Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Theodor Storm's Der Schimmelreiter And The Realism Of The Supernatural, Regina Berrit Braker

Dissertations and Theses

In interpreting Der Schinmelreiter by Theodor Storm, the deconstructive method always leaves room for more interpretation; a deconstructive interpretation may simply acknowledge a variety of critical opinions, not necessarily considering one more valid than another, but arguing that all of than together are necessary to form a collective interpretation. I have examined traditionally important views of Storm's work, those of Stuckert and Silz, who argue for a positive heroic example in the main character Hauke Haien, and who consider the supernatural in a less structurally important light, but attribute it to Storm's personal views and geographic background. Ellis, Findlay and …

Buddhistische Elemente In Hermann Hesses Siddhartha, Sawitree Kunapongsiri

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to show the elements of Buddhism, exerted in Siddhartha. These elements are important to the plot, despite the fact that Hesse did not intend to write an authentic Buddhist work, but to express his own belief.

The conclusion shows that certain Buddhist teachings have in various ways directly shaped the work.

Das DreiecksverhäLtnis In Gerhart Hauptmann's "Einsame Menschen" Und "Gabriel Schillings Flucht" Und Dessen LöSung Im Naturalistischen Drama, Ulrich Karl Tutsch

Dissertations and Theses

Die bürgerliche Gesellschaft des ausklingenden 19. und beginnenden 20. Jahrhunderts drängte fast einen jeden Menschen in eine Aussenseiterrolle, wenn er ihre Werte nicht akzeptierte. Der Naturalismus machte innere Schwächen der Menschen wie auch deterministische äussere Einflüsse für das Scheitern der Hauptfiguren verantwortlich.

Johannes Vockerat und Gabriel Schilling fühlen sich von ihrem bürgerlichen Familienleben eingeengt und versuchen mit Hilfe einer anderen Frau, ihr Dasein zu verbessern. Vockerat versucht dem Dreiecksverhältnis auf einem höhere geistigen Niveau gerecht zu werden. Er muss sich aber am Ende eingestehen, dass solch eine platonische Verbindung auf die Dauer unmöglich ist. Sein Ideal …

Die Moderne Großstadt In AusgewäHlten Werken Deutscher Lyriker, Hildegard Goranson

Dissertations and Theses

It is the purpose of this thesis to discuss the works of German poets who describe the large modern city and deal with various aspects of city life and city people.

Polar Opposites In Hermann Hesse's Novels, Karen Lea Nead

Masters Theses

The object of this thesis is to show how Hermann Hesse utilizes polar opposites and to show how the integration of conflicting forces works in the lives of the fictional characters in Demian, Steppenwolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, and The Glass Bead Game. These four novels not only are representative of the progression of the individual, but together, they are a consecutive representation of the artist's own search for a unified self. Influenced by psychologist Carl Jung's theories regarding the process of development, Hesse portrays the protagonists in constant search of the self. Some of the characters …

The Isolation Of An Individual : Thomas Mann's Tonio KröGer, Thomas Richard Survilla

Dissertations and Theses

Thomas Mann, early in life, felt himself to be "different" from others around him and "isolated" from the normal life that others enjoyed. He attributed these feelings to what he felt was his descent from a sound Bürger life to unsound Künstlertum.

These feelings of guilt and suffering prodded Mann into applying his introspective-artistic techniques to his own condition. He examined his own life, considered his own world and his relationship to it, and came to certain conclusions. Many of Mann's works are therefore not "fiction" at all'; he himself once stated that all of his works were autobiographical.

GüNter Kunert: Der KüNstlerische Weg Eines Schriftstellers Der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, Jutta Southwell

Dissertations and Theses

It is the purpose of this thesis to present the artistic development of the socialist writer Günter Kunert. He is considered to be one of the important representatives of the literature of the German Democratic Republic where he has spent most of his life. His artistic creativity stretches over three decades.

The different artistic and ideological periods of the development of this writer are presented in chronological order. An attempt is being made to explain why Kunert's work is of a politically provocative nature and why it shows such strong criticism towards the socialist country whose citizen he is.

