Men's Literature

The poster on display at Freiburg's International Partnership Market at the Madison booth was a most photographed eye-catcher.

Schulte & Schulte is an allusion to Schulze & Schultze. These names are the German "translation" of Dupont et Dupond dans les Aventures de Tintin by the Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, known under the pen name Hergé.

Thomson and Thompson (the English translation) appear in most of the 24 comic albums as two clumsy detectives looking like twins. They are suspicious, regard themselves as ingenious, and are suitable for many comic interludes in the booklets.

Red Baron was curious, wanted to know what men usually read, and went to the Carl-Schurz-Haus.

Here the two Schultes, Bettina, cultural editor at the Badische Zeitung and a lecturer at the University of Freiburg's Frankreichzentrum, and Friederike, Director of the Carl-Schurz-Haus, sit relaxed with stacks of books in front of them.

The two ladies presented German and American literature. Still, somehow, I had misunderstood the theme of the evening because I was expecting a presentation of books typically read by men, such as erotic novels or science fiction. I never read the latter, but unfortunately, I rarely find the time to read "real" literature.

After many weeks, I finished Christoph Martin Wieland's biography in February. Currently, I am reading Erasmus, Biography of a Free Spirit, by Dutch author Sandra Langereis, which is over 1200 pages long. Erasmus has always interested me as the most educated man of his time and because of his relationship with Freiburg.

Friederike raved about Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road as an introduction to men's literature, which impressed her as a young traveler to America.

I remember that American literature, being the measure, was booming in Germany after the war. When we, the 17 students, had all passed the Abitur (high school certificate), we put our pocket money together and offered our class teacher Die Nackten und die Toten, the German translation of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead.

Red Baron devoured American novels as a young man, admiring the strong but lonely men fighting their way through life. From Here to Eternity by James Jones was one of my favorites. Of course, I read Ernest Hemingway's short stories. The ladies also mentioned Ernest's novel Fiesta, initially The Sun Also Rises.

Back to German literature.

After the war, Literary Group 47 tried to restart German literature. Although many female authors were present, men dominated. Nicole Seifert tells the story in her book ... einige Herren sagten etwas dazu  (Some Gentlemen Said Something About It)

Then, 40 years ago, Klaus Theweleit tried in Männerphantasien to come to terms with the sexual, psychological, and socio-political prehistory of National Socialism in the Weimar Republic.

As a self-confessed old eroticist, Martin Walser retells Goethe's Marienbad Elegy in his book Ein liebender Mann (A Loving Man). The almost toothless 72-year-old is even said to have kissed the young 17-year-old Ulrike von Levetzow,

The ladies also discussed Pulitzer Prize-winner Gwendolyn Brooks' new poetry collection, In the Mecca.

Coming to an end, Robert Musil's opus magnus Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities) was not to be missed.

And finally Bettina mentioned her collection of essays, Heute ist ein guter Tag, das Patriarchat abzuschaffen (Today Is a Good Day to Abolish Patriarchy).

It was an enjoyable and, at the same time, informative evening, thanks to Schulte and Schulte.

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