The schema under which the specimen text can be apprehended relies primarily on binary units. They are either assembled onto an axis of opposition or similarity. If similarity is called for, smaller units are usually combined into larger units, or else are ordered into chains of equvalent parts. Larger units are organized into tripartite structures: the chapters form three major units (1); textual relations are represented as triangular models (2); and throughout the text, reference is made to the concept of the Trinity (3). The number three stands for completeness and the number thirteen functions similarly: there are thirteen chapters in the text. The "Wendepunkt" of the novella occurs in the middle, thus dividing the text into two equal parts which both function independently as all binary units do, but they are equivalent units in terms of structural relevance. As independent units, the first establishes the thematic material, the second completes the drama and confirms the prevailing sense of tragedy. Together they constitute the text. The basic motifs are already present in the first paragraph of Katz und Maus, and as the text continues, variation and juxtaposition work to expand on the notions the text has established in the beginning, so that the beginning already foreshadows the final event. Mahlke's body and its exceptional symmetry function as a map for textual relations. The straight line descending from his Mittelscheitel down to his Adamsapfel and further down to his genitals is the same vertical axis and center line which divides the novella in the middle of chapter seven. All other parts are fitted onto that axis and revolve around it as story, plot and characters are added into the thematic fabric of Katz und Maus. As a result the body's volume and density are increased while the skeleton's major axis starts to turn at regular intervals. As the axis continues to rotate, different parts come into view and are displayed as the elements that form an organic whole. At the intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines of that cross lies the source of all good and evil: Mahlke's Adamsapfel. Big, round and energetic, it feeds all other parts and dominates the entire structure. The Adam's apple is Mahlke's motor and the motor of all textual activity. It is procreator of the text and generator of the inherent major conflict which exists between Katz and Maus.

This study joins the scholarship on Gottfried's Tristan on the side that evaluates the lure of Tristan and Isolde positively. A second point of departure is that the scholarship has hitherto overlooked the substantial irony present in the plot development, as well as in the characterization of numerous secondary figures in Gottfried's romance. Developments in the plot which would seem to doom the love affair of Tristan and Isolde quite ironically create situations in which the love affair can flourish. The scheming Cornish count, by sending Tristan to Ireland in an attempt to murder him, actually gives Tristan the opportunity to practice his highly individual talents in Ireland, resulting finally in his meeting Isolde. Conversely, the apparently benevolent and paternal intentions of Rual, Tristan's foster father, involves Tristan in a morally dubious, and almost fatal, war of revenge, and were also aimed at forcing Tristan into a kingly role to which he is not by his nature suited. Characters in this romance which have in the scholarship been seen as figures of authority or even respectability are revealed in the light of irony, to be the least authoritative and respectable characters. Two prime examples are King Mark and Queen Isolde, both monarchs of worldly stature, yet both also utterly powerless to carry out their dearest worldly intentions. An important contrast is established between characters of this sort and Brangaene, who stands in an uncannily sympathetic relationship to Tristan and Isolde that is not determined by any social role. She is the lovers' servant and their only confidant, at the Irish court and in Mark's bed, and also their teacher, in the episodes of the lovers' ruses. Brangaene performs vital service for the lovers by helping to conceal their love and also by enhancing it through her verbal instruction and the positive example of her actions.

Fontane and Spielhagen wrote their novels almost simultaneously based on the same incident from Berlin society-life of the 1880s. The dissertation has two main thrusts: (1) An examination of the changes which Fontane made in his adaptation of the story shows clearly how conservative his treatment of the material was. He avoided the more progressive, controversial aspects of the case and made of a happening, which was entirely symptomatic of the development of the role of women in marriage and society on the threshold of the 20th century (and of the reactionary element, which sought to arrest this development) a fable, which is firmly anchored in the aristocratic life of 19th century Germany. These findings stand in clear contrast to those of Fontane studies of the last 30 years in general (and of feminist-oriented studies in particular), which have tended to exaggerate the importance of the social-critical aspect of his works at the expense of a more balanced view of progressive and conservative elements. (2) An examination of the technique of both authors, particularly in light of Spielhagens literary theories, shows that Spielhagen, who had sought to achieve a realistic representation of life through the use of a formula of "epic objectivity", failed in this endeavour, in spite of the great technical virtuosity of his work. Fontane, on the other hand, who did not commit himself wholeheartedly to this theory, was able to attain a high degree of realism by offering a wide perspective of subjective points of view (with none of which the narrator was identified), which in turn allow the reader to form his own "objectified" picture of reality.

