Gehen, Ging, Get Outta Here
In order to analyze Gehen, Ging, Gegangen as a contemporary novel, you must be willing to accept who and what this book is really about. Although they occupy a great amount of this novel, the story of ‘Die Flüchtlingen’ are simply a mechanism by which Jenny Erpenbeck expresses the feelings and emotions of Richard. A true piece of contemporary literature is character driven, rather than being controlled by plot.
Richard: The Contemporary
An aging and newly university professor. Without work and without family, he is lost for purpose in the world. The story is not uncommon. How many dedicate their lives to their work only to gain perspective once it is gone. With a lack of activity to occupy his time he shifts towards something that he has carried with him since his miraculous childhood.
“Das Unverzierte ist nicht selbst verständlich, darüber war Richard sich mit seiner Frau immer einig gewesen. Wahrscheinlich verstand sie…worum es ihm ging, wenn er in allem, was ihm begegnete, nach dem wirklich Richtigen suchte.” (Erpenbeck pg. 27)
“You can never count on fredom from mayhem — Richard and his wife always agreed on this. No doubt thats why she understood…what he was after in his constant search for what was right and proper.” (Bernofsky Translation pg.17)
Perhaps his lasting search for good and justice in the world, combined with the connection this search gives him with his deceased wife, drives him towards the relationship he establishes with the refugees.
This relationship not only acts as a way for Richard to real with his lonliness and loss of purpose, but it also acts to shed light on real conflictions facing modern society.
Die Flüchtlinge: The Mechanism
The stories of the various refugees that Richard come to know are simply a modern day representation of greater themes that can be traced back through history. I believe the most realisic and pressing reality that Erpenbeck confronts is that of the relationship between citizens of western societies and global conflicts. In many cases these ‘conflicts’ are atrocities commited by governments on their own people.
We see the attempt of an upper-class educator who has spent his life learning, now attempt to learn when and how these asylum seekers become citizens. Richard shows a greater effort in learning about these refugees than he does in trying to help them. Aide he does provide to them seems to be done with the intent that it will help Richard gain better understanding of the refugees. This effort to learn rather than help underlines, what I believe, to be a current truth of not only Germany but the United States as well.
As well as serving as a geopolitical lens, the novel also digs into meaning on a personal level. This relationship between Richard and the refugees allows the author to weave Richards consciousness and history into the novel. This can be seen in Richards longing to serve as a paternal figure with the refugees. We learns this stems from him choosing to forgoe parenthood for his career when he was young. That regret became blatantly clear when he discusses the abortion he pushed his wife to have.
Gehen, Ging, Gegangen works as contemporary novel because it focuses on the inner workings of Richard on an emotional level. We gain greater understanding of the actions of a charachter who many can relate to. We learn what drives him because of the interactions and relationships he has with the refugees, however the refugees never become the true charachters of the story.
Refugee Artwork:
Through my search of contemporary themes pertaining to refugee and current global conflicts, I have a large amount of artwork either done by refugees or pertaining to the crisis at hand.
Abdalla Al Omari:
In a series of paintings by Syrian refugee Abdalla Al Omari, he depicts many world leaders as refugees themselves. Most notably pictured are Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and most importantly Syrian President Bashar Al Assad
Fares Cachoux:
In a series of posters the Syrian-French artist remembers atrocities occuring in his home country. “Born in Homs, Fares Cachoux studied computer engineering in the university of Aleppo, before finishing his master’s and PhD degrees in digital art and visual communication in Paris. He later moved to the United Arab Emirates to teach at university and work in the field of media.” (Syria Untold)
