Im Namen der Dinge : Zur gebrechlichen Einrichtung der Welt im Werks Herta Müllers

In Herta Müller’s work, the materiality of objects does not refer to a static and stable zone, but acts as a space of possibilities, which refers to the potential or the dynamics of things and constantly encourages or forces new interpretations by the reader. The match between the actual, physical object that one can “touch once”, and the meaningful, changing thing that one must “let go twice” produces a peculiar tension between enchantment and disenchantment that characterizes the entire production of Müller. The constructive moment of such metaphorical alienation leaves indelible marks and modifies the reception of the utterance: the reader is intellectually dynamised, the reading process intensified — from objet via objeu to objoie (Ponge). The lust of the sudden, surprising double perception of things, the cheerful excitement through the Scary can exert an unexpected appeal to the reader and open up new perspectives.