Friederike Reents

• This paper investigates how and to what extent the literary genre of the idyll lives on as part of the ‘new nature poetry.’ Following a conceptual, historical, and generic classification of the idyll, Thomas Kling’s „geschrebertes idyll, für mike feser“ is read to show, on the one hand, how skillfully and knowledgeably he unpacks the tradition. He not only plays in extenso with the genre’s characteristic features but also, on the other hand, includes in his “allotment garden idyll,” which can be read as an early example of Anthropocene poetry, astute and sharp-tongued ecological, social, medial, and historical critique. Despite his critical sensitivity to socially relevant themes, however, Kling presents a decidedly patriarchal self image, which today’s readers would probably find less readily acceptable and which distinguishes him from the most recent contemporary poetry.