Die Sonette Georg Trakls

Until now, there have been hardly any works specifically examining the sonnets among the poems of the Austrian poet Georg Trakl, although he himself stresses the »inherent structure« of his poems. Consequently this thesis in its investigation of the sonnets inevitably approaches Trakl's language from this structural, formal side. Initially it is necessary to discuss the terminology, because the idea of the sonnet has been formulated too vaguely for the literature of the early 20th century. In this case the sonnet is defined through its constitutive elements of form and sound, and through this the intellectual component of the sonnet as form receives a new significance. The stretching of this poetic form to express the most secret and daring matter remains the fascinating challenge of the sonnet from its classic examples up to the modern age. To demonstrate and enlarge this theory, various examples are given and discussed.;The examination of Trakl's experiments with the sonnet form reveals an interesting tendency, as Trakl follows both modern and more classical ways. His sonnets - at least 22 can be identified in his work - reflect not only important developments in his poetic style of writing, but also an innovative concern for and construction of the form. One can distinguish two approaches in Trakl's efforts to fulfill the form the sonnet: first, the earlier sonnets written in rhyme, second, the later poems without rhyme. The latter transgress the classical form, but help the sonnet itself achieve a modern style and therefore represent a real innovation. In both approaches, the poet finds his individual form of expression, for instance through the constantly changing rhyme patterns or through the daring variations of his later works. Because the structures and themes of the sonnets are so divergent and distinct from one another, a primary text-immanent reading is indispensable. Therefore I portray in individual interpretations how Trakl expresses the most secret and daring matters, how the importance of form and sound for the sonnet changes, and which elements have a connecting function, although the strict form is being transgressed. Trakl's sonnets turn out to be a paradigmatic result of a constructive and innovative imagination, especially through their inherent dynamic force and ambiguity, and as a result they are a lyric paradigm of the modern age itself.