"Die schmale Brücke" ist eine Dreiecksgeschichte, die das Ringen zweier ungleicher Männer um eine junge Frau schildert. Der fleißige und solide Mittelschulrektor Peter Hansen, der unter der Kinderlosigkeit und Kälte seiner Frau leidet, trifft nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg seinen "Jugendfeind", den redegewandten, bei den Damen hoch beliebten Werner Hagemann wieder, welcher im Zug die Lehrerin Ursula Wüstenhagen kennengelernt hat, eine Kollegin Peter Hansens, in die dieser sich verliebt hat. In schwüler Gesprächsatmosphäre entwickelt sich eine Rivalität, die zunehmend bedrohliche Züge annimmt. Mordgedanken keimen auf. Schließlich fordert Peter Hansen, auf ein Gottesurteil hoffend, Werner Hagemann zu einem lebensgefährlichen Kräftemessen auf einer Brücke auf. Die Erzählung ist das einzige Werk von F. E. Peters, das im Lehrermilieu spielt. Verwoben mit der spannungsreichen Dreiecksbeziehung sind Themen der Frauenemanzipation und modernen Pädagogik sowie zahlreiche literarische Reminiszenzen an den "Zauberberg" oder auch an Goethe und Hölderlin, insbesondere in der zentralen Frage der "Schicksalswürdigkeit". Der ursprünglich von Peters gewählte Titel ("Der Schicksalswürdige") wurde auf Wunsch des Verlages in "Die schmale Brücke" geändert.

Eine aus der 1975 posthum veröffentlichten "Baasdörper Krönk" entwickelte Geschichte, die F.E. Peters in hochdeutscher Sprache veröffentlicht hat. Es geht um die Liebesgeschichte, aber auch den kleinen Machtkampf zwischen einem verwitweten Bauern mit vier Kindern und seiner Haushälterin, die für den Geschmack des angehenden Ehemannes zu viel Wert auf Äußerlichkeiten legt. „Staken und Bretter dienen dazu, das Fassungsvermögen eines Leiterwagens zu steigern.“ Der Ausdruck wird in Baasdorf im übertragenen Sinn für Anzeichen eines übertriebenen Geltungsbedürfnisses gebraucht. Berühmt ist die zu der Erzählung gehörende Episode aus der "Baasdörper Krönk" wegen des Ausspruchs von Johann-Detlef: „Dar fohrt Puls [hier: Thun] mit Tante längs.“ (Krönk, S. 67, Staken und Bretter, S. 8). In der "Krönk" folgen sprachsoziologisch interessante Ausführungen des Erzählers zu den vier Gründen, warum der Ausspruch von Johann-Detlef, der die Geziertheit der Haushälterin parodiert, im Dorf zu einem Lacherfolg wird. Nach Baasdorfer Meinung heißt es „föhrt“ und nicht „fahrt“, außerdem „lang“ und nicht „längs“. Zu allem Überfluss lässt sich die Haushälterin von den Kindern „Tante“ nennen, „wat ok dumm Tüüch weer“ und schließlich nennt sie Hansjörn Puls (hier: Ehler Thun) beim Nachnamen. Johann-Detlef macht also mit seinem Spott mobil gegen die Haushälterin, denn der Gebrauch des Hochdeutschen wird in Baasdorf als ein Zeichen von Hochnäsigkeit gewertet: „So’n Lö, de – mit een Woort geseggt – ümmer höger schieten wüllt, as se den Mors hebbt, de nehmt wi erst mal en betjen in’e Maak; de mööt erstmal wat ümlehren.“ (Krönk, S. 67). In der "Krönk" geht der sich später fortsetzende eheliche Kampf um „Staken und Bretter“ anders und weniger harmonisch aus als in der Erzählung.

Anekdoten und Beobachtungen zu Denk- und Verhaltensweisen in der norddeutschen Provinz mit sensibler Charakterisierung des ländlichen Lebensrhythmus. Die vierte und die fünfte Geschichte findet man auch in der "Baasdörper Krönk". „Unterschiedliche Moden“ ist eine Hommage an Timm Kröger.

