This study focuses on the elements of intertextuality and intermediality in the novel Die Rättin by Günter Grass. It is an attempt to place the text in a context of literary theory and contemporary society as well as in a deeply rooted tradition of storytelling that feeds the author’s inspiration and motivates a continuous dialogue between different works of fiction. It is also a reflection on the impact of different media on the development of art. The study leans on Walter Benjamin’s classic essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and its aim is to show how the postmodern reality shapes a new form of art, which uses cross-referencing between different means of artistic expression to maintain the “aura” of originality despite mass production of stereotypical stories and works of art. Grass incorporates both the underlying art theory and art production itself in his rich narrative of the dying and resurrection of mankind and art. In Die Rättin, his original concepts of intertextuality and intermediality reach mastery. This study highlights the various ways in which Grass spins his narrative around an idea of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” of human creation.

The thesis explores the role of music in Günter Grass’s novels. In pointing out the vital role of intermediality for Grass’s narrative strategies, the thesis opens up for a new, intermedial perspective on his work. It shows how references to music are used to realise Grass’s poetological concept “paspresenture” – the simultaneous presence of past, present and future – as well as his constant strive towards concreteness. The study draws on theories of intermediality, with a special focus on the role of transmedial media characteristics. It develops a transmedial methodology for analysing intermedial references, stressing how the notion of “musicality” within the text is created by media characteristics shared by both music and literature. Intermedial references are conceived as highlighting structures that are inherent in literature. The textual analyses of The Tin Drum (1959), Too Far Afield (1995) and Crabwalk (2002) are divided into three steps. First, explicit musical references in the narratives are interpreted as indexes pointing towards transmedial structures relevant to this specific context. Second, the examination demonstrates the prominent role of transmedial characteristics such as repetitivity, contrast, simultaneity and performativity within the texts. Third and last, the function of musical reference is discussed: in all three narratives, the focus on transmedial structures supplies a more consistent interpretation of passages which otherwise prove difficult to decipher. In Grass’s fiction, issues appear not to be discussed but performatively reenacted and thus remind more of musical than literary development. What is more, music – as handled by Grass – does not appear absolute or transcendent; rather, its manipulative potential is always prominent. However, the way musical references are used to realise Grass’s poetological aims stresses the bodily presence of musical performance, thus making music appear as the performative realisation of time.

The thesis explores the role of music in Günter Grass’s novels. In pointing out the vital role of intermediality for Grass’s narrative strategies, the thesis opens up for a new, intermedial perspective on his work. It shows how references to music are used to realise Grass’s poetological concept “paspresenture” – the simultaneous presence of past, present and future – as well as his constant strive towards concreteness. The study draws on theories of intermediality, with a special focus on the role of transmedial media characteristics. It develops a transmedial methodology for analysing intermedial references, stressing how the notion of “musicality” within the text is created by media characteristics shared by both music and literature. Intermedial references are conceived as highlighting structures that are inherent in literature. The textual analyses of The Tin Drum (1959), Too Far Afield (1995) and Crabwalk (2002) are divided into three steps. First, explicit musical references in the narratives are interpreted as indexes pointing towards transmedial structures relevant to this specific context. Second, the examination demonstrates the prominent role of transmedial characteristics such as repetitivity, contrast, simultaneity and performativity within the texts. Third and last, the function of musical reference is discussed: in all three narratives, the focus on transmedial structures supplies a more consistent interpretation of passages which otherwise prove difficult to decipher. In Grass’s fiction, issues appear not to be discussed but performatively reenacted and thus remind more of musical than literary development. What is more, music – as handled by Grass – does not appear absolute or transcendent; rather, its manipulative potential is always prominent. However, the way musical references are used to realise Grass’s poetological aims stresses the bodily presence of musical performance, thus making music appear as the performative realisation of time.