German and Russian Studies electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
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The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of German and Russian Studies. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Item A study of nature Enlightenment to ecology(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2025) Osadola, Olamide Esther; Ireton, SeanThis paper explores the evolving concept of Nature and the human relationship with it, from the Enlightenment period to the age of Ecology. It examines how key German and European philosophers, such as Descartes, Spinoza, Fichte, Schelling, Adalbert Stifter, and Günter Grass, viewed Nature in their philosophical and literary works. Beginning with Descartes' mechanistic view of Nature, which establishes a dualism between mind and matter, the study moves through Spinoza's pantheistic understanding of Nature as a divine, spiritual force. Fichte is explored for his anthropocentric and ego-driven stance, advocating human dominance over Nature, while Schelling's Naturphilosophie offers a Contrast, portraying Nature as a living, dynamic, and spiritual entity from which self-consciousness emerges. The primary text for this thesis is Alexander von Humboldt's "Views of Nature." His detailed observations and writings emphasize the interconnectedness of all natural phenomena and advocate for a holistic approach to understanding Nature. The paper also examines Grass's critique of environmental degradation brought on by industrialization, particularly his commentary on forest death (Waldsterben), which serves as a warning about the consequences of ecological neglect. My personal view of nature, as analyzed through Adalbert Stifter's novellas Der Hochwald and Waldsteig, is a literary illustration of Nature as a refuge and possessing healing power. In these works, Nature functions as a refuge and a site of healing, both mentally and physically. For example, in Der Hochwald, the forest serves as an emotional sanctuary and provides the protagonists with essential resources for growth. Similarly, in Der Waldsteig, the characters undergo psychological renewal through their interactions with the natural landscape. By tracing philosophical, literary, and personal perspectives from the Enlightenment to modern Ecological thought, this thesis reveals the shifting dynamics of the human-nature relationship. Ultimately, it calls for a renewed engagement with Nature, one that recognizes its special value, respects its limits, and renews our understanding of its vital role in human life and well-being.Item WO BIST DU JETZT? Trauma, travel, and the subversion of narrative structure in Olivia Wenzel’s 1000 Serpentinen Angst(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2024) Engellandt,Julia; Howes, SethThe debut novel 1000 Serpentinen Angst (1000 Coils of Fear, 2020), by German playwright Olivia Wenzel, addresses the reality of living as a Black and Queer woman in Germany, a country where privilege and discrimination lie ever so close together. While the narrative is formally marked by an unconventional structure, a dialogic narrative voice and the movement through the narrative in switchbacks, the protagonist learns to navigate and come to terms with her positionality in German society. Through travel, the protagonist flees not only her traumatizing past but also the discriminatory structures which ostracize her as a non-German Other. While the narrative structure provides the incommensurable topic of trauma with a language to make its complex nature accessible to an outside reader, the travel experiences substantiate great emancipatory potential: on the one hand as a liberatory moment for the individual, on the other hand as a means of reflecting on and confronting discriminatory structures in society. Here the travel narrative, traditionally a predominantly male and imperial genre, is reimagined as a radical instrument to explore issues of race and gender while providing a basis for acts of self-assertion within the woman-narrator. My analysis situates the novel in the chronology of the development of Afro-German literature by taking into consideration activists and writers who have shaped the diasporic movement and community and reconstructs the development thereof in the context of Germany’s failed dealings with the impacts of colonialism and National Socialist racial ideology. The novel contributes to a blossoming African diasporic culture in Germany that actively works to fight against the racist structures that affect the lives of many until this day. The thesis is an attempt to further decolonize the (German) literary canon by redirecting the focus to marginalized voices within the realms of literature and beyond.Item Eva Braun on screen : hunters and beyond(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2024) Winterfeld, Nastasja Carmen; Prager, BradleyThis thesis investigates the depiction of Eva Braun in the US-American streaming series Hunters (2020) released by Amazon Prime. Braun, whose status as Adolf Hitler's unacknowledged wife was revealed after their joint suicide in April 1945, has been the subject of multiple literary and pop cultural works. After examining the genesis and development of several myths and narratives about Eva Braun, from accounts of members of Hitler's inner circle to post-war newspaper articles from the United States to biographies written about her, this work then turns to three turn-of-the-century on-screen depictions: the Russian film Moloch (1999), the Canadian miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003), and the German film Der Untergang (2004). The last chapter is devoted to Hunters and argues that the series responds to many of the aforementioned popular fantasies, breaking with the idea of Braun as a native bystander without agency and opposing narratives that are founded upon a lack of female involvement and participation in the Holocaust.Item The Wagnerian mythos : national origin and musical culture(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2024) Sheets, Gregory Parker; Ireton, SeanIn the mid-nineteenth century Richard Wagner participated in a project of German identity building through his operas based on Germanic sagas. Even in his less-mythic dramas, such as Tannhauser, Wagner brings together disparate mythologies, histories, and/or legends to celebrate a narrative of shared "Germanness". In these works, Wagner works to establish the continuum which Benedict Anderson identifies as crucial to formations of national consciousness. His use of the medieval German literary canon as well as various Norse sagas as source materials establishes the German "antiquity", and his narratives provide his opinion on--and thus assume the existence of--the present and potential future for Germans. I argue that through this lens it is possible to track a consistent image of "Germanness" in several of Wagner's most important works. Exclusion also played a major role for Wagner, however, as his operas frequently warn against the dangers of "foreign influence." As evident in his polemic writings, Wagner sought to create a definition of "Germanness" which excluded various groups, primarily German Jews. This exclusion also served to solidify Wagner's self-styled place at the top of the German musical canon. This study seeks to identify Wagner's nationalistic project in several of his earlier works as well as his chef-d'oeuvre Ring des Nibelungen and trace how he and the Wagnerians sought to maintain his vision of "Germanness" into the 20th century.Item Die Judenbuche : an epically inspired anti-epic?(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022) Morgan, Rachel; Ireton, SeanAnnette von Droste-Hulshoff's 1842 Novella, Die Judenbuche is considered one of the richest pieces of German literature. An author between Romanticism and Realism, Droste-Hulshoff combines vivid aspects of the Romantic tradition as well as captures a Realist depiction of life in a small, repressive German village in Westphalia. Because of the many different themes within the novella, as well as the combination of Romantic and Realist elements placing the text within a single genre has been quite difficult. While she herself described Die Judenbuche as a criminal novel, many scholars have contested this assertion, claiming it belongs to Biedermeier or various other genres. Droste-Hulshoff also includes references and allusions to both The Odyssey and the Four Biblical Gospels which come together to form a rich and layered narrative with much to analyze and unpack This thesis will analyze the text through the lens of genre, arguing that Droste-Hulshoff's text can be read as an anti-epic which subverts, and challenges, the epic elements set forth by Homer's The Odyssey as well as the Four Biblical Gospels. By examining the various characters, symbols, and motifs, which overlap with both The Odyssey and The Gospels, I will argue Droste-Hulshoff's novella is not only a mere criminal story, but also an epically inspired anti-epic situated within the heart of Westphalia in depths of the Westphalian forest.