Patterns Of Childhood
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''Patterns of Childhood'', originally published in German as ''Kindheitsmuster'', is a novel written by
Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist. She is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...
novelist known for works such as '' Der geteilte Himmel'' (Divided Heaven) and '' Kassandra''. ''Patterns of Childhood'' is a highly complex novel, set in multiple time periods and locations, with the primary narratives revolving around the narrator's childhood in Nazi Germany, her return to her hometown as an adult, and her reflections while writing. The novel explores themes of memory, Nazism, and guilt, thus providing insight into the upbringings of children under totalitarian regimes, and problems that arise from such a childhood. The novel's main settings relate to major historical events during and following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. At the end of the war, the German-speaking population, including the narrator and her family, were forced to leave due to the invading
Soviet army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...
, and the area became Polish territory as a part of the Potsdam settlement. The narrator then lived the
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, from where, thirty years later, she returned with her husband, brother and daughter to visit her childhood haunts.


Title

The German title, ''Kindheitsmuster'', could be either singular ("a childhood pattern", "model of a childhood") or plural ("childhood patterns", "models of childhood"), but in conversation with the French translator, Wolf later indicated she had intended it as singular. The novel follows the narrator on a search for the bigger picture - the pattern - of her own childhood. There is a scene in chapter 14 where she is playing with ideas for her title, exploring the possibilities of ''Grund-Muster'' (fundamental pattern) and ''Verhaltens-Muster'' (pattern of behaviour), when her husband, H., suggests ''Kindheitsmuster''. The narrator then mulls over the etymology of ''Muster'' from Latin ''monstrum'', which echoes both the idea of "specimen" and of "monstrosity". The English translation first appeared under the title ''A Model Childhood'', which was widely condemned as erroneous (in German this would be ''Musterkindheit''), though one reviewer praised it as a creative way of showing that in the Nazi period Nelli's childhood was normative. The same translation was later reissued as ''Patterns of Childhood''.


The narrator

The person of the
narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...
is central to the novel. The text alternates between scenes of the adult narrator's journey back to her childhood home and scenes of her childhood itself. In the former, she refers to herself in the second person, as though recording her thoughts for her own private use. In the latter, she refers to herself in the third person, and by name: she is Nelly Jordan. Nelly is therefore the narrator as a young girl, coming of age in an area of Nazi Germany that fell to Poland at the end of the war. Her parents Charlotte and Bruno, owned a shop and lived a fairly comfortable lifestyle.Wolf, ''Patterns of Childhood, 35''. Her father was also a member of the German military. In her youth she joined the
League of German Girls The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. At first, the League consis ...
(''Bund Deutscher Mädel''). While she was still in her youth her family, along with many other Germans, fled westward before the advancing
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
. The adult narrator is on a journey of self-discovery. Throughout the book, she reflects on the memory process both when she is writing as well as during visits to her hometown. The daughter's responses often prompt the narrator to reflect on her youth and how it was so unlike what young people of the current day experience. She also contrasts her recollections and emotions with that of her younger brother. In one section of the book, the narrator says her younger brother has “more reliable factual memory.” The brother also says his memory is less distracted by the inner life. This is one of the multiple ways the narrator contrasts her own recollections, and capacity to remember, with those around her.


Autobiographical Elements

Although the narrator cannot be equated to the author,
autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
elements in the novel have frequently been commented on. Nelly's childhood is set in a town referred to simply as “L”, which we may recognize as Wolf's own childhood home, Landsberg an der Warthe, now
Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. Wolf was 15 years old when, at the end of the war, her family fled west to
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
in East Germany. Wolf has stated that her decision not to frame the novel as a first-person narrative reflects her estrangement from her childhood in the period of National Socialism. The book is prefaced with the following disclaimer:
“All characters in this book are the invention of the narrator. None is identical with any person living or dead. Neither do any of the described episodes coincide with actual events. Anyone believing that he detects a similarity between a character in the narrative and either himself or anyone else should consider the strange lack of individuality in the behavior of many contemporaries.”


