From Newspaper Columns to Literary Exploration
Jenny Erpenbeck, the celebrated German author who recently won the 2024 International Booker prize for her novel Kairos, has released a translated collection of her newspaper columns that offers readers a unique perspective on disappearance and memory. Originally written for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and published in German in 2009, these pieces now appear in English as Things That Disappear: Reflections and Memories, translated by Kurt Beals.
Everyday Objects as Windows to History
Erpenbeck masterfully uses the newspaper column format to explore profound philosophical questions through seemingly mundane observations. Her writing transforms ordinary complaints – such as the difficulty of finding proper splitterbrötchen, a humble pastry that has been reinvented for wealthier consumers – into deep meditations on change and loss. The author's background as an East German who witnessed her country vanish during her transition to adulthood informs her distinctive perspective on how objects carry the weight of history.
What makes Erpenbeck's approach particularly compelling is her ability to smuggle metaphysics, politics and history into what appears to be casual observations about daily life. She consistently elevates the form beyond its conventional boundaries, using concrete examples to anchor abstract thoughts about existence and memory.
The Politics of Disappearance
Several pieces in the collection address significant historical absences with remarkable subtlety and power. When Erpenbeck visits the site of the Warsaw Ghetto, she notes how modern buildings sit slightly higher than their surroundings, constructed on the rubble and foundations of houses burned to the ground by German forces. This subtle architectural detail becomes a powerful testament to what once existed there.
Similarly, she reflects on once-ubiquitous household items like the drip-catcher, a simple gadget used in East Germany to protect tablecloths from coffee spills. This object has become obsolete as Italian espresso-makers replaced traditional coffee pots, representing not just technological change but the disappearance of an entire way of life.
Erpenbeck's writing demonstrates how profound political and social changes manifest in the most ordinary aspects of daily existence. Her work invites readers to consider what happens to places and people in the aftermath of dramatic historical events, long after the initial moment of transformation has passed.
Personal Loss and the Art of Preservation
Beyond political history, Erpenbeck turns her attention to personal loss and the human impulse to preserve what matters. She recalls collecting the fully charged shaver of "R." from the hospital after his death and remembers her grandmother's gnarled hands, using these specific, tangible details to explore broader questions about memory and preservation.
The author reveals that she has developed a habit of trying to capture aspects of the "perfectly alive" people around her, imagining them as pieces of film that she can commit to memory in advance. This technique represents her attempt to actively combat disappearance by consciously selecting which memories to preserve.
Throughout the collection, Erpenbeck maintains a balance between irony, humour and profound philosophical inquiry. Her compact yet kaleidoscopic observations leave space for readers to flesh out the implications, creating a collaborative reading experience that mirrors the active nature of memory itself.
Things That Disappear: Reflections and Memories by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Kurt Beals, is published by Granta (£12.99).
