Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: Ein Fehltritt bis zum Teufel

Lecture and reading aloud with Thomas Klingenmaier

Speaker: Dorothea Baltzer | At first glance, the Spaniard Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836 -1870) seems like a poor lost man: a romantic plagued by dark visions in an era of brash sobriety. While the literature of the industrial age was steaming ahead, examining social hierarchies, analyzing opportunities for change and clearing out old-fashioned ideas, Bécquer painted the horrors of transgression against the backdrop of a rotten feudal world. His characters are always just one misstep away from being taken by the devil. In this way, the supposedly dreamy author nails down a modern unease with both the status quo and rebellion. Time to rediscover this classic of fantasy.