Browsing by Author "Wagner, Martin"
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- ItemOpen Access12 Degrees of Alienation: A Socio-Political Exploration of Hanns Eisler's Use of the Twelve-Tone Method during Exile (1938-1948)(2020-07-07) Heidebrecht, Jennifer Leslie; Wagner, Martin; Süselbeck, Jan; Stark, TrevorHanns Eisler, one of Arnold Schoenberg’s prominent students and a master of his twelve-tone technique, is arguably one of the most important composers of the twentieth century. However, Eisler’s contribution to modern music in both Germany and North America has been, until recently, overshadowed by political controversy. It is especially the period of Eisler’s American exile (1938-1948) that provides an area of research ripe for investigation with a fresh perspective. This thesis will utilize Eisler’s writings about music, politics, and his experience as an exile, in selections from two volumes of collected essays (Musik und Politik Schriften), (1924-1962) and Composing for the Films (1947). These works incorporate Eisler’s theories regarding the relationship between music and the socio-political climate during this time and will be used in order to examine and qualify previously made theses that the twelve-tone method of composition is the musical language of émigrés. I seek to provide a more nuanced understanding that moves away from score analysis alone, synthesizing both of Eisler’s creative and political worlds in order to illuminate not only the composer, but also the exile and the unique role that the exile experience has played in the development of twelve-tone music.
- ItemOpen AccessComparing Instructional Methods for Address Pronouns in Second Language German(2021-01-11) Ryan, Caitlin; O'Brien, Mary Grantham; Wagner, Martin; Boz, UmitThe German language utilizes three address pronouns to express the second-person pronoun ‘you’; du is the singular informal pronoun, Sie is the singular and plural formal pronoun, and ihr is the plural informal pronoun. As a result of social movements, the German address system has changed and developed over time, and there are now multiple perspectives about what the default singular address form should be (i.e., du or Sie) in new interactions. These competing systems can pose problems even for German native speakers (NSs), as they navigate social situations. Previous research investigating address among second language (L2) learners has shown consistently that without direct instruction, learners have poor control over their address choice. Within classroom instruction, time is already limited, and textbooks examples can be oversimplified or lack contextualization; thus, a new approach is needed to instruct learners. The present study compares implicit and explicit instruction in a computer-assisted language learning environment (CALL) on the effect of address choice among second language (L2) German learners. To accomplish this, address behaviour data were gathered from NSs in Hamburg, Germany and from L2 learners in Calgary. The NS data served a baseline from which to measure pragmatic development of L2 learners, and they also informed the instruction of the implicit and explicit training modules delivered to the learners. A pre-test, immediate post-test and delayed post-test were used to measure improvements towards native-like address behaviour. Results show that L2 learners exposed to explicit instruction had immediate and sustained pragmatic development, and little pragmatic development was observed for participants instructed implicitly.
