The editorial role that Alfred Andersch performed between 1955 and 1958 for the Suddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart was of such significance that the 'Radio Essay' programme (which he initiated) became a by-word for quality in German radio. The high standard of the radio programmes was made possible only thanks to the help provided by his gifted collaborators. This fact emerges from an investigation of unpublished sources, such as radio manuscripts and correspondence with the authors whose work was adapted for radio. It is on this new material that the following study is based. More than a hundred authors were responsible for 283 programmes under the rubric 'Das Netz' as part of the late-night transmissions. The studio of the Su*ddeutscher Rundfunk gave Andersch's collabortors scope to premie*re sometimes experimental radio plays. Twenty-nine authors were responsible for the exclusive evening programme. The review series 'Ein Buch und eine Meinung' allowed many writers and critics to make a name for themselves. The striking feature of Andersch's editorial team, is that it produced notable West German writers. Hans Magnus Enzensberger and Helmut PROB*LEM (the latter succeeding the former as Andersch's editorial assistant) and Klaus Roehler were discovered and promoted by Andersch. They belonged to the 'Gruppe 47', which in turn provided him with close contacts to Heinrich Bo*ll, Walter Jens, Wolfgang Hildesheimer and Wolfgang Weyrauch, whose work Andersch adapted for radio. A section of the following thesis is devoted to each of these central figures.

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The present thesis traces Lenz's development during the decisive period of 1774-76, focusing on his own sense of 'Bestimmung' as a writer. The method adopted has a dual aspect. Firstly, a substantial number of unpublished manuscripts related to Lenz's military reform project, written during his stay in Weimar - widely acknowledged as the 'Wendepunkt' of his career - are edited and analysed for the first time. Secondly, these manuscripts will be read in conjunction with a series of existing texts so as to give an overview of the process of Lenz's development. 1774 is a pivotal date, for in Meinungen eines Laien Lenz sets what he himself terms the 'Grundstein' of his entire oeuvre. A close analysis of this much ignored text is key to an understanding of the ethos which underpins his subsequent development. At its conclusion Lenz also articulates his desire to play a more active role in society than the limitations of literature allow. It is with his military reform project that Lenz hopes to effect such a transition. Die Soldaten is read as an initial attempt to voice his ambition of gaining a position in court. Such a reading has only been made possible by the edition of a number of manuscripts from the Kraków Lenziana. Thus the thesis seeks to fill a vital gap in Lenz scholarship: an investigation into Lenz's political aspirations as reflected in his writings whilst in Weimar, and particularly during his stay in his Berka 'Einsiedelei'. An understanding of the historical events, particularly those unfolding in France, which gave rise to the project is long overdue and is addressed here in the analysis of the 'lettre à Maurepas'. Der Landprediger, written after his expulsion from Weimar following his notorious 'Eseley' of November 1776, is read as an epitaph to Lenz's abortive career of writer as reformer.

This thesis is a chronological study of Broch's work from the early 1930's until his death in 1951. The former date is selected as the point of departure because, with the publication of "Der Zerfall der Werte" in Die Schlafwandler in 1932, Broch, for the first time, gave definitive expression to his theory of values, which he had been gradually formulating in years of research prior to that date. There are two main parts to this study. Broch's theoretical writings are first examined with a view to showing how and why the theory of "das Irdisch-Absolute" developed and to explaining exactly what it is. In the second part his novels are examined with the aim of establishing the extent to which the developing theory of "das Irdisch-Absolute" is reflected in them. It can be shown that the basic development in question is a progression in Broch's thinking from reliance on the purely formal, abstract, transcendental Absolute of the Logos to the conviction that man, as the empirical, earthly Absolute, must be the final criterion by and against which all values must be judged. The main purpose of the thesis, as explained in the introduction, is to show how Broch, an intellectual and theoretician, was forced by historical circumstances continually to modify and revise his thinking on the basic question of ethics. This revision, of which Broch was never fully aware himself, is seen in the way he progressively abandoned a highly abstract, theoretical and speculative conception of ethics, which seemed to have little immediate relevance to the problems of his own generation, in favour of a more practical morality of direct humanitarian commitment.

The thesis is an examination of the concept of the chronicler and the nature of the chronicle as developed by the GDR author Christoph Hein from the theoretical writing of the philosopher Walter Benjamin. It examines the role of the chronicler as portrayed in Benjamin's essay "Der Erzahler", and his theses on history "Uber den Begriff der Geschichte", and the way in which this was adopted and developed by Hein as the basis of his understanding of the nature and role of the author in GDR society. The role of the author as chronicler is fundamental to the understanding of Hein's literary production. A full and detailed analysis of the author's theoretical development of the concept of the chronicler, and its application in his works of prose fiction during his time as a writer in the GDR, has hitherto not been undertaken. The first chapter aims to examine Hein's understanding of history and the role of the chronicler in the context of his own theoretical writing. It begins with his analysis of the nature of historical understanding and the writing of history as practised in the GDR presented in the essay "Die funfte Grundrechenart". An examination then follows of Benjamin's concept of the chronicle and its adoption and development by Hein, based on interviews and essays by the author. It concludes with Hein's critique of progress in history through the examination of the essay "Maelzel's Chess Player goes to Hollywood. Das Verschwinden des kiinstlerischen Produzenten im Zeitalter der technischen Reproduzierbarkeit", in the context of Benjamin's historical theses "Uber den Begriff der Geschichte". The following chapters examine the role of the chronicler and the nature of the chronicle as they are presented in the prose fiction which Hein produced as an author in the GDR. The novella 'Drachenblut', the novel 'Horns Ende', and the "Erzahlung" 'Der Tangospieler', as well as the collection of shorter prose fiction 'Nachtfahrt und fruher Morgen'. The main finding of this thesis is that Hein develops the concept of the chronicle from the theoretical writings of Walter Benjamin into an intellectual position as a GDR author, by which he defines not only his role as an author, but which he also uses as a model for the creation of his prose fiction. Through his literary writing, he criticises the historical understanding which prevailed in the GDR and the idea of progress in history. His works are literary contributions which aim to broaden the discussion of the problems of social life in the GDR and the position of the author in relation to the state.

