Bukarest durch die Augen eines Fremden. Stadtbilder anhand des Romans Die sieben Leben des Felix Kannmacher von Jan Koneffke

Abstract

Jan Koneffke’s 2011 novel closely follows the path of a German fugitive that fate has sent to the capital of Romania in the 1930s. The way young Felix Kannmacher perceives his new environment, his new home defines who he is and who he will become. At first, he is frightened, insecure and feels lost in a hostile space. He is overwhelmed by sensations and does not know how to master this new location. But little by little, through the aid of experience – and not always the best one – he manages to domesticate his surroundings and be reborn. The article focuses on Felix’ (the novel’s first person narrator) view on the city of Bucharest. His ever-changing relationship with this space makes the novel so special and so fruitful for and worthy of literary analysis.