- ItemOpen AccessCONTESTING THE QURʾĀN’S LINGUISTIC INIMITABILITY: THE THEORY OF ṢARFA IN MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC THEOLOGY(2022-09-21) Toriq, Toha; Asatryan, Mushegh; Adamek, Wendi; Wagner, MartinAlthough the Qurʾān’s linguistic inimitability is currently considered a sacrosanct miraculous feature of the Qurʾān, and indicative of the veracity of the prophet Muhammad, it remained a site of sectarian contestation in medieval Islamic theology for a long period. In this work, I embark on an investigation of the theory of ṣarfa and the development of the theological arguments concerning it, which aimed at locating the Qurʾānic inimitability outside of the Qurʾān instead of the Qurʾānic language. To that end, my study demonstrates that the trend of locating the inimitability outside of the Qurʾān emerged in Islamic theology alongside the Qurʾān’s linguistic inimitability argument in the middle of the second century of Islam as a part of debate between rationalists and traditionalists over the issue of discerning true prophet and revelation from a false one. Starting from examining the context of the rise of Qurʾānic inimitability argument, it suggests that although arguments supporting ṣarfa mainly flourished within Jahmite and Muʿtazilite schools through underscoring the inappropriacy of the Qurʾān as a proof of prophecy, another important argument of ṣarfa, that is the inability (ʿajz) of human to compose something like the Qurʾān shows its inimitability, cut across the boundary of different sects and outlived former line of argument in later works that otherwise impugned ṣarfa as a valid aspect of Qurʾānic inimitability. To delve into the analysis of the arguments of ṣarfa, I devoted special attention to the famous Shiʿite Sharīf al-Murtaḍā’s treatise concerning this topic named Mūḍiḥ fī Jihat Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān and its intellectual context. In his book, through addressing the critical response of freethinkers in his time concerning religion, prophecy, and scriptures, Murtaḍā argued exclusively for the theory of ṣarfa and negated the possibility of relying on the Qurʾānic language to substantiate the veracity of the prophet. Although ṣarfa enunciated by Murtaḍā exhibits rational sophistication and critical rigor, through examining the discursive process of making orthodoxy and heresy in Islam in light of ṣarfa, I proposed that the creation of its subsequent heretical image and popularity of the notion of Qurʾānic linguistic inimitability was influenced by the shift in Muslim theological discourse from rationalistic inquiry to linguistic philosophical paradigm. In this context, ṣārfa as a vestige of the antiquated model threatened the nucleus of the newly adopted paradigm, in which Qurʾānic linguistic excellence stood as an epitome of Muslim civilization, knowledge, and Arabic language— and thereby it was jettisoned as heretical in the changed intellectual scene. In this vein, I also brought to attention that in addition to the secular political authority, other non-religious elements, such as pride in the Arabic language and Arab ancestry in this case, may determine the making of heresy/orthodoxy in Islamic thought, which shows more spontaneity in this mechanism than usually assumed.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Crisis of Laughter at the End of the Long Nineteenth Century: Laughter in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain(2022-06) Prado, Dante; Wagner, Martin; Stark, Trevor; Höppner, StefanOver the past decade, laughter has been the focus of significant research in literary and cultural studies, with scholars often concentrating on the period of Modernism (that is, the time around 1900) as a crucial moment in which debates about laughter intensified. However, the studies on laughter in Modernism have not yet paid any attention to one of the decisive novels from this period, Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg, 1924), in which laughter features prominently. Additionally, scholarship on Thomas Mann has not critically attended to laughter in The Magic Mountain. To improve our understanding of the period of Modernism and this novel, I analyze the representation of laughter in The Magic Mountain against the background of two recent studies on laughter in Modernism (Parvulescu 2010; Nikopolous 2018) to reveal the extent to which Mann’s novel fits within existing conceptions of Modernist laughter. Anca Parvulescu considers that Modernist laughter challenges seriousness and, by disrupting norms of behaviour, possesses revolutionary potential, while Nikopoulos identifies Modernist laughter as a primarily negative sign, subject to pathological interpretations. The close reading of select laugh episodes (occurrences where laughter is highlighted or commented upon by the narrator or another character) demonstrates that the novel’s representation of laughter deviates from these recent characterizations of Modernist laughter. By drawing attention to the novel’s interest in the absence of laughter, the analysis shows another facet of Modernist laughter, not explained by characterizations of disruption or pathology. Namely, the study finds that the novel represents a crisis of laughter that is connected to a crisis of sociability and, as an extension of this, to a crisis of Bildung. This finding serves to distinguish between different characterizations and moments in the representation of laughter in the novel. The crisis of laughter observed in Mann’s novel could provide a different vantage point of Modernist laughter. Finally, the mentioned crisis could be extrapolated to other Modernist novels, especially German Modernist novels that dialogue with the Bildungsroman tradition.
