Reflections on the Writing Process in Herta Müller’s “Der König verneigt sich und tötet”
and Gheorghe Crăciun’s “Trupul ştie mai mult”
This article focuses on the way in which authors Herta Müller and Gheorghe Crăciun reflect on their writing process and its aspects in the collection of essays Der König verneigt sich und tötet (eng. The King Bows and Kills) and the journal-like essayistic work Trupul știe mai mult. Fals jurnal la Pupa russa (1993-2000).
Both postmodern authors choose to grant their readers access to their creative process, allowing them to take a glimpse “behind the curtains” of their literary show.
Regarding the reflections upon the writing process of the Banat-Swabian and the Romanian author, several similarities and differences can be noticed.
The most important similarity is the personal perspective of the two authors. Both Herta Müller and Gheorghe Crăciun regard experience as the starting point of their writing, filtering sensations and perceptions through their consciousness and transfiguring it into the body of the letter.
The main difference can be found in the representation: whereas Herta Müller chooses a poetic style, made up of powerful, expressionistic metaphors, Gheorghe Crăciun follows in the footsteps of Merleau-Ponty and Roland Barthes, displaying a phenomenological-textual approach.
Keywords: Herta Müller, Gheorghe Crăciun, writing process, foreign perspective, sensation, perception, figurative language, somatographic
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