The …

Faust In His Study: The Paradox Of Visual Representations And Poetic Possibilities, Donna Ramsey

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The Faust theme has inspired individuals to creative endeavors over the years. While many of the resulting literary works are widely recognized and highly valued, few of the pictorial efforts have been similarly acknowledged. This investigation treats this apparent paradox as it applies to the soliloquy in the first scene of Part I of Goethe's poetic drama. The first part of the study compares the written word with its graphic interpretation, utilizing twenty-seven portrayals of Faust in his Study. The second section traces the iconography of the scene in a broader context, using twenty-eight prototypes which correspond to the depictions. …

Aspekte Des Charakterbegriffs Im Werk Von Bertolt Brecht, Brigitte Dewolfe

Dissertations and Theses

Brecht's concept of character and its influence on the content and style of his works

Brecht's concept of character, based on the Marxist-socialist premise of the perfectibility of man, is one of the most important aspects of his work. He believes that man's character is comparable to an atom, constantly falling apart and re-assembling itself. He states that man should be defined by his contradictory actions.

With this view of man, several assumptions of the traditional theater no longer hold. There is no stalwart hero to pit the strength of his character against fate, there is no moral code by …

Photonuclear Activation At The Pantex Plant, Gilbert L. Rendon

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This is a structuralist reading of the theatrical works of Henry de Monther­lant. The genera I approach incorporates the theories of Claude Levi-Strauss, Ro land Barth es, Jean Piaget, Jean Rousset, and Leo Spitzer. Two major types of structure are examined: the interrelationship of characters and the interrelationship of ideas. Two theoretical mode Is are constructed. The first is a triadic mode I of the relationships among characters in tightly-knit communities, based upon the sociological theories of Georg Simmel and Theodore Cap low. The second is a semiotic model of the relationships between opposing ideas, based upon the carré sémiotique …

Lebendiger Klang Der Natura Herders Begriff Des "Primitiven" In Der Literatur, Judy A. Lorenz

Dissertations and Theses

Johann Gottfried Herder, ein Vorromantiker, fuhrte eine neue Bewegung, eine Volksbewegung, in Deutschland ein. Herder interessierte sich fur die Sprache im Allgemeinen und insbesondere fur die "primitiven" Elemente in der deutschen Sprache, die am besten in Volksliedern il erscheinen. Seine Bedeutung liegt in der Umwertung des Wortes "primitiv" durch seine Sammlung von nationalen und internationalen Volksliedern.

Unwiederbringlich Und Effi Briest : Eine Studie Zu Theodor Fontanes ErzäHlweise, Christine Gentzkow

Dissertations and Theses

In this thesis an attempt is made to show the peculiar features of Fontane's narrative style as well as his art of characterization. I have tried to interpret his concept of humaneness in the two novels, Unwiederbringlich and Effi Briest, and to show how the composition of these novels is directed to the portrait of the individual.

Theodor Fontane's unusual distinction lies in his keen observation of the Prussian scene and his craftsmanship as a cosmopolitan storyteller. The principal elements of his works are a sense of historical continuity and an uncommon perception of the speech and gestures by …

Mystik Und Pietismus In Der Deutschen Sprache, Unter Besonderer BerüCksichtigung Des Wortes "Gelassenheit" (Mysticism And Pietism In The German Language With Special Emphasis Upon The Word "Gelassenheit"), Clyde E. Antwine

Dissertations and Theses

In this thesis attention is focused on two religious movements, Mysticism and Pietism, both of which made significant contributions toward the enrichment of the German language.

The 14th century was the "golden age" of German Mysticism. For this reason special consideration is given to this period of history and to the three most prominent 14th century German mystics: Meister Eckhart, Johann Tauler, and Heinrich Seuse. In order to understand their struggle with the language a brief synopsis of mystic theology is given in particular their concept of how the unio mystica, the mystical union of the soul with God, can …

Der Verfremdungseffekt Von Brecht Bis Handke, Brigitte Patrick

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis intends to show how the application of the Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect), originally formulated by Brecht, serves to express different Weltanschauungen in the works of Dürrenmatt, Frisch and Handke. The main emphasis is on the works of Peter Handke however, in order to demonstrate the changes in the interpretation of the alienation effect, some of the plays by Dürrenmatt and Frisch are analysed.

