Utopische Potenziale des Idyllischen in der Narration: Ivan Gončarovs Oblomovka und Jan Nerudas Kleinseite

Abstract The relationship between the idyll and narration has a paradoxical nature: In its state of complete harmony, the idyll is beyond any change or development. In terms of narration, however, this poses a fundamental difficulty. This was a problem already recognized in Schiller’s reflections on the idyll in the context of the philosophy of history, expounded in his essay On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry (Über naive und sentimentale Dichtung). By depicting a golden age, i. e., a state that can only ever be appreciated in retrospect, the idyll, according to Schiller, inspires, above all, the pursuit of such a state of harmony in the present. In identification of the idyllic consciousness, representation can only take the form of endangerment by external threats, and in certain cases, the successful overcoming of these threats. Conversely, it is only possible to show the idyll as a state not yet realized, still to be pursued from a perspective outside of the idyllic consciousness. Consequently, the device of a distant, masterful narrator is instrumental to the nuanced depiction of both Prague’s Lesser Quarter (Malá Strana or Kleinseite) in Jan Neruda’s eponymous tales and the Oblomovka country estate in Ivan Gončarov’s novel Oblomov. In both instances, the narrative allows for a critique of the premature realization of pseudo-idyll. Furthermore, the idyll is put into perspective so that beyond signifying loss, its potential to inspire visions of the future is summoned.