This study examines the late plays Rosamunde Floris und Alain und Elise by the playwright Georg Kaiser (1878-1945). The childhood of Georg Kaiser was very traumatic and the recurring motive of "longing for Paradise" and the archetype of the orphan had their roots in this childhood. Examination of his letters shows that the "God is dead" philosophy became part of his beliefs at an early stage of his literary production. The main findings of this study are: (1) To replace the loss of belief in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the poet returns to mythological structures and symbols. In Rosamunde Floris, Rosamunde is firmly placed in the matriarchal epoch of human history within the historical scheme of Bachofen. There is a clear progression from the initial aphroditic hetairism of Rosamunde to her final transfiguration as dionysian guardian of mysteries. Her death as Amazon signifies the highest degree of spiritual development within the demetrian epoch of humanity. (2) In Alain und Elise, the poet transcends this demetrian realm by the step from gynaicocracy to patriarchy and the inherent victory of enlightenment over chthonic darkness. The central court trial and its proclaimed search for truth is supported by literary allusions to the work of Novalis where the return to childhood and the finding of Paradise are central motives. In the final scene God is dead both in the sense of the Christian tradition and as metaphysical being. Final truth is to be found only within each human being, and the suffering of separation and exile prepares for a new transcendent found only in oneself. (3) The victory of the forces of light over the chthonic is carried to the conclusion in the Hellenic plays by Kaiser. In the last drama Bellerophon, Bellerophon is an orphan raised by the Light-God Apollo. For his unerring adherence to truth, Bellerophon is ultimately transposed into the stars, not only because truth has no place on earth, but also because the universe is so desolate that even the Gods are lonely. This re-evaluation of these late plays by Kaiser does not only prove that they constitute an integral part of the poet's literary development, but it necessitates also a re-assessment of Kaiser's entire literary oeuvre. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

ABSTRACT This project seeks to clarify the complex interrelation of utopia and nostalgia in post World War II German literature, as the nineteen sixties student protest movement develops into what has become known as the 'New Subjectivity' of the nineteen seventies. The introductory chapter frames the historical context of this development, problematizing the idea of '1968' as its climax or turning point, while establishing the interrelationship of the concepts of utopia and nostalgia as the principal methodological and interpretative foil for the literary readings that follow. In three subsequent chapters I propose close readings of this theme in Peter Schneider's Lenz (1973), Hans Magnus Enzensberger's Der kurze Sommer der Anarchie (1972), and Berward Vesper's Die Reise (1977). These, I argue, texts demonstrate a trajectory of utopian thinking toward nostalgic reflection that exposes a dialectical tension between utopia and nostalgia. Through their literary texts as well as their essays in one another's periodical publications, such as the Voltaire Flugschriften and Kursbuch, the three authors address this tension as a common experience of the transitional period between the sixties student protest movement and the dawn of the 'New Subjectivity' of the seventies. I read Lenz as road narrative that mobilizes the metaphor of the road as the locus of the utopia-nostalgia dynamic; the road is a transitional space that embodies the uncertainty of the post-revolutionary moment when reflective nostalgia seems to replace the disillusioned utopia. Der kurze Sommer der Anarchie engages the literary discourses of utopia and nostalgia via the documentary form, after its pre-1968 / Résumé Ce travail se propose de clarifier l'interrelation complexe entre utopie et nostalgie dans la littérature allemande d'après-guerre, lorsque le mouvement estudiantin de protestation des années soixante se transmue en ce qu'on nommera la 'nouvelle subjectivité' des années soixante-dix. Notre introduction reconstruit le contexte historique de ce développement, contestant la notion que '1968' en constitue le sommet ou la péripétie, et présente l'interrelation des concepts d'utopie et de nostalgie comme cadre à la fois méthodologique et interprétatif des lectures littéraires qui suivent. Au cours des trois chapitres suivants, nous proposons