Since the 1990s, a large number of texts has been labeled as ‘pop literature'. Although the definition of this term varies broadly depending on the research interest, most scholars come to the conclusion that adolescence and the search for identity are the central themes. However, this is not a phenomenon specific to pop culture but rather occurs in various other texts throughout the history of German literature. For instance, The Sorrows of Young Wether by Goethe is often called the ‘Urtext' of German pop literature. Therefore, this thesis seeks to investigate inherent characteristics of texts that cause them to retain their popularity and relevance even in contemporary academic research. The Sorrows of Young Werther, Tonio Kröger and Faserland serve as textual material for the analysis. The characteristics of popularity are manifested in three major dimensions: Immediacy, the protagonist, and relatedness to the audience. Immediacy in the narrative style enables the reader to obtain direct access to the protagonist of the text. The more immediate the it is, the more likely the reader identifies with the main character. The protagonist himself suffers from the fragmentation of his personality and the inner conflicts he develops. The reader can easily relate to the state of limbo the protagonist enters when describing his inner conflicts as well as his lack of societal affiliation. Furthermore, by being young themselves, the authors come across as authentic and authorized to depict the struggles of their own generation. Drawing parallels to their own biography in the text, they further inspire a curiosity about the protagonists and the narrative style challenges the reader to identify with them. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 10, 2017. / Includes bibliographical references. / Christian Weber, Professor Directing Thesis; Tatjana Soldat-Jaffe, Committee Member; Alina Dana Weber, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_507694 |
| Contributors | Klaus, Svea K. (Svea Kristin) (authoraut), Weber, Christian (professor directing thesis), Soldat-Jaffe, Tatjana (committee member), Weber, Alina Dana (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, master thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (51 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds