German Literature Research Articles

Nicole Coleman. The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature

Nicole Coleman. <i>The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature</i>

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN THE ACTIVITY OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER

The paper investigates the academic integrity (AcadI) in the activity of a foreign language (FL) teacher at a general secondary education institution (GSEI). Aim of research is to highlight the factors of formation of the FL teacher’s AcadI, to define the directions of its activity regarding the promotion of AcadI, to name the leading ways of preventing violations of AcadI in the GSEI. Methods. To achieve the goal, the following methods were used as theoretical (analysis, synthesis of normative and scientific and pedagogical sources) and empirical (observation of the educational process). Results and discussion. The factors of formation of the FL teacher’s AcadI are singled out and characterized, including the personality qualities of the FL teacher, which can be natural (from the birth) or acquired, the appropriate acquired qualification (an example of the popularization of AcadI and the prevention of its violations in the training of FL teachers under the specialities "Secondary Education (English Language and Literature)" and "Secondary education (German language and literature)" on the basis of Hryhorii Skovoroda University in Pereiaslav, Ukraine), self-education and direct practical professional activity and experience. The authors determined the directions of activity of a FL teacher regarding the promotion of AcadI were defined as: 1) personal example of behavior and academic culture of the FL teacher, 2) the extracurricular work with students about AcadI; 3) optional FL classes on AcadI; 4) the curricular work of the FL teacher with the students directly at FL classes. The leading ways to prevent violations of academic integrity in GSEI were identified: 1) adoption of the Regulation on academic integrity, which should be published on the website of the educational institution and brought to the attention of every participant in the educational process; 2) conducting educational work on compliance with academic integrity; 3) strengthening of self-motivation, self-esteem and self-respect of students, etc. Aspects, thanks to the analysis of which it is possible to verify compliance with the academic culture in the school, are also defined. Conclusions. It was made an attempt to highlight the factors of formation of the FL teacher’s AcadI, which are considered to be as the following: personality qualities, appropriate acquired qualification, self-education, practical professional activity. The directions of activity of a FL teacher regarding the promotion of AcadI were defined and the leading ways of preventing violations of AcadI in the GSEI were named according to the authors’ opinion. The prospect of further research is interviewing FL teachers on their opinion towards AcadI and problems and benefits of participating in AcadI popularization at GSEIs.

“Vergis Mein Nit”—Connectedness and Commemoration through Rings in the 16th Century

By the end of the 16th century, finger rings in reverse glass painting technique became increasingly popular in Europe. Often, they are used in the context of signet rings with the monogram together with the coat of arms of its beholder depicted on the glass bezel. The following paper concentrates on nine finger rings of this group. Instead of an actual coat of arms though, these finger rings carry the device V(G)MN or FGMN (for-get-me-not) accompanied by a depiction of little blue forget-me-not flowers as the coat of arms. By collecting and describing the so far existing material, the paper aims to contextualize the use and function of the finger rings with the symbol of the forget-me-not flower in the fields of love, friendship and faith. Furthermore, it links the symbol of the for-get-me-not on finger rings and the imperative power of the written letters V(G)MN or FGMN to its tradition in German literature and texts.

Backfisch – An Adolescent Girl in German and American Literature of the 19th Century

The review article addresses the monograph Transforming Girls: The Work of Nineteenth-Century Adolescence by Julie Pfeiffer (2021), in which she juxtaposes American 19th-century girls’ novels and German Backfischromane. The article reviews individual chapters of the book, in which Pfeiffer incorporates key perspectives on the differences and similarities between eight novels. According to the author of the article, the monograph makes an important contribution to the state of research on this literary genre.

“Schanno bleibt trei:” Schanno von Dinakant as the last hero of Half-German poetry

ABSTRACT Half-German poetry (halbdeutsche Dichtung) was a unique manifestation in Baltic German literature and the Baltic German language. This type of humorous poetry in the Baltic provinces was created by Baltic German authors, who were fluent in proper German and found entertainment in ridiculing the grammatically incorrect use of German language of so-called Half-Germans (Estonians and Latvians who wanted to claim German identity). The most long-living and viable character of Half-German poetry has been Schanno von Dinakant, a fictional Half-German hero, who appeared in several works before World War I. Later, Schanno crystallized as a poet-philosopher in the role of a folkloric alter ego of Baltic Germans with his identity during and after World War II, revealing a humorous-melancholic farewell to the declining Baltic German community, which had lost their natural habitat in the Baltic States.

