The protagonist of Händke, Wilhelm Meister, a distant "cousin" of the eponymous hero of Goethe, is a young man with literary ambitions who leaves the narrow province where he lives with his mother in order to meet new people, because he believes that without them it is impossible to become a writer. However, none of his encounters leads him to any change or expansion of his horizons. Every move he makes to approach others is a WRONG MOVE. Händke's literary contribution in this case lies in the fact that, with the help of what he calls the "erotic gaze," he manages to create a completely new, original work from a well-known book of German literature. The themes addressed or analyzed in this text are numerous: the relationship between mother and son, the relationship between the past and the present (old writing-new writing), the relationship between art and politics, the creation and interpretation of the artistic work, loneliness and wandering. In 1975, Wim Wenders directed the film of the same name, which was distinguished at many festivals, as well as with the major awards given in Germany for domestic productions.