Ichundich by Else Lasker-Schüler: A Hellish Montage of Literary Canon

In one unit, we were reading Ichundich by Else Lasker-Schüler, a complex play full of cultural and historical references and allusions, as well as one that defies traditional linear narrative. When gathering their first impressions, I learned that the students liked it a lot, but nevertheless found it hard to read. I asked them to articulate what specifically it was that made the text a difficult one. After they named multiple aspects, I pointed them to the editorial annotations I provided along with the text. They listed all the references and allusions, many of which would necessarily go over their head when reading the text for the first time. I asked them to go through all the scenes for the day individually, and find which references they contained. I then let them discuss their findings in pairs, and group them thematically. These groupings were collected on the board (s. graphic). We discovered there were four or five types of references: from German classical culture (particularly Goethe), from Jewish culture, including Biblical motifs, from contemporary history (the Nazi regime), and from Lasker-Schüler's personal life, as well as from the entertainment industry. Asking them to comment on the significance of these different kinds of references, one student remarked how we could relate the inclusion of both German and Jewish cultural references to the title of the play, Ichundich, and the author's attempt to deal with her own double identity as a Jewish woman and a German intellectual. This double identity had become deeply problematic under the weight of the rise of fascism, the Second World War, and her exile. We had a fascinating discussion about this, which I rounded off by pointing out how the enlightened and progressive ideals of education and culture associated with Weimar Classicism had been shattered irreparably by the experiences of the Third Reich, much like the broken jug in Kleist's eponymous play, which we had read previously.

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