Platonic and carnal love as a form of Bildung in the novel 'Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit' (1983) by Sten Nadolny

The contribution analyses the representation of heterosexual sexuality in the novel 'Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit' ('The Discovery of Slowness', 1983) by the German writer Sten Nadolny. The novel depicts the adventures of the British explorer and naval officer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847), who perished with his crew in the attempt to find the famous Northwest Passage. Specifically, the novel sharply deals with the theme of sexuality through the character of the prostitute Mary Rose. Initially, a rather embarrassed teenage John Franklin feels a form of platonic infatuation for the woman, failing to accomplish the carnal act. Later, in a second encounter years after, having become more mature and formed by life through the typically German process of Bildung, namely through the hardships of life and inner and outer growth, he will succeed in transforming his previously platonic and idealised feeling into a carnal one. The story between the two will end with her following disappearance, which will leave an indelible mark on the protagonist’s spirit. The peculiarity of the narrator’s description of the carnal act, set in nineteenth-century England, is that an explicit language is avoided, in contrast to the rest of the novel, which is usually quite clear on many subjects. On the contrary, in the case of the description of the sexual affair between the protagonist and the prostitute, the narration is conducted through figurative, untold language, rich in metaphors and double entendres, still without ever verging on the vulgar, but rather on the humorous, elevating the act to a celebratory experience.