Spiegelgeschichte

The Mirror story, written by Ilse Aichinger 1949 and released in August of the same year in four episodes in the Viennese daily newspaper, is about a young woman whose life story is told in reverse. At the beginning and end of the story is death. An outside voice tells the young woman her life. The voice speaks here in the " you " form. The author was awarded in 1952 for this piece of prose the Literature Prize of the group 47

Analysis

Ilse Aichinger's short story mirrors story deals with the period between birth and death of a woman in reverse order. This is an epic prose text of the special genre of short stories. This can be seen at the open top of the story and the presence of a single main character. The story is portrayed by a authorial narrator you, usually in the futuristic present indicative, sometimes also in the imperative [ "Go now, now is the moment ... " ]. The narrator comments on the action and is omniscient, indicating an authorial narrative situation. The story is told from the inside view of the mediating figure ( Telling ). This is evident from the detailed description of the feelings of the main character ( Interior view ), but the narrator is omniscient and is not limited to the knowledge of the main character ( Telling ). The story is told reporting, but the action is not continuous. Evidence is often found in places in which people interact with each other. Such is the scene in which open the funeral the coffin, forward looking, although the story is told back constantly. Also the scene with the "Old " is a proof of the discontinuity, since it is as outlined in the text is logical, but not to the narrative that runs backwards, fits. The narrative structure is restricted to a narrative. There are also advance interpretations and flashbacks [ At the very beginning, " when a your bed ... " ]. Since it is a short story that deals with the whole life of a woman, it is only logical that the story is told time - snatching. The reading time ( narrative time ) is about 5 to 8 minutes and the time told a lifetime. In terms of symbolism and cipher can be few things in the story, see, eg, the green sky, the ships, the yellow flowers and especially the blind levels. The blind mirror is again to explain separately, since it justifies the discontinuity of history and thus the absurd just disengaged.

References

• Wilfried Barner: Ilse Aichinger: "Mirror History ". In: Classical German short stories. Interpretations. Edited by Werner Bellmann. Reclam, Stuttgart, 2004. Pp. 76-88.
• Henry U. Gerlach: Ilse Aichinger's "Mirror History ". A unique story. In: Austria in History and Literature 40 (1996 ), No. 1, pp. 37-45.
• Erika Haas: Differentiating interpretation at the upper level. In: The German lesson 21 (1969 ), pp. 64-78.