Nicolai Riedel
Uwe Johnson-Bibliographie 1959-1998
Stuttgart: Metzler, 1999. Pp. ix+600. DM 258.00
Reviewed by Kurt J. Fickert
Riedels bibliography, a crowning achievement of its author and made possible in part by Uwe Johnsons early death, supercedes a series of preliminary bibliographies (some the authors own, see p.1-3). Riedel has categorized roughly 4,000 entries under six alphabetical headings. The first four (i.e., A to D) cover the entire range of Johnsons writings, including the self-appraisals he made in the course of interviews and in the form of autobiographical writings, and of Johnson criticism, including books and critical articles published up to the end of 1998. Section E contains supplementary entries that update Riedels text.
Section A surveys the Uwe Johnsons oeuvre, including his many reviews of GDR television programs and all translations of Johnsons prose. His correspondence also receives attention in another part of this listing; since a collection of Johnsons letters has yet to appear, Riedels indications of where they can be found is most helpful. Of even greater significance is the fact that Riedels bibliography also lists Johnsons remarks about his own life (there are only a few, if one does not count Johnsons political statements here) and the commentary on his works (which is all the more abundant and pertinent).
By far the most extensive list of bibliographical entries is to be found in section B. This section of over 400 pages is most valuable to critics and scholars, for it is here that Riedel, a scholar and Johnson enthusiast, a Research Fellow at the German Literature Archives in Marbach, and a founding member and co-editor of the annual publication Internationales Uwe-Johnson Forum (131-32), exhibits his cognizance and finesse. Riedel starts by listing books of literary criticism dealing with Johnsons fiction and continues with scholarly articles and the collections of these, all of which provide Johnsons ever-growing readership and scholars of his work with new insights. Riedel has duly cross-referenced this mass of information so that the studies produced by a particular literary critic or those written in reference to a particular novel or story can be readily traced. In addition, notations of the reviews of books critiquing Johnsons fiction are included among the entries. Noteworthy in this regard are the reviews listed of Bernd Neumanns lengthy biography Uwe Johnson (1994); over two pages of entries in fine print indicate the interest of the reading public in Johnsons life and novels. This, of course, is not surprising as Johnson is a preeminent German author, one who helped resuscitate German literature in the post World-War II era. Unfortunately, only two of the reviews of Neumanns study are in English.
The final pages of Riedels user-friendly and, at the same time, scholarly bibliography feature four indexes, listing titles, names of themes and places, names of authors, and periodicals. For the years of diligent labor and persistence that went into this bibliography, Riedel deserves the gratitude and respect of all those interested in the life and works of Uwe Johnson.