German is a reader-friendly, accessible language. Roland Kaehlbrandt surprised people with theses like this in his book “Deutsch. Eine LiebesDECLARATION” and recently also in an article in this newspaper. At least those who think of German as an official language. If you believe Hauke Hückstädt, then these theses can be expanded. German can also be simple and at the same time versatile, complex, in short: literary, says the director of the Frankfurt Literature House. As proof of this, he has 2020 “Read. The book: literature in simple language” published. A collection with texts by well-known authors in simple language.
“LiES. The Second Book” has been available since February. On March 21, Hauke Hückstädt will present it together with the writers Elisa Diallo, Kristof Magnusson and Tonio Schachinger in the Munich Literature House before. A total of twelve writers were involved. There were 13 for the first book, including Nora Bossong, Judith Hermann and Arno Geiger. The reason for “LiES”? It was initially a social one. More than “20 million people in Germany cannot read well”. Hückstädt often points this out in interviews. However, this number is not documented. According to the Leo studio from 2018 there are 6.2 million adults with dyslexia. In any case, according to Hückstädt, the following applies to all those affected: There is “virtually no literary text on offer” for them.
That’s why Hückstätt wants books that don’t exclude anyone. Hence the plain language. This is intended as an aid for people with a lower reading ability, but also for the general public. There are no fixed rules for simple language, recommendations such as using short sentences or clearly structuring texts. Unlike the easy language. There are rules for them. That was from Network plain language developed with. You can now find them on websites or in museums. “Antigone” is currently being shown in easy language at the Kammerspiele.
Nevertheless, Hückstädt and the authors, together with editor Eva Keller, came up with ten rules for “LiES”. This includes: simple words and sentences, no leaps in time or that language images have to be explained. The result is text that is actually easy to read and also worth reading. Some have something poetic about them, precisely because of the reduction. And in the first volume, Maruan Paschen tried his hand at simple poems. The fact that, as Hückstädt says, “there hasn’t been a book like this before” still has to be put into perspective.
The writer Elisa Diallo is also present at the Literaturhaus.
(Photo: private)
Because there are publishers who have been publishing literature in simple language for years. Well, often these are translations. But at that Edition Naundob or in Passers-by publisher for example, there are good books that were simply written directly. However, their authors are hardly known. And that is a difference: that with “LiES” well-known authors get involved in this experiment. And if that tempts more people to read, that’s undoubtedly an asset.
READ! Literature in simple language, Tuesday, March 21, 7 p.m., Literaturhaus Munich, Salvatorplatz 1, www.literaturhaus-muenchen.de