Studying Images of Dying

Education and Vanitas in David Fuchs’ novel Before we disappear

Abstract

The article demonstrates how David Fuchs’ 2018 novel Bevor wir verschwinden (Before we Disappear) relates the categories of image, education, and the Bildungsroman in such a way that the barely articulable and perceptible aspects of the dying process become visible and thus experienceable. The first-person narrator, a medical student in his final internship in oncology, develops both professional and individual independence through his encounters with his dying ex-boyfriend and the support of the interprofessional hospital team. The reality of dying and the professional and personal growth it triggers are linked to the vanitas motif. Drawing on the thesis of bioethicist Christoph Rehmann-Sutter, this motif is interpreted in its event-like nature, as a potential time for meaningful moments. The combination of thematic and everyday levels leads to a reciprocal interpretation of medical and aesthetic meaningfulness and success.