Charakterisierung des literarischen Schaffens von Moritz Jahn. Seine Bedeutung für das Plattdeutsche. F. E. Peters beschreibt, Moritz Jahn humorvoll folgend, "polare Spannungen" in Niederdeutschland: "Es gibt Niederdeutsche, die ihrem Lande nie so ganz trauen, die daheim in einer immerwährenden leisen Unruhe hinleben und die aufatmen, wenn sie in gebirgiger Gegend das nackte Gestein unter ihren Füßen fühlen. Dann wird klar, was sie sich bis dahin mühsam verhehlt haben: dass sie nämlich in einem geheimen Winkel ihrer Seele glauben, ihr Land sei vom Meere unterspült, könne an besonders dünnen Stellen durchbrechen, vom festen Kern der Erde losgerissen werden und in die Nebel der Unendlichkeit hinaustreiben. Auf felsigem Grund werden sie dann die neue und wohltuende Sicherheit mit großer Freude so lange genießen, bis das unwiderstehliche Heimweh sie zurücktreibt in die Unsicherheit."

Humorvolle kleine Geschichte um einen naiven Bauern, der sich in der Stadt ein bisschen wichtig machen, „dick doon“ will und den sein Plattdeutsch dazu verleitet, den Begriff „Subrektor“ falsch zu verstehen.

The present dissertation examines conceptions of masculinity in the works of Theodor Storm, a representative of German Poetic Realism. It shows how variations of masculinities are arranged, constructed and performed in Storm’s novellas within the bourgeois order of the supposedly 'stable' 19th century. The different types of masculinities are viewed and analysed in selected areas, as represented in the following four texts: Schweigen, Der Herr Etatsrat, Ein Doppelgänger and Der Schimmelreiter. Simultaneously, they constitute different research fields within Men's Studies, such as family, body/health, power/violence and also society/"male spaces". The main thesis of the dissertation is that Storm expands contemporary 19th-century perceptions of masculinity and femininity by making traditional gender stereotypes converge in his late novellas. The characters only partially match the bourgeois, bipolar gender model, and masculinity should be understood as a variation rather than as an opposition to femininity. Furthermore, the dissertation proposes that Storm should be considered a precursor to literary modernity to a larger extent than has previously been assumed. Therefore, the dissertation focuses on internal differentiation of the hegemonic bourgeois masculinity typical of the 19th century in Storm's works. Here, free spaces are observed between gender identities traditionally conceived as binary. Using Robert Connell's theoretical concept of hegemonic masculinity as a basis, the relationship between inferior, marginalized masculinities and normative ideals is particularly emphasized. Furthermore, the dissertation analyses the depiction of bourgeois self-conflicts in the text, through which Storm exposes the hegemonic stereotype of masculinity.

Walter Kempowski (1929-2007) is one of the most important authors in post-war German literature. In 1971, he published his first novel, Tadellöser & Wolff. This historical novel takes its point of departure in the everyday life of the bourgeois Kempowski family in Rostock shortly before and during World War II until the surrender of the city to the Red Army. The novel was initially very well received by literary critics and was also a commercial success. After the adaptation of the novel for film in 1975, Kempowski became even more of a public figure and won popular acclaim. In the film, however, important aspects of the novel’s literary mediation were lost, and as a result, the attitude among critics towards Kempowski changed considerably. In some groups he was viewed with suspicion and seen as the uncritical representative of the bourgeoisie. It was not until the beginning of the 1990s that he received extensive praise and recognition, much due to the publication of his multi-volume historical documentary work, Echolot. The present study explores Kempowski’s mode of writing in Tadellöser & Wolff from a narratological perspective. The main theoretical points of departure for the analysis are Franz K. Stanzel, one of the leading scholars of classical narratology, and Monika Fludernik, his successor in postmodern narratology. The mediation in the novel is very intricate and carries its theme in a complex and significant way. Though the novel depicts the milieu and atmosphere of the time in a detailed and realistic manner and, through the narrator, the voices, thoughts and opinions of the period resonate in a rich polyphony, yet the predominant narrative perspective is exploited in such a marked way as to create distance to what is portrayed. The fictional first-person narrator proves to be not altogether reliable.

In diesem durch Erlebnisse aus der Zeit seiner Kriegsgefangenschaft in Frankreich (1914-1920) inspirierten Text erläutert Peters die ursprüngliche Bedeutung der plattdeutschen Redensart „to Stock doon“ und der hochdeutschen Redensart „etwas auf dem Kerbholz haben“.

