Thesis (doctoral)--Universität zu Greifswald, 1914. / Vita. "Die erhaltenen Konzertprogramme der Gesangvereine Storms": p. [81]-90. "Theodor Storm in der Musik": p. [91]-111. Includes bibliographical references.

The thesis is an attempt to refute the indictment of Storm's work as being sentimental and melancholy, arguing that such a judgment fails to take account of the writer's portrayal of tragedy in the final seventeen years of his life. Chapter One analyses a number of aspects of Storm's thought and experience which disposed him towards a tragic view of the world: this includes an examination of the possible impact of the popular philosophies of Feuerbach, the Materialists, Darwin and Schopenhauer, as well as the significance of his educational background, his career as a judge, and his attitude to family life, religion, politics and society. Chapter Two considers the aesthetic convictions underlying Storm's conception and portrayal of tragedy, looking also at the idea of the Novelle as a suitable medium for tragedy and at the relationship between the author's later work and the tragedies of Naturalism. Chapters Three to Five present a detailed study of six individual Novellen which treat themes representative of Storm's work. Chapter Three focuses on Storm's attitude to the destructive potential of prejudice and superstition in society, taking Renate (1878) and Ein Doppelganger (1886) as examples of "The Tragedy of Social Compulsion". Chapter Four investigates his pessimistic preoccupation with the subject of heredity, discussing John Riew' (1885) and Der Herr Etatsrat (1881) as cases of "The Tragedy of Genetic Compulsion". Chapter Five is entitled "The Tragedy of Personal Responsibility": it examines Ein Bekenntnis (1887) and Zur Chronik von Grieshuus (1883) as Novellen in which the leading characters incur specific moral guilt, and considers the nature and results of their attempts to atone for their crime.

In interpreting Der Schinmelreiter by Theodor Storm, the deconstructive method always leaves room for more interpretation; a deconstructive interpretation may simply acknowledge a variety of critical opinions, not necessarily considering one more valid than another, but arguing that all of than together are necessary to form a collective interpretation. I have examined traditionally important views of Storm's work, those of Stuckert and Silz, who argue for a positive heroic example in the main character Hauke Haien, and who consider the supernatural in a less structurally important light, but attribute it to Storm's personal views and geographic background. Ellis, Findlay and Jennings offer an examination of narrative structures and a study of mythic elements in the structure. They break some of the longer-held opinions, redefine realism and draw attention to conflicting character traits of Hauke, suggesting psychological explanations for his mythification. Jost Hermard represents the new directions in social commentary. His interpretation emphasizes possible political criticisms and examines the work in the light of German society in the late nineteenth century.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2008 u.d.T.: Onken, Aiko: Erinnerung, Erzählung und Identität in der mittleren Schaffensperiode von Theodor Storm (1867 - 1872)

Zugl.: Habil.-Schr.

Photocopy of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-186).

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.

Alan Berg's two musical settings of Theodor Storm's poem"Schliesse mir die Augen beide" have received little in the way of scholarly analytical attention. The three major chapters of this thesis deal with the two settings on three different levels. Chapter II surveys the political and cultural milieu in which Berg functioned as a young composer of Lieder in the years 1900-1910. Chapter III examines the special quality of lyricism which is often attributed to Berg and his works. Chapter IV provides more definitive and complete musical analyses of the two settings than have heretofore been available. The question of what role songwriting played in the development of Berg's compositional process is addressed in the conclusion.

In the first part, this diploma paper is going to treat the conception of nouvelle, questions of the definition and the history of this literature genre. The second part is going to be focused on the life and novellistic work of the Northgerman writer Theodor Storm in particular - the characteristics of the nouvelles of Storms, realistic and romantic elements, themas. The last part of this diploma paper is the analyse of the nouvelle "Immensee", the chapter "Reinhards Bad im See" in particular.

Zugl.: Augsburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2009.