- ItemOpen AccessMaking Nationalism Work: German Attempts at Liberalism and Nationalism, 1848-1871(2023-01) Mitchell, Blake; Timm, Annette; Dolata, Petra; Wagner, MartinBetween 1815 and 1848, a burgeoning liberal democratic movement challenged the conservative monarchies of Germany. During the Revolutions of 1848, that movement was able to seize power and establish a new Germany which promised a nation-state based on rights and freedoms. However, by 1871 and the establishment of the German Empire Germany had gone from a burgeoning liberal state to a military autocracy clad in the garb of a federation. By examining the constitutions of the two states, as well as the reasons behind the structures of those constitutions and the decisions which went into writing them, this thesis examines how exactly the liberal movement in Germany lost so decisively that within nearly 20 years of a temporarily successful revolution the liberal movement in Germany had been marginalized and reduced to relying on the support of Otto von Bismarck. It concludes that the German liberal movement had started off internally divided, and therefore when they took power in 1848 they were faced with the realization that while they had thought they shared a common perception of what rights and freedoms meant they in fact disagreed about all of the details. Their attempt to resolve these differences took a long enough time that they were unable to overcome the difficulties their broader political situation posed, and therefore a counterrevolution succeeded. Otto von Bismarck was able to present himself as a better version of the liberals, who could provide everything they had offered while also successfully compromising with the existing power structure in Germany. By doing so, he was able to establish a united German state. This is reflected in the differences between the two constitutions. The 1848 constitution very carefully allocates powers, while Bismarck’s 1866 and later 1871 constitution defers to existing treaties between the German states. This explains the differences between the two constitutions, and also the degree to which the liberal movement in Germany was weakened.
- ItemOpen AccessMetareferentielles Aspektkippen: die Kognitionskunst der deutschen Gegenwartsliteratur(2019-05-22) Raedler, Bernadette; Dueck, Cheryl; Strzelczyk, Florentine; Petersen, Christer; Wall, Anthony; Höppner, Stefan; Wagner, MartinThis dissertation examines metareference as cognition art, prompted by a collision and reconfiguration of antithetic narratives that is sparked by personal or societal change. Those underlying ruptures – perceived or devised – register in literary texts as metaization, the process of initiating structural reflections. A close reading of four contemporary German novels, including one graphic novel, is employed to examine if metareferential strategies indeed lead to the relativization and destruction of meaning, of which they have been accused of, or if they rather enable human cognition to respond to global challenges. By drawing on the concept of fictional metabiographies that encompasses established genres, namely historiographic fiction, fictional biographies, and metamnemonic novels, this investigation shifts away from a narratological approach that relies on a high degree of typological differentiation. The novels Heimsuchung by Jenny Erpenbeck, Liebe schaut weg by Line Hoven, Corpus Delicti by Juli Zeh, and Stadt der Engel oder The Overcoat of Dr. Freud by Christa Wolf are examined to demonstrate a defining trend that acknowledges both differences and analogies in cultural encounters and their representations. The underlying pluriaspectuality will be exemplified by way of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s multistable figures, and will be measured against theoretical frameworks developed by Werner Wolf and Wolfgang Funk. The study results in a new interpretation of metareference that identifies these borderline fictions as a narrative testing ground, deriving them from the maieutic method of the Socratic dialogues: The reader is the test person being prompted to reflect and judge. The narrative lab structure is used to envision a less violent cultural evolution by giving voice to suppressed narratives, provoking polylogic thinking, and rewarding the possibility and process of reconfiguration rather than insisting on essentialist claims. Viewed in this light, metareferential strategies demonstrate an adjusted understanding of rationality: By triggering emotional response, circumventing fixed reader perceptions, and rendering agency accessible, these texts re-frame habitual practices. They do not reject, but complement enlightenment. The pluriaspectual narrative emerges as a template for a more just coexistence through diplomatic renegotiations of complex tasks. Rather than being deconstructed, meaning is traced within its limitations, and enabled with new possibilities.