THE CRISIS OF LANGUAGE IN THE POETICS OF MODERNISM

The article deals with the topic of linguistic skepticism in modernistic literature, using works of German, Austrian and Russian literature as examples. The crisis of rationalistic thinking at the turn of the 20th century led to an extensive discussion about the functions and role of language. The reaction to the crisis of faith in the power of language was the search for ways to overcome this crisis - from the demand for voluntary poetic silence to the utopian project of creating a perfect language of poetry. Numerous avantgarde linguistic experiments resulted from the recognition of the inconsistency of former poetic forms. The anarchist rebellion against conventional language and its conscious deformation are paradoxically combined with innovative artistic projects that set the transformation of the world with the help of the revived word as their ultimate goal.

REMINISCING AND RECOLLECTION OF LIFE IN ILIJA TROJANOW’S NOVEL THE WORLD IS BIG, AND SALVATION LURKS EVERYWHERE

IIija Trojanow, one of the Bulgarian writers of Contemporary German Literature, penned the story of the Luxow family's migration from Bulgaria to Germany in his first novel, "The World is Big, and Salvation Lurks Everywhere" (Die Welt ist groß und Rettung lauert überall, 1996). Employing self-reminiscences ingrained in his autobiographic memoir, the author reveals how the oppressive communist regime of the 70s affected society in the novel's story of the Luxow family. The novel is composed employing modern and post-modern narration techniques. The past is rendered in the story of Alex Luxow, the main character, who loses his family in a traffic accident in Germany and cannot recall past events before this accident. In addition, the main character's journeys in tandem with his godfather Bai Dan, who helps him in the healing process both physically and spiritually, indicate the search for an individual and cultural identity. This study discusses how the main character's memories of the overshadowed past are revived and what they point to while surpassing individual/cultural boundaries in the context of memory objects in autobiographical and collective reminiscences.

Theorie und Praxis der Literaturvermittlung. Erläuterungsreihen und Textkommentar bei Heinrich Düntzer, Albert Zipper und Georg Witkowski und ihr Nachklang bis zur Gegenwart

Theorie und Praxis der Literaturvermittlung<b>. Erläuterungsreihen und Textkommentar bei Heinrich Düntzer, Albert Zipper und Georg Witkowski und ihr Nachklang bis zur Gegenwart</b>

Review of Wolf Schmid, Figurally Colored Narration. Case Studies from English, German, and Russian Literature (De Gruyter, 2022)

Review of Wolf Schmid, Figurally Colored Narration. Case Studies from English, German, and Russian Literature (De Gruyter, 2022).

Using Children's and Youth Literature in German as a Foreign Language Courses

The use of literature in the teaching of foreign languages has always led to heated debates. The function and implementation practices of literature in foreign language teaching have long been studied from a variety of perspectives, including the types of materials used, i.e. the literary texts employed. Children's and youth literature has always attracted the attention of foreign language educators, thus stimulating controversial questions about the legitimacy, potential or procedures of using children's and youth literature in the GFL courses. The story of the conflict between a 12-year-old and an adult in Stefan Zweig's long novel The Burning Secret, and the child's inner grief in the conflict, always makes me think about this content. In this essay, I will therefore deal with a few guiding questions such as such as "Does Burning Secrets belong to children's and youth literature?", "To what extent does Burning Secrets belong to children's and youth literature? and "to what extent can Burning Secrets be evaluated as children's and youth literature in German as a foreign language courses?". This essay will ultimately prove that through the authentic reception phase with the film and the personal playing in the roles of the story, the reading competence-oriented GFL courses can be well complemented and extended with creative and independent work by learners.