des lectures détaillées de ce thème chez Peter Schneider (Lenz, 1973), Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Der kurze Sommer der Anarchie, 1972) et Bernward Vesper (Die Reise, 1977). Ces trois textes dessinent une trajectoire de la pensée utopiste vers une réflexion nostalgique, exposant ainsi la tension dialectique entre utopie et nostalgie. A travers leur production littéraire ainsi que les essais publiés dans leurs revues respectives, telles Voltaire Flugschriften et Kursbuch, les trois auteurs en question traitent et thématisent cette tension en tant qu'expérience collective de la période transitoire entre le mouvement contestataire des années soixante et l'aube de la 'nouvelle subjectivité' des années soixante-dix. Nous proposons d'abord une lecture de Lenz en termes de récit de la 'grande route' (road narrative), mobilisant la métaphore de la route comme lieu de la dynamique utopie-nostalgie ; la route est un espace transitoire incarnant l'incertitude de la période postrévolutionnaire où la réflexion n

It has frequently been stated over the past 20 years that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Nibelungenlied served to communicate and justify nationalist ideals in Germany. This criticism focused on the alienation of the epos from its original (medieval) context and on the reinterpretation of some of its key elements in order to suit that nationalist purpose. It accurately underlined that it was necessary to become aware of the historical distance between the Nibelungenlied and its modern interpreters, thereby ensuring an adequate understanding of its meaning. / Although this view is justified in light of intellectual history, it does not fully explain the "nationalist" abuse of the epos. The goal of this thesis is to remedy this deficiency by using a theory of myth as a basis for the interpretation of the nationalist modifications introduced in the Nibelungen-epos. The analysis that is made within a myth-oriented framework reveals that the nationalist reception of the Nibelungenlied was not exclusively a reflex of germanophilic enthusiasm, but rather represented a subsequent adjustment of the epos to a new fundamental myth. During its period of reception, the epos underwent several modifications, each being the result of changes in the fundamental myths during the different historical periods. From a contemporary perspective, the historical parameters of this process are established by the medieval epos itself on the one hand, and J. Lodemann's 1986 adaptation of the Nibelungenlied, entitled Siegfried, on the other. Seen within the concept of "work on myth", the nationalist reception can be explained as just another element in a whole series of adjustments brought about in order to guarantee the continuing relevance of the Nibelungenlied.

This project examines the role of unreliable narration in the works of Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) and Heinrich Böll (1917-1985) as a form of political engagement. Its first section provides an extensive historical analysis of the scholarship on unreliable narration within the field of narratology. It argues for a shift away from structuralist narratological models and toward a hybrid model of historical, cultural and cognitive narratology. Furthermore, the case is made for a reconceptualization of unreliable narration as a fundamental form of "discrepant awareness" and as the equivalent of dramatic irony in prose. Building on this insight, it locates unreliable narrration in the trajectory of avant-gardist and partisan writing. Drawing on concepts of "subversive affirmation", such as Umberto Eco's "communications guerilla warfare", Michel Foucault's "non-positive affirmation", Slavoj Zizek's "over-identification", and Linda Hutcheon's theory of post-modern irony, it argues that unreliable narration is frequently used as a pedagogical tool by way of parodic subversion. The subsequent study of the works of Kleist and Böll further substantiates this claim. In trying to conform to the conventions of his time, the narrator in Kleist's journalistic writing and prose repeatedly cites a variety of contemporary genres, such as the "moralische Erzählung" and the bourgeois tragedy, as well as the aesthetic ideals of German Romanticism. His unreliability, however, allows Kleist not only to circumvent Napoleonic censorship, but also to infiltrate the public discourse and sabotage its codes. A close reading of the novella Michael Kohlhaas reveals how Kleist's narrator makes use of manipulated focalization to steer the reader's sympathies. By way of contrast, Heinrich Böll, in his novels Group