- ItemOpen AccessNavigating and Owning Obedience: Reassessing Friedrich Halm's Griseldis(Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020-05) Wagner, MartinThis article critically reappraises the drama Griseldis (1835), the successful first play of the today largely forgotten Viennese playwright Friedrich Halm. I argue that the comparison between this play and its possible main source, Petrarch’s A Fable of Wifely Obedience and Devotion, offers insights into the reconceptualization of obedience in the nineteenth century. Concretely, I suggest that the most significant changes in Halm’s version serve to make obedience visible as an expression of individual agency, and thus to justify obedience’s role within a liberal ideology. This reading departs from the older scholarly opinion that saw in Halm’s play simply a critique—rather than a complex reinterpretation—of obedience.
- ItemOpen AccessOff Screen Perspectives: India’s Transnational Independent Film Production Culture(2023-09-21) Bhatia, Neha; Tepperman, Charles; Vijayan, Devika; Croombs, Matthew; Dueck, Cheryl; Martini, Clement; Devasundaram, Ashvin; Wagner, MartinThe academic scholarship on Indian film has predominantly focused on Bollywood cinema, examining central aspects such as the aesthetics, style, genre, ideology, industrial structure, and culture, as well as the transnational circulation and consumption of Bollywood in the era of globalization. This resulted in limited scholarship about independent, regional, and alternative cinemas in India. However, there is increasing interest in studying these cinemas, including their aesthetics, production processes and distribution models. Therefore, this dissertation contributes to and addresses this gap in the scholarship by examining India’s transnational independent film production culture. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that draws insights from Media Industry Studies, specifically John Caldwell's “cultural-industrial” method (2008), this dissertation emphasizes the need to examine the political-economic/industrial structures and labour practices in relation to each other. Therefore, it combines textual, industrial, and cultural analysis, alongside bottom-up methods such as personal interviews and participant observation to gain deeper insights into the film policies, practices, and professionals — making and facilitating Indian independent cinema transnationally. The focal point is the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) – established in 1980 as a state-sponsored organization for developing alternative cinemas. This dissertation examines the management of NFDC, its annual film market Film Bazaar, as well as the professional world of its staff members and producers – who are primarily involved in creating independent cinema transnationally. The case study of NFDC explores how the organization managed and restructured itself in response to the neoliberal-national policies, leading to the formation of a transnational independent film production culture in the mid-2000s. The case study of Film Bazaar addresses the implications of these industrial structures on the programming, practices, and management, revealing the precarious work culture of its labour (e.g., low pay, contractual, and seasonal work). The final case study examines the under-explored role of Indian producers, their production culture, and the emotional labour within these transnational structures of independent filmmaking. Indian producers weave hero narratives, intertwining their beliefs and practices rooted in mentoring, networking, and creative entrepreneurship.
- ItemOpen AccessSystemic Racism in Nineteenth-Century Tales of Black Revenge(2022-11-20) Darbouze-Bonyeme, Nella; Wagner, Martin; Bourrier, Karen; Nyquist, MarySystemic Racism in Nineteenth-century Tales of Black Revenge highlights the shifting conception of racial oppression across France, Britain, and the USA through an investigation of stories of black or mixed-race avengers. In Histoire des deux Indes (1770), Denis Diderot wrote that “all Negroes need is a leader, valiant enough to guide them towards vengeance and massacre”. Far from viewing revenge as a private vendetta, Diderot saw revenge as a way for the oppressed black slaves to repair systemic wrong to which they were victims; to strike against the racial structure of society and establish social equilibrium. He was not alone. Many nineteenth-century writers, from Maria Edgeworth, with “The Grateful Negro” (1804), to Alexandre Dumas, with Georges (1843), imagined attempts by people of color to redress racial injustice. Yet while scholarship