The following thesis examines S??skind?s novella <em>Die Taube</em> (1987) and his short-story <em>Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer</em> (1991) with respect to the literary identities of the outsiders Jonathan Noel and Herr Sommer. The theoretical framework is based on the deep hermeneutic analysis of Alfred Lorenzer?s literary-psychoanalytic theory (1986) which affords one the opportunity of analyzing the personality and concept of life of the literary figures by examining their interactional patterns and relationship to society.

The following thesis examines Süskind?s novella <em>Die Taube</em> (1987) and his short-story <em>Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer</em> (1991) with respect to the literary identities of the outsiders Jonathan Noel and Herr Sommer. The theoretical framework is based on the deep hermeneutic analysis of Alfred Lorenzer?s literary-psychoanalytic theory (1986) which affords one the opportunity of analyzing the personality and concept of life of the literary figures by examining their interactional patterns and relationship to society.

Summary: The aim of this paper has been to analyse and categorize Patrick Süskind’s short story Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer (English title: The Story of Mr Sommer (1991)). To this end, the distinctive features of two categories of literature, children’s literature and postmodern narration for adults, have been examined. The formal elements of the text, narrator, structure and language, as well as the thematical elements of the text, have been analysed using a hermaneutic method and concepts of narratology. The analysis has shown that Die Geschichte von Herrn Sommer presents several elements representative of the two catagories of literature – literature for children and literature for adults. As a result, it can be ascertained that this short story should be regarded as a text of hybrid structure, thus placing it, not in one of these categories, but in both.