Orientalismus, Kolonialismus und Moderne: Zum Bild des Orients in der deutschen Kultur um 1900.

摘要

In the process of defining the Self, cultural, ethnic or religious differences often serve to mark the boundaries of identity. One preeminent example of the interplay between images of Other and Self can be observed in the relationship of Europe to the Orient. However, European images of the Oriental Other are not only projections of the Self, but must also be understood in the historical context of existing power relations.; My focus on a specific era in German-speaking culture--from the early 1880s until the end of World War I--allows me to show the wide range of cultural representations of German and Austrian orientalism even during one particular period. In the introduction I map out the term "Orient" and describe how diverse notions of the Orient manifested themselves in German-speaking culture from the Middle Ages to the present. Chapter One connects German orientalism to the colonialist project and to debates on German national consciousness. The publication of Karl May's six-volume Orientzyklus coincided with the beginnings of German colonialism, and the interventions of the novels' first-person narrator reflect Europe's interest in the territories of the Ottoman Empire. Chapter Two investigates orientalism in Das Marchen der 672. Nacht by Hugo von Hofmannsthal in the context of the rise of modernity. By relating Hofmannsthal's text to visual representations I show how Europeans projected notions of aestheticism, melancholy and boredom, and of the dangerous femme fatale onto the Oriental setting. In Chapter Three, selected writings by Else Lasker-Schuler are seen as part of a contemporary debate about Jewish-Oriental identity, and understood as early examples of a conscious minority discourse. Apart from their significance as minority writings, the texts also participate in debates of the dominant German culture.; In addition, I explore the authors' relationships to the reality of Oriental countries. Each author experienced a confrontation with the actuality of Oriental cultures and peoples during travels to Africa and Asia. In analyzing the diverse reactions of the writers, I examine the nexus of imagination, interpretation, and experience.