The Comparative Analysis of the Image of the "German-Nazi" in the German Literature about the Second World War

In the presented work, the author examines the German-language prose about the Second World War. The comparative analysis is carried out on the material of the novel by one of the most famous German prose writers and anti-fascist writers "Time to live and a Time to Die" by Erich Maria Remarque and the novel by the modern German prose writer Uwe Timm "By the example of my brother". The object of the study is the poetics of the above-mentioned works in a comparative aspect. The subject is the realization of the central image of the work - the image of a "German-Nazi" who is a participant in the Eastern campaign. The author dwells in detail on the realization of the image, including in the analysis the image of the artistic space of works and the motivic system. The main conclusion of the study is based on a different approach to the interpretation of the image of the "German-Nazi" by Remarque and Timm. In his novel, Remarque clearly points to the guilt of his compatriots in unleashing war and mass killings of civilians. The image of a "German-Nazi" is associated with the image of an ideological enemy. The modern German author adheres to a different point of view, which, in many respects, is based on his personal experience, because the hero of the novel is the writer's brother. The image of a "German-Nazi" in his work correlates with the image of a lost German who believed patriotic rhetoric and carried out an order.

Saxo Grammaticus's Account of the Viking Age Site on the Danish Island of Hjarnø in Gesta Danorum

Saxo Grammaticus's Account of the Viking Age Site on the Danish Island of Hjarnø in <i>Gesta Danorum</i>

Blacks in the Middle Ages – What About Race and Racism in the Past? Literary and Art-Historical Reflections

Undoubtedly, racism is a deeply-anchored problem that continues to vex our world. There is a long history behind it, which can easily be traced back to the Middle Ages and beyond. This article, however, takes into consideration a number of medieval narratives and art works in which surprisingly positive images of Blacks are provided. The encounter with black-skinned people tended to create problems even for the best-intended white intellectuals or poets during the pre-modern era, but the examples studied here reveal that long before the modern age there was already an alternative discourse to embrace at least individual Blacks as equals within the courtly and the religious context. Since Europe did not yet know the large-scale form of slavery, as it emerged in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were much less contacts between Blacks and Whites. Nevertheless, the evidence brought to the table here clearly signals that we would commit a serious mistake by equating modern-day racism with the situation in the Middle Ages, as much as modern research (Heng) has argued along those lines. It would be more appropriate to talk about the encounter of races within the literary and art-historical context. Even the notion of Black diaspora would not fully address the issue because the evidence brought to the table here engages mostly with black or half-black knights and other individuals who enjoy considerable respect and appear to be integral members of courtly society both in the East and in the West. Instead of working with theoretical models developed for the analysis of racism in our own times, such as Critical Race Theory (CRT), this study offers close readings of literary examples of personal encounters between members of different races in medieval German and Dutch literature, and of the representation of Blacks in late medieval and early modern art history, concluding with some comments on the first Black philosopher in eighteenth-century Germany.

On the Relation between Translations and the Reception of the Children’s and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen) by Brothers Grimm in Poland

The fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm are the most often translated work of German literature. All over the world these tales are read in translations that are not identical to the original. In Poland, these important texts are also read in various versions translated into Polish, which raises a question of how the form and content of different translations and adaptations may influence the reception of these German tales. Referring to important studies by folklorists Helena Kapełuś and Dorota Simonides, the author of the article indicates which research topics should be continued and deepened in the field of the Grimm research in Poland.

Valediction of 68ers' Generation to Berlin in Uwe Timm's Novel "Rot"

Literary motifs in fiction illustrate the subject matter and aestheticize the spirit and mindset of the time described. This study examined the historical and political motifs of the 68ers' generation within the framework of memory literature in the novel "Rot" (2001) by Uwe Timm, one of the most influential second-generation writers of German literature after World War II. The historical and political motifs in the novel reflect the struggle of the youth and student movements of 1968 in particular. In addition, the motifs in the work point to the cultural background of the worldviews of the 68ers' generation, which did not experience the Second World War and its aftermaths like the previous generation. The novel focuses on the journey of Thomas Linde, a jazz commentator and funeral orator, to the past. The main character, is preparing the funeral speech of his friend with whom he protested together in 1968. The novel describes Linde's process of writing this speech and the 68ers' generation's reckoning and farewell to the past they had internalized. The novel uses modern and post-modern narrative techniques to describe the past memories of 1968 with semi-autobiographical, half-fictional elements. This study examines in the context of memory theories how and why Uwe Timm constructed the political and historical motifs of the 1968 period based on his life story as a representative of the 68ers' generation.