Portrait with Lady and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, uses a narrator who sees himself as writing in the tradition / Ce projet a pour but d'analyser le rôle d'une "unreliable narration" dans les œuvres d'Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811) et d'Heinrich Böll (1917-1985) en tant que forme d'engagement politique. La première partie offre une représentation exhaustive de l'ensemble de la recherche qui a été faite sur la narration dite « unreliable » au sein de la narratologie, plaidant ainsi un revirement, voire un recul vis-à-vis des modèles narratologiques structuralistes et envers un modèle narratologique hybride se voulant a la fois historique, culturel et cognitif. De surcroit, cette thèse suggère une reconceptualisation de la « unreliable narration » en tant que forme fondamentale d'une « discrepant awareness », égale a l'ironie dramatique en prose. A partir de ces observations, cette thèse explore le rôle de la « unreliable narration » dans le contexte des écrits dits avant-gardistes et partisans. Se basant sur les concepts de « affirmation subversive » tels que les 'communications guerilla warfare » d'Umberto Eco, « l'affirmation non-positive » de Michel Foucault, l' « over-identification » de Slavoj Zizek, ainsi que la théorie de l'ironie post-moderne de Linda Hutcheon, elle argumente que la « unreliable narration » est fréquemment utilise en tant qu'outil pédagogique a des fins de subversion parodique. Cette étude portant sur les œuvres de Kleist et de Böll confirme cette théorie. Voulant être conforme aux conventions de son temps, la figure narrative dans les écrits journalistiques et dans la prose de Kleist cite à maintes reprises plusieurs « genres » contemporains, tels que la « moralische Erzählung » et la trégédie bourgeoise, de même que les idéaux du romantisme allemand. Or, la « unreliability » des écrits de Kleist lui permet non seulement de contourner la censure napoléonienne, mais lui permet également de s'infiltrer dans un discours public et d'en s

The aim of this thesis is to explore the importance of "performativity" as a central thematic and aesthetic category in German-Turkish migrant literature and cinema through three works from different periods: Haldun Taner's Hexenzauber (1980), Emine Sevgi Özdamar's Mutter Zunge (1990) and Kutluğ Ataman's film Lola und Bilidikid (1999). I argue that the concern with performance in these works functions, at least in part, to work through questions of intercultural translation and transference central to the situation of migrants. In the first chapter, I show how the German translation of Taner's Hexenzauber story functions performatively to mask parts of the original, thereby imitating the masked performance of the clandestine worker at the centre of the tale. In the second chapter, I then show how Özdamar's writing of the 1990s, on the contrary, stages the unmasking of an original (the "mother tongue" sought after by the protagonist), even as it creates a notion of language and culture based on hybridity. In the third and final chapter, I then turn my view to a different aspect of performativity, gender and ethnic performance, to show how Ataman's film places the very idea of an "original" in question. / Ce mémoire a pour but d'explorer l'importance de la performativité comme catégorie thématique et esthétique centrale dans la littérature et le cinéma issus de la migration en Allemagne. Pour ce faire, je me concentre sur trois œuvres de différentes périodes : Hexenzauber (1980) par Haldun Taner, Mutter Zunge (1990) par Emine Sevgi Özdamar et Lola und Bilidikid (1999) par Kutluğ Ataman. Mon argument est que la thématisation de la performance dans ces œuvres sert, du moins en partie, à réfléchir sur des questions de traduction ou de transfert interculturels, questions centrales pour la situation des migrants. Dans le premier chapitre, je montre comment la traduction de Hexenzauber de Tanner fonctionne de manière performative à masquer des parties de l'original et, ce faisant, imite la performance masquée du travailleur clandestin au centre de l'histoire. Dans le deuxième chapitre, je montre comment l'écriture d'Özdamar, pour sa part, met en scène le dévoilement d'un original (la « Mutter Zunge » recherché par la protagoniste), tout en créant une notion de langage et de culture basée sur la valorisation de l'hybridité. Dans, le troisième et dernier chapitre, je vais me concentrer plutôt sur un aspect different de la performativité—la construction performative de l'identité ethnique et du gender—pour montrer comment le film d'Ataman met en question l'idée même d'un « original ».

