Mejchi is killed, Ferdinand is killed, Bernhard Matter is hanged, and Dellebach Kari is thrown from a bridge: there are several dead people in the lyrics of Mani Matter (1936–1972). The detective novel Matto Reigns by Friedrich Glauser (1896–1938) has far fewer corpses than the songs Matter conducts. And even if it’s not always a matter of life and death, the Bernese troubadour often puts up fights.
“Given the witty nature of many of Mani Matter’s lyrics and the conciliatory nature of his behavior, his songs are surprisingly often violent,” notes Nicolas von Passavant (39) in his recently published book. In the essay, the Basel Germanist discusses the connection between this poetic motif of violence and the theoretical works of Mani Matter.
Matter is a lawyer by profession and works as a legal consultant in the city of Bern. In his doctoral thesis, he complained about the legal discrimination of the municipalities compared to the cantons. And in his (never submitted) doctoral thesis for a professorship, he took the side of the little ones. “In six chapters, Matter opposes the fusion of sovereignty, law, and state power,” writes von Passavant.
Matter’s Vision: Instead of a society powered by government violence from above, there should be a community shaped by all that is constantly being rebuilt in debate. He calls this principle “consensus in disagreement”. From this point of view, for example, the chanson “Yr Ysebahn”, for example, appears in a new light, in which passengers climb out onto the roof with umbrellas because of different types of landscape: there should be a discussion.
In 1968, Matter wrote his doctoral dissertation, a year of student unrest. The 30-year-old lawyer understands young people and their “flight from immobility.” But he writes in his diary: “Revolution – and then what? You refer to Marx and think that you have got rid of further details. But the details matter.” He believes that coup fantasies are only legitimate in non-state countries, not in industrialized countries.
Consequently, von Passavant writes, “Unlike many German singer-songwriters of his generation, one searches in vain for political slogans in his songs.” In an interview, Matter said that a musician would achieve little by voicing his commitment with a hammer. However, he understood some of his chansons as “models for political issues” – for “consensus on disagreements.”
Nicolas von Passavant, “Prohibitions and Dynamite – On the Political in Matter Mani”, Zytglogge