Thesis (doctoral)--Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 1916.

Gottfried Keller’s Sieben Legenden (1872) are, on the surface, a collection of moral fables appealing to a system of Christian ethics that is in accord with Church dogmatics. However, such a reading discounts how the origin of the texts spans various periods of Keller’s own life experiences, education and political activities. This project exposes the political elements involved in Keller’s strategic re-use of religious materials drawn from the Golden Legend, various prophetic books of the Bible, hagiography, and the German mystic Angelus Silesius in the Legenden and explores how he uses this cycle of short stories to question Church ethics, family morals and the political impulses of the nineteenth century -- both in his native Switzerland and in Germany --, including Swiss religious struggles and the founding of the German Empire in 1870. It is my contention that Keller’s political life prompted his writing of the Legenden and influenced the timing of their publication, and that critics' attempts to limit his use of religious diction to a response to Feuerbach greatly underestimate the popular resonance of religious tropes and figures as commentaries on political situations and ideologies. His careful juxtapositions of source materials from the Roman-Christian era's martyrologies with High Medieval stories of redemption lead to the famous "Tanzlegendchen," which suggests the absolute bankruptcy of all ideology. / text

This thesis delineates the Swiss author Gottfried Keller's philosophy of life based on interpretations of three of his stories. The tales used in this study are Pankraz, der Schmoller and Das verlorne Lachen from Die Leute von Seldwyla, Band I, 1856, and Band Ii, 1874, respectively, and Der Landvoqt von Greifensee from the Ziricher Novellen, 1878.This study found that the keystone of Gottfried Keller's philosophy of life is responsibility. After accepting the challenge of personal responsibility in becoming what he is capable of becoming (Sichfinden) it is man's obligation to consider the needs of his fellow man and country--his civic responsibility. In addition this thesis has discussed the elements of religion, death, and love in Keller's philosophy of life.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ludwig-Maximilians Universität zu München, 1916. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [vii]-ix).

Zugl.: Bochum, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Thesis--Bern.

Inaugural-Dissertation--Philosophische Fakultät--Kiel, 1964. / Bibliogr. p. 376-383. Index.

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät I--Zürich--Universität Zürich, 1991. / Bibliogr. p. 208-216.

Diss.--Tübingen, 1968. / Bibliography: p. 223-230.

Published with or without thesis notes; "Thèse Présentée à la Faculté des Lettres de l'Université de Paris" and "Vu et lu en Sorbonne, Le 25 Juillet 1898"--P. 507. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [493]-507).