Der Kanon or more precisely Marcel-Reich-Ranickis Kanon is a large anthology of exemplary works of German literature. Edited by the literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki, he called the anthology, announced, on June 18, 2001 in the German news magazine Der Spiegel under the title "The Canon of worthwhile German Works", his magnum opus. The five parts appeared from 2002 to 2006 published by Insel Verlag: 1. Novels (2002), 2. Tales/Stories (2003), 3. Dramatic Works (2004), 4. Poetry (2005), and 5. Essays (2006). As expected, the anthology met with opposition and criticism, and even the idea of an anthology was questioned, but Reich-Ranicki called this questioning "incomprehensible, because the lack of a canon would mean relapse into barbarism. Reich-Ranicki sought to differentiate his anthology from previous compilations in his hope to imagine a "reader judge" such as teachers, students, librarians, who would need to draw from this canon because they were in the "first line of those who deal with literature professionally."
The edited anthology takes the series title, Der Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur (The Canon of German Literature) in book form with slip cases.
Der Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur. Romane. 20 Volumes (2002), ISBN 3-458-06678-0Der Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur. Erzählungen. 10 Volumes and 1 Companion Volume (2003), ISBN 3-458-06760-4Der Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur. Dramen. 8 Volumes and 1 Companion Volume (2004), ISBN 3-458-06780-9Der Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur. Gedichte. 7 Volumes and 1 Companion Volume (2005), ISBN 3-458-06785-XDer Kanon. Die deutsche Literatur. Essays. 5 Volumes und 1 Companion Volume (2006), ISBN 3-458-06830-9The NibelungenliedWalter von der Vogelweide: PoemsMartin Luther, trans.: The Bible (excerpts)Andreas Gryphius: PoemsChristian Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau: PoemsJohann Christian Günther: PoemsGotthold Ephraim Lessing: Minna von Barnhelm; Hamburgische Dramaturgie (excerpts); Nathan der WeiseJohann Wolfgang von Goethe: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers; Faust I; Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit (excerpts); PoemsFriedrich Schiller: Kabale und Liebe "or" Maria Stuart; Die Schaubühne als eine moralische Anstalt Betrachtet (The Theatre considered as a Moral Institution) (excerpts), Don Carlos; on Naive and Sentimental Poetry, Wallenstein, Ballads.Johann Peter Hebel: Schatzkästlein des rheinischen Hausfreundes (selections)Friedrich Hölderlin: Hyperion oder der Eremit in Griechenland (excerpts); PoemsNovalis: PoemsFriedrich von Schlegel: EssaysE. T. A. Hoffmann: Die Serapionsbrüder (excerpts)Heinrich von Kleist: The Marquise of O, Michael Kohlhaas; The Prince of Homburg; Short Stories (selected)Clemens Brentano: PoemsAdelbert von Chamisso: Peter Schlemihls wundersame GeschichteJoseph Freiherr von Eichendorff: PoemsFerdinand Raimund: Der VerschwenderAugust Graf von Platen: PoemsAnnette von Droste-Hülshoff: Die Judenbuche; PoemsHeinrich Heine: Poems; Prose (selected)Eduard Mörike: PoemsGeorg Büchner: Dantons Tod; Woyzeck; Lenz (fragment)Theodor Storm: Short Stories (selected)Gottfried Keller: Short Stories (selected)Theodor Fontane: Schach von Wuthenow; Frau Jenny Treibel „or“ Der Stechlin; Effi BriestFriedrich Nietzsche: EssaysArthur Schnitzler: La Ronde; Leutnant Gustl; Professor BernhardiGerhart Hauptmann: Die RattenFrank Wedekind: Frühlings ErwachenStefan George: PoemsElse Lasker-Schüler: PoemsHeinrich Mann: Professor UnratChristian Morgenstern: GedichteHugo von Hofmannsthal: Der SchwierigeKarl Kraus: EssaysThomas Mann: Buddenbrooks; Tonio Kröger; Tristan; Der Tod in Venedig; Mario und der Zauberer; EssaysRainer Maria Rilke: PoemsHermann Hesse: Unterm RadCarl Sternheim: Der SnobRobert Walser: Jakob von Gunten; ErzählungenAlfred Döblin: Die Ermordung einer Butterblume; Berlin AlexanderplatzRobert Musil: Die Verwirrungen des Zöglings Törleß; TonkaFranz Kafka: Der Process; Die Verwandlung; Ein Bericht für eine Akademie; In der Strafkolonie; Ein HungerkünstlerGottfried Benn: PoemsGeorg Heym: PoemsGeorg Trakl: PoemsKurt Tucholsky: FeuilletonsJoseph Roth: Radetzkymarsch; Die Legende vom heiligen Trinker; Stationschef Fallmerayer; Short StoriesBertolt Brecht: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder; Leben des Galilei; Kalendergeschichten (selections); PoemsErich Kästner: GedichteAnna Seghers: Das siebte Kreuz; Der Ausflug der toten MädchenÖdön von Horváth: Kasimir und KarolinePeter Huchel: PoemsWolfgang Koeppen: Tauben im GrasGünter Eich: PoemsMax Frisch: Diary (excerpts); Homo faber; Biedermann und die Brandstifter; MontaukArno Schmidt: Die Umsiedler; Seelandschaft mit PocahontasPeter Weiss: Marat/SadeHeinrich Böll: Der Mann mit den Messern; Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa...; Doktor Murkes gesammeltes SchweigenPaul Celan: PoemsFriedrich Dürrenmatt: Die PanneErnst Jandl: PoemsIngeborg Bachmann: PoemsGünter Grass: Die Blechtrommel (auszugsweise); Cat and MousePeter Rühmkorf: PoemsHans Magnus Enzensberger: PoemsThomas Bernhard: Holzfällen; Wittgensteins Neffe – Eine FreundschaftUwe Johnson: Mutmassungen über Jakob (excerpts)Sarah Kirsch: PoemsWolf Biermann: PoemsJurek Becker: Jacob the LiarRobert Gernhardt: Poems180 Novellas, short Stories, Parables, Fairy Tales, Legends, and Kalendergeschichte.
The series of "essays" gave Reich-Ranicki much "grief." Even the choice of the title "essays" was hotly debated. Reich-Ranicki included not just essays in a classic sense, but also a wide variety of critical works including criticism of film, literature, music reviews, theater reviews, essays, speeches, diaries, letters, ephemera, and aphorisms, spanning both fictional and nonfictional literature. The term "essayistic" was coined for this purpose.
The "essay" canon contains 255 articles from 166 authors covering a wide variety of subject matter. It is divided into five parts:
from Martin Luther to Arthur Schopenhauerfrom Leopold von Ranke to Rosa Luxemburgfrom Heinrich Mann to Joseph Rothfrom Bertold Brecht to Golo Mannfrom Max Frisch to Durs GrünbeinIn 2015, the author Hannes Bajohr published his "novel" Durchschnitt (Average) based on Reich-Ranicki's novel canon. For his book, he analyzed the texts of the twenty volume novel-box of the series, calculated their average sentence length (18 words), and, with the help of a computer script, generated a book that only contained these average sentences. He then sorted them alphabetically in chapters according to the letters of the alphabet.
