D. Worlds Apart
IV. Narrative Revisions
Ehe ich entwickle, wie wir nach Marosheli geritten sind, wie ich Brigitta kennen gelernt habe, und wie ich noch recht oft auf ihrem Gute gewesen bin, ist es nöthig, daß ich einen Theil ihres früheren Lebens erzähle, ohne den das Folgende nicht verständlich wäre. Wie ich zu so tief gehender Kenntniß der Zustände, die hier geschildert werden, gelangen konnte, wird sich aus meinen Verhältnissen zu dem Major und zu Brigitta ergeben, und am Ende dieser Geschichte von selbst klar werden, ohne daß ich nöthig hätte, vor der Zeit zu enthüllen, was ich auch nicht vor der Zeit, sondern durch die natürliche Entwicklung der Dinge erfuhr. (445)
The narrator’s concern that he not reveal details “vor der Zeit” indicates that interventions in the chronology of the story are explicitly meant to create the effect of a surprise twist; not the actual order of events, but rather a narratively — meaning, in this case, emotionally — effective
sequence is employed. This passage also provides further clues to the role of tempo in the story;
here, the third section is functioning as a moment of retardation, since it, as both a flashback and an interruption, delays the arrival of the narrative at the climactic scene.
“Bild […] eines häßlichen Mädchens” (440) which the Major keeps in his private study. The framed picture alone might be enough to give away the surprise, but more likely, it would only serve the reader as a sign of affection whose full meaning only becomes clear in retrospect or upon a second reading. Certainly there are some hints to the ending scattered throughout the text, but far fewer than in the journal version, which suggests that Stifter may have taken steps to ensure that the surprise was preserved.34 In the journal version, the narrator also gives too many advance warnings that an emotionally laden scene is going to occur; since the reader is better prepared in that version, the scene loses some of its surprise value. The plot events are basically the same in both versions, so the emotions attendant on witnessing human drama are still there;
but with less surprise, the reader is affected to a lesser degree.
Another factor influencing the degree of surprise is whether the novella is being read for the first time, or reread for a second or subsequent time. Although the novelty is lost in the latter case, the preconditions for readers to re-evaluate their assessments of the characters at the climactic moment remain in effect. The act of reading refreshes the reader’s cognizance of the pertinent narrative features, bringing them to the foreground of consciousness in the sense described in Loosemore and Harley.35 Thus, Brigitta is no longer surprising but still moving, since the narrative walks the reader through the elements of the thought pattern that is being modeled in the text. Going through the (mental) motions is sufficient to reproduce much of the affective intensity of a first reading.
34 A few recent scholars (e.g., Hunter-Lougheed, “Adalbert Stifter: Brigitta,” 369; and Meier, “Diskretes Erzählen,” 219) have assumed that the reader guesses the ending, which would eliminate the surprise. While there are indeed hints present in the text, their subtlety makes it seem more likely that they are there to be noticed on a second reading; thus, I tend to share Kreuzer’s opinion that it is overly optimistic to expect the typical reader to figure out the ending in advance. For a convincing discussion of the dynamics of
information delivery by the narrator in this regard, see Kreuzer, “Zur ‘unerhörten’ Erzähldramaturgie,” 32.
35 Richard Loosemore and Trevor Harley, “Brains and Minds,” 221f.; see also page 20.
Being moved is central to the discussion of this novella: it involves accessing deeply held inner states, such as latent beliefs. These are what ‘moves’ when one is ‘moved,’ and they do so through the power of affect, which must reach a high level of momentary intensity in order to effect such a shift. Brigitta is a difficult character in part because her latent beliefs are based on an individualistic system of values, developed when she was left to her own devices as a child, that appears impenetrable or even bizarre to others. An anecdote about her childhood playthings illustrates her inner makeup while also showing how Stifter improved the psychological complexity of the novella from the journal to the book version. The journal version reads:
Dort aber, so wie sie einst, wenn man ihr wohl aus Mitleiden eine schöne Puppe gegeben hatte, dieselbe nach kurzer Freude wegwarf, und schlechte Dinge in ihr Bettchen trug, z. B. Steinchen, Hölzchen, und eifersüchtig über ihnen wachte, so hing ihr Auge nun einzig und allein über der Wiege ihres Sohnes, und so hegte und so hüthete sie ihn.36
Here it is clear that Brigitta’s focus on her son is as intense as her focus on the sticks and stones that she once preferred over a pretty doll; however, the comparison seems like a rather arbitrary metaphor for intensity, since it gives no clues as to the connection between the objects. The part about the child Brigitta appears to do little more than illustrate her idiosyncrasy. The book version, on the other hand, contains details that suggest a particular reading of the objects:
So wie sie einstens, wenn man ihr wohl aus Mitleiden eine schöne Puppe gegeben hatte, dieselbe nach kurzer Freude wieder weg warf, und schlechte Dinge in ihr Bettchen trug, als Steine, Hölzchen und dergleichen: so nahm sie jetzt auch ihr größtes Gut, das sie hatte, nach Marosheli mit, ihren Sohn, pflegte und hüthete ihn, und ihr Auge hing einzig und allein über dem Bettchen desselben. (461)
This version contains a pair of opposites: “schlechte Dinge” versus “ihr größtes Gut.” The ‘bad’
things are the sticks and stones, while the ‘good’ is her son; however, it is precisely these two things that are being compared in the simile in this passage. There is thus a repurposing of language here, since the word ‘bad’ actually designates something of value. In fact, on further
