In this study I use Mikhail Bakhtin's theories of subjectivity, language and literature to produce original interpretations of characterization in the novels of Theodor Fontane. In the first chapter I summarize Bakhtin's theory of 'dialogism', which holds that language is composed of a multiplicity of socially and ideologically constituted discourses in a state of constant interaction with one another. In the second chapter, I reconstruct Fontane's theory of the novel by identifying a central distinction in his diverse literary critical writings between 'single-voiced' fiction of one sort or another and what he calls 'Interessenvertretung' (the representation of interests), a type of writing which grows out of the social and ideological diversity of its subject matter. In the third chapter I look at Fontane's <I>Unwiederbringlich</I> in terms of the social discourses it contains and examine the interaction between these discourse and the characters and the narrator of the story. In the fourth chapter I depart from the view that Fontane's novels primarily depict the conflict between individuals and impersonal social forces by arguing that identity-formation in his characters is determined mainly by 'dialogic' interaction between individual subjects. In the final chapter I consider the relative lack of conflict between characters which makes Fontane's last novel, <I>Der Stechlin</I>, unique among his major works. I argue that this lack of conflict is only possible because of the careful avoidance by characters of all strongly held views, and that this causes an extreme and debilitating language-consciousness. In the fourth and fifth chapters, I also attempt to use the insights gained from Bakhtinian analysis of Fontane's novels to cast some reflected light on Bakhtin's theories themselves.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:596830 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Bowman, P. J. |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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