This thesis [written in German] is the first known study to analyze the writings of the Austrian, Franz Michael Felder, as an educative device, which the author himself utilized to enlighten and instruct his country folk in Bregenzerwald, Vorarlberg. An attempt is made to uncover the basic message inherent in all of Felder’s works: close family relationship, high moral standards and diligence are important to him; he fights petty prejudice, meaningless tradition and hypocrisy. The many native customs peculiar to the region are, of course, immanent in his literary production and, what is particularly significant, he stages a continuous battle against the social and political pressures of the time. He sees the need for community action in pooling meager resources to combat influential outside monopolies which stifle the economy of his remote alpine region. Franz Michael Felder’s message is somber. It lacks the folksy homespun qualities observed in similar writers, such as Rosegger, Gotthelf, Hansjacob , Huggenberger, Löns, Schönherr and Ludwig Thoma. Felder educates his people to a better understanding of themselves and a greater tolerance of others. He seeks equality of rights and equal justice for everyone. With a seriously discerning attitude he probes local problems confronting his people; these he portrays in true to life situations, attempting to search the causes. While Felder does not advocate to change customs and established ways of life, he wants to better his people’s situation for their own welfare and self-improvement. Felder’s literary importance is manifold: he writes from true experience, which he incorporates into beneficial teaching for his people; Austria in its entirety and much of Europe is quite akin to the style of rural living described by Felder for the Vorarlberg. Thus he captures a true picture of nineteen-century village life with its economic and social implications. This study treats of Felder’s literary achievements only. It casually mentions his other, more visible accomplishments, such as the foundation of a dairy association, an agricultural produce co-op, a cattle insurance company, a weaving co-op. He established a library and a reading club. This he did in a relatively brief span of time for he died at the age of twenty-nine. Not only did Felder make material life easier for his countrymen, he freed them spiritually as well. The research of this thesis concludes that Felder, though relatively unknown in literature is possibly the most influential and lasting of all Vorarlberg writers. His description does not have the pastoral serenity usually peculiar to village tales; there is little to see of the pretty mountain landscapes, or the cool green meadows with rustling brooks and cowbells ringing. Felder does not indulge the reader – instead he describes reality, actual people and their problems – the reader gets what he needs. This, then, is the universality of Felder’s work: in essence, he reflects truth.

A study of the shorter fiction of Nathaniel Hawthorne reveals a rich experimentation with narrative techniques, all working towards what Edgar Allan Poe, Hawthorne's first critic, called a 'certain unique or single effect'. The aim of this dissertation is to show how Hawthorne's concern with the complex nature of man's temporal existence governs both the theme and structure of his fiction. Time implies both change and flux, and is inextricable from the historical, social and psychological evolution of Hawthorne's characters. As theme, time is used to disclose patterns of withdrawal and return, the problem of the individual alienated from his society, and the tension between the realm of art and the world of actuality. As structure, time is used in various ways to govern the pace of a particular story and, most certainly, to govern the unfolding sequence of events. Hawthorne consciously experiments with different generic modes, with a diversity of beginnings and endings, in order to explore the inexhaustible manifestations of human time.

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