The use of myth in German opera 1912-33 with special reference to the Austrian contribution

The subject of myth in German opera: from the years just before 1914 to the end of the Weimar Republic is developed here on three fronts. "These are, firstly, the notion of myth as historical ‘Bild’ or image; secondly, myth in its vernacular guise of folktale and the motifs associated with Märchen and Saze; thirdly, myth in its more traditional, sense in connection with Hellenism and. the classical heritage. The works discussed are illustrated by music examples in Appendix D. Part One consists: of a brief introductory chapter on the period, followed by a: more substantial one outlining- the three meanings of the word 'myth' as used here. Chapter 3 offers a necessary and relevant view, of the connection between opera and certain literary movements and figures of the period 1912-35 in Germany and Austria. Part Two, 'History, Fiction and Myth’ opens with a chapter on the impact of literary ‘Renaissanceism’ (the Nietzsche-Giobineau view of the Italian Renaissance) on opera, during World War One. The works concerned are Schillings’ Mona Lisa, Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, Korngold’s Violanta and Zemlinsky's Eine florentinische Tragȍdie. Chapter 5 pursues the historical 'Bild' into the area of the Protestant Reformation and its consequences, especially the ‘image’ of Luther. This is seen through certain operas, discussed solely or largely in terms of their texts, principally Pfitsner's Palestrina and Busoni's Doktor Faust, but also two now forgotten works, Kaminski's Jűrg; Jenatsch and Klenau's Michael Kohlhaas, Parts Three (Chapters 5 and 7) and Four (Chapter 8) form the main, detailed part of this, study. Chapter 6 pursues the development of the; folktale or Märchen idea in Austrian opera (Gál, Wellesz, Zemlinsky, Krenek) and certain German works, while Chapter 7 follows the Märchen and Sage motif in Schreksr, notably Das Spielwerk, Der Schatzzräber and Der Schmied von Gent. Finally, Chapter 8 (Part 4) develops the theme of classical myth as it appears in Heger's Der Bettler uamenlos, then, more fully, in Wellesz’s Alkestis and Die Bakchantinnen and in Krenek's Orpheus und Eurydike and Leben des Orest. The three textual appendices are: (A) a chronological checklist of first performances 1895-1955 (B) A note on publishers (C) Schreker and Paul Bekker. Part One is preceded by a preamble setting out the line decent from Wagner to Strauss and, in another direction, to Mahler and Schnenberg. Part Four is followed by a retrospective conclusion

Rainer Maria Rilke and Jugendstil

This study focuses on the striking relationship between one of the most important and enigmatic poets of the twentieth century and the art and artists of the Art Nouveau. The author explores the depth of the relationship itself, examines Rilke's activities as an art critic, and analyzes the profound influence of Art Nouveau upon the themes, motifs, and structure of the poet's early works

