Allan, Sean. (2009) 'Die rache der barbaren sei dir fern!' : myth, identity, and the encounter with the colonial other in Heinrich von Kleist's Die Hermannsschlacht. Publications of the English Goethe Society, Vol.78 (No.1-2). pp. 47-59. ISSN 09593683

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Abstract

When viewed through the ideological prism of the Roman/French imperial forces, the indigenous German population in Kleist's Die Hermannsschlacht is regarded as a primitive Other essentially in awe of the dominant power's apparent 'sophistication'. But as the play shows, it is precisely the failure of the latter to acknowledge the operations of self-interest that lie concealed within these discursive systems of its own making that constitutes a fatal weakness and leads, in time, to their eventual demise. By including the execution of Aristan — the only character besides Hermann to embrace a genuinely radical concept of freedom — Kleist invites the reader/spectator to take a critical view of the central protagonist.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > German Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777-1811 -- Criticism and interpretation, Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777-1811. Herrmannschlacht. English, Postcolonialism in literature, Nationalism -- Germany -- History, Nationalism -- Moral and ethical aspects, Ethics -- Germany -- History, Other (Philosophy) in literature
Journal or Publication Title:	Publications of the English Goethe Society
Publisher:	Maney Publishing
ISSN:	09593683
Date:	2009
Volume:	Vol.78
Number:	No.1-2
Page Range:	pp. 47-59
Identification Number:	10.1179/174962809X399760
Status:	Peer Reviewed
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/36189

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