Lincoln, Peter (1979) Dualism and meditation: parallels in German literature and theology from 1910 to 1925. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The thesis attempts to provide a detailed discussion of certain aspects of a field which has been largely ignored in literary and theological histories of the early twentieth cen­tury. By means of a close analysis of individual writers and theologians it traces the emergence of a dualistic outlook which draws a sharp division between God and man, the soul and the world. In the case of the creative writers, this dualism not only permeates the ideas and themes contained in their work, but strongly influences their imagery and style. The fifth and sixth chapters endeavour to show that the religious dualism in question is the outcome of a complex interplay of social, political, intellectual and religious factors. The final two chapters examine the ways in which both writers and theologians attempt to overcome the problems discussed in the first part of the thesis. Barth and Bultmann share an a-historical view of a Christ who provides a paradoxical mediation between God and man, and this view is shown to have been prefigured in the works of Trakl and Rilke, both of whom turn to the poetic image as an intangible form of mediation between a comprehensible and an inexpressible dimension. The mediation explored in each case stems from a similar response to the problem of history, and from the attempt to point to an unassailable area immune from the relativising processes of time. Finally, suggestions are made as to how the conclusions of the analysis can be applied more broadly to the literature of the period.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	German literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism, Theologians -- Germany, Philosophy, German, Religion in literature, God -- Proof, Ontological, Meditation
Official Date:	September 1979
Dates:	Date Event September 1979 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of German Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Phelan, Tony, 1947-
Extent:	242 leaves
Language:	eng

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