Jan Herman Bücher

In seinen Anmerkungen zu »Kleine Tiere. 29 missgestaltete Sonette« schreibt Jan Herman: »Große Schönheit aus großer Verzweiflung beugt den Geist. Das ist das Ziel eines jeden Dichters.« Er hat seine Sonette »verschorfte Wunden« genannt. Sie sind die seltenen weltlichen Güter des Dichters, die persönliche Gespenster auf der Seite zum Leben erwecken. Der Literaturkritiker David Erdos nannte sie »Tränen für die Zunge« und »dunkle Diamanten«, »Sonette der Erfahrung, die sogar [William] Blake gefallen würden.« (MÜ Magazine, London). Sie necken manchmal mit Humor und halten die Aufmerksamkeit oft mit dem Versprechen eines Ziels, eines zweifelhaften Abenteuers oder einer obszönen Geschichtsstunde. Und natürlich erhebt die Sterblichkeit mehr als einmal ihr wissendes Haupt: »Sollen wir jetzt weinen / um die Sonne / zurückzulassen, / mit leichtem Bleistift geschrieben?«

When I wrote The Dutch, the Germans and the Jews, I did not realise that the article was to become so controversial. With regard to the wartime record of the Netherlands, the Dutch had, over the years, constructed a national image of heroic resistance against the German occupier. This image was complemented by a stress on Dutch support of its persecuted Jewish citizens. My article noted, however, that little was further from the truth. On virtually all levels, before and even during the war, a substantial number of Dutch people collaborated with Nazi Germany. The Jewish Dutch received only scant support. A good philosopher, according to Nietzsche, has to be the bad conscience of his time. I argue that this duty also applies to historians and journalists. I hope that my critique will be seen as an invitation to researchers to take a closer look at this black page in Dutch history.

This is a powerful study of the growth of the right wing in a reunited Germany. Setting this in its historical context, and especially in the context of the end of the Cold War, the author examines the implosion of communism and of the growth of xenophobia and right-wing politics in modern and contemporary Europe. The backdrop of 20th century German history and of Germany’s position as the European regional super-power make this book an especially important and topical contribution.

The exploration of narrative as a form of truth is central to the eighteenth-century novel, prompting J. Herman to investigate how language conceals or reveals the origins of the stories it tells. By engaging with writing theories from Plato to Derrida, Herman presents a fresh lens for reading memoir-novels, particularly analyzing the recurring motif of the found child. This figure serves as both theme and metaphor for the text's quest for legitimacy. Through a detailed theoretical exposition and systematic analysis of key works by authors like Marivaux and Laclos, a new rhetorical decoding method emerges.