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Envisioning an ideal state: the literary politics of Bettina von Arnim from 1830 to 1852

Hallihan, Kathleen M.

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, German.
Despite Bettina von Arnim’s (1785-1859) interest and participation in the Vormärz political discourse of the 1830s and 40s in Berlin, scholarship has traditionally focused on the literary aspects of her earlier texts, largely ignoring her later, politically charged works. My project explores Bettina von Arnim’s use of mythological and heroic imagery in her later writings, as it relates to her vision of an ideal governmental structure, which is based on the figure of the Volkskönig or “People’s King.” One of the many new ideas on government discussed in intellectual circles during this period, von Arnim’s Volkskönig model of government called for a strong and moral monarch, who would value the welfare and development of his subjects above all else. I bring attention to the discrepancies between von Arnim’s call for a strong monarchy and her desire for progressive social reform, which demonstrate the tensions between the author’s cultural background in Romantic thought and her involvement in Young German and Young Hegelian intellectual discourse. The presence of such tensions illustrates not only Bettina von Arnim’s problematic role as an emerging female voice with her own formative concepts of nationhood, but the general complexity of nineteenth-century German debates on government.
Barbara Becker-Cantarino (Advisor)
163 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hallihan, K. M. (2005). Envisioning an ideal state: the literary politics of Bettina von Arnim from 1830 to 1852 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116600876

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hallihan, Kathleen. Envisioning an ideal state: the literary politics of Bettina von Arnim from 1830 to 1852. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116600876.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hallihan, Kathleen. "Envisioning an ideal state: the literary politics of Bettina von Arnim from 1830 to 1852." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1116600876

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)