Kommunikationsstrukturen und Auswirkungen von Mode-Blogs

Blogs und Social Media Websites nehmen in unserer modernen Netzwerk-gesellschaft einen immer höheren Stellenwert ein. Interaktivität und Aktualität sind nur einige der Gründe warum Internetnutzer heute so gerne Informationen der unabhängigen Journalisten beziehen. Blogs weisen dabei ein besonders hohes Involvement der User auf. Durch die persönliche Berichterstattung und den privaten Einblick der Autoren, bauen regelmäßige Leser schnell ein starkes Vertrauen auf. Sie sehen den Blogger eher als Freund und setzten seine Vorschläge im alltäglichen Leben um. Die vorliegende Arbeit versucht, die vermuteten Auswirkungen auf die Nutzer wissenschaftlich zu erforschen. In der Studie wurden vorrangig die Kommunikationsstruktur der Mode-Blogs, das Modeverhalten der Nutzer, sowie deren Auswirkungen auf die Nutzer im Alltag untersucht. Im Rahmen einer inhaltsanalytischen Betrachtung der Blogs wurden zunächst Kernthemen und Interaktionsbereitschaft der User evaluiert. Anschließend fand eine Online-Befragung statt, die bestimmte Charakteristika der User, das regelmäßige Nutzungsverhalten sowie parasoziale Dispositionen untersucht. Auch die verschiedenen Modetypen konnten mittels subtiler Fragestellungen evaluiert werden, ebenso wie das zu überprüfende Nachahmungsverhalten der Nutzer. Die theoretische Basis der Studie bilden vor allem Theorien zur Struktur der Lebenswelt, die Theorie der Netzwerkgesellschaft als auch modesoziologische Aspekte. Dieses Konstrukt verschafft dem Leser einen fundierten Einblick in das Leben und die Prädispositionen der Blog-Nutzer, sowie die wesentlichen Aspekte der alltäglichen Lebenswelt, in der wir uns befinden. Es konnten im Rahmen der Studie Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Nachahmungsverhalten und der Intensität der Nutzung sowie der persönlichen Bindung zum Blogger nachgewiesen werden. Zudem konnten vermutete Zusammenhänge zwischen einzelnen kollektiven Identitäten und verschiedenen Typisierungen evaluiert werden und soziale Hintergründe und typische Charakteristika von typischen Blog-Nutzern festgestellt werden

China and Germany : a study of images and influences of China in German literature

