The Wanderer in Nineteenth-Century German Literature: Intellectual History and Cultural Criticism

The wanderer is an indispensable part of the German cultural imaginary. The nineteenth-century prominence of the motif owes much to the self-conception of the intellectual pioneers of the day as wanderers. This book re-interprets canonical works such as Goethe's Wilhelm Meister novels, Heine's Harzreise, and Büchner's Lenz, examines underresearched works by Fontane and Raabe, and charts new territory with readings of works by Gotthelf and Holtei -- a selection of texts that reveals the vast scope and changing function of the wanderer motif.