The Doppelgänger: Double Visions in German Literature

by Andrew J. Webber

Ever since its literary coinage in Jean Paul's novel, Siebenkä (1796), the concept of Doppelgänger has had significant influence upon representations of the self in German literature. This study charts the development of the double from its origins in the Romantic period, through its more marginal, but nonetheless significant, manifestations in the post-Romantic culture, to its revival at the fin-de-siècle and transfer to the silent screen.

390 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Martin Riexinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts quite good with an analysis of the introduction of the Doppelgänger motif by Jean Paul and the central role it plays in the works of ETA Hoffmann. But then the books loses its direction as the author deals with a variety of works by Kleist, Keller, Storm, Droste Hülshoff, Kafka, von Hofmannsthal and Musil where the understanding of the term doppelgänger has to be stretched to the extreme, while he should perhaps focused on those where the motif actually plays a role. Gets a bit better again on the final pages on the doppelgänger in expressionist film. Nothing on the reception in other literatures.

(finally finished after a year as some chapters were so tedious)