Abstract

Etty Hillesum's personal engagement in her writings with the literary works of the Prague-born German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) is thought-provoking. Rilke's influence on Hillesum's writings brought out not only her poetic quality, but her real and lived humanity. In this article, the author offers the reader a glimpse into one of the most powerful and overlooked influences on Etty Hillesum's development as a writer. While doing justice to the profundity of her insight, the author discloses some of the literary subtleties shared by Hillesum and Rilke. With literary hermeneutics, the author gazes into three esthetische spiegels [aesthetic mirrors] and draws detailed, creative lines from Hillesum's work to Rilke’s. Furthermore, the article claims that the works of Rilke and Hillesum are still relevant. The bloody tragedies of war, terror and genocide inflict deep wounds up to the present day. Rarely did two people write so much in such short life spans. How war, but also love, left their mark on the life and writings of these two authors remains a mystery they call… Weltinnenraum.

Keywords: Rainer Maria Rilke, Weltinnenraum, literary hermeneutics, literary influence, aesthetic mirror, Etty Hillesum

Wie soll ich meine Seele halten, daß sie nicht an deine rührt? Wie soll ich sie hinheben über dich zu andern Dingen? […] Auf welches Instrument sind wir gespannt? Und welcher Geiger hat uns in der Hand? O süßes Lied.