SOURCE: Hoffmeister, Donna L. “Fantasies of Individualism: Work Reality in Seelenarbeit.” In Martin Walser: International Perspectives, edited by Jürgen E. Schlunk and Armand E. Singer, pp. 59-70. New York: Peter Lang, 1987.

In the following essay, Hoffmeister examines the clash between occupational functionality and the service-oriented worker's personal investment as represented by the realties of Xaver Zürn's chauffeur job in Seelenarbeit.

Martin Walser depicts in Seelenarbeit (1979) a feature of work reality which can be highly pernicious to human emotional and physical well-being. In sociological terms it is known as functional specificity.¹ Most jobs within an occupational structure require conformity to defined roles for a smooth efficient coordination of activities. The more a job is classified in purely functional terms, the less it is attached to a particular individual. Achievement is defined by so-called objective criteria, such as reliability, punctuality, and technical competence and not by considerations which...