The thesis is concerned with three main problems: (1) The derivation of Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet from the Renaissance tradition (2) The problems inherent in Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet (3) The relationship between Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet and the style of his poetic works. These questions are treated chronologically in their respective relevance to each stage in Hoelderlin's development. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the poet's early poetry, his novel "Hyperion", and his aesthetic theory as reflected in the various versions of that novel and in the philosophical fragments; the second part deals with the drama "Empedokles" and the mature poetry. For the purpose of this essay, however, it seems more practicable to abandon the purely chronological order and to discuss separately each of the three problems mentioned. (1) Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet is based on the Greek Vates and the biblical Prophet. The importance of the classical and biblical traditions for Hoelderlin as well as the extent to which he was influenced by Klopstock and other German contemporaries have been stressed again and again; but the significance of the tradition linkng the centuries between antiquity and the 18th century has been neglected. This thesis attempts to fill the gap and to show that Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet is inconceivable without the gradual change in the cultural pattern brought about by the Renaissance. It it in the Renaissance that art (with philosophy) takes over part of the function formerly fulfilled by religion, that the inspired individual rather than the institution of the Church becomes the mediator between God and men, that the national community emerges from the international society of the Middle Ages, and that a transformation of the classical and Christian heritage takes place. All this is reflected in the Renaissance conception of the Poet as Vates and Prophet, who interprets history and brings a divine message to his people. From Boccaccio to Scaliger this conception occurs in all major Italian Renaissance works on poetic theory. Ronsard, as the first modern Poet-Vates, introduces it in France. In England Sidney expounds similar views, later to be realized in the personality and work of Milton. In Germany it is Hoelderlin's Suabian compatriot Weckherlin who emulates the example of Ronsard, while Opitz sums up the typical contemporary view of poetry in his standard German Renaissance Poetics. A century later Gottsched and Herder go back to Opitz for their interpretation of the sacred mission of poetry. The young Klopstock is influenced by Gottsched as well as by Milton. He, Herder, Schiller and the Suabian poets, humanists and pietists, hand on the tradition to Hoelderlin. The idea, however, that the Poet is a Prophet would not be understandable without certain philosophical conceptions which were also developed by the Renaissance. Plato's theory of the "furor poeticus", commented on and interpreted in a neo-platonic way by Marsilio Ficino, is taken over by Ronsard and Opitz and blends with Giordano Bruno's and Shaftesbury's re-interpretation of neo-platonism and these influences join with Leibniz's monadology to shape German aesthetics in the 18th century. The conceptions then current reach Hoelderlin through Herder, Schiller, and Jacobi's book on Spinoza, which contained extracts from Bruno and Leibniz. Thus for Hoelderlin - as for his generation - God is the supreme artist, Beauty the very essence of the universe, the human soul a spark of the divine, and the Poet, according to Shaftesbury "a second maker", creates, like God himself, through the Word, the sacred Logos. These philosophical concepts both supplement and contradict Hoelderlin's view of the Poet as a Vates and Prophet. Equipped with the Renaissance heritage Hoelderlin arrives in Jena, the centre of German classicism and the cradle of romanticism. The impact of Kant, Fichte, Goethe, Schiller and Schelling on Hoelderlin and the reflection in his own philosophical writings of his contacts with these leading figures of contemporary letters are discussed in a separate chapter. In Hoelderlin's aesthetic theory the Renaissance conception of the Poet has been developed up to the point where it passes into romanticism. In this, Hoelderlin's place in German literature corresponds to that of Goethe. It is true, there is a vast difference which critics have rightly stressed. It is, however, one of the advantages of seeing Hoelderlin in the light of the Renaissance tradition that, in spite of differences, he appears as the contemporary of Goethe, the chief representative of the belated German Renaissance. Just as Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet goes back to the Renaissance, so do many of his poetic themes, such as the parallels between Christ and Hercules, Christ and Bacchus, the invitation to the Greek Muses to visit Germany, the praise of the vernacular, his approach to nature and geography, etc. (2) Hoelderlin's conception of the Poet is full of problems. They become first manifest in "Hyperion". The hero