The image of Germany and the Germans in Erica Jong’s "Fear of Flying " and Walter Abish’s "How German Is It "
Title | The image of Germany and the Germans in Erica Jong’s "Fear of Flying " and Walter Abish’s "How German Is It " PDF eBook |
Author | Ulrike Miske |
Publisher | GRIN Verlag |
Pages | 71 |
Release | 2008-09-09 |
Genre | Literary Collections |
ISBN | 3640159314 |
Examination Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Paderborn, language: English, abstract: During the last two centuries the American perception of Germany has periodically shifted as both countries have been rivals, friends, opponents and most recently allies. This has also been mirrored in the periodically changing American picture of Germany and the Germans, which over the years generated an abundance of stereotypes. While on the one hand, positive images have emerged such as the ‘naturally virtuous and scholarly German,’ there have been, on the other hand, numerous negative generalizations, for example, the ‘hard drinking and violent Teuton.’ These notions were often formed through hearsay, personal experiences and encounters with Germans at home and abroad, through literature and political-social relations between the United States and Germany. They are often persistently maintained, have resisted any revision and are frequently regarded as the standard of thought. The role of American literature in creating, sustaining and perpetuating images continues to be of particular importance and this needs to be examined if one wishes to understand how a wide range of long-lasting German stereotypes came into existence. The images of Germany and the Germans which are projected in the works of numerous American writers, including Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, Erica Jong and Walter Abish, have become core images found in travelogues, novels, poetry and short fiction. This thesis surveys the images of Germany and the Germans in American literature from the late 19th to the end of the 20th century, and proceeds to focus on two selected works: Walter Abish’s How German is It (1980) and Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying (1973). Abish’s novel is a natural choice for an endeavor of this nature as it is both an extensive and intensive exploration of images attributed to German identity. Jong’s novel, on the other hand, is an exploration of individual identity in a German setting and has been selected because of its enormous role in the relatively new field of women’s studies.
The Image of Germany and the Germans in Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying " and Walter Abish's "How German Is It "
Title | The Image of Germany and the Germans in Erica Jong's "Fear of Flying " and Walter Abish's "How German Is It " PDF eBook |
Author | Ulrike Miske |
Publisher | GRIN Verlag |
Pages | 78 |
Release | 2008-09 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 3640166612 |
Examination Thesis from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Paderborn, 67 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: During the last two centuries the American perception of Germany has periodically shifted as both countries have been rivals, friends, opponents and most recently allies. This has also been mirrored in the periodically changing American picture of Germany and the Germans, which over the years generated an abundance of stereotypes. While on the one hand, positive images have emerged such as the 'naturally virtuous and scholarly German, ' there have been, on the other hand, numerous negative generalizations, for example, the 'hard drinking and violent Teuton.' These notions were often formed through hearsay, personal experiences and encounters with Germans at home and abroad, through literature and political-social relations between the United States and Germany. They are often persistently maintained, have resisted any revision and are frequently regarded as the standard of thought. The role of American literature in creating, sustaining and perpetuating images continues to be of particular importance and this needs to be examined if one wishes to understand how a wide range of long-lasting German stereotypes came into existence. The images of Germany and the Germans which are projected in the works of numerous American writers, including Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, Erica Jong and Walter Abish, have become core images found in travelogues, novels, poetry and short fiction. This thesis surveys the images of Germany and the Germans in American literature from the late 19th to the end of the 20th century, and proceeds to focus on two selected works: Walter Abish's How German is It (1980) and Erica Jong's Fear of Flying (1973). Abish's novel is a natural choice for an endeavor of this nature as it is both an extensive and intensive explorat
How German is it
Title | How German is it PDF eBook |
Author | Walter Abish |
Publisher | New Directions Publishing |
Pages | 262 |
Release | 1980 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 9780811207768 |
Ulrich Hargenau testifies against fellow members of a German terrorist group in order to save himself and his wife, Paula, and contemplates the nature of his German heritage.
Images of Germany in American Literature
Title | Images of Germany in American Literature PDF eBook |
Author | Waldemar Zacharasiewicz |
Publisher | University of Iowa Press |
Pages | 264 |
Release | 2007-04 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1587297787 |
Although German Americans number almost 43 million and are the largest ethnic group in the United States, scholars of American literature have paid little attention to this influential and ethnically diverse cultural group. In a work of unparalleled depth and range, Waldemar Zacharasiewicz explores the cultural and historical background of the varied images of Germany and Germans throughout the past two centuries. Using an interdisciplinary approach known as comparative imagology, which borrows from social psychology and cultural anthropology, Zacharasiewicz samples a broad spectrum of original sources, including literary works, letters, diaries, autobiographical accounts, travelogues, newspaper reports, films, and even cartoons and political caricatures. Starting with the notion of Germany as the ideal site for academic study and travel in the nineteenth century and concluding with the twentieth-century image of Germany as an aggressive country, this innovative work examines the ever-changing image of Germans and Germany in the writings of Louisa May Alcott, Samuel Clemens, Henry James, William James, George Santayana, W. E. B. Du Bois, John Dewey, H. L. Mencken, Katherine Anne Porter, Kay Boyle, Thomas Wolfe, Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Pynchon, William Styron, Walker Percy, and John Hawkes, among others.
How German is ist
Title | How German is ist PDF eBook |
Author | Walter Abish |
Publisher | |
Pages | 252 |
Release | 1982 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
American Studies
Title | American Studies PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | |
Pages | 188 |
Release | 2003 |
Genre | American literature |
ISBN |
Germany and the Germans
Title | Germany and the Germans PDF eBook |
Author | Price Collier |
Publisher | |
Pages | 640 |
Release | 1913 |
Genre | Germans |
ISBN |