Themes


Vergangenheitsbewältigung

The German word '' Vergangenheitsbewältigung'' (from ''Vergangenheit'', 'the past', and ''bewältigen'', 'to manage', 'cope with', 'overcome'), refers to the psychological process of working through the trauma of historical events. This idea encompasses both literary and political efforts in post-war Germany to understand and acknowledge the horrors of the NS period, where possible to apologize and make reparation for them, and so to move forward to a healthier future based on honesty about the past.


Memory

From the first line of the novel Wolf focuses on the problem of memory. “What is past is not dead", she writes, "it is not even past.” Das vergangene ist nicht tot; es ist nicht einmal vergangen.">span lang="de" dir="ltr">Das vergangene ist nicht tot; es ist nicht einmal vergangen./span>” The introduction includes a reflection on issues of remembrance and childhood. She also addresses the narration and different voices present in the book. The major theme throughout ''Patterns of Childhood'' is a reckoning with the
memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is Encoding (memory), encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future Action (philosophy), action. I ...
of a troubled
childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
. Wolf explores this process through different stages and settings over the course of the main character's life. From the outset of the book, the narrator acknowledges the problems with this process. Remembering a normal childhood is difficult for the simple fact that we forget over time, but when disturbing and violent events shadow memory it is obscured even further. The narrator argues that many adults suppress their past because recognizing their actions causes too much turmoil. She states that she and her contemporaries had to forget to “continue functioning.”


Bund Deutscher Mädel

The narrator's former role in Nazi society as a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, or League of German Girls in English, was one aspect of her childhood she had to come to terms with. She reflects upon her leadership position in the girl's branch of the
Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...
, ascribing it to her desire for the “loftier kind of life” that it promised. Her lapses in retention demonstrate the profound psychological effect her involvement in the organization had. When reflecting upon her time in the BDM, and gatherings such as after the attempted assassination of Hitler, she cannot recall faces or names. She says that, “where Nelly’s participation was deepest, where she showed devotion, where she gave herself, all relevant details have been obliterated.” She goes on to explain how this loss may have been as a response to the painfulness of the memories. This process of remembrance and forgetfulness is mirrored in other sections of the novel.


The Holocaust

Her childhood experiences associated with
The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
were another source of guilt that haunts the narrator throughout the book. She says that smokestacks always make her think of
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
, even though she did not really realize what the final solution was until after the war. The following passage captures the mental anguish from such awareness:
“… it is unbearable too unbearable to think the tiny word “I” in connection with the word “Auschwitz.” “I” in the past is conditional: I would have. I might have. I could have. Done it. Obeyed orders.”


The return

One of the narratives of the book that reveals a problem with memory is the narrator's return to her hometown in her adult years, during which she remembers events and emotions from her childhood. She is inconsistent about whether she experiences nostalgia for her hometown. On one occasion her daughter asks her if she was experiencing nostalgia and she says no, but in other instances in the book she says she did experience it. These positive feelings towards her hometown are problematized by her guilt towards her past. Scholars have described this process in terms of “Heimat ome/landand Heimweh omesickness” The Nazis widely invoked rhetoric of the homeland to justify policies such as annexation of land. Some scholars argue that this troubled relationship with the homeland because of Nazism caused Christa Wolf - or at least her narrator persona - to repress her positive thoughts towards her childhood home. Her return to “L” uncovers the complicated contradictories in her emotions.


Culpability

''Patterns of Childhood'' can be interpreted in relation to how it explores culpability in events of terror and genocide. It has been argued that Wolf's works seek to lay out frameworks of interpretation and ways of life. She has also been praised for how ''Patterns of Childhood'' sought to relate war memory to politics of the day. But conversely, she was criticized for what some describe as a disconnect between herself and the events that took place during Nazi Germany. Self-directed feelings of guilt pose a recurring problem for the narrator throughout the novel.


