Wilhelm Raabe's Der Hungerpastor and Charles Dickens' David Copperfield
Author | : Peter O. Arnds |
Publisher | : Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers |
Total Pages | : 218 |
Release | : 1997 |
ISBN-10 | : IND:30000056156973 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (73 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: Der Hungerpastor (1864-65) is Wilhelm Raabe's most popular novel. This monograph shows how Raabe borrowed much of the plot and characters from Charles Dickens's best-selling David Copperfield (1849-50). By providing the reasons why Raabe borrowed from Dickens, this study goes far beyond the existing research on the parallels between these two Bildungsromane. A comparison of the heroes, their Jewish antagonists and a number of female characters demonstrates the extent of Raabe's indebtedness to Dickens. The intertextuality ranges from direct verbal echoes to a mere use of Dickens's ideas upon which Raabe builds a novel distinctly his own.