It has frequently been stated over the past 20 years that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Nibelungenlied served to communicate and justify nationalist ideals in Germany. This criticism focused on the alienation of the epos from its original (medieval) context and on the reinterpretation of some of its key elements in order to suit that nationalist purpose. It accurately underlined that it was necessary to become aware of the historical distance between the Nibelungenlied and its modern interpreters, thereby ensuring an adequate understanding of its meaning. / Although this view is justified in light of intellectual history, it does not fully explain the "nationalist" abuse of the epos. The goal of this thesis is to remedy this deficiency by using a theory of myth as a basis for the interpretation of the nationalist modifications introduced in the Nibelungen-epos. The analysis that is made within a myth-oriented framework reveals that the nationalist reception of the Nibelungenlied was not exclusively a reflex of germanophilic enthusiasm, but rather represented a subsequent adjustment of the epos to a new fundamental myth. During its period of reception, the epos underwent several modifications, each being the result of changes in the fundamental myths during the different historical periods. From a contemporary perspective, the historical parameters of this process are established by the medieval epos itself on the one hand, and J. Lodemann's 1986 adaptation of the Nibelungenlied, entitled Siegfried, on the other. Seen within the concept of "work on myth", the nationalist reception can be explained as just another element in a whole series of adjustments brought about in order to guarantee the continuing relevance of the Nibelungenlied.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.39280 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Martin, Bernhard R. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | ge |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of German.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001275409, proquestno: NN74866, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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