„Where writing runs into death…” – Ars moriendi nova in Wolfgang Herrndorfs Blog "Arbeit und Struktur" (2010-2013)

Abstract

The aim of this article is to discuss Wolfgang Herrndorf’s (1965-2013) weblog Arbeit und Struktur, published in book form in 2013, as an autothanatographic text, i.e. autobiographical writing that focuses on the individual’s coming to terms with terminal illness and death. Arbeit und Struktur is an account of the last three years of Herrndorf’s life (from when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor until his death). His blog is analyzed as a literary document of ars moriendi nova, which questions religious traditions, abandons the hope for life after death, pleads for the right for euthanasia in the face of an unbearable suffering and irreversible illness, and substitutes the need to reconfirm the link with God, which is characteristic of traditional forms of ars moriendi, with the need to reconfirm the values held throughout one’s life.