The original German first edition print of Arthur Schnitzler’s “Fräulein Else” was published by the Austrian publishing company Paul Zsolnay Verlag in 1924. Created in 1923, the Paul Zsolnay Verlag was one of the most successful publishers during the years leading up to World War II, and published works from many other famous writers such as H.G. Wells and Pearl S. Buck, which shows the popularity and widespread success of the then 62 year old Schnitzler at the time. Before the first page of the novella, the line “Erstes bis elftes Tausend” is printed, meaning “first of eleventh thousand” in English. The fact that not only the first print run of the novella had eleven thousand copies, but also that the publisher proudly displayed this number goes to show how far reaching Schnitzler’s audience was, and how much of an impact his writing could make.
While the English translation of “Fräulein Else” that we read for class remained faithful to the original, there are some changes in the formatting and layout from the original text that may have an effect on the way one reads the story. This is most notable in the way dialogue is presented to the reader and can immediately be seen starting at the very beginning when Else, Paul, and Cissy are having a conversation after playing tennis. In the English version, the dialogue is formatted more similarly to what we expect in modern literature: when a new character is speaking, the text is written on a new line. While there are no explicit references of who is speaking the new line, it is clear to tell a change of speaker from the line break. In the original German, instead of line breaks, the dialogue is only separated by a single dash. The reader can only tell that a new person is speaking by the dash and the new quotation marks.
Although having line breaks in between speakers in the English version makes reading clearer, the original formatting has a different effect. Having all the pieces of dialogue clustered together is more reminiscent of the style of writing used in the rest of the story where it is a stream of Else’s consciousness with ideas not always perfectly fleshed out or thought through. This format reflects the way that one’s mind works, not always being able to fully process sights and sounds objectively in the moment. While the English version gives the reader an unambiguous understanding of when dialogue and external events are happening, the German provides a sense that we are still reading about these supposedly objective events through Else’s perspective as she herself tries to process and react to each word being spoken as well as a feeling of doubt regarding whether we can trust Else’s description of reality.
In addition to the ambiguity displayed through the dialogue formatting, it also changes the writing flow for the reader. Due to the lack of line breaks, the whole first conversation is in one long paragraph. In the English version, there is more white space that breaks up the flow of reading. This is reflected throughout the story. Moreover, in the English version, every time there is a section of continuous dialogue, there is an empty line both before and after the conversation. Throughout the entirety of the original text, there is virtually no white space or breaks between words. Combined with the fact that there are no chapters either, the reader is compelled to keep reading as Else’s thoughts keep streaming through the page, never giving us a break.
This persistent flow of words keeps building up until two distinct points in the story. The first of which is at the climax, when Else walks into a room of guests having made a difficult decision. We see music notes physically appear on the page that reflect the music playing in the room. While the notes are already unexpected in the English version, it is even more jarring in the original as the reader finally gets a respite from the ongoing pages of uninterrupted text, giving one more time to sit and reflect on what the music notes mean and their role in the story.
The other instance where this plays a role is at the very end. On page 135 (second last page) of the original text, Else starts fading away from consciousness as someone calls out, “„Else!“… „Else!“… „Else!“…”. In both the English and German versions, each “Else!” is on a new line. However, in the English version, this doesn’t seem out of the ordinary, as line breaks between dialogue and paragraphs are common throughout the story. However, since the reader is used to having words continually flow, this abrupt break leaves the reader with an uneasy feeling, grasping at words that they expected to keep coming, almost as if they themselves are fading from reality along with Else.
The changes in dialogue formatting and general text layout allows for readers of the original text to have a more immersive experience, being able to more accurately see the world through Else’s mind.
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