Publication history

The first edition of ''Kindheitsmuster'' appeared in 1976 in the East German
Aufbau-Verlag Aufbau Verlag is a German publisher. It was founded in Berlin in 1945 and became the biggest publisher in East Germany (GDR). During that time it specialised in Socialist literature, socialist and Russian literature. Aufbau Verlag (officially s ...
. In 1993 it was released in West Germany in the Sammlung Luchterhand, incorporated into dtv in 1994. The West German publishers made radical alterations to the paragraphing.


English translation

The English translation by
Ursule Molinaro Ursule Molinaro (1916, Paris –10 July 2000, New York City) was a prolific novelist, playwright, translator and visual artist, the author of 12 novels, two collections of short prose works, innumerable short stories for literary magazines and doz ...
and Hedwig Rappolt was published as ''A Model Childhood'' in 1980 by
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...
, and later by Virago. It was reissued under the title ''Patterns of Childhood'' by the original publishers from 1984. Several scholarly studies have critiqued this translation. Criticism has centred on ways in which the content has been altered to suit the literary tastes of the targeted country. One of these changes is the modification in tone towards political elements of the text. For example, criticism of America disappears in translation. This translation has also been critiqued for its failure to match the rhythm and style of the original prose. A notable difference between the original German version and the English translation is the significant decrease in length. In a number of places, whole paragraphs have been omitted.


Other translations

A highly acclaimed French translation by Ghislain Riccardi entitled ''Trame d'enfance'' was published in 1987.


Reception

Much of the initial reception to ''Patterns of Childhood'' focused on the political ramifications of her works. Some say that the work's mode of investigating remembrance breaks with the GDR's stance on the war. It also holds an important position among postwar and German Democratic literature.


Responses and interpretation

The question of whether the narrator in ''Patterns of Childhood'' successfully reconciled her troubled past has been debated by different critics. Some scholars have argued that ''Patterns of Childhood'' represents a successful endeavor in this process of working through one's history. Literary scholars such as Robert Shirer have also contended that novels such as this are a way to discover and explore the self. Wolf reflects on this process of self-discovery while considering her feelings towards Nelly. She describes the difficulty of this process when she says that “The closer she gets to you in time, the less familiar she becomes.” This sense of uncertainty towards understanding herself has led some to criticize her efforts. The level of ambiguity the narrator maintains towards the goal of coming to terms with her past has been seen as a weakness by some critics. Ruth Ginsburg argues that there is a contradiction between the goals of understanding oneself through memory and the process itself. She says that this is a paradox because “revealing the past prevents integration of the self.” In addition to the judgements of its success, different writers have taken stances on the manner in which this process was undertaken. The work was also criticized around the time of its release by German writers who believed it left out other interpretations of the fall of Nazism, for example the liberation it presented. The political implications of her work influenced the different reception it received in the German and Anglo-phone worlds. In addition to the judgements of its success, different writers have taken stances on the processes of Vergangenheitsbewältigung present in the book.


Communism

Although Wolf does not reflect at length upon the topic of
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
in this book, her childhood is often discussed as being a reason behind her later support of communism. She outlined the journey to communism that was driven by her and her peers' experience with the Nazis and the Holocaust when she said that her “generation came to socialism via Auschwitz.” Some argue that this embracing of socialism came as a response to the guilt of the generation of Germans who lived through the Third Reich."Blind Spot: On Christa Wolf," ''The Nation.''


Related works

# Christa Wolf, ''Nachdenken über Christa T.'' # Jana Simon, ''Sei dennoch unverzagt; Gespräche mit meinen Großeltern Christa und Gerhard Wolf''


References


Cited literature

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Editions

Wolf, Christa. ''Kindheitsmuster''. 2. Aufl. Darmstadt: Luchterhand, 1977. ———. ''Patterns of Childhood: (Formerly A Model Childhood)''. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1984. {{Authority control 1976 German novels East German novels Novels by Christa Wolf