Focus Fall 1997.tif ~ 0 ~ , « 0 2 t-. , , ~ ) , , ; 2 , ! , , , I , -, , VOL. 4 NO.2 FALL 1997 OCUS 011 I Sample Copy / Ansichtsexemplar I 10 c U S on LITERATUR Editors Michael Rice Barbel Such Technical Manager Tom Stewart Published by the German Graduate Student Governance Association of the University of Cincinnati Fows on Literatur is published semiannually (Spring & Fall) by the German Graduate Student Governance Association of the University of Cincinnati. Editor Michael Rice Book Review Edi tor Barbel Such Technical Manager Tom Stewan Copy Editors Tim Straubel, Christina Bonner David Prickett, Angelina Mrsic Subscript ions and Mailings Michael Rice SUBMISSIONS Focus on Lileratllr welcomes article submissions from 10-25 pages on topics related to German literary studies. Submissions are accepted continuously, but contributors must be students at the time of submission. Manuscripts must be submitted in tnplicate to the editor and should be prepared accord­ ing to the guidelines of the latest MLA Handbook. A self-addressed postcard should accompany the manuscript for acknowledgment of its receipt. BOOK REVIEWS Unsolicited book reviews of 2-5 pages will be considered for publication, yet Focus on Literatllr prefers to work with an established pool of reviewers. Interested persons are encouraged to inform the Book Review Editor. SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscriptions are $ 15.00 for individuals and $22.00 for institutions; individuals and institutions overseas add $5.00 for additional postage. CONTACT ADD RESS Send subscription fees and all other correspondence to Focus on Literalur, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Cincin­ nati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45121-0372. Tel: (513) 556-2755 Fax: (513) 556-1991. COVER: "The Book Fool» from Sebastian Brant's Ship a/Fooies, London, 1570, courtesy of the Archives and Rare Books Department, University of Cincinnati Libraries. Cover design by Giana Morrell. We reserve the right to make any necessary editing changes without the express written consent of the authors. Member c§) Council of Editors of Learned Journals ISSN 1076-5697 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The second installment of the fourth volume of Focus on Literatllr was made possible only with the continued commitment of Dr. Judith Trent, Associate Vice President for Research and Advanced Studies and the officers of the University of Cincinnati Graduate Student Governance Association. We are deeply indebted to them for their support . Our sincere thanks go to Depanment Head Sara Friedrichs­ meyer, our Faculty Advisor Professor Richard Schade, and other fac­ ulty members of the Department of Germanic Languages and Litera­ rures who have been very supportive of this publication. We are also grateful for the voluntary work offered by the graduate students of the German department. Special thanks to all members of our board of reviewers. Ar­ ticles for this issue were refereed by the following prqfessors: Kalharina Gerstenberger (U of Cincinnati) and Jerry Glenn (U of Cincinnati). Focus on Literatur Volume 4) Number 2 Fall 1997 Contents from the editor v. articles "Mesch'schurs, ihr macht ja verteufelt wenig Federlesens!"; Rassendiskurse im Wilden Westen? 109 WILFRITD WILMS Representing Torture: The Struggle for the Masculine Self in the HlSTORIA VON D.JOHANN FAUSTEN 137 BETTINA MATHES The Constancy of Change: The Role of the PateTTI-oster in Grass's Ein weiles Feld 161 DAVID PRlCKETT Thomas Mann's First Vision of Woman (1893) GAMIN BARTLE book reviews Reinhold Batberger. Pirckheimers Fall Christine Bruckner. Friiher oder Spater 171 181 183 Thomas Brussig. Heiden wie wir Laura Doermer. Vergehendes Blau Manfred Flugge. Meine Sehnsucht ist das Leben Hermann Kant . Konnoran Gerlind Reinshagen. Am Gro}?en Stem Patrick Roth. Corpus Christl contributors announcements 185 187 190 19) 194 198 20) 204 vi From the Editor As the ne,,:, e~itor of FocltS on Literalltr, I am happy to say that both our subscnptlons and our pool of reviewers have grown over the past months. As my predecessor Brina Kallin stated in the last edition of Focus on LiterallJr, many of our past cont ributors have expressed the advantage of publishing in our journal when applying for jobs. We are very pleased to be able to provide a forum for graduate studems to begin publishing and to create a dialogue in the academic community for original scholarship. The Second Annual Graduate Student Conference, organized by the staff of Foclli on Literalltr and the gldduate students of the Department of Germanic Languages and Liteldtures at the Univer­ sity of Cincinnati, was held on the 10th and 111h of October 1997. We were very happy wi th the OutCome of the conference. We were honored (0 have our own Dr. Katharina Gerstenberger deliver the ke.ynote t~~ entitled. "Honest Books: Cultures of Autobiography." Nme partlc~pants dehvered papers, dealing with topics from the early modern penod to contemporary German literature. Universities from the Midwest, the South, and the Eastern pan of the United States were represented. Bettina ~lathes came from the Humboldt Universitat in Berlin to deliver her paper, giving the conference a truly i~ternational nav.or. The last three articles in this issue are pa­ pers pnmed as proceedmgs of the conference. We will also be consid­ ering other papers from the conference for the next issue. In the first article, Wilfried Wilms discusses race discourses in Karl May's Halbbltu. In his analysis Wilms tries to show how an exotic adventure Story like Halbbluc, as a product of its time, renects racist discoun;es of the late 19th century, o r at least shows traces of 0em. In the se~ond article, Bettina Mathes analyzes the representa­ tion of torture 10 the HlStoria von D. Johann FaltSlen. Mathes puts forth that the. disputations between Faust and Mephostophiles repre­ sent torture, III so far as they assume the "structure and logic of tor­ ture." Her essay consists of four parts dealing with the problem of identity in the work, structure and funcrion of fOrture with regard to the construction of identity, its representation in the (ext, and the VII construction of masculinity. In the next article, David Prickell inves­ tigates the role of the Paternoster in Grass's Ein welles Feld. The Pater· noster, Pricken shows, is used by Grass as a symbol of t'lJ.'lge Wiederkehr, i.e. a symbol of German history from the Nazi era through unifica­ tion. In the last article, Gamin Bartle examines the image of women, particularly in Thomas Mann's ViSion. She shows how Mann can be reread in order [0 ree\'alu:ue the image of women in German litera­ rure, challenging the traditional interpretations of Ol canonical text. In our book review section we are pleased to present to the reader a selection of books that are currenllopics of discussion among Germanists. We include here a narrative by Reinhold Batberger and the novels of Christine Bruckner, Laura Doermer, MJnfred Fli.igge, Gerlind Reinshagen, Patrick Roth, and Thomas Brussig, with whom we hope to be publishing an interview in the next issue. Once again we are delighted to be able to bring to our reading public an interest­ ing mixture of men and women authors. In conclusion, I wish to express my hope that you enjoy this issue of Foclt5 on Literatur and to Stress the imponance of such schol­ arly forums like our journal and conference, which give graduate Stu­ dents the opportunity to demonstrate their original scholan;hip and exchange ideas with their peers. We will be holding our Third An­ nual Graduate Student Conference on October 9-10, 1998 and en­ couldge all those interested to send their abstractS to us. See the ad­ vertisement in the Announcement section .n the end of the journal for further information. Michael Rice