has examined the meaning of revenge narratives for ideas regarding black agency, it has neglected the conception of systemic racism of such tales. My thesis contributes to previous studies by filling this research gap. Drawing on narrative theory, I distinguish three different kinds of black revenge in nineteenth-century literature: (1) tales from a weak abolitionist movement, which depict systems of oppression as invincible; (2) tales from a strong abolitionist movement, which identify hidden mechanisms that sustain racial injustice, and (3) tales of a post-abolition era, which deny systemic oppression. I also shed light on cultural variations in revenge narratives, notably French works’ reluctance to support black avengers, British texts’ tendency to locate racial oppression beyond their borders and American tales’ struggle to conceptualize black collective action. This thesis thus adds nuance to previous scholarship on nineteenth-century racial tales of revenge, so far emphasizing what such narratives have in common: an apparent desire to silence the political motives of black agency.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Travels of Nellie Bly and Emma Vely in the Context of Women’s Movement, Colonialism and Female Identity(2020-07-06) Gilgen, Annika; Wagner, Martin; Süselbeck, Jan; Malakaj, ErvinThis project focuses on the transcultural analysis of travel writings from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by the North American journalist Nellie Bly and the German author Emma Vely. It will examine displayed female identity and creations of “Otherness” in their travel writings through the lens of the authors’ positions on women’s rights matters. It sheds light on the question if the women’s movement positively influenced the interaction of western female travelers with “Others” in colonial settings and if they showed greater awareness of unequal power dynamics, especially in their display of non-western women in colonized countries that they visited. Bly and Vely both supported the women’s rights movement in the United States and in Germany and offer an excellent base for a transcultural comparative analysis as they share similarities in their perspective on women’s rights, their travel routes and the time period that they traveled in, during the 1880s and 90s. The analysis also determines if the findings reflect the varying historical background of the women’s movement in Germany, where Vely was born, and in the U.S, where Bly originated from. The findings of this project show that Bly and Vely’s support for women’s equality only applied to white women and, even though they were interested in their living conditions, they did not perceive non-white women as equal, as their racist and derogatory statements show. Their display of female alterity shows surprisingly few variations despite their varying background and the different history of the women’s movement in both countries.
- ItemOpen AccessWer war Friedrich Halm? Zum Pseudonym von Eligius von Münch-Bellinghausen(2020-06-19) Wagner, Martin; Slipp, RichardWie in diesem Beitrag erstmals gezeigt wird, bezog sich der erfolgreiche Burgtheaterautor Eligius von Münch-Bellinghausen (1806-1871) bei der Wahl seines Pseudonyms Friedrich Halm sehr wahrscheinlich auf Karl Holds Roman „Anton Halm und sein Schützling“ (1826). Mit der Beschreibung dieser Quelle wird ein Beitrag zu unserer Kenntnis zweier vernachlässigter Autoren des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts geleistet.
- ItemOpen AccessZur Gehorsamskritik im Burgtheater des Vormärz. Friedrich Halm, Eduard von Bauernfeld und der österreichische Liberalismus um 1848(Wiley, 2020-08-15) Wagner, MartinDieser Aufsatz widmet sich der Gehorsamskritik in den Komödien zweier der populärsten Burgtheaterautoren des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, Friedrich Halm und Eduard von Bauernfeld. Dabei wird gezeigt, dass sowohl in Halms Verbot und Befehl (1848) als auch in Bauernfelds Großjährig (1846) ein älterer, auf direkte Unterwerfung ausgelegter Gehorsamsbegriff mit einem neuartigen ersetzt wird, in dem gehorsames und freigewähltes Verhalten tendenziell zusammenfallen. Während bei Halm diese Wandlung des Gehorsamsbegriffs als liberale Errungenschaft insgesamt positiv gewertet wird, wird sie bei Bauernfeld als Perpetuierung der bestehenden Machtverhältnisse stärker in Frage gestellt. Mit dieser Parallellektüre der impliziten politischen Theorie zweier heute kaum je im Detail besprochener Stücke aus der Zeit des Vormärz wird neues Licht auf den Beitrag des Burgtheaters zum liberalen Diskurs im neunzehnten Jahrhundert geworfen.