German Gondal and Angria

Between 1955 and 1971, the German radio station SDR, now SWR, broadcast a series of literary dialogues written by German author Arno Schmidt. The pieces were devoted to thirty writers, mostly German and from the 20th century. But there were exceptions. One of them, the Brontë sisters. In July 1st, 1960, SDR aired "Angria und Gondal":

Angria & Gondal: The Dream of the Dove-Gray Sisters deals specifically with the "Extended Mind Game" that the Brontë's are left to occupy themselves with in their isolation. They famously lost themselves in -- and wrote extensively about -- imagined worlds: Angria, and Gondal.

Much of the dialogue offers a biographical overview of the sisters: more such detail than in the other dialogues, as German-speakers were less likely to know anything about these lives. English readers will be familiar with much that he writes about Emily, Anne, and Charlotte -- and Branwell, of course --, but his focus on this long-sustained fictional world is a useful perspective.

A month ago, the radio piece was revived in Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany, where a dramatized reading was performed. Many Arno Schmidt novels and stories feature Bargfeld, a hamlet near Celle, where he lived from 1958 until his death.

October, 12, 2006
Place: Escher Musenmöhl, Celle.
Actors:Inga Hampel, Jürgen Kaczmarek and Thomas Wenzel, members of the Celler Schlosstheater (in the picture)

More information about the event here (in German).

The piece can be found in German in this collection: Arno Schmidt: Nachrichten von Büchern und Menschen(EDIT: New Link) but also translated to English, Radio Dialogs I: Evening Programs (Green Integer).

Categories: Audio-Radio, Theatre, Biography,