The America-Theme: A Twentieth Century View Of The United States In German Literature, Especially Represented By Uwe Johnson, Walter Pasulka

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Tennessee Staatszeitung, Robert Donald Rogers

Masters Theses

The Tennessee Staatszeitung was a German newspaper published in Nashville, Tennessee from 1866 to 1869. It had a daily circulation of approximately 1,000 and a weekly circulation of approximately 1,200.

The Staatszeitung was dominated by its editor, a German immigrant named John Ruhm. Ruhm took an active interest in politics at all levels. He was a staunch advocate of republicanism both at home and abroad.

Ruhm was a harsh critic of the two leading German powers of his day, Austria and Prussia, because he disapproved of their aristocratic, authoritarian governments. Bismarck was for him the personification of Prussian Junkerdom and …

The Role Of The Fictitious Narrator In Heinrich Boll's Gruppenbild Mit Dame, Hannah Elise Boon

Masters Theses

This thesis attempts to analyze the role of the fictitious narrator in the 1972 Nobel prize-winning novelist Heinrich Boll’s novel, Gruppenbild Mit Dame. The novel consists of a fictitious report about Leni Pfeiffer composed by the fictitious narrator who is referred to only as “the Author.” The report is a collection of information and opinions gathered by the Author from various witnesses to events in Leni’s life.

The first topic to be considered is the Author’s purpose in writing the report. He maintains that his purpose is purely existential, and the reader must accept this reason. The next topic dealt …

Hermann Lietz And The Landerziehungsheime, John Daniel Flanagan

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of this thesis is Hermann Lietz and the Landerziehungsheime. Its purpose is to discover the sources of the Heime in Lietz's life and thought. It seeks to answer the basic question, "Why did Lietz become an educator and what were his motives in establishing the Landerziehungsheime?" The thesis is divided, generally, into three sections. The first attempts to isolate and reconstruct those events in Lietz's biography which were decisive in the shaping of the educator. The second part investigates certain aspects of the thought of J. G. Fichte, P. de Lagarde end R. Eucken, the three …

Gutzkows Novelle Der Sadduzäer Von Amsterdam Verglichen Mit Seinem Drama Uriel Acosta Und Eine Englische Übersetzung Der Novelle, Clarice Solberg Kitteleson

Dissertations and Theses

The same theme of one unorthodox man opposing a self-appointed authoritative religious institution is interpreted in two different ways in two related works by Karl Friedrich Gutzkow: his Novelle, Der Sadduzaer von Amsterdam (1834), and in his drama, Uriel Acosta (1846). Both works fictionalize the life Uriel Acosta (1585-1640), an unorthodox Jew who fled the Spanish Inquisition in Portugal to the relatively tolerant country of Holland. Acosta's problems were not with the government of Holland, however, but with his own orthodox Jewish temple authorities. He opposed the written interpretations of the Talmud and attempted to question the very idea of …

Anarchism: The Political Philosophy Of Hermann Hesse, Alan N. Canton

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Rainer Maria Rilkes Begriff Der Besitzlosen Liebe : Probleme Und Interpretationen, Kenn Allen Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The topic of this thesis is the problem of love in the work and life of Rainer Maria Rilke, especially his notion of “non-possessive love” which has given rise to a great deal of controversy in the Rilke-Literature.

The essential motive underlying the thesis is my concern for the relationship between art and life, and specifically the conflict between the demands of intellectual and spiritual development and the biological-social imperatives to which the artist, like all human beings, is subject. To speak in general terms, my interest in Rilke’s view of love is part of a broad study of alienated …

Rainer Maria Rilkes Musik Der KräFte (Rainer Maria Rilke's Music Of The Forces), Lilly E. Moore

Dissertations and Theses

Most of Rainer Maria Rilke’s works leave a deep musical impression on the reader’s mind. This impression stems first of all from the beauty of the tone and the rhythm of Rilke’s poetical language and from the occurrence of many words that can be associated with music. In addition to this, his creative work was influenced considerably by his own experiences with a variety of musical sounds and by the many thoughts in which he tried to deal with the deeper meaning and function of music.

