - Well, it has been announced for the end of 2024.
