Literature In "Not my life", Adolf Muschg talks about himself - or not?

SDA

29.1.2025 - 11:03

"Not my life" is the title of Adolf Muschg's new story. The title is a warning. The author sows doubt about what is autobiographical about his text and what applies to the life of his character August Mormann. (archive picture)
"Not my life" is the title of Adolf Muschg's new story. The title is a warning. The author sows doubt about what is autobiographical about his text and what applies to the life of his character August Mormann. (archive picture)
Keystone

With "Not My Life", Adolf Muschg presents a very personal story. However, its title contains a warning against an overly biographical reading.

Keystone-SDA

August Mormann is an emeritus high school professor and husband to Aki, who comes from Japan. Despite coronavirus and the war in Ukraine, he enjoys the tranquillity of old age. When his wife asks him to look for a common burial place with her, he is seized by a quiet restlessness that does not fade when they find what they are looking for at Ennetbühl cemetery in Zurich. A short time later, Aki disappears without a trace and Mormann's life begins to unravel.

Mormann is the protagonist in Muschg's story "Not my life". It is characterized by deliberate calm, both in terms of language and the precision of observation. Muschg describes Mormann's studio house and garden with meticulousness, as if it were his own home. In fact, the author and protagonist resemble each other in terms of their living conditions. But caution is advised: "Blessed is he who may lie in order to come closer to his own truth," muses Mormann.

Distance from real life

"Not My Life" is full of allusions to real events and people. Some are easy to decipher, such as "the farmer" from Herrliberg, who generously finances a music center in the Rheinau monastery. Others are better concealed and give rise to puzzles. These are all narrative techniques to create distance from real life. The lively alternation between first-person and first-person speech reinforces this impression.

In view of the last things, Muschg increasingly lends his calm narrative something unwieldy, which is reflected in Mormann's behavior. His speech at a European conference finally escalates into a confused mythomania that only causes irritation. In this way, Muschg undermines the reliability of his most "personal" text.

Left alone, Mormann dies on a garden bench - "and nobody had missed him". Both he and his author retain an enigmatic stubbornness in this game between truth and lies.*

*This text by Beat Mazenauer, Keystone-SDA, was realized with the help of the Gottlieb and Hans Vogt Foundation.