The thesis compares the values and attitudes promoted in the fiction of five authors associated with the 'Heimatkunst' movement. The introduction attempts a definition of the term 'Heimatkunst' and then proceeds to an examination of the theoretical writings of Adolf Bartels and Friedrich Lienhard, indicating the often considerable differences in attitude between the two critics and outlining such common ground as they share with each other and the "practitioners of the movement treated in this study. The thesis then moves to an analysis of single novels, where necessary relating these works to their authors' other writings. The novels chosen for analysis are Wilhelm von Polenz' Der Büttnerbauer, Adolf Bartels' Die Dithmarscher, Gustav Frenssen's Jörn Uhl, Ludwig Ganghofer's Der hohe Schein and Hermann Löns's Der Wehrwolf. These analyses confirm the existence of that common ground between the authors outlined in the introduction - their veneration of rural life and their suspicion of urban culture and values, their anti- intellectual bias, nationalist or racialist sympathies and their belief that contemporary ills may be cured or ameliorated by a return to the pre-industrial, nature-based values of the rural community. The manner, degree and consistency with which they commit themselves to these attitudes and views vary and there are certain preoccupations common to only some of the authors dealt with, although even these differing concerns can often be related to individual interpretations of shared premises. The thesis concludes with an examination of common stylistic and technical features of their fiction and the literary devices employed to direct the reader's sympathies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:476673 |
| Date | January 1975 |
| Creators | Watts, Donald |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/58889/ |
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