36 Stifter, Journalfassungen, vol. 1.2, 245f.
consideration, sticks and stones are basically neutral objects, with nothing inherently ‘good’ or
‘bad’ about them; their ‘badness’ must therefore be the product of conventional expectations — in other words, these are dirty things that belong outdoors, not in the bed of a little girl from a respectable family. But what is conventionally considered ‘bad’ is, in Brigitta’s eyes, good.
Comparisons usually function in a forwards direction in which the first-mentioned object has a certain quality in abundance, while the comparison claims that the second-mentioned object possesses that quality also. But in this case, viewing the comparison backwards yields the best clue as to the significance of “schlechte Dinge”: just as the baby is a person who has not yet
developed, the sticks and stones are raw materials whose potential to be made into something has not yet been realized. The passage thus illustrates Brigitta’s prodigious capacity to create value, but in ways that are not recognizable according to conventional measures.
Another change to the book version at content-level that affects the emotional effect of the novella is the expansion of the description of Uwar. In the journal version, the narrator spends a couple of pages describing his tour of Uwar with the Major on the day after his arrival before concluding: “Und so ritten wir am andern Tage wieder herum, und ehe acht vergangen waren, hatte mich das gleichförmig sanfte Abfließen dieser Tage und Geschäfte so eingesponnen, daß ich mich wohl und ebenmäßig angeregt fühlte […].”37 Instead of this condensed summary, the book version includes descriptions of several subsequent days, on which he sees, among other things, a hay meadow, various crop fields, greenhouses, herds of cattle and sheep, horses, and a swamp in the process of being drained.38 At each station, the Major has some business to conduct with his workers there, and he checks to see that everything is in order. The narrator depicts the Major as interacting with his “Leuten” (e.g., 435) in an approachable and noncondescending way,
promising, for instance, that he would soon come and share a meal with them; and the Major, in
37 Stifter, Journalfassungen, vol. 1.2, 227.
38 In the Kohlhammer edition, these descriptions take up about six or seven pages (vol. 1.5, 430–436).
turn, comments more than once on their loyalty to him — for example: “Diese würde ich sogar zum Blutvergießen führen können, sobald ich mich nur an ihre Spitze stellte. Sie sind mir unbedingt zugethan.” (438) Although there is a definite hierarchy in this relationship — the Major is known as the “Grundherr” and at one point addresses his people as “Kinder” (434) — the devotion of the people is a response to the Major’s sense of responsibility towards them and genuine concern for their welfare; the relationship is mutually beneficial. One thing that prevents this image of benevolent authority from becoming all too patriarchal is the fact that the Major originally learned to manage his estate in this way from Brigitta, as did Gömör and the other presumably male member of their agricultural association. The expansion of the passages on estate management in the book version creates an increase in the narrative time (Erzählzeit), which produces more of a feeling in the reader that the narrator’s visit extends for quite some duration before he is introduced to Brigitta. Of course, both versions make it clear that a
considerable amount of narrated time (erzählter Zeit) elapses, but the book version actually slows down the narrative tempo, thus causing the reader’s immersion in the details of Uwar’s
management to last longer. As a consequence, the reader who reaches the climax of the book version has, firstly, more of an experience of Langsamkeit, and secondly, more details about the nature of this form of rational land management in his short-term memory. This is significant because Langsamkeit is coded to Brigitta; as I will argue in the next section, her character is geared in such a way that she has a deep-seated affinity for and sympathy with gradual processes.
The form of land management depicted in the novella, which is likewise characterized by gradual developments, is an outwardly visible manifestation reflecting the nature of Brigitta’s inner self.
This portion of the novella thus provides the reader with an experience of time that puts him in sync with the protagonist in a certain respect.