Hoffnung in der Deutschsprachigen Psalmendichtung der Moderne
Hope in the Modern Literary German Psalms

Summary/Abstract: The modern literary psalms are almost unanimously interpreted in academic literature as a lament on an inaccessible empty transcendence and the unfathomability of God. Nihilism, negativity and the impossibility of dialogue come to the fore; the poems can often be perceived at first glance as blasphemous counterfeits. Yet, beyond the surface level, the aesthetics of modernity plead for a transfiguration of reality, from which the purest distillate of poetry emerges. It is in poetry that hope for the salvation of the individual resides, because it liberates the ego from the constraints of contingency.If one reads psalms of authors such as Nietzsche in his early works, Trakl, Rilke and Stadler, from the point of view of a layman today, who is neither a literary expert nor a theologian, it becomes clear that they are dealing with the same questions that concern people in the increasingly secularized world of the 21st century, and look for clues and help. Therefore, this paper aims to examine whether the modern literary psalms are not perhaps open to hope, or at least allow a glimmer of hope, and then what this hope consists of and what is it anchored in. In contrast to common interpretations, I would like to shed light on their connection with the biblical Psalms, thereby highlighting their soteriological potential.

• Details
• Contents