Originally published in 1959, this first scholarly study of the origin and development of the concept of honor in German literature traces its role from ancient Germanic to modern works and shows how the transformation from external to internal conceptions of honor were influenced by Christian and Stoic ideals.
This is not a history of German literature. It is a study of the concept of honor as expressed in German literature, and it selects and treats literary works only in relation to the light they throw upon this subject. Therefore the discriminating reader must not be offended if many important works are neglected and less important ones are discussed, or if Sudermann is cited more than Goethe. Also, original verse is quoted as prose, although nothing is more prosaic than a literal prose translation of rimed verse. It is hoped that non-Germanists will not be prejudiced against German literature by these matter-of-fact samples.
Author(s): George Fenwick Jones
Series: University of North Carolina Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures, 25
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Year: 1959
Language: English
Pages: 220
City: Chapel Hill
Preface
Chapter One. The Problem
Chapter Two. Heathen Shame Culture
Chapter Three. Christian Guilt Culture
Chapter Four. Knightly Honor – The Native Heritage
Chapter Five. Knightly Honor – Refining Influences
Chapter Six. Courtier, Cleric, and Contradiction
Chapter Seven. Origins of Bourgeois Honor
Chapter Eight. Honor in Reformation and Baroque Literature
Chapter Nine. Inner Honor
Chapter Ten. Honor and the Common Man
Chapter Eleven. Loss of Honor
Chapter Twelve. Ridicule of Traditional Honor
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