This doctoral thesis seeks to investigate the relationship between existentialism, a philosophy of life that is as much literary as it is philosophical in effect, and German-language literature in the aftermath of the Second World War. The focus will be on three German-language writers whose novels have given implicit formulation to a range of existential concerns. These include the notions of the self, freedom, authenticity, responsibility, angst, Grenzsituation and suffering, and constitute what I refer to as an unwritten existentialist manifesto. The writers selected for examination in this study are Max Frisch (1911-1991) with his 1954 novel Stiller, Alfred Andersch (1914-1980) with his 1952 autobiographical report Die Kirschen der Freiheit, and Heinrich Böll (1917-1985) with his posthumously published Der Engel schwieg (1949/1992). Whilst these writers do not engage in explicit philosophical or theological existentialist reflection as such, their novels can be seen to provide implicit literary formulation to the aforementioned range of existentialist themes. These three writers and their works highlight the extent to which existentialist concerns penetrated post-1945 German-language literature even where the writers themselves did not openly identify with existentialism as either a literary or philosophical phenomenon. As will be shown, their novels deal with the principal questions that stand at the core of existentialist philosophy, and indeed that stand for the human individual, at this point in Western intellectual history. These analyses will consider the idea of existentialism as literature, defining an image of existentialism as it developed in not only philosophical but also literary terms, thus establishing how existentialism can and should be approached as both a philosophical and literary phenomenon. In this regard, the works of literature by Frisch, Andersch and Böll can be seen as a crucial means of expression for and dissemination of existentialist thought. A study of these literary texts will also uncover the continuing relevance of this philosophical movement which grapples in such fundamental ways with the concrete aporias and threshold situations of human existence then as today. What renders existentialism as a method of inquiry and reflection so pertinent is less its preoccupation with existence in general than its contention that thinking existentially about human existence leads us to pose questions that extend beyond the conceptual repertoire of classical philosophy.

This thesis examines the life and work of a little-known interwar period German writer Lilo Linke. Documenting individual and social evolution across three continents, her self-reflexive and autobiographical narratives are like conversations with readers in the hope of facilitating progressive change. With little tertiary education, as a self-fashioned practitioner prior to the emergence of cultural studies, Linke’s everyday experiences constitute ‘experiential learning’ (John Dewey). Rejecting her Nazi-leaning family, through ‘fortunate encounter[s]’ (Goethe) she became critical of Weimar and cultivated hope by imagining and working to become a better person, what Ernst Bloch called Vor-Schein. Linke’s ‘instinct of workmanship’, ‘parental bent’ and ‘idle curiosity’ was grounded in her inherent ‘spirit of insubordination’, terms borrowed from Thorstein Veblen. Experiences and writing these experiences up resembles Paulo Freire’s pedagogy ‘word=work=praxis’. Devoid of scientific or colonial gaze, she learned a new way of seeing, what Goethe called ‘tender empiricism’. I argue Linke’s praxis is an emancipatory pedagogy that worked toward betterment of the self and ‘common man’ (Veblen). This interdisciplinary research revisits a question Veblen broadly investigated regarding individual and social evolution at the turn of the twentieth century. My primary question asks; how did Lilo Linke evolve from a ‘self-regarding’ individual to ‘other-regarding’ person to work for the betterment of the whole? The thesis comprises two parts. Part I interprets Linke’s evolution evoking the Bildungsroman (Goethe). Using Veblen’s cumulative causation methodology, I explore German ‘native-bias’ by juxtaposing it to Linke’s ‘spirit of insubordination.’ Part II selects Linke’s authorship (1937) on the modern Turkish Republic in its Étatist era and addresses my secondary question; how did Linke’s praxis reflect in her narratives on Turkey? I suggest there are strong parallels between Linke’s ‘experiential learning’ and ‘spirit of insubordination’ within Turkey, in that, they both worked for betterment of the whole under exceedingly trying circumstances.

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Carmen Sylva (1843-1916), a German princess and the first Queen of Romania, was a well-known royal figure and a prolific writer. Under this pseudonym, she published around fifty volumes in a wide variety of genres, including poetry, short stories and aphorisms. During her lifetime she was a regular feature in the British periodical press and visited Britain on numerous occasions. Widely reviewed – both celebrated and condemned for her ‘fatal fluency’ – Sylva’s work became marginalised after her death and has yet to be fully recovered. She has only recently received critical attention in her native Germany and has yet to be recuperated within British literary culture. This thesis will examine the reasons behind Sylva’s current obscurity as well as presenting the grounds for her reassessment. It will establish her connection to Britain, markers of which can still be found in its regional geography, as well as the scope of her literary presence in British periodicals. It will draw comparisons between Sylva and her contemporaries and will examine her contribution to fin-de-siècle British literary culture, analysing her short stories in order to detail her engagement with the ‘Woman Question’. This focus places Sylva at the centre of contemporary discussions and her often conflicting responses to such issues further our understanding of the complexity of nineteenth-century literary debates. In reassessing Sylva, this study will address broader notions surrounding the short story, popular fiction, and women’s writing, in order to question both current and contemporary attitudes to literature.