Rainer Maria Rilke’s Biography between 1910 and 1922 in the context of his 'Duino Elegies' and 'Sonnets to Orpheus'

4 Aralık 1875'te Prag'da dünyaya gelen René (Rainer) Maria Rilke, modern Alman edebiyatın öncü temsilcileri arasında sayılır. Özellikle Duino Ağıtları’ı ve Orpheus’a Soneler’i onun şiir alanındaki başyapıtları olarak nitelenir. Ancak, söz konusu iki eserin yazımı çok zorlu koşullar altında gerçekleşmiştir. Rilke 1910 yılında derin bir krize sürüklenmiş, ancak Ağıtlar’ı ve Soneler’i 1922’de tamamladığında huzura erebilmiştir. Arada geçen yıllar (1910-1922), bu çalışmanın konusudur. Amacımız, söz konusu iki baş yapıtın nasıl ve hangi şartlarda yazıldığını irdelenmektedir. Rilke bu on iki yılda sanatında derin izler bırakan ve her iki eserin motiflerine yansıyan deneyimler yaşamıştır. Bu on iki yıl, aynı zamanda Rilke’nin olgunluğa ulaştığı “geç dönemi” olarak adlandırılır ve Malte Lauridds Brigge’nin Notları başlıklı romanın 1910 yılında yayınlanmasından sonra başlar. Paris’te geçen bu roman Alman dilinde yazılmış ilk modern roman olarak kabul edilir. Rilke, bu romanla ve ondan önce yayınlanan Yeni Şiirler’le sanatının zirvesine ulaşmasına ulaşmıştır. Ne var ki Malte Lauridds Brigge’nin Notları’nı bitirir bitirmez, belirtildiği gibi Rilke büyük bir üretkenlik krizine girmiştir. Daha sonraki yıllar, bu krizi aşıp aynı yüksek sanatsal düzeyde eser vermeye devam etme çabalamakla geçmiştir. Krizi aşmak için Rilke’nin ilk başvurduğu ilk çare, kendini çeviri yaparak oyalamaktı. Bu sıralarda yolculuk etme arzusu da boy göstermiştir. Rilke’nin “Orta Dönemi” (1902-1910) Paris’in damgasını taşırken, 1910’dan sonraki geç dönemine çıktığı yolculuklar ve gezileri damgasını vurmuştur. Bu inceleme işte bu yılları asıl olarak ele almaktadır ve baş yapıtı sayılan iki eseri Rilke’nin bu kadar yer değiştirmesine rağmen nasıl meydana geldiğini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Rilke’nin yaşamında ve eserinde derin izler bırakan deneyimler, inceleme boyunca ele alınıp pozitivist bir bakış açısıyla yansıtılmaktadır. Yaşamöyküsündeki sıralamaya göre Rilke’nin bu yıllarda çıktığı ilk önemli gezi 1910 yılındaki Kuzey Afrika ve Mısır gezisidir. Eski Mısır uygarlığından ve Mağrip’teki canlı İslamdan Rilke önemli ölçüde esinlenmiştir. Nitekim 1912’de misafir kaldığı Duino şatosunda Duino Ağıtları’ınn ilk dizelerini kaleme almayı başarır. İkinci önemli gezisi 1912-13’te çıktığı İspanya gezisidir. İspanya’dan bir süre Paris’e döndükten kısa bir süre sonra, Birinci Dünya Savaşı patlak verir ve Rilke 1919’a kadar Almanya’da kalmak zorunda kalır. Ancak 1919’da bir daha geri dönmemek üzere Almanya’yı terk eder ve (1922’de her iki başyapıtını tamamlayacağı) İsviçre’ye yerleşir.

