Digital and Pathic World Experience: Clemens J. Setzʼs novel "Die Stunde zwischen Frau und Gitarre"

Abstract

Against the background of Bernhard Waldenfels' phenomenological approach, this article analyses the novel Die Stunde zwischen Frau und Gitarre by Clemens J. Setz, in which two types of world experience are juxtaposed: digital and pathic world experience. The digital experience of the world characteristic of the characters in the novel, which stems from an excessive use of new media, leads to a weakening of the qualities that characterise subjects: Perception, attention and empathy. This raises the question of the status of the subject. Digitalisation leads to an impoverishment of the experience of the world and is broken up by a pathic experience in which the subject appears as an answerer, i.e. in relation to something or someone else. The novel shows that change can only occur on the basis of a pathic experience in which the subject is called upon to respond and act.