Hanns Heinz Ewers
Alraune

Finally, a masterpiece of dark and decadent fantasy like Alraune by Hanns Heinz Ewers sees the light again in Italy, thanks to Edizioni Hypnos, which, it must be said, have recently published some very valuable volumes in a delightful graphic format.

The figure of Hanns Heinz Ewers is well framed in the context of the revival of horror literature in Austria and Germany that occurred between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. His name can thus be associated with those of Gustav Meyrink, Alfred Kubin, Oskar Panizza, Leo Perutz, and Karl Hans Strobl.

These writers were the main architects who gave impetus in Austria and Germany, under the strong influence of the recognized masters of the genre, such as Poe (Ewers wrote a memorable essay on the American writer), Hoffmann, Villers de L’Isle Adam, Nerval, and others, to a new fantastic literature that aimed to be an "ideal" revolt against the prevailing culture of positivism and capitalism.

Stylistically, these new artistic "canons" produced a literary aesthetic that made extensive use of decadent and grotesque stylistic features and often drew on themes that were then widely disseminated, such as occultism and esotericism. It should not be forgotten that at the time, numerous theosophically-derived sects thrived in Germany.

Born in Düsseldorf in 1871, Ewers was fascinated from a young age by the dark atmosphere of German folklore. His persona is one of the most original, eccentric, and unconventional of the period, and his stories were appreciated even by Adolf Hitler himself. However, he had an ambiguous relationship with the regime, from which he was ultimately rejected as he did not fully embrace its propaganda, despite having written a hagiographic novel for Horst Wessel, the inspirer of the Nazi anthem. In the phrase "This is Germany, this is my country" found in Alraune, there is almost a foreshadowing of the tragic saga of National Socialism.

His narrative always remains on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness, grotesque, occult, and deviant eroticism, where the woman is often identified as a symbol of death and beauty. This theme of the "femme fatale" has a decadent derivation (indeed, Ewers has great admiration for Oscar Wilde), which the German writer masterfully exploits in many of his stories, often infusing it with impulses of sadism and masochism, but it particularly emerges in the present Alraune.

Alraune is a book that represents a true manifesto of black and decadent fantasy. Ewers here exploits the legend of the Mandrake, a plant praised for its aphrodisiac and analgesic virtues, incorporating the medieval superstition that it would be generated from the seed of a hanged man expelled at the point of death. This seed would engender the so-called "mandrake" from the ground. The creation of the being, through artificial insemination of a prostitute, thus gives rise to Alraune. This woman will be responsible for all sorts of atrocities against her fellow beings, revealing a sadistic and lush nature. The framework and the atmosphere are very decadent and recall certain suggestions of The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. The Teutonic setting and esoteric legend might also bring to mind affinities with the compatriot Gustav Meyrink, but in Ewers, the mysticism and metaphysical "vision" of reality, characteristic of the latter, are entirely absent. Ultimately, the story, where Alraune behaves like a true mistress over the males made her slaves, and where Ewers does not spare any scandalous description, turns towards sadistic eroticism. But more than the Marquis De Sade, the novel suggests the figure of Leopold Von Sacher Masoch and his Venus in Furs. The mistress-slave relationship is indeed described in the finest detail. As in Ewers' previous novel The Sorcerer's Apprentice, we also find the character of Frank Braun here, a sort of alter ego of the author who returns in the subsequent novel Vampir.

Particularly noteworthy is the excellent translation by Alessandro Fambrini, who is also the author of the preface, and the competent afterword by Walter Catalano, which explores the relationship between Ewers and the cinema, considering that the novel has had several adaptations, including the one by Henrik Galeen—director of The Golem and The Student of Prague—in 1928 with Paul Wegener and Brigitte Helm.

In any case, Alraune remains a great dark novel that should not be missing from any collection dedicated to gothic and fantastic literature.

Available at the Edizioni Hypnos online store: http://www.edizionihypnos.com/.

Hann Heinz Ewers “Alraune – The Story of a Living Being” – Edizioni Hypnos – 249 pages – Euro 18 – ISBN: 9788896952559