Author's Department/Program
Germanic Languages and Literatures
Language
English (en)
Date of Award
9-4-2012
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Chair and Committee
Lynne Tatlock
Abstract
While today the word "illustration" often evokes children's books, in late nineteenth-century Germany illustrated literature was a serious, albeit embattled, literary mode for adults. Informed by book history and image-text studies, I argue that book illustration provides insights into how literary works were read and re-interpreted in the second half of the nineteenth century. My study examines six illustrated book editions by three German authors: Wilhelm Raabe, Theodor Storm, and Eugenie Marlitt. In the case of Wilhelm Raabe, I focus on two novels--Chronik der Sperlingsgasse: 1856) and Horacker: 1876)--which were published as illustrated editions in the same series in 1877 and 1876, respectively. In the case of Theodor Storm and Eugenie Marlitt, I examine two illustrated editions of each author's most popular work, namely Storm's Immensee: 1850; illustrated 1857, 1887) and Marlitt's Goldelse: 1866; illustrated 1871, 1890). Conceiving illustrations as an embedded narrative, I argue that every illustration represents an interpretation of the text it accompanies. These illustrations in turn influence how a later generation of readers encounters and understands the text. I contextualize these close readings through analyses of the polemical debates for and against illustration recorded in the literary, art, and family magazines of the period. In particular, I analyze how illustration was contested in explicitly gendered and nationalistic terms, with the illustration of Goethe's works serving as frequent catalyst for these debates.
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Shane D., "Picturing the Text: Illustrated Editions of Marlitt, Raabe, and Storm in the Age of the Industrial Book: (1857-90)" (2012). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 975.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/975
Comments
This work is not available online per the author’s request. For access information, please contact digital@wumail.wustl.edu or visit http://digital.wustl.edu/publish/etd-search.html.
Permanent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7936/K7ZW1J0W