This thesis attempts to analyze Rilke’s relationship to music within the framework of his …

Hermann Hesse And Vedanta Philosophy: A Discussion Of The Correlation Between The Basic Themes In The Later Novels Of Hermann Hesse And The Traditional Philosophy Of India, James Edgar Carnahan

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Le Motif De L'Etoile Dans Les Oeuvres De GéRard De Nerval., Shelley Gregory Crowe

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

A study of the star motif in the works of Gérard de Nerval brings out stylistic diversity and stylistic development in the works of the period 1841 through 1854. Before this time the star is hardly mentioned in the work of Nerval.

During the period between 1841 and 1843, Nerval underwent two important experiences. The first such experience is the mental crisis of 1841 during which he was hospitalized for the first time for such an illness. The second experience is the voyage to the Orient, a trip lasting the entire year of 1843. These two events can be seen …

Die Einwirkung Des Jugendstils Auf Rilkes FrüHwerk, Linda Collins Blumenthal

Dissertations and Theses

A review of the secondary literature written on Rilke's poetry reveals that his earliest work has scarcely been dealt with. This fact is not astounding considering that the poet found literary acclaim only in his more mature period. In those cases, however, in which Rilke's first poetry has been examined, it is approached outside the context of later developments. This paper is based on the thesis that a vital continuous thread which begins with Jugendstil and extends into his most mature poetry, runs through Rilke's work as regards life style and art theory. Many of his most typical symbols - …

Pascal's Concept Of Christianity., Audrey Vivien Bull

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis explains Pascal's concept of Christian­ity, showing how it developed during the course of his life until it attained the conviction expressed in the Pensees.

It starts with the events of his life, taken from the accounts of two people related closely to him. His style is then analyzed, showing how it was influenced by the quarrel of the Jansenist and Jesuit sects to produce the polemic Lettres Provinciales and the reasons for the change of style before the Pensees. The importance of his style is stressed, because he fixed the French lan­guage and is perhaps the greatest stylist …

Das Motiv Der Einschränkung In Einigen Romanen Max Frischs, Leen J. Inghels

Dissertations and Theses

Because of his Swiss origin and background, Max Frisch has personally experienced the confinements imposed upon the individual by the expectations and demands of society as well as of a national government. He treats the theme of confinement in many of his works, but especially in his prose.

In agreement with the spirit of his generation, Frisch rejects the claim of society upon the individual to conform or to become an integral part of a collective. All human relations which impose upon his way of thinking or acting are rejected and regarded as "claims of imprisonment."

Marriage, class consciousness and …

Die Figur Der Rebellen Im Frühwerk Schillers: Die Räuber, Kabale Und Liebe, Don Carlos, Edward E. Heyen

Dissertations and Theses

Schiller's career as a dramatist spans more than two decades. Without too much difficulty, one observes that his plays are intimately related with one another. Particularly in the Storm and Stress period, his motives appear to be much the same: Schiller is an advocate of freedom, and the rights of men.

I maintain that the youthful rebel is a recurrent theme in Schiller's dramatic works and this can be shown by an analysis of four characters from three plays, followed by a summary of their similarities.

The rebellious youths of Schiller are Karl Moor (Die Räuber), …

The Archetype Of Woman In The Theatre Of Jean Giraudoux., Elisabeth Josephine Price

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

I had begun to re-read Giraudoux for pleasure, remembering that when I was first introduced to his works in class, I had been impressed by the quality of the heroines he presented. Upon second reading of his theatre, I was struck by the fact that his heroines did not serve in a complementary role to the hero, as so often is the case, but were presented as entities of their own. Because there is a revolution taking place in our culture over the role of woman, I thought that it would be interesting to investigate Giraudoux's concept of woman. In …

Der Gebrauch Des Todesmotivs In Den Deutschen Poemata Von Paul Fleming, Paul Ancil Wolf

Dissertations and Theses

In the Deutsche Poemata the word Tod and its variant forms appear in over 130 different poems. The word may appear more than once in the same poem. Despite the frequency of this word, its use has not previously been researched in depth. Secondary sources fall into five basic categories:

1. the use of the word Tod is ignored completely;
2. its use may be isolated to borrowings from Roman Literature;
3. its use is Petrarchan;
4. if comprehensible at all, it is an expression of Fleming's Christian philosophy of nature;
5. Fleming's use of the word is typical for the entire Baroque era.

This …