Krankheitsbild als rhetorisches Element in Georg Büchners Lenz und Woyzeck

One fundamental structuring principle is a hallmark of Büchner’s works: he experiments with views on certain issues like a scientist. He does so by employing in his experimentations – with the concepts and dominant ideas of his time – those scientific methods of experimentation learnt during his studies in medicine and anatomy. To this end, he juxtaposes individual perspectives – such as the stages of illnesses – against the stark contrasts between sickness and health, at the same time asking where exactly the boundaries that define these two polar opposites lie. Some examples worth noting are the ways in which different world views (ill – “normal”, stages of the illness) are played out in the novella fragment ‘Lenz’, as well as how the Woyzeck case is dealt with from different perspectives in each individual manuscript.