Although the field of German Romantic Orientalism has been growing in recent years, the prolific writer E.T.A. Hoffmann has largely escaped critical attention. This study of his oeuvre reveals, however, that it was shaped and influenced by both the scholarly and popular orientalist discourses of his time. Furthermore, Hoffmann satirises literary orientalist practices even as he takes part in them, and so his work exposes the ambivalence of the apparent German veneration for the ‘Romantic’ Orient. While Hoffmann responds to the Romantic image of the Orient set up by his predecessors (J.G. Herder, Novalis, Friedrich Schlegel), he does so in order to reveal both the uses and the limits of this model for the Romantic artist in the modern world. The Orient serves as an inspiration for Romantic art, and thus Edward Said’s claim that the Romantics appropriated the East merely for the rejuvenation of European literature must be acknowledged. Nevertheless, as an extremely self-aware writer, Hoffmann does not utilise this approach uncritically. My thesis shows how Hoffmann responded to the image of the Orient as it was produced by writers, musicians, and scholars inside the German-speaking lands. The Orient resists successful imitation, as his texts acknowledge when they turn a critical eye towards German cultural production. Furthermore, Hoffmann’s famous criticism of nineteenth-century society is enhanced by comparison of German and oriental characters, with the latter often coming out more favourably. Hoffmann’s tales therefore demand a reassessment of the view that the Romantics constructed the Orient exclusively as a paradisaical land of poetic fulfilment. His (self-) reflective response to the nineteenth-century treatment of the Orient in Germany marks him out as an original – and essential – voice in Romantic Orientalism.

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Writers of the 1830s and 1840s sought to interpret their changing society in an explosion of new forms, developing an all-inclusive aesthetic that saw writing as a direct expression of individual experience, without boundary between life and page and without hierarchy of genre or subject matter. Analyses of social types and behaviour proliferated in which two current preoccupations stood out: the materialist motivation of an industrialising society with an expanding middle class, and the degree of theatricality involved in manoevring for a place in that society. Often groundbreaking, the analyses of August Lewald (1792–1871) were informed by his broad experience which included commerce and the theatre, and for which he was renowned. Contemporary reviews acknowledge the innovativeness of his writing and his sure eye for key issues of the day. In the new conditions after 1848, however, his popularity soon vanished, and he has been largely overlooked since then. My thesis aims to demonstrate that such a strong representative of the period in both his life and works calls for reinstatement as significant writer and personality. Three of Lewald’s works have been selected to support this aim. After an Introduction which tries to place Lewald within the experimental context of the Vormärz, Chapters 1–3 will offer a close reading of each work, contextualised by reference to other works, contemporary reviews, and biographical detail where it seems relevant. Sketches from Album aus Paris exemplify Lewald’s early and influential innovativeness in their humorous scrutiny of social behaviour through observation of its external manifestations, in the style of French Physiologies. Memoiren eines Banquiers exploits fictionalised life-writing as a cover behind which to confront controversial issues around money, Jewish emancipation and prejudice. Theater-Roman plays with the metaphor of society as theatre, conveying the ultimately futile illusoriness of contemporary society’s values, and foreshadowing Lewald’s own increasing rejection of his Vormärz life- and writing style after 1848. My Conclusion claims for Lewald’s life and writing individuality and originality as well as qualities that make him exemplary of his time. It proposes, as a project among other topics for further research, that a new edition of his sketches in particular, enjoyable in their own right, would be a valuable contribution to knowledge of the Vormärz period.

Literature by authors from the GDR has often been read with a focus on its sociopolitical context ‒ before and after the fall of the Wall. This rather one-dimensional approach has resulted in a lack of engagement with the more complex issues raised in many of those texts. Frequently, they address broader theoretical questions and delve into universal themes, which tend to be overlooked or sidelined. This PhD thesis concentrates on a selection of post-Wende texts by Monika Maron and Jenny Erpenbeck, two authors from the former East Germany. Starting from the premise that both authors' oeuvres serve on one level as critical investigations of the GDR and the significant aftermath of its collapse, I aim to demonstrate that these narratives have more to offer. My analysis brings to light the complexity of the examined works by addressing what it regards as their central themes: the exploration of questions around the topics of Heimat and memory. This research project draws attention to the texts' representation of underlying issues such as dislocation and fragmentation, and in doing so it examines how both authors depict concerns that go beyond the GDR and its demise. A key task is the analysis of the ways in which Monika Maron and Jenny Erpenbeck portray the symptoms of a wider ‘modern conditionʼ, a state characterized by instability and uncertainty. Based on the concept of ambivalence, introduced to the debates about modernity by Zygmunt Bauman in the early 1990s, this original comparative approach explores the failure and the ultimate collapse of the socialist utopia as a paradigm for the breakdown of the ‘grand narrativesʼ in modern, Western pluralist societies. Thus, this PhD thesis illuminates how both authors position themselves in relation to competing discourses about the GDR, and it simultaneously alerts the reader to the texts' inherent complexity by revealing their strong ties to topical issues regarding the much-debated term of modernity. Ultimately, I claim that Maron and Erpenbeck set out to investigate the impact of larger processes of fragmentation, and try to establish the possible role of and a ‘placeʼ for the individual that is exposed to historical forces and the rapid changes of spatio-temporal parameters within modernity, of which the GDR experience forms one part.

