Browsing by Subject "Germanic studies"

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    All that is the case: the collection, exhibition, and practice of Weltliteratur
    (2015-01) Patten, Andrew Nance
    From its origins in the early nineteenth century to its resurgence in the last decade (Casanova, Damrosch, Moretti, et al.), the concept of World Literature/Weltliteratur has challenged scholars to conceive of global literary space as the entirety of literature, the best of all literary works, or a world market of cultural exchange. While each new theory attempts to advance the perennial concept to fit its respective global era, it has gone overlooked that the concept itself is largely the result of a complex discursive history beginning with scholarship on Goethe and early globalization. This dissertation breaks from previous narratives of Weltliteratur as the idea of a sole visionary (Goethe) in order to ask not what Weltliteratur is in theory, but how it is realized through an array of approaches toward the organization of literature in a persistently changing discourse of globalization. In three case studies of such practices, this dissertation examine the first anthology of Weltliteratur, Johannes Scherr's 1848 Bildersaal der Weltliteratur; the National Socialist vision of Weltliteratur in the journal Weltliteratur: Romane, Erzählungen und Gedichte aller Zeiten und Völker (1935-1939) / Die Weltliteratur: Berichte, Leseproben und Wertung (1940-1944); and finally the digital perspective of an alternative Weltliteratur archive in the algorithm-driven organization of literature in online book commerce at Amazon.com. This dissertation demonstrates how the practices of literary mediation in these collections create, rather than reflect the notion of the world literary. In doing so, it presents a new approach to Weltliteratur, not simply as another manifestation of a nineteenth-century idea, but as practices of literary mediation with real and measurable effects on the way in which texts are translated, circulated, and read.
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    Old Norse nicknames
    (2015-04) Peterson, Paul R.
    Nicknames, which occur in all cultures and time periods, play an important role in highlighting identity and provide a window into popular culture. The function of nicknames in the Middle Ages is peculiar, however, when men (as in medieval Iceland) would kill for a carelessly dropped word if it was considered to be detrimental to their honor, yet often tolerated the most demeaning nicknames. The quantity of nicknames in Old Norse literature is incomparably rich, and recurring nicknames provide a tool for understanding saga transmission, cultural history, slang, and etymology. The pool of first names was limited in Old Norse society; thus, many people were identified by not only their first names but also their nicknames. Narrative explanations of nicknames in the literature are numerous, and, although most come in the form of a brief anecdote, several examples expand on a character's biography and play a role in the shaping the plot. Such explanations of nickname origins are often also found in other sagas and medieval Scandinavian literature. Several categories of nicknames are found in Old Norse literature, such as those describing physical features, mental characteristics, and one's deeds or habits (good or bad). An alphabetic list of the nicknames from the compendium of settlers in Iceland called Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements) provides examples of the many types of nicknames and describes them in light of their linguistic origin.