While Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) grew from his meeting with the already famous Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861-1937) into the great poet whom we admire today, her own stature as a poet faded in proportion to the growing fame of the friend who was fourteen years her junior. As the poet’s empathetic muse and mentor Lou may remain an indispensable reference point for Rilke scholars, but her own works, once widely read, have increasingly disappeared from view due to the emphasis laid by generations of scholars on her role as maternal helpmeet.
Rilke’s relationship with Lou as the translation of an initially negative mother-image into a landmark maternal ideal is given its full due in this book, but the woman as writer, herself inspired by her spiritual son through their inter-subjective exchange, is given as much credit as the congenial conversationalist. The study uses the themes of home and of the uncanny to trace the mutual influences which connect the couple in literary terms. Diaries, letters and other (auto)biographical documents serve to illustrate the study’s conclusions, highlighting both similarities and differences.