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This PhD thesis examines the pre-exile writings of Soma Morgenstern, a Jewish- Austrian writer born in 1890 in Budzanów, Galicia. Morgenstern moved to Vienna before he was forced to flee from the Nazis to Paris, where he lived with Joseph Roth. A few years later, he left for New York, where he died in 1976. The 1990s saw the publication of a complete edition of his works, and since then researchers have started, albeit slowly, to pay closer attention to his writings. Nevertheless, even up to present day there has barely been any detailed academic treatment of his writings (1921-1938) of the interwar period. The aim of this thesis is to explore Morgenstern’s fictional and dramatic works and his Feuilleton in terms of formal as well as content, focussing on aspects such as his representations of Jewish identities found between the wars not only in urban Vienna and Berlin but also in rural Galicia. I aim to show how Morgenstern’s works present a new awareness of traditional Jewish values. These, however, are always critically reflected, ironically refracted and occasionally even parodied. An introduction to the corpus is followed by the second chapter, which focuses on places and the way urban and rural spaces are construed in Morgenstern’s works. In Chapters 2 and 3 I will analyse a selection of prominent characters in Morgenstern’s writing and the semiotics of characters’ clothes in interdependency with concepts of identity. The last chapter explores the treatment of the First Austrian Republic in Morgenstern’s interwar works, focussing more closely on the Habsburg-Mythos as well as the growing anti-Semitism of that period in urban and rural spaces.

Subject to this study is the Neunfelsenbuch ('Book of the Nine Cliffs'), an account of a vision, which is assumed to have originated in Strasbourg after 1352. Initially written in the German vernacular, it was widely circulated in various German dialects and in Dutch and Latin translation. The text exists in two versions: a long version, which is thought to be the work of Rulman Merswin (1382), a citizen of Strasbourg and founder of the convent at the 'Gruner Worth' (1367); and a short version of unknown authorship. Previous scholars have considered the long version to be Merswin's reformulation of the shorter text, which was presumed - though not proven - to have been the original. By investigating the transmission and the textual history, this study aims to solve the questions of authorship and original form. It provides an overview of the entire transmission of both versions in prints and manuscripts, particularly focusing on the southern German short version. For the first time the short version is made available in a critical edition, as a basis for a systematic comparison with the long version. The comparison reveals that, in fact, the long version is the original and thus confirms Rulman Merswin as the true author. Written in 1352, the text not only belongs to the oldest works of the Tauler reception, but also stands at the beginning of the literary production at the 'Gruner Worth'. As a result, this text provides new insights into the spiritual development and the literary heritage of one of the most important centres of spiritual literature in the German vernacular of its time.

Ce travail, consacré au rôle de médiateur culturel de l'écrivain autrichien Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), s'appuie sur la théorie des «transferts culturels». Ses identités multiples l'ont conduit à se mettre au service des personnalités littéraires d'expression française particulièrement Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916) et Romain Rolland (1866-1944). Pour mener à bien cette mission il a mis en place une stratégie littéraire constituée de réseaux. Une sorte de dynamique zweiguienne s'est créée qui englobe les correspondances, les traductions, les préfaces, les conférences, favorisant ainsi un dialogue franco-allemand voire un forum culturel européen. Sa conception de la politique et du judaïsme reste toutefois ambivalente et invite à divers questionnements essentiellement sur la montée du nazisme. / This monograph is focused on the role as cultural mediator of the Jewish Austrian writer Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) and takes an approach based on the "cultural transfers" theory. His varied identities led him to assume a mediating position among the French literary intellectuals essentially Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916) and Romain Rolland (1866-1944). In order to succeed in this mission as mediator, he created a successful literary network strategy. A Zweig's dynamic took place including correspondences, translations, prefaces, conferences and promoting in this way an intensive French-German dialog or rather a European cultural forum. His relationship to politics and Jewish movements is ambivalent and questionable essentially during the Nazism period.

