Visualization of (In)Visible Reality: Living Pictures in J. W. Goethe’s Novel «Elective Affinities»

Abstract

This article examines J. W. Goethe’s novel Elective Affinities and provides a detailed examination of visually significant theatrical performances. The analysis of the living pictures shows their functional components and possible ways of interpretation. As a Gesamtkunstwerk, in which the main elements of art, such as sculptural plasticity, painting, theatricality, and acting technique, are intertwined, tableaux vivants remain a cultural and a historical phenomenon. In this regard, Aby Warburg’s Iconology has proven to be a promising method in terms of interpreting the structure and the iconography of Goethe’s text. Therefore, it is possible to “decode” the plastic attitudes and “the gestural language” of the Antique which the protagonists use. The first level of the living picture develops into the second level which, in turn, extends to the third level of meaning of the events that are reflected in that picture. This “repeated mirror reflection” technique is used by the author on various narrative levels of the novel. Refs 17. Figs 3.