Rote Handschuhe: Eginald Schlattners Mea-culpa-Roman?

Abstract

This article focuses on Eginald Schlattner’s novel Rote Handschuhe (2001). Upon its publication, the author claimed to have written it in an attempt to reconcile with former friends whose lives, similarly to his, had been dramatically altered by events taking place in the late 1950s in communist Romania—events which involved all of them and the Romanian secret police, Securitate. While through the writing of the novel Schlattner recognizes he was at fault in the unfolding of events, I claim that certain stylistic choices prevent his work from being a true mea culpa document. After a summary of the novel, my analysis centers on Schlattner’s style followed by a discussion of its reception in the German-language press in Europe. (CLP; in German)