Date of Award
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Germanic Languages and Literatures
First Advisor
Campe, Rüdiger
Abstract
The second half of the 19th century is generally regarded as the age of ‘Historicism’ in Germany. History became the driving force behind German culture. A development that would also have an enormous impact on the way literature was viewed, evaluated and perceived. This phenomenon is particularly evident in the literature of German Realism. The emergence of a specific historical position created an enormous poetic potential in the texts of the German realists. The texts of the realists were constantly engaged in questioning themselves in relation to the procedures of their creation and their integration into a historical tradition.The dissertation undertakes a re-examination of the poetological procedures of German Realism, taking into account authors like Gustav Freytag, Theodor Fontane, Wilhelm Raabe, Adalbert Stifter and Gottfried Keller. The aim is to show how this newfound historical awareness became the actual driving force behind German Realism. Through a close reading of various literary and poetological texts of German Realism, it shows that Realism in Germany is primarily to be understood as a literary movement actively involved not only in a reconfiguration of German literature but also of national identity itself. Drawing from the master narratives of literary history, particularly Weimar Classicism, realists endeavored to conceive a new literature for a new Germany—a task that seemed particularly necessary after the failed revolution of 1848. While they saw Realism as heralding a new era in literature, their works remained intricately woven with historical models, which were to be surpassed in a critical gesture. Due to this close, self-reflective connection, literature was increasingly viewed as a technical process—a process simultaneously and consistently reflected in the texts of the German realists. The texts thus turned into an almost praxeological examination of the cultural practice of writing. Literature became aware of its own status as a media artifact. Based on a description of the development of literary history at German universities in the early 19th century, the dissertation traces how this newly emerged field influenced the question of literature and literary criticism. Literary criticism, in particular due to the importance of the weekly newspapers in the 19th century was actively engaged in the production of new literary forms. Using Gustav Freytag's highly successful novel 'Soll und Haben' (1855) as an example, the second chapter demonstrates the extent to which this understanding of literary history and literary criticism had a direct influence on the form of writing in realism. In Freytag's novel, a new form of literature emerges from the master narrative of Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister'. In the third chapter, the dissertation shows that literary texts dealt with the increasingly mass-produced literature of its time. Especially the novelist Theodor Fontane reflected upon the preconditions of the literary market of the 19th century. With reference to the observation that the materials of literature are inherently rooted in history, Fontane's work emphatically demonstrates how a pursuit of originality yielded to the perception of literature as a solely iterative form. Chapters four and five deemphasize the focus on German literature by providing a look at the German-language literature in Austria (Adalbert Stifter) and Switzerland (Gottfried Keller). In the works of these authors similar and parallel developments can be traced with regard to the ever-increasing importance of literary history. Additionally, and considering the cultural importance of literary history, their work serves to bolster a national and independent ethos. This ethos considered itself independent from a ‘German-national’ cultural perspective, which was increasingly considered as dominant and potentially dangerous. The final chapters of the dissertation deal with the increasing ‘signs of fatigue’ that can be witnessed in the literature of German Realism. After nearly four decades of prolific output, the authors of German Realism considered their form of writing as being increasingly less adequate to describe the world. Especially in the works of German Realist Wilhelm Raabe, an attempt can be witnessed to develop new principles of writing. A project ultimately doomed to failure. In Raabe’s last novel, ‘Altershausen’, the literature of German Realism is brought to an end. Raabe actively brings German Realism to its logical conclusion in a text that virtually entails the entirety of German Realism. An end that also raises the question about the continued life of German Realism and its status in modern literature, at the turn of the century.
Recommended Citation
Heller, Benjamin, "Realismus und Kritik – Zum Ursprung des Bürgerlichen Realismus aus der Literaturgeschichte" (2024). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1362.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1362
