Narrative and Ideological Tension in the Works of Theodor Storm

Abstract

By analysing the relationship between narrative and ideological structure criteria are established for evaluating Storm’s contribution to realist writing. In Aquis Submersus narrative tension is related to ideological positioning and thence to the tensions of Storm’s era. In Pole Poppenspaler ostensibly similar uncertainties are subverted by a narrative strategy which allows a formal but not a real resolution to the tensions of the text.