of this novel, a reflection of Hoelderlin himself, is the Poet, who in sublime visions sees divine Beauty, and the Vates who wants to free his people and rebuild Greece. As Vates he fails. He attributes his failure to the fact that the age is not ripe for his idealism, but it is also due to the conception of the Poet-Vates itself. As a Poet Hyperion delights in the very act of experiencing life in its joyful as well as tragic aspects, life revealing itself to him as a rhythmic whole which he calls Beauty and which is but the projection of the rhythm of human emotions into the universe. But the universe does not obey the laws of the human heart, nor does history; a "theocracy" cannot be founded on Beauty as Hyperion believes; his gift for experiencing deeply the joys and woes of life does not enable him to rebuild a new society - in short the Poet's vision does not prove to be the message of a Vates and Prophet. In the moment when, at the end of the novel, Hyperion is at the height of his poetic powers, he knows least how to serve his fellow men. In "Empedokles" the problem of the Poet's function appears somewhat differently. The hero of the drama represents the highest form of genius the poet can conceive. He combines the "Genie" of the Storm and Stress period, Schiller's aesthetic artist, the mystical mediator between God and men, the Greek Titan, and it is also suggested that he is a kind of Christian saviour. This symbol of everything Hoelderlin worshipped in man has to die. It is in the various motivations of the death of Empedokles that Hoelderlin presents the problematical nature of genius. The most interesting point is the question of the guilt of genius. Empedokles is guilty of what is described in the thesis as pseudo-mystical approach to the Gods. The pseudo-mystical experience becomes linked with the problem of language, the very instrument of the Poet. In order to re-establish the right relationship between himself and the Gods, Empedokes has to die. But as he prepares for death he is once again re-united both with his people and with the Gods. It is at the expense of his life that he is allowed to be the Prophet who delivers a divine message unto his people. The end suggests that genius can be both, and almost at the same time, the culprit and the redeemer, a conception which Hoelderlin's theory of tragedy tries to justify. As regards the drama itself we are left with one the one hand the glorification of genius and on the other the dangers, the guilt, the tragic fate that go with genius. The problem of genius is also the main theme of Hoelderlin's mature poetry. It is by singing of genii that he evokes the vast panorama of his later elegies, odes and hymns.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian poet, dramatist, and essayist (1874-1929), published with the Insel-Verlag from its inception in 1901 until his death. This work examines Hofmannsthal's relationship with his publisher Anton Kippenberg (1874-1950). The author was drawn to the Insel-Verlag initially through his association with its founders, Alfred Walter Heymel and Rudolf Alexander Schröder, who published the short-lived periodical Die Insel. Known for its emphasis on aesthetics, the magazine set a tone that became characteristic for the firm. As a poet, Hofmannsthal found the climate beneficial and the audience of the Insel-Verlag receptive to his early lyrical works and certain other writings outside the mainstream of his later production. Under Anton Kippenberg's direction, these works were assured careful attention to detail; typeface, binding, illustrations, and all aspects of the physical book were designed to harmonize with its contents, enabling Hofmannsthal to present his writings in a format which did his creations honor. Hofmannsthal published four categories of material with the Insel-Verlag: his early lyrical works; republications issued as deluxe editions; reprints of selected texts in the inexpensive but elegantly designed Insel-Bücherei, and other Insel publications such as the Insel-Almanach or Inselschiff; and introductions and essays composed in his role as editor of compilations appearing under the Insel imprint. Hofmannsthal showed a great awareness of the Insel's particular Verlagsprofil in his selection of texts issued under its signet. Anton Kippenberg brought financial stability, business-like organization, and sound aesthetic judgement to the Insel-Verlag, creating an atmosphere in which Hofmannsthal's works could thrive. Early in his association with the Insel-Verlag, Kippenberg advanced a program which echoed many of Hofmannsthal's concerns and thus further solidified their relationship. Kippenberg proposed to give a book the design and format appropriate to its contents, to serve world literature, to expand the market for these titles without sacrificing quality to economics, and to support a select group of contemporary authors. Hofmannsthal's association with publisher Anton Kippenberg was a complex and often stormy one. United through shared goals, the two men worked to achieve a relationship mutually beneficial to each, one in which both the reputation of the individual and that of the firm were enhanced by their cooperation.