DIE SCHERE #19: Text
19
Es hieße die Großtaten der Physik unterschätzen, wenn man sie der
Mechanik oder gar der Ökonomie zuordnete. Hier geht es um mehr als um
Tatsachen. Das gilt besonders für den prometheischen Rang der Neuen Welt
mit ihren Raum und Zeit überwindenden Entfaltungen.
Dagegen ist einzuräumen, daß die Einrichtungen, selbst dort, wo sie
Wohlstand bringen, nicht befriedigen, ja zu nehmend beängstigen. Sie
können nicht bieten, was die Götter gewährt haben. Sie reichen nicht
über das Vergängliche, ja zielen nicht einmal darüber hinaus.
In dieser Hinsicht sind auch ihre Wunder nicht mehr als Gleichnisse —
doch hochbedeutend, wenn sie als solche erkannt werden. Der Raub am
Universum wird zum Geschenk, zum Darlehen. Neue Gebete, neue Mysterien.
DIE SCHERE #19: Gary's Translation
One would underrate the great feats of physics if he relegated them to
mechanics or even to economics. Here it is more than a matter of facts.
This pertains especially to the Promethean scale of the New World, with
its advances in conquering space and time.
On the other hand, it must be admitted that the accommodations,
precisely where they bring well-being, do not satisfy, but rather
increasingly [zunehmend] cause Angst. They cannot offer what the gods
have granted. They do not reach beyond the perishable, and indeed do
not ever aim beyond it.
In this respect, the wonders of physics are no more than
metaphors--though highly meaningful if recognized as such. The plunder
of the universe becomes a gift, a loan. New prayers, new mysteries.
DIE SCHERE #19: Notes
The theological aspect of the "Gleichnisse" of modern physics, first introduced in #18, is
emphatically postulated in this text. It is worth noting that the US is called the "New
World" in this context, a strikingly positive term which was more common in Germany before
the anti-Americanism of the '68 intellectuals gained ground. The great feats of physics
alluded to ("Raum und Zeit überwindende Entfaltungen") seem to be space flight, the
measurement of time by atomic clocks,(1) and nuclear fission.
The bringers of the atomic fire, the modern titans, are equal in rank to Prometheus, their
Greek ancestor. They accelerate by their feats the advent of the absolute reign of the
titans. In EJ's private mythology, the triumph of the titans is the prerequisite of the
ultimate return of the gods. Whatever the titans achieve is thus much more than
technological and economic progress. However, they themselves do not have in mind anything
else than a highly questionable and ambiguous material and inner-worldly success. The
amenities and comforts which result from their efforts are nothing comparable to the gifts
of the gods. Nevertheless, simply by consolidating their triumph the titans prepare the
return of the gods. The rape of the atomic fire by the New Prometheus is thus - Hiroshima
and Chernobyl notwithstanding - in the last analysis a boon, a great promise. If you read as
a "Gleichnis" what many can read only as milestones on the expressway to the doom of
mankind, you have found a new type of prayer, a new religious cult. EJ does not deny the
possibility of our road leading to universal disaster, but he believes it will not be the
end. For him, there is a Great Beyond.
EJ was aware that this view of the things to come is hardly any consolation for the
individual under the relentless rule of the titans. What does it help to tell a citizen of
Troy in the midst of the flames consuming his city that one day Aeneas will found a great
new empire, he asks in ÜBER DIE LINIE (1950).(2)
(1) EJ explains in #236 of AN DER ZEITMAUER why he regards this as a radically new method
which does away with the old concepts of measuring time.
(2) "Das Feuer, der Terror, die Leidenschaften herrschen, wenngleich nur eine Weile lang.
DIE Einsicht vermag der Geist im Bannkreis der Katastrophe nicht zu vollziehen; es liegt
auch kaum Trost in ihr. Was könnte es im Augenblick, in dem Ilions Paläste stürzen, dem
Trojaner sagen, daß Aeneas ein neues Reich begründen wird? Diesseits und jenseits der
Katastrophen mag der Blick sich auf die Zukunft richten und mag die Wege übersinnen, die
dorthin führen - in ihren Wirbeln aber regiert die Gegenwart." (p. 6)
Günter Rebing
Markup © John King, 2008. Web archive generated Tue, 21st August 2007.