A major problematic concerning Goethe's West-östlicher Divan is the possibility of a mystical interpretation of this cycle of poetry. Opinions regarding this issue range over a wide spectrum, covering the extremes of a total rejection of such an interpretation and a thoroughly Christological/Christian reading. In this work, we will re-examine the question of mysticism in the Divan and argue that a mystical reading of it is indeed possible, provided that the exact coordinates of this mysticism are explicated and demonstrated as operative in the composition of the cycle. Our interpretive/hermeneutic framework will be based on the speculative metaphysics of two Islamic mystics/philosophers, Muhieddin Ibn 'Arabi and Shahabeddin Suhravardi. We will attempt to show that this framework not only helps us overcome the seemingly irreconcilable worldly/mystical dichotomy in the interpretation of the Divan, it will also offer us new insights regarding the symbolic meaning of each individual text in question as well as the internal unity of the entire cycle. After an exposition of the main problematic, a review of the relevant background and sources of inspiration in the composition of the Divan, and a summary of the basic tenets of the type of mysticism - called in this work speculative mysticism or Oriental theosophy interchangeably - which we will apply as our basic hermeneutics, we will interpret one representative poem of the Divan in each chapter of this work from the perspective of this speculative system. We will thus demonstrate a one-to-one correspondence between a set of crucial elements in the poems of the Divan and a constellation of fundamental ideas and notions in speculative mysticism of the two above-mentioned mystics. We will thereby argue not for a direct influence of the schools of thought of those thinkers on Goethe and on the Divan, but for a commonality of mystical vision that overcomes a vast historical, geographical and cultural distance. This will finally lead us to consider the West-östlicher Divan as an example of the genuine cultural and spiritual dialogue between the Orient and the Occident. / Ce qui rend le West-östlicher Divan de Goethe problématique est le potentiel d'accorder à ce cycle de poèmes une interprétation mystique. L'éventail des opinions qui tournent autour de cette question est large, touchant le bout du refus absolut d'une telle interprétation, en allant jusqu'à la lecture profondément christologique/chrétienne. La présente remettra en question l'aspect mystique du Divan, puis exposera les raisons en faveur d'une interprétation mystique potentielle, pourvu que les coordonnées précises de ce mysticisme sont expliquées et décrites comme étant agents dans la composition de ce cycle. Notre cadre d'interprétation/herméneutique sera fondé sur la métaphysique spéculative de deux mystiques/philosophes, Muhieddin Ibn 'Arabi et Shahabeddin Suhravardi. Nous tenterons de démontrer que ce cadre nous offre non seulement la possibilité de surmonter à cette inconciliable -selon toute apparence- dichotomie entre le profane et le mystique propre à interprétation du Divan, mais également un nouvel aperçu du sens symbolique de chacun des textes, ainsi qu'à l'unité intégrale de l'ensemble du cycle. Suite à l'exposition de la problématique principale, de la révision des origines pertinentes et sources d'inspiration menant à la rédaction du Divan, et d'un résumé des principes de base propre à ce genre de mysticisme - auquel on attribue les termes mysticisme spéculatif ou théosophie orientale de façon permutable- que nous appliquerons à notre herméneutique fondamentale, nous allons alors interpréter un poème représentatif du Divan à la fois, dans chaque chapitre de cette œuvre, du point de vue de ce système spéculatif. Nous allons ainsi démontrer un accord direct entre un ensemble d'éléments essentiels aux poèmes du Divan et d'une toile de notions et idées clées du mysticisme spéculatif des deux mystiques mentionnés plus haut. Puis nous allons ainsi argumenter, non pas pour une influence directe que les écoles de pensée de ces philosophes aurait sur Goethe et son Divan, mais plutôt en faveur d'une vision mystique commune qui surmonte un grand écart historique, géographique et culturel. Ceci nous permettra enfin penser au West-östlicher Divan comme étant un exemple du véritable entretien culturel et spirituel entre l'Orient et l'Occident.