Reflection of the Ağalık System in Turkish and German Literature

Toplum düzenini sağlaması amacıyla oluşturulan hiyerarşik katmanlar ve beraberinde meydana gelen düzensizlikler halk arasında çatışmalara sebebiyet vermiştir. Kendilerini ait olduğu milletin sesi olarak gören yazarlar toplumlarının maruz kaldığı problemleri eserlerinde anlatmışlardır. Bu çalışmada incelenecek olan ağalık sistemi ve bunun neticeleri, Yaşar Kemal’in İnce Memed adlı eseriyle Heinrich von Kleist’ın Michael Kohlhaas hikâyesindeki yansımaları bakımından değerlendirilmiştir. Birbirinden oldukça farklı her iki yazarın eserlerinde benzer konunun anlatılması, ayrıcalıklı sınıfların varlığının evrensel bir sorun olduğunun göstergesi olarak kabul edilir. Bu bağlamda İnce Memed ve Micahel Kohlhaas’ta olayların akışında önemli roller üstlenen soylu ağa ve beylerin işlevleri bakımından karşılaştırmalı incelenmesi çalışmanın amacını oluşturur.

Literature and the Wadden Sea: Teaching coastal environments through literature

Literature and the Wadden Sea is a guide for teaching Wadden Sea literature in advanced university courses in Scandinavian, Danish, German or Dutch language and literature or comparative literary studies programmes, and for integrating literature into courses in other disciplines. It can be found at www.waddensealiterature.com . This article lays out the development of this project and the contents and objectives of the Teaching Toolkit. It also suggests how it can be used as a model for teaching that couples literature with other protected places, be they national parks, nature reserves or other places. Finally, it concludes with our initial findings, plans and hopes for the subsequent development of the project.

“E. T. A. Hoffmann complex” in the novel “Perfume” by Patrick Süskind

The purpose of this study is to analyse E.T.A. Hoffmann’s tradition in the 20th century German literature in terms of the novel ‟Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by P. Süskind. The features of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s aesthetics are considered in the form of an ideological and thematic complex of images, motifs and stylistic techniques inherent in the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann (‟Hoffmann complex of German literature”), which manifests itself in a similar style (irony and grotesque), problems – the mechanization of human and society (realised through the opposition of ‟living” – ‟inanimate”, the motif of duality), understanding the nature of genius (antagonism of genius and philistine) and its relationship with femininity, the problem of violent influence on someone else's personality, as well as in the use of such an artistic technique as synesthesia.

Die Middeleeus-mistieke en Kaaps-piëtistiese Kontekstualisering van Dorothea Magdalena Goosen (c.1774–c.1840) se Uitdrukkings van Liefdesnumineuse in haar Outobiografiese Aantekeninge en Poësie

Cape Pietism is a hybrid, transnational and transconfessional form of spirituality, emanating from the Pietistic movement in Germany, with its emphasis on medieval mysticism, piety and spiritual devotion to Christ, and Dutch Second Reformation influences. Feminine Pietists in South African frontier communities were the practitioners of this form of spirituality, analogous to similar trends in the mystical cultures in German and Dutch Medieval mysticism. In addition to the influence of religious literature of German and Dutch Pietists, the marginalisation and isolation of feminine believers on the South African frontier cultivated tendencies similar to those in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Pietism in Europe. Lay feminine spirituality in Cape frontier communities reflects forms of Pietistic mysticism parallel to the Beguines, the Dominican penitent women and female mystics elsewhere in Europe. Common to the diverse mystical cultures in Europe and the Cape frontier communities, is the expression of numinous experiences through mystical love metaphors—a legacy of Dionysius the Areopagite and other Neoplatonic Christian believers. Dorothea Magdalena Goosen is an exponent of Cape Pietistic tendencies with a strong undercurrent of melancholy and a feeling of spiritual abandonment. Her autobiographical ego-text and self-composed verses testify to her finding consolation in the grace of God through the inpouring of Christ’s love in her heart. Typical to female exponents of Cape Pietism, she longs for the heavenly rejoicing with Christ and the sweet elation of the heart following the embrace of the Bridegroom and restored consolation. Her numinous mystical experiences are recorded in Pietistic outpourings of love and bridal metaphors—mostly in an erotic form. A study of her mystical spirituality adds to broaden the corpus of knowledge of Cape Pietistic mysticism by tracing the roots of her love mysticism to the Neoplatonic legacy of German and Dutch female spirituality. The conclusion provides a clearer view of the mystical profile of feminine members of the petit bourgeoisie and their efforts at spiritual self-empowerment in their isolated living conditions in South African pioneering communities.