Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum”
This article focuses on the bilingual Alsatian author, René Schickele (1883-1940) who grew up speaking French at home but wrote principally in the German language. Schickele’s bicultural heritage and the turbulent times he lived through when Alsace was annexed to the Second German Empire, before ret...
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Presses universitaires de Strasbourg
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Recherches Germaniques |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rg/9494 |
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| author | Áine McGillicuddy |
| author_facet | Áine McGillicuddy |
| author_sort | Áine McGillicuddy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article focuses on the bilingual Alsatian author, René Schickele (1883-1940) who grew up speaking French at home but wrote principally in the German language. Schickele’s bicultural heritage and the turbulent times he lived through when Alsace was annexed to the Second German Empire, before returning to live under French rule after the traumatic experience of World War I, had a deep and lasting influence on him. As an astute observer of contemporaneous European political events, he believed Alsace had a crucial role to play as the ideal cultural mediator between its rival neighbours to ensure harmonious Franco-German relations and peace in Europe. This mission, which he called ‘geistiges Elsässertum’, is a leitmotif, which is clearly discernible in much of his writing. This study examines Schickele’s promotion of ‘geistiges Elsässertum’ in his controversial wartime drama, Hans im Schnakenloch, and follows with some comparative references to his interwar trilogy of novels, Das Erbe am Rhein. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6f5568779c2f4791b656dd636829a240 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0399-1989 2649-860X |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Strasbourg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Recherches Germaniques |
| spelling | doaj-art-6f5568779c2f4791b656dd636829a2402025-01-10T14:27:51ZdeuPresses universitaires de StrasbourgRecherches Germaniques0399-19892649-860X2023-07-0118577810.4000/rg.9494Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum”Áine McGillicuddyThis article focuses on the bilingual Alsatian author, René Schickele (1883-1940) who grew up speaking French at home but wrote principally in the German language. Schickele’s bicultural heritage and the turbulent times he lived through when Alsace was annexed to the Second German Empire, before returning to live under French rule after the traumatic experience of World War I, had a deep and lasting influence on him. As an astute observer of contemporaneous European political events, he believed Alsace had a crucial role to play as the ideal cultural mediator between its rival neighbours to ensure harmonious Franco-German relations and peace in Europe. This mission, which he called ‘geistiges Elsässertum’, is a leitmotif, which is clearly discernible in much of his writing. This study examines Schickele’s promotion of ‘geistiges Elsässertum’ in his controversial wartime drama, Hans im Schnakenloch, and follows with some comparative references to his interwar trilogy of novels, Das Erbe am Rhein.https://journals.openedition.org/rg/9494AlsaceRené Schickelecultural mediationgeistiges Elsässertumworld war |
| spellingShingle | Áine McGillicuddy Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” Recherches Germaniques Alsace René Schickele cultural mediation geistiges Elsässertum world war |
| title | Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” |
| title_full | Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” |
| title_fullStr | Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” |
| title_short | Between France and Germany: René Schickele and “Geistiges Elsässertum” |
| title_sort | between france and germany rene schickele and geistiges elsassertum |
| topic | Alsace René Schickele cultural mediation geistiges Elsässertum world war |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/rg/9494 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ainemcgillicuddy betweenfranceandgermanyreneschickeleandgeistigeselsassertum |