LiteraturSchweiz

Reading tip

Zsuzsanna Gahse, Durch und durch: Zsuzsanna Gahse sits at the window – like E.T.A. Hoffmann’s cousin once sat at the corner window –and looks out onto the street. The street leads from east to west through the village of Müllheim. It’s more by chance that Zsuzsanna Gahse lives here. She stayed on to observe how other travellers are passing through and onwards – perhaps bound for America. The space by the window is therefore also a place to think about travel. The imagination roams free. The Huns are approaching from the East with Napoleon seated high on his horse drawing near them from the West. In-between are precise, focused images of the village surroundings. When precisely viewed, there is “an amazing quantity of unexplained things”. The observer is therefore standing at the window and counting the traffic – up to 121 vehicles within a space of ten minutes. She is very precise. And she observes the villagers of Müllheim. Gradually, she warms to them, because she knows what they are doing and how they cross the street. She has an insight into village news. She knows the stories and gossip as well as tales from collective memory such as the one about the Spaniard, Alfonso, and the little grey poodle, whose soul is possessed by the devil. Directly opposite her window is a square with a lime tree – a wonderful village backdrop for a human comedy. Anyone who crosses this square is instantly transformed into Columbine, Pantalone or whoever else has a part to play in the Commedia dell’Arte. Zsuzsanna Gahse’s village tales are precise miniatures that evolve into world theatre from seemingly modest beginnings. Müllheim may merely be a transitory location, but it is also a hub of the world – right here, where Zsuzsanna Gahse lives, where she observes and writes. Only those who stay behind and watch know the madness of travel. (Beat Mazenauer)