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| Format | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Creator | Blount, Caroline |
| Title | Race & Space in 19th century German-American Literature |
| Dissertation Note (type -- academic institution) | Ph.D -- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
| Date | 2025 |
| Extent of Work | x, 132 pages |
| URL | |
| Abstract | This dissertation discusses German-language literature in the United States during the period of heightened migration from Central Europe and the flourishing of the German-language press, roughly 1830 to 1890. German immigrants had to navigate increased xenophobia and a highly racialized American society. The spaces of the primeval forest, the prairie, and the city each represent a different frontier for the European settler and have different associations within the contemporary canon of German literature. By comparing and contrasting these spaces in German-American works with continental German texts, I seek to trace how the spaces differ with the added context of slavery and indigenous genocide in the Americas. I argue that freedom in America is inextricably linked to violence against others, which is conditioned by both race and space. Works discussed include the Romantic poetry of Niklaus Lenau, the novels and short prose of Friedrich Gerstäcker, Charles Sealsfield’s Die Prärie am Jacinto (a section of Das Kajütenbuch, oder Nationale Charakteristen), Ludwig von Reizenstein’s Die Geheimnisse von New Orleans, and TALVJ’s Die Auswanderer. Many of these works have been ignored in both German and American Studies, as they do not fit in neatly to either national literary tradition. However, they are a product of the transatlantic culture of the 19th century which reflexively shaped both nations and their understanding of freedom. |
| Call Number | Digital file (PDF) |
| MKI Terms | German language literature/ Literature, German American/ American history/ Emigration and immigration (Germany-US)/ 19th century |