Anna Seghers, Die Toten auf der Insel Djal [The Dead On the Island Djal]

Kristy Boney (Central Missouri State University)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1924

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

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In her first story, “Die Toten auf der Insel Djal” [“The Dead on the Island Djal”], Anna Seghers demonstrated her proclivity to be a storyteller rather than a writer–to spin yarns rather than construct narratives. First published 1924 in the

Wochenblatt der Frankfurter Zeitung und Handelsblatt

(book publication posth. 1985, Berlin, Aufbau Verlag), the text purports to be a Dutch legend about the pastor Jan Seghers, a story that was passed down by the (fictive) Antje Seghers. Anna Seghers wrote about the lasting influence of this tale when she explained that she “had designed this tale as a story that came from my family; also I wrote it down in the first person. Because I had to give the figure a name that sounded Dutch, the name of Seghers came to me and I liked it. And…

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1022 words

Citation: Boney, Kristy. "Die Toten auf der Insel Djal". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19321, accessed 03 December 2024.]

Anna Seghers, Die Toten auf der Insel Djal [The Dead On the Island Djal]

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