Max Frisch novel "Stiller" was influenced by the American tale "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving. Irving himself was influenced by a German source. In this work, the author tries to untangle the interwoven works of Frisch and Irving.
In the work the author singles out "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving and expound it in a new with the assistance of a reverberation which this tale has had in the writings of the modern Swiss German author Max Frisch. The author is convinced that to draw certain conclusions from the influence a given work of literature exerts on later works of literature is as legitimate in literary interpretation as to infer anything from the use to which an author puts his source material. The author also believes that Frisch's modern exploitation of the "Rip Van Winkle" story may shed as much new light on Irving's achievement as the comparison between "Rip Van Winkle" and its German source in the tale of "Peter Klaus, the Goatherd" has done.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
I. WASHINGTON IRVING'S USE OF HIS GERMAN SOURCE AND THE VARYING APPRAISALS OF THE CRITICS
II. WASHINGTON IRVING'S INFLUENCE ON GERMAN AUTHORS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
III. MAX FRISCH'S USE OF "RIP VAN WINKLE"
IV. THE ISSUE: RIP'S "IDENTITY" PROBLEM
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the literary connection between Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and its German source, "Peter Klaus, the Goatherd," while exploring how the modern Swiss author Max Frisch utilizes the "Rip Van Winkle" narrative to address themes of personal identity, alienation, and social transition.
- Chronology and critical appraisal of the German sources of "Rip Van Winkle".
- Evaluation of Irving's creative additions and stylistic departures from the original folk tale.
- Analysis of the influence of Irving's work on nineteenth-century German literature.
- Comparison of Max Frisch’s adaptation of "Rip Van Winkle" within his novel Stiller.
- Exploration of the "identity" problem as a central modern theme in both Irving’s and Frisch’s works.
Excerpt from the Book
The fairy-tale runs about as follows:
Rip van Winkle, a descendant of those intrepid van Winkles, who under Hendrik Hudson had formerly opened up the American continent, was a born loafer, though, as it seems; an amiable fellow, who did not fish in order to catch fish, but in order to day-dream; for his head was full of thoughts which had little to do with his reality. His reality was personified in a brave wife, whom everybody in the village could but pity and admire, consequently had not an easy time of him. Rip was well aware that he should have a job, a male job, and therefore liked to pass for a hunter; for this had the advantage that he could roam about for days in places where nobody would see him. Usually he would return without a single pigeon, freighted only by his bad conscience. His cottage and his garden were the shabbiest in the whole village. Nowhere the weeds throve in such a sprightly way as in his garden, and it was always his goats that went astray and fell into ravines. He bore it without grief, for he was an inward-bent man, unlike his ancestors who always looked so avid for adventures out of the old paintings. For days he would sit squatted in front of his miserable cottage with his chin propped on his fist, and would ponder why he did not really become happy. He had a wife and two children, but happy he was not. He had expected more of himself; he was fifty years old and still expected it, although his brave wife and his comrades smiled about it.
Summary of Chapters
INTRODUCTION: The author introduces the scope of the paper, focusing on the reverberations of "Rip Van Winkle" in the works of Max Frisch and the significance of literary influence.
I. WASHINGTON IRVING'S USE OF HIS GERMAN SOURCE AND THE VARYING APPRAISALS OF THE CRITICS: This chapter provides a chronological history of how critics have identified and evaluated the German sources of Irving’s tale.
II. WASHINGTON IRVING'S INFLUENCE ON GERMAN AUTHORS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: The discussion shifts to the reciprocal influence of Irving's writings on various German authors and intellectuals during the 19th century.
III. MAX FRISCH'S USE OF "RIP VAN WINKLE": This section analyzes how Max Frisch incorporates the "Rip Van Winkle" narrative into his novel Stiller to explore themes of transformation and individual destiny.
IV. THE ISSUE: RIP'S "IDENTITY" PROBLEM: The final chapter addresses the modern concept of "identity" and how the struggle for self-definition connects Irving’s protagonist to Frisch’s characters.
Keywords
Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle, Peter Klaus, Max Frisch, Stiller, Identity, Literary Source, Folklore, Romantic Movement, American Literature, German Literature, Alienation, Cultural Influence, Narrative Adaptation, Identity Crisis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research?
The work investigates the literary genealogy of Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" and its critical reception, with a specific focus on its thematic appropriation by the Swiss author Max Frisch.
What are the central thematic fields covered?
The core themes include literary influence, the evolution of folk tales, the concept of personal identity, and the cross-cultural dialogue between American and European literature.
What is the main objective of the paper?
The goal is to demonstrate that analyzing Frisch's use of the "Rip Van Winkle" story provides new insights into Irving's original achievements and highlights the emergence of the modern "identity" problem in literature.
Which methodology is employed in the study?
The author uses a comparative literary approach, collating historical critical appraisals and performing a structural thematic analysis of the texts in question.
What is discussed in the main body of the text?
The main body covers the identification of Irving's German sources, the history of his reception in Germany, and a detailed comparison of Frisch's character Stiller with the archetype of Rip Van Winkle.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include Washington Irving, Max Frisch, identity, literary source, folklore, Stiller, and Rip Van Winkle.
How does the author view the "identity" problem in Rip Van Winkle?
The author argues that while modern critics often project a contemporary psychological sense of "identity" onto the text, Irving's original usage focused more on problems of recognition and the loss of one's place in the world.
Why does the author focus on Max Frisch's novel "Stiller"?
The author focuses on Stiller because the protagonist explicitly uses the "Rip Van Winkle" fairy-tale to articulate his own desire to reinvent his identity and escape his past, making it a critical modern parallel.
How does the author address the debate over Irving's sources?
The author critiques the redundant nature of literary research and suggests that scholars have been too focused on merely identifying sources, rather than analyzing the structural and stylistic improvements Irving made to the original tale.
Is there any significance to the "Peter Klaus" tale included in the appendix?
Yes, the author includes Bayard Taylor's 1868 précis of the "Peter Klaus" legend to allow readers to compare the original German folk tale with Irving's and Frisch's reinterpretations.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Reiner Ruft (Autor:in), 1973, The sources of "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving and its influence on Max Frisch’s novel "Stiller", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/511396
