English
The German Diaries are a remarkably detailed record of Beckett’s journey through Germany and offer unprecedented insight into his engagement with the visual arts and the evolution of his aesthetics both in the course of his six months in Germany, and in the years and decades to follow. At times, the effects of his encounters with art and people during his trip were immediate. In Hamburg, he spent an evening drinking beer and leafing through a book on the Expressionist Ernst Barlach, and as a result made a rare post hoc change to his first novel Murphy.
| 04/11/36 Hear no place to enthuse over Barlach. His name statt Maillol in Murphy? | Here those that slept and those that did not were quite palpably by the same hand, that of some rather later artist whose work could by no means have come down to us, say the Pergamene Barlach.
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Inevitably, the Diaries are also an account of Germany and its art scene under the Nazi regime. More than once, Beckett’s attempts to see artworks that had been classed as “degenerate”, or buy a banned book, were frustrated. Although he at times recorded his disdain for Nazi policies and slogans, his political commentary is overall restrained: possibly a symptom of the evident anxiety around regime-critical statements felt by many of his new German acquaintances, like the art collector and painter Margaritha Durrieu.
02/12/36
The Durrieu’s hint of how unpleasant it could be for her & Frau Fera if I published disparagements of Germany.
Beckett’s writing in the Diaries is frequently cynical, entertaining, and relatable, but this often stems from the fact that he was, at many points during his journey, miserable. He was plagued by money troubles, ill health, and writer’s block. While in Hamburg he went to Ohlsdorf cemetery “because I thought a poem would be there,” but words eluded him, as did progress on a text titled Journal of a Melancholic, which at times “preoccupied” him, but would never be completed.
| 25/10/36 I feel nothing. The noise of my steps in the leaves reminds me of something, but can’t find what. | 31/10/36 Crawl back, phrases rattling like machinegunfire in my skull, about 12½. J.o.a.M. as good as written, as bad as written, I mean the pleasure is from this evening irrevocably. |
The German Diaries are a window into Beckett’s mind and his experience of a historical moment, on both large and small scales. Their focus, however, are the visual arts and architecture, and a reader “could be forgiven for thinking that they were written by an art critic, and not a creative writer” (Nixon).
Deutsch
Die German Diaries sind ein bemerkenswert detailreiches Zeugnis der Reise Becketts durch Deutschland und geben einen beispiellosen Einblick in seine Auseinandersetzung mit den bildenden Künsten und die Entwicklung seines Kunstverständnisses sowohl im Laufe seiner sechs Monate in Deutschland als auch in den darauffolgenden Jahrzehnten. Manchmal sind die Effekte seiner Begegnungen mit Kunst und Menschen während seiner Reise unmittelbar. In Hamburg verbrachte er einen Abend damit, Bier zu trinken und in einem Buch über den Expressionisten Ernst Barlach zu blättern und nahm daraufhin eine der seltenen post hoc Änderungen an seinem ersten Roman Murphy vor.
| 04/11/36 Hear no place to enthuse over Barlach. His name statt Maillol in Murphy? | Here those that slept and those that did not were quite palpably by the same hand, that of some rather later artist whose work could by no means have come down to us, say the Pergamene Barlach.
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Zwangläufig sind die Tagebücher auch eine Aufnahme Deutschlands und seiner Kunstszene unter dem nationalsozialistischen Regime. Mehr als einmal wurden Becketts Versuche, Kunstwerke zu besichtigen, die als „entartet“ eingestuft worden waren, oder ein verbotenes Buch zu kaufen, vereitelt. Obwohl er Politik und Slogans der Nazis zuweilen mit Verachtung kommentierte, hält er sich mit politischen Aussagen insgesamt zurück: möglicherweise ein Zeichen der spürbaren Nervosität hinsichtlich regimekritischer Aussagen, die viele seiner neuen deutschen Bekanntschaften empfanden, so auch die Kunstsammlerin und Malerin Margaritha Durrieu.
02/12/36
The Durrieu’s hint of how unpleasant it could be for her & Frau Fera if I published disparagements of Germany.
Becketts Stimme ist in den Tagebüchern häufig zynisch und unterhaltsam und an mancher Stelle fällt es nicht schwer, sich in ihn hineinzuversetzen. Jedoch entstammt dies nicht selten der Tatsache, dass Beckett im Laufe seiner Reise häufig zutiefst unglücklich war. Er wurde geplagt von Geldproblemen, angeschlagener Gesundheit und einer Schreibblockade. Während seines Aufenthalts in Hamburg besuchte er den Friedhof Ohlsdorf „because I thought a poem would be there,“ doch die Worte blieben ihm fern. Ebenso konnte er keine Fortschritte mit Journal of a Melancholic machen, welches ihn des Öfteren beschäftigte, jedoch nie fertiggestellt werden sollte.
| 25/10/36 I feel nothing. The noise of my steps in the leaves reminds me of something, but can’t find what. | 31/10/36 Crawl back, phrases rattling like machinegunfire in my skull, about 12½. J.o.a.M. as good as written, as bad as written, I mean the pleasure is from this evening irrevocably. |
Die German Diaries sind ein Einblick in Becketts Gedanken und seine Wahrnehmung eines historischen Augenblicks, im Großen ebenso wie im Kleinen. Ihr Schwerpunkt jedoch liegt auf Kunst und Architektur. Leser und Leserinnen „could be forgiven for thinking that they were written by an art critic, and not a creative writer“ (Nixon).
