Germanic and Slavic Studies

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Browsing Germanic and Slavic Studies by Author "Kittstein, Ulrich"

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    "Biste etwa einer von den roten Gebhardts?" - Identities between Family and Society in Klaus Kordon's "Trilogie der Wendepunkte"
    (University of Waterloo, 2017-01-20) Schaefer, Sonja; Kittstein, Ulrich; Weiß, Christoph
    This thesis deals with the "Trilogie der Wendepunkte" ("Trilogy of Turning Points") by Klaus Kordon. The trilogy, consisting of "Die roten Matrosen" (1984), "Mit dem Rücken zur Wand" (1990), and "Der erste Frühling" (1993), tells the story of a working-class family in Berlin during the first half of the twentieth century. In the light of the important historic events taking place at that time, the adolescent protagonists are faced with the values and expectations of their family on the one hand and society on the other hand. This thesis examines their individual search for identity and how they position themselves in public and private spaces. First of all, I will clarify that the novels originally written for an adolescent audience can not only be analysed as educational and pedagogical literature but have characteristics of other genres as well. Therefore, different literary methods will be applied in order to analyse the protagonists’ identity construction. For the first part of the thesis the function of the family regarding the construction of identity will be examined. Values and moral beliefs are transferred from one generation to the other and therefore shape the individual’s identity. Especially the function of family memory and storytelling are crucial in the process of creating identity, therefore Jan and Aleida Assmann’s memory studies as well as Paul RicÏur’s concept of narrative identity will be adapted. The second part focuses on society’s role in creating identity. Social class and status as well as public spaces like school and workplace shape the individual’s identity. Considering the role theory of Lothar Krappmann, this chapter explores how the protagonists take social roles as part of their collective and personal identity. Moreover, I will apply the stages of psychosocial development by Erik H. Erikson to the protagonists’ lives and investigate how their family identity helps them to assert their identity in public space. The concluding chapter discusses the impact of differing individual needs, social requirements, and familial values on the identity construction and how the protagonists deal with conflicting expectations.
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    Keeping it simple. Short stories written by the young generation in post-war Germany.
    (University of Waterloo, 2017-08-30) Baumann, Julia; Fetscher, Justus; Kittstein, Ulrich
    This thesis deals with selected short stories written by the so-called “young generation” in post-war Germany. To emphasize the importance of the historical, social and political background for the popularity of the short story genre in post-war Germany, the first part of this thesis will outline these connections. There follows an analysis of four well-known short stories which will concentrate primarily on the concept of ‘keeping it simple’ (Einfachwerden). As a genre, the German short story received relatively little attention before the end of World War II, but the socio-political situation between 1945 and 1950 saw a rise in its popularity. The immediate aftermath of World War II was known as the Stunde Null. The country and the people had suffered heavy losses during the war, both in infrastructure and lives. With the defeat of Nazism, even moral concepts seemed to be destroyed, and as a consequence many German writers felt the urgent need to make a fresh start in literature. They wanted to free their language from the remnants of pathos and ideology; and so these authors, called the young generation, developed a straightforward, simple and realistic style of writing. The short story turned out to be the ideal genre for German authors to tell stories about the tragic fate faced by people in the post-war era in a simple and realistic, but at the same time, forceful way. The theoretical remarks within the first part of this thesis, provide an historical background and some of the main elements of the short story genre, and will build a basis for the subsequent analysis of the four works being examined. Wolfgang Borchert, Wolfdietrich Schnurre and Heinrich Böll are numbered among the most popular authors of the German post-war era. Their personal ideals and beliefs will be outlined to gain a deeper understanding of their literary texts. The analysis of Die Küchenuhr and Das Brot (Wolfgang Borchert), Auf der Flucht (Wolfdietrich Schnurre) and Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa… (Heinrich Böll) will establish that the authors found different ways to implement the concept of ‘keeping it simple’ and the theoretical beliefs of a fresh start in literature. To this day, these works play a significant role in documenting and reinforcing the struggles people had to face during the post-war era, and also the ideals, beliefs and values that kept them going.