Lester, Barbara Irmgard Annemarie; (2001) Function and dysfunction: The depiction of family occasions in selected works of German fiction from Gotthelf to Grass. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis offers close textual analysis of a number of scenes from selected works of German narrative literature, scenes which depict family occasions- engagements, weddings, baptisms, funerals, for example. At such moments the family is concerned to make public declaration of certain articles of dynastic and religious faith. The familial will to self-symbolisation is echoed by the powerful metaphorical charge that informs the narrative expression of such moments in the text. The chapters of specific textual analysis are arranged chronologically: the period covered extends from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The authors discussed are Gotthelf, Stifter, Storm, Reuter, Broch, Mann, Fallada, Böll, Wolf and Grass. The early chapters explore sacramental occasions in which the characters' behaviour and attitudes are underwritten by a substantial religious faith and by a rhetoric of narrative assent. Gradually, however, it becomes clear that the metaphysical validation fades from the more modem texts. As we move through the twentieth century we encounter more and more scenes of ritual behaviour in which the characters are simply going through the motions. And frequently we find that the symbolic mode of literary articulation gives place to a more sceptical (at best allegorical) statement as the narrative uncovers a dissonant subtext behind the ritualized foreground. The thesis is intended primarily as a contribution to literary history; but the sequence chronicled does, of course, have significant sociocultural implications. The changing face of family ritual, as chronicled by a number of German prose writers, tells us a good deal about the broader tendencies at work in the society of the German speaking lands over the past one hundred and fifty years.

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