„Aber was, […] wenn es nicht so ist?“ Ambivalente Figurationen der Zeit in Daniel Kehlmanns ‚Mahlers Zeit‘

Abstract

Daniel Kehlmann’s novel Mahlers Zeit questions the role of time as a fundamental tool through which humans access the world. While the novel’s protagonist believes that he can debunk the linearity of time, the narration of the text remains ambiguous about whether or not he is right. As the text oscillates between different conceptions of time—each presented as plausible only to be denied again—it develops an image of the world as an inscrutable place where humans cannot transcend the sphere of phenomena because they are always thrown back to their sensorium. The unmediated juxtaposition of the incompatible that prevents obtaining metaphysical certainty implies a rejection of the concepts of Magical Realism as well as Surrealism, both of which presuppose a knowledge of the metaphysical structure of the narrated world. Therefore, Mahlers Zeit requires a different classification: Gebrochener Realismus (Broken Realism). Moreover, because of the strict functionality of the moments of uncertainty, the category of Gebrochener Realismus is even more appropriate than Todorov’s fantastic.