Zur Intertextualität und Intermedialität in Günter Grass’ Die Rättin : Das Märchen im Zeitalter seiner dystopischen Reinszenierbarkeit

Sammanfattning: This study focuses on the elements of intertextuality and intermediality in the novel Die Rättin by Günter Grass. It is an attempt to place the text in a context of literary theory and contemporary society as well as in a deeply rooted tradition of storytelling that feeds the author’s inspiration and motivates a continuous dialogue between different works of fiction. It is also a reflection on the impact of different media on the development of art. The study leans on Walter Benjamin’s classic essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and its aim is to show how the postmodern reality shapes a new form of art, which uses cross-referencing between different means of artistic expression to maintain the “aura” of originality despite mass production of stereotypical stories and works of art. Grass incorporates both the underlying art theory and art production itself in his rich narrative of the dying and resurrection of mankind and art. In Die Rättin, his original concepts of intertextuality and intermediality reach mastery. This study highlights the various ways in which Grass spins his narrative around an idea of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” of human creation.