This dissertation asks how literature relates to practices of self-formation. In search of a way to describe this relation with greater concreteness, it examines how specific literary genres mediate formative practices and how literary texts appropriate those genres. Three case studies focus on works written by canonical German-language authors in the years after 1900, when the established relations between literature and practice were breaking down. Rilke's Stunden-Buch revives the devotional prayer book; Kafka's Betrachtung looks back to literary contemplation and meditation; and Walser's “Der Spaziergang” draws on the tradition of literary walking journals. Close readings show how these texts transform the practices regulated by their source genres when those genres began to lose the self-evidence they once enjoyed. The study seeks to strengthen our critical vocabulary for describing literature’s claim on everyday life by demonstrating how practices of self-formation manifest at the textual level. The texts studied can no longer reproduce their source genres’ unambiguous relation to practices (respectively, devotion, reflection, and walking). However, they incite new forms of aesthetic activity to overcome endemic problems with modern social life.

This master’s thesis provides a critical inquiry into Rainer Forst’s theory of toleration, including a descriptive section and a normative critical stance of said theory. Being placed in the tradition of critical theory, also applied as the theoretical framework, and using a hermeneutics methodology when approaching the material, the aim is to provide a close reading of Forst’s texts. The research question of the thesis is What are the possibilities and limits of Forst’s theory of toleration when applied to a democratic political community? The descriptive section of Forst's theory of toleration includes sections comprising of what constitutes the domain of toleration, the components and foundation of toleration, and toleration in relation to virtue and politics. In essence, Forst proposes a principle of justification as the foundation of toleration, mainly derived from his political theory of justification, practiced in a reciprocal and universal manner of the participants in a system combined with a reflexive component. The critique includes components of toleration in relation to the need of tradition, ambivalence in relation to the claims of the intolerants, and how spontaneity is needed in contrast to the mechanistic view mainly proposed by Forst. Other sections of the critique include the relation of toleration and whom can participate in the domain of it, inter- and intra-group deviances regarding power and perspective, but also a discussion of toleration and religious minorities – mainly focused on bodily integrity. The critique includes the suggestion that one should approach the question of toleration from a discursive virtue ethics position, a stance that should be developed further during future research. The discussion at the end of the thesis includes a section of the future of toleration and a self-reflexive discussion of theory in relation to the thesis.

No description available.

The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke was proficient in languages, and his favorite one was French. He had lived in Paris and had many friends in French literary circles. He exchanged letters with some of them before he even met them personally; such was the case with the French poet and writer Paul Valéry. However, before the two poets met, a “meeting of the minds” had taken place in the year 1921. In the spring of 1921, after a lengthy period of silence, Rilke came across a copy of the Nouvelle Revue Française, a famous literary review, where Valèry had published his poem Le Cimetière Marin. Rilke's reaction was one of great enthusiasm and he began to read every work ever published by Valèry. As he learned more about the author, he became aware of various traits that they had in common; for instance, Valèry had also waited for inspiration for nearly twenty-five years, during which time he had devoted himself to the study of mathematics. Rilke saw that this patience had been well rewarded, the result being such works as the long poem Le Cimetière Marin and the two dialogues Eupalinos ou l’Architecte and L’Ame et la Danse. This last work, published in December 1921, particularly impressed Rilke, and he voices his enthusiasm in numerous letters. The purpose of this thesis is to show the existence of a relationship between Valèry’s L’Ame et la Danse and Rilke's Sonette an Orpheus -- written in February 1922 -- and how the death of a young dancer, Wera Ouckama Knoop, served as a “catalyst” and prompted the birth of the sonnets. The title “an Orpheus” will be explained by the fact that Rilke had previously dealt with the myth of Orpheus in various works, and that he saw a rapport between his own thoughts on the subject and the way Valèry handled it in his works. The numerous themes and symbols common to both works, and particularly the theme of metamorphosis, are the subject of an investigation, which leads to the influence of the dialogue on the sonnets, as well as to the possible influence of other works by Valèry. In a special chapter, a discussion is undertaken to prove that dance is a mostly narcissistic art, and to examine the attitude of both poets toward it. The conclusion shows that, in spite of their different outlooks on poetry and the world, Rilke and Valery are an example of elective affinity (Wahlverwandtschaft) between two great minds.

Diss.--Philosophie und Geisteswissenschaften--Berlin, 2006? / Sources et bibliogr. p. 216-227.

Ed. commerciale de thèse : Habilitationsschrift : Köln : 2000. / Bibliogr. p. [372]-393. Index.

No description available.

Zugl.: Wien, Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2007

Thesis (Doctoral)--Université de Reims, 1999-2000. / Includes errata page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 647-681) and index.

Zugl.: Diss.