[Introduction]: Whilst the theme of the influence of one culture upon another has always been regarded as a legitimate subject of literary study, that of the image of one culture reflected within the literature of another culture has not. M-F. Guyard appears to have been the first critic to draw attention to the significance of this aspect of comparative literature. However, his claim that this constituted a serious aspect of literary research was not widely accepted. Critics, most notably R. Wellek, dismissed the subject as trivial:"One cannot be convinced by recent attempts ... to widen the scope of comparative literature in order to include a study of national illusions, of fixed ideas which nations have of each other."Wellek considered such a widening of the scope of comparative literature as 'dissolving literary scholarship into social psychology and cultural history'. These remarks, made in 1958, reflect the then fashionable New Criticism. The conviction that literary study should be divorced from all reality that exists beyond the bounds of the literature studied has been superceded in more recent times by a wider view of the function of literary criticism. With this has emerged a greater readiness to regard such comparative themes as a valuable contribution to literary research.The themes of images and influences are in fact complementary aspects of the same area of study, since it is through influences that an image emerges. A negative image is the result of negative influence on either an individual author or a particular culture.The study of the image of another culture and the influence of that culture is a parallel to the study of the reception, within anyone culture, of older traditions of that same culture. The latter is regarded as a valid subject of literary research, therefore the same must be true of the former.The particular theme of Oriental influences in German literature has received little critical attention. Studies have been made of the image and influences of India and Indian thought in German literature, but China has been neglected almost entirely. There are exceptions: Hermann Hesse, the most obvious example of the assimilation of Chinese thought, has been the subject of two detailed studies. Adrian Hsia's Hermann Hesse und China considers the whole of Hesse's life and work, and documents the latter's interest in Chinese literature and philosophy, whilst Ursula Chi's Die Weisheit Chinas undrDas Glasperlenspiel, demonstrates the application of Chinese thought in Hesse's writings. The existence of these two studies precludes Hesse from the present work, since it is not now possible to make any further contribution to this aspect of the problem. However, these two studies do not consider other authors, and do not place Hesse in the wider context of Sino-German literary relations. The present study does not, therefore, duplicate anything contained within these works but, rather,indicates that Hesse is not the exceptional figure that these isolated enquiries would appear to make him.Apart from these two works on Hesse, one can refer only to Rose's introductory article and investigations of individual authors, and to Chuan Chen's Die chinesische schone Literatur im deutschen Schrifttum of 1933. The latter is a study of translations of Chinese literature. It does not discuss works that are based upon Chinese motifs and only briefly examines German works that are adapted from Chinese originals. M. Davidson's uncompleted bibliography is of only limited value and contains many inaccuracies. More recently, Brecht has been the subject of anumber of investigations that fall within the scope of the present thesis, as indicated in my discussion of his work. The fact that a single study has appeared dealing with Brecht's adaptation of twelve Chinese poems serves to indicate the neglect that earlier adaptors of Chinese poetry have suffered.The present study is intended to make a contribution to the investigation of the image of China by examining the role of Chinese themes in German literature. In doing so, it attempts to document the frequency of such themes and to explain their popularity whilst also considering the influence of China, and Chinese literature and thought on German authors. The main part of this study deals with twentieth-century German literature written before the end of 1945, the latest work being Brecht's Der kaukasische Kreidekreis. It is felt that 1945 is a significant point at which to halt the present study since post-war German literature, whilst possessing such obvious examples of Chinese influences as Hermann Kasack's Die Stadt hinter dem Strom of 1947, would require a separate approach. In order, however, to give an historical perspective to the literature of the twentieth century and to highlight the peculiarities of the modern response to China, a chapter is included surveying the historical development of the image of China in German literature and thought from earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century. Whilst a number of brief individual studies of various aspects of the historical image of China do exist, no single work covers the overall development. It is felt, therefore, that this chapter constitutes a necessary part of the present investigation.It is the intention of this study to isolate the features of the German literary response to China by examining works that use Chinese originals as a source, works that are adapted from or styled on Chinese sources, works set in China, works of a literary nature that discuss China, and works that, in the broadest sense, exhibit Chinese influences. The authors examined are not intended to be an exhaustive catalogue but, rather, representative of the various aspects discussed. Thus, in each case, the more popular authors are dealt with in detail, whilst works by other authors are included to demonstrate the popularity of such themes.The present work is not intended as a sinological study and does not attempt to criticise the accuracy of the work of sinologists. The majority of the texts discussed are free adaptations or imaginative creations. Where the accuracy of works is discussed, it is their accuracy to the source used by any particular author. However, where obvious discrepancies arise between a source used by a German author and a more accurate European translation of the original, this is pointed out. The discussion is not intended as a philological investigation of the works in question, but as a general literary enquiry into the use of certain themes and motifs. Nevertheless, the frequent distortion of original works presented in free German form does require comment, which is validated by reference to the work of recognised sinologists.Since a certain section of the discussion turns around the influence of Taoism, and since this philosophy is, by its very nature, elusive, obscure and barely distinguishable from other forms of religious mysticism and philosophical Idealism, an excursus is added which uses philosophical or pseudo-philosophical discussions and free adaptations of Taoist writings to support the thesis of the popularity and influence of Taoism in the twentieth century. Again, this is not intended as a sinological investigation, but as an attempt to ascertain the significance that Taoist thought gained during the period studied.The themes of influence and image merge within the various works discussed. These influences range from the poetic, through the religio-philosophical to the overtly political. No strict division between these various images and influences is attempted except where they fall into one clear category. The conclusion does, however, attempt to distinguish between these three categories, which often co-exist in the work of individual authors.Much of the literature discussed is of a trivial nature and belongs to the often neglected area of popular literature. Discussion of such works is necessary, since they constitute a large part of the material by which images and influences are communicated within cultural groups. Whilst one may be critical of the quality of these works, the literary critic must not ignore the existence of such literature which can help to qualify the cultural climate in which more valuable objects of literary interest are produced.Since it cannot be expected that the reader is familiar with the works that are discussed, it is often necessary to give a brief indication of the contents of these works in order to illustrate certain aspects of style and tone which typify the author's attitude towards China. Similarly, though the present author does not wish to burden his reader with facts on Chinese history and philosophy, certain details are indispensable for an understanding of particular works, and are included accordingly

Rainer Maria Rilke and Jugendstil: Affinities, Influences, Adaptations

This study focuses on the striking relationship between one of the most important and enigmatic poets of the twentieth century and the art and artists of the Art Nouveau. The author explores the depth of the relationship itself, examines Rilke's activities as an art critic, and analyzes the profound influence of Art Nouveau upon the themes, motifs, and structure of the poet's early works