Irony, Dream, and Kitsch: Max Klinger's Paraphrase of the Finding of a Glove and German Modernism

Abstract

This article investigates Klinger's visual dream narrative in the context of German modernism. Walter Benjamin's discussion of the significant image and object in the context of modernity sheds light on Klinger's mythological justification of his narrative technique and on technique itself as a powerful instrument in a perceived crisis in artistic language and signification. Max Ernst's collage novel La Femme 100 têtes is seen here as a radical demonstration of Surrealistic technique, representing a dream world parodying and fetishizing the same cultural heritage as Klinger's Glove Cycle. A comparison of these series effects a suspension of Klinger's subjectivity and irony and exposes his content as kitsch.

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Christiane Hertel

Christiane Hertel received her Doctorate of Cultural Studies from the Eberhard Karls-University, Tübingen, in 1985. She has published in Städel-Jahrbuch and Kritische Berichte, and is presently pursuing a book-length study of historicity and subjectivity in Vermeer's paintings [Department of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010].