Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,2, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: With his "Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899), which is nowadays considered one of his most popular works, Veblen made himself a social outsider because his criticism of society was harsh and provoking. Although he accepted utilitarianism and praised the industrial efficiency of the engineering professions, he rejected what Mills calls the American value of the "heraldry of the greenback" and the "pecuniary fanatism of the business chieftain". Still his work was widely read and many of the problems which he saw in contemporary American society are even nowadays still quite relevant. Dreiser's first successful novel "Sister Carrie" was written in 1900, only one year after Veblen's main work had been published. This fact, as well as the widespread interest in Veblen's theories throughout America may have influenced Dreiser at least indirectly. More important though, is whether there is some textual evidence to prove their agreements and disagreements concerning their critique of society. In contrast to Veblen, Dreiser did not have a solid educational background and was in fact "almost a generation behind the sweep of American intellectual life" (Noble, "Dreiser and Veblen and the Literature of Cultural Change"), so many of his explanations of human hehaviour were made in terms of "chemisms" (Noble 149). Dreiser at times tended to believe Spencer's theories of social-Darwinism and that man was not much more than a "machine" and mainly controlled by physical laws, while Veblen had rather moved beyond such notions (Noble 149). On a deeper level though, Noble considers the supposedly post-Spencerian Veblen to have unconsciously clinged to Spencer's belief in optimistic progressivism, while Dreiser had in fact transcended such notions and raised some doubts about the belief in inevitable and controlled progress in his works (Nobl
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,4, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: When Melville wrote "Bartleby, The Scrivener", he was in a state of intense despair and a feeling of rejection had come over him because his former works such as "Moby Dick" and "Pierre" had not received the attention and appreciation he had expected. Many critics consider Melville's failure to reach the contemporary readership to have influenced his later works such as the "Piazza Tales" (Dan McCall, The Silence Of Bartleby., p. 38). Some even regard the figure of Bartleby as a personification of the author (Robert Rogers, A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Double In Literature. Detroit/Michigan: Wayne State Univ. Press, 1970, p. 67-68). Most critics agree that Bartleby is one of the most interesting characters of nineteenth century literature, also from a psychological point of view. In contrast to religious, philological or other approaches, psychoanalytic criticism is an especially anachronistic approach: Melville did not have the means of modern psychology to describe and explain such illnesses as schizophrenia, autism and similar personality disorders. "Bartleby, The Scrivener" is a fictional work of art while a psychological explanation of Bartleby's illness is scientific. In psychoanalytic criticism there are three possible objects of analysis: The author (a so-called psycho-biographical approach), the fictional characters and the readership (Oxford Encycl 823). My main focus will be on the figure of Bartleby along with the narrator who is considered by some critics to be a "psychological double" of Bartleby and vice-versa (Rogers, Psychological Double, p. 67). Firstly, I will draw a rough summary of the transition from moral philosophy to psychology and situate Melville in that historical context and show how this influenced his worldview and accordingly, his works. Then I will make brief definitions of the mental ill
Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,00, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: "Let them be sea-captains, if you will", Margaret Fuller stated in her main work Woman in the Nineteenth Century (Woman 346). Although even nowadays there may be only few female sea-captains, the quoted statement would hardly provoke anyone, at least not someone in our contemporary western culture. However, when regarded in its historical context, two questions arise: Firstly, what underlying gender concept encouraged Fuller to make such a statement, in "a time of excessive gender polarization" (Bomarito (vol2) 1), a time in which the ideal of domesticity and Republican Motherhood (Freedman 25) determined the role of woman? And secondly, how did antebellum American society react to such statements? The first question will be the main issue of part III, the main part of my work. I will begin with Fuller's general gender concept that involves ideas of androgynity and the "degendering" (Davis 182) of language. Next, the major influences on her concept, namely those of transcendentalism (with special consideration of Emerson), Goethe, Fourier and Swedenborg will be dealt with. Lastly, I will consider how Fuller applied her concept to the specific fields outlined in chapter II, that is, marriage, education and economy. I will concentrate on her main work Woman in the Nineteenth Century because Fuller describes her gender concept there in most detail, whereas her other works such as Summer on the Lakes do not contribute much additional information that is of special significance for the understanding of her gender concept. This is especially true in the case of her Memoirs, which was heavily edited and censored by Emerson and others. It rather distorted Fuller's reputation, as Urbanski states (5). Therefore I will only occasionally refer to them, whenever they provide further information that is relevant to my topic. Regarding the second question, I will illustrate the historical and cultural background first against which Fuller placed her gender concept, in order to clarify why her "idea of woman" (W 305) was considered provoking and unconventional in antebellum America. I will deal with the traditional gender concept, along with its ideals such as femininity, Republican Motherhood and domesticity. Then, I will describe the effect this concept had on marriage, evangelical movements, education and economy, and also with what is considered the initiation of the first women's rights movement in America, the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848.
Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: In his novel "An American Tragedy", Theodore Dreiser presents characters with various pychological disorders. This research paper will focus on the narcissism of selected characters in that novel. Firstly, the term narcissism and typical symptoms will be explained. Secondly, the most important characters in the novel will be analysed. Lastly, I will try to explain possible reasons for Dreiser's viewpoints and describe his social background.
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,2, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: With his "Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899), which is nowadays considered one of his most popular works, Veblen made himself a social outsider because his criticism of society was harsh and provoking. Although he accepted utilitarianism and praised the industrial efficiency of the engineering professions, he rejected what Mills calls the American value of the "heraldry of the greenback" and the "pecuniary fanatism of the business chieftain". Still his work was widely read and many of the problems which he saw in contemporary American society are even nowadays still quite relevant. Dreiser's first successful novel "Sister Carrie" was written in 1900, only one year after Veblen's main work had been published. This fact, as well as the widespread interest in Veblen's theories throughout America may have influenced Dreiser at least indirectly. More important though, is whether there is some textual evidence to prove their agreements and disagreements concerning their critique of society. In contrast to Veblen, Dreiser did not have a solid educational background and was in fact "almost a generation behind the sweep of American intellectual life" (Noble, "Dreiser and Veblen and the Literature of Cultural Change"), so many of his explanations of human hehaviour were made in terms of "chemisms" (Noble 149). Dreiser at times tended to believe Spencer's theories of social-Darwinism and that man was not much more than a "machine" and mainly controlled by physical laws, while Veblen had rather moved beyond such notions (Noble 149). On a deeper level though, Noble considers the supposedly post-Spencerian Veblen to have unconsciously clinged to Spencer's belief in optimistic progressivism, while Dreiser had in fact transcended such notions and raised some doubts about the belief in inevitable and controlled progress in his works (Nobl
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,4, University of Göttingen, language: English, abstract: When Melville wrote "Bartleby, The Scrivener", he was in a state of intense despair and a feeling of rejection had come over him because his former works such as "Moby Dick" and "Pierre" had not received the attention and appreciation he had expected. Many critics consider Melville's failure to reach the contemporary readership to have influenced his later works such as the "Piazza Tales" (Dan McCall, The Silence Of Bartleby., p. 38). Some even regard the figure of Bartleby as a personification of the author (Robert Rogers, A Psychoanalytic Reading Of The Double In Literature. Detroit/Michigan: Wayne State Univ. Press, 1970, p. 67-68). Most critics agree that Bartleby is one of the most interesting characters of nineteenth century literature, also from a psychological point of view. In contrast to religious, philological or other approaches, psychoanalytic criticism is an especially anachronistic approach: Melville did not have the means of modern psychology to describe and explain such illnesses as schizophrenia, autism and similar personality disorders. "Bartleby, The Scrivener" is a fictional work of art while a psychological explanation of Bartleby's illness is scientific. In psychoanalytic criticism there are three possible objects of analysis: The author (a so-called psycho-biographical approach), the fictional characters and the readership (Oxford Encycl 823). My main focus will be on the figure of Bartleby along with the narrator who is considered by some critics to be a "psychological double" of Bartleby and vice-versa (Rogers, Psychological Double, p. 67). Firstly, I will draw a rough summary of the transition from moral philosophy to psychology and situate Melville in that historical context and show how this influenced his worldview and accordingly, his works. Then I will make brief definitions of the mental ill
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,5, University of Göttingen, course: Literature of New Zealand, language: English, abstract: Title: The Concept of the Noble / Ignoble Savage in 20th Century New World Novels: Maurice Shadbolt's Season Of The Jew and Michael Blake's Dances With Wolves Confrontation of civilized Europeans with foreign "primitive" peoples has mostly been disatvantageous for the latter. The easiest way to deal with the strangeness of indigenous people was to regard them in a stereotypical way. Stereotypes such as the "noble" and the "ingnoble savage" were used to deprive such cultures of their humanity and to justify colonization and genocide. These stereotypes also found their way into European literature. In this work, I will analyze how the authors Maurice Shadbolt and Michael Blake deal with such stereotypes in their novels, Season Of The Jew and Dances With Wolves, respectively. I chose to compare these novels because they have many similarities but on the other hand also enough differences to make them an interesting comparison. Both novels are considered to be historical novels but there are some differences in the dealing with stereotypes, which I consider to be an important aspect of historical novels in general. Firstly, I will draw an outline of the history of the terms "noble" and "ignoble savage" and then make a concise definition of the terms. The next step will be a short book portrait of both novels in order to compare them to each other. In the main part of this work I will analyze how the concepts of the "noble savage" and he "ignoble savage" are dealt with in both novels. This will be done in consideration of various aspects which before have been presented in the definition of the terms. Exctract from the main text: d) Behaviour And Further Criteria One thing which astonished many European travellers was the missing idea of property among indigeous people
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