Fontane in the Twenty-First Century: (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)

Assesses the relevance of the works of Fontane, perhaps the foremost German novelist between Goethe and Mann, for the twenty-first century. Theodor Fontane remains a canonical figure in German literature, the most important representative of poetic realism, and likely the best German-language novelist between Goethe and Mann, yet scholarly attention to his works oftenlags behind his stature, at least in the English-speaking academy. This volume, coinciding with Fontane's 200th birthday in 2019, assesses the relevance of his works for us today and also draws attention to the most current English-language research. Much has changed in the last two decades in critical theory, and the volume highlights how new methodological approaches and new archival research can update our understanding of Fontane's works. Although his novels are famously rooted in the details of quotidian life in nineteenth-century Germany, they also reflect larger historical transformations that resonate with our world today (e.g., financial crisis, class conflict, changing gender roles, and migration) and so speak to contemporary critical interests. The volume's contributors draw on literary and cultural studies approaches including gender and sexuality studies, emotion studies, transnationalismand globalization, media and visual studies, rhetorical criticism, paratextual criticism, and digital humanities. Their contributions survey a wide range of Fontane's literary production in order to speak to both German and non-German audiences in the twenty-first century. Contributors: James N. Bade, Russell A. Berman, Katharina Adeline Engler-Coldren, Todd Kontje, John B. Lyon, Ervin Malakaj, Nicolas von Passavant, Lynne Tatlock, Christian Thomas, Brian Tucker, Michael J. White, Holly A. Yanacek. John B. Lyon is Professor of German at the University of Pittsburgh. Brian Tucker is Associate Professor of German at Wabash College.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Note on Editions Introduction: Fontane in the Twenty-First Century - John B. Lyon and Brian Tucker Narrative Digression and the Transformation of Nationhood in Vor dem Sturm - Russell A. Berman Nasty Women: Female Anger as Moral Judgment in Grete Minde and Effi Briest - Holly A. Yanacek Peforming the Philistine: Gossip as a Narrative Device and a Strategy for Reflection on Anti-Semitism in Theodor Fontane's L'Adultera - Nicolas von Passavant To Have an Eye: Visual Culture and the Misapprehension of Class in Irrungen, Wirrungen - Brian Tucker Fontane as a Pacifist? The Anti-War Message in Quitt and Fontane's Changing Attitude to Militarism - James N. Bade Disjunctive Transnationalisms in Fontane's Frau Jenny Treibel - John B. Lyon On the "Right Measure" in Effi Briest: Ethics and Aesthetics of the Prosaic - Katharina Adeline Engler-Coldren Transfiguration, Effect, and Engagement: Theodor Fontane's Aesthetic Thought - Michael J. White Fontane and World Literature: Prussians, Jews, and the Specter of Africa in Die Poggenpuhls - Todd Kontje Von Zwanzig bis Dreissig: The Male Author in Parts - Lynne Tatlock Melusine von Barby's Barriers and Connections in Fontane's Der Stechlin - Christian Thomas Senescence and Fontane's Der Stechlin - Ervin Malakaj Notes on the Contributors Index

About the Author :
BRIAN TUCKER is Professor of German at Wabash College, IN. BRIAN TUCKER is Professor of German at Wabash College, IN. LYNNE TATLOCK is the Hortense and Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities and Chair of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. MICHAEL WHITE is Senior Lecturer in German at the University of St Andrews and head of the UK and Ireland section of the Theodor Fontane Gesellschaft.

Review :
[A] welcome addition to Fontane scholarship in general, and to English-language scholarship on Fontane in particular. . . . [T]imely and imperative. . . . The collection's new theoretical approaches, as well as its profound close readings, advance Fontane scholarship into the twenty-first century and will serve as a profitable springboard for continuing endeavors. . . . Filling a critical gap in scholarship, [this volume] documents [Fontane's] resilience and enduring relevance for readers and scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. [C]ommemorate[s] what would have been Theodor Fontane's 200th birthday . . . [and aims] to both enrich and enliven English-language research on . . . [his] work. . . . Insights into Fontane's personal life, his agency as an author and as an aging observer, and his views on the military reveal an engaged, prescient, and versatile mind. The essays build on established research findings and offer some new readings. All German citations are translated. Recommended.