This dissertation explores representations of plants in German-language film and literature at the beginning of the twentieth century. Five examples serve as case studies, demonstrating the widespread preoccupation with the motif of the "dynamic plant" at the turn of the century. I argue that the preoccupation with the motif of the "dynamic plant" demonstrates the interconnectedness of two broad cultural transformations that helped to change the public's perception of plants from one that viewed plants as nearly inanimate objects to a world view that that saw plants as living, dynamic life forms similar to animals and humans. The first transformation was intellectual, characterized by a reaction to materialist, positivist and mechanistic explanations of the natural world that helped revive aspects of Vitalism and Romanticism. The second, based in media technologies, directly transformed the representation of plants through time-lapse photography, speeding up their movements to the pace of animals. These transformations helped to challenge the hierarchy of humans, animals and plants, introducing instability and fluidity into categories of being. The changing perception of plants was met with a variety of reactions that ran along a spectrum from acknowledgement and anxiety in Gustav Meyrink's short story "Die Pflanzen des Doktor Cinderella" (1905) and in the films, Nosferatu (1921) and Alraune (1928), to celebrating this new dynamism and fluidity in Paul Scheerbart's "Flora story, "Mohr: eine Glasblumen-Novelle" (1909) and the Kulturfilm, Das Blumenwunder (1926).The close readings of the films and short stories are supported by other examples of the dynamic plant motif from archival sources, in addition to the work of such naturalists as Raoul Heinrich Francé from the turn of the century and scientists and philosophers from the mid nineteenth century such as Gustav Fechner. This specific historical topic, the motif of the dynamic plant, shows the relevance of questions regarding life and ecology for a rereading of German modernism, in addition to the relevance of a grounding in German language and literature for a historical understanding of how thinking about life changed in relation to media. In this sense, the dissertation contributes to growing interests in media and ecology, as well as the growing field of Ecocriticism in German studies and all literary studies. / Cette thèse explore la représentation des plantes dans la littérature et le cinéma de langue allemande au début du XXe siècle. Par le biais de cinq études de cas, ce projet s'intéresse au motif de la "plante dynamique" dans la modernité allemande, une préoccupation bien répandue à cette époque. Mon projet soutient que ce regain d'intérêt pour le mouvement de la plante dans les domaines de la littérature et du cinéma est étroitement lié à deux grandes transformations culturelles interdépendantes qui ont contribué à changer la perception populaire de la nature, à savoir la transition qui a permis de passer d'une perception basée sur la taxonomie et les hiérarchies rigides, à une nouvelle se rapprochant désormais au domaine de la vie et dans laquelle les forces dynamiques rattachées aux plantes, aux animaux et aux humains y trouvent leur juste valeur. La première transformation, d'ordre intellectuel, était caractérisée par un mouvement réactionnaire s'opposant au matérialisme, au positivisme et aux explications mécanistes de la nature qui ont su alimenter un regain d'intérêt pour la philosophie romantique de la nature et le vitalisme. La seconde, étroitement liée à l'émergence des nouveaux médias, transforma la façon d'observer les plantes. Grâce à la chronophotographie, une technique photographique novatrice, il était désormais possible d'observer la croissance et le mouvement des plantes de façon accélérée, voire au même rythme que celui des animaux. Ces transformations ont eu pour effet de relancer le débat portant sur la hiérarchie divisant les êtres humains, les animaux et les plantes, tout en introduisant la perception d'instabilité et de fluidité au sein des catégories de l'être. Ce changement de perception des plantes a été accueilli de manière mitigée, entraînant avec lui une variété de réactions. Passant de la reconnaissance à l'anxiété dans l'histoire courte de Gustav Meyrink "Die Pflanzen des Doktor Cinderella" (1905), dans les films Nosferatu (1921) et Alraune (1928), c'est avec grand enthousiasme que l'on s'intéressa à ce nouveau dynamisme et à la fluidité dans l'histoire courte "Flora Mohr : eine Glasblume - Novelle" (1909), par Paul Scheerbart et dans le « Kulturfilm », Das Blumenwunder (1926). Une analyse approfondie de ces films et de ces histoires courtes est appuyée par d'autres sources d'archives dans lesquelles on retrouve le motif dynamique des plantes, de même que dans les ouvrages scientifiques d'écrivains tels que Gustav Fechner, Maurice Maeterlinck et Raoul Heinrich Francé. Ce sujet historique spécifique, le motif de la plante dynamique, démontre la pertinence des questions reliées à la vie et à l'écologie dans le contexte d'une relecture du modernisme allemand. Par ailleurs, de même que l'importance de reconnaître le rôle historique qu'ont joué les médias dans la perception de la vie, autant dans la langue que dans la littérature allemande. En ce sens, la thèse a pour objectif de contribuer aux intérêts grandissants pour l'histoire de la pensée écologique et des médias, ainsi que le champs croissant de l'écocritique, autant en études allemandes que dans les autres les études littéraires.