Stefan Zweig et l’Histoire, Stefan Zweig et l’Humain. Le rapport de Zweig à l’Histoire est en corrélation permanente avec l’être humain. Le collectif et l’individuel sont liés dans ses œuvres. Ses récits de vie au tournant des années 1920-1930, ses ouvrages marquant un certain engagement après l’arrivée d’Hitler au pouvoir ou encore le récit de sa propre vie et de son monde, une fois exilé : autant d’œuvres littéraires qui témoignent de l’intérêt de Zweig pour l’Histoire et pour son monde. Zweig s’identifie souvent aux personnages sur lesquels il écrit, retrouvant en eux des similitudes avec sa propre personne, ou bien admirant les qualités de l’un, enviant le courage d’un autre. Les qualités humaines priment à ses yeux, les héros peuvent être de nature différentes ; les héros ne sont pas seulement ceux dont se souviennent les livres d’école. L’intérêt de Zweig pour l’Histoire passée s’explique par son intérêt pour l’époque dans laquelle il vit. Toutefois, Zweig regrette son propre passé et semble également chercher dans les figures de l’Histoire un lien avec le monde perdu, le monde d’hier. Zweig dit avoir eu trois vies. La dernière se termine dans l’exil. Mais comment vivre loin de son monde, de son histoire, de son passé ? / Stefan Zweig and History, Stefan Zweig and Human. The relationship between Zweig and History is in permanent correlation with the human being. The collective and the individual are linked in his works. His stories of life at the turn of the years 1920-1930, his works which mark a certain engagement after the arrival to power of Hitler or the story of his own life and of his world, after his exile: so many literary works that testify of the interest of Zweig for History and for his world. Zweig often identifies himself with the characters about whom he writes, finding in these characters similarities with his own person, or admiring the qualities of some, and envying the courage of others. The human qualities are more important to his eyes, the heroes could be of different nature; heroes aren't only those about whom the school books speak. The interest of Zweig for History is explained by his interest for the time in which he lives. However, Zweig regrets his own past and seems to search, in the characters of History, for a link with his lost world, the world of yesterday. Zweig says that he has had three lives. The last life ends in exile. But how is it possible to live away from our world, from our history, from our past?

La thèse de doctorat a été rédigée en cotutelle entre la Johannes Gutenberg- Universität Mainz et l’Université de Bourgogne- Franche Comté. Elle porte sur « Venise comme labyrinthe : la ville et sa représentation littéraire au XXe siècle ». La thèse se dédie d’une part à l’analyse systématique des éléments que la ville de Venise et le labyrinthe ont en commun au niveau de la structure et des valeurs symboliques qui y sont liées. D’autre part, elle étudie comment ces caractéristiques sont reflétées dans la littérature du XXe siècle sur Venise, par quels autres éléments labyrinthiques au niveau de la forme et de la réceptionelles sont complétées et quelles fonctions le labyrinthique peut assumer. L’étude présente des résultats multiples et contribue aussi bien à un approfondissement des études sur le labyrinthe qu’aux études vénitiennes, en permettant à travers le focus sur le labyrinthique une meilleure compréhension de la ville et de ses particularités et des conclusionsnouvelles dans l’interprétation des textes. Les textes choisis pour l’analyse (Der Tod in Venedig de Thomas Mann, 1912 ; Le città invisibili de Italo Calvino, 1972 ; Wer war Edgar Allan ? de Peter Rosei, 1977 et Parsifal a Venezia de Giuseppe Sinopoli, 1993) donnent un aperçu de la variété de combinaisons possibles entre les aspects thématiques du labyrinthe au niveau du contenu et les éléments labyrinthiques au niveau de la forme et de la réception. / The doctoral thesis was written in the context of a Cotutelle Doctoral Program between the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz and the Université de Bourgogne-Franche Comté. Itssubject is “Venice as Labyrinth: the City and its Literary Representation in the 20th Century”.The thesis aims to systematically identify and analyse which characteristics the city of Veniceand the labyrinth have in common, both at a structural and a symbolic level. It further examines how these characteristics are reflected in the 20th century narrative on Venice. The study provides a new approach by considering multiple levels: on the one hand, it explores the thematization of the labyrinthine characteristics of the city in the content of the texts. On the other hand, it analyses how these contents are complemented by labyrinthine elements in the form and reception of the texts and focuses on their function. The study provides multiple interesting results. It contributes to the Labyrinth Studies as well as to the Venetian Studies, allowing through the focus on the labyrinthine a better comprehensionof the city and its particularities as well as coming to new conclusions in the interpretationof texts. The works chosen for the analysis (Thomas Mann’s Der Tod in Venedig, 1912; ItaloCalvino’s Le città invisibili, 1972; Peter Rosei’s Wer war Edgar Allan, 1977 and Giuseppe Sinopoli’s Parsifal a Venezia, 1993) provide an overview of the variety of possible combinations of the aspects of the labyrinth in terms of content and the labyrinthine elements in the form and reception of the texts.