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IMC 2011: Sessions

Session 716: Wealth, Poverty, and Social Action in German Literature, I

Tuesday 12 July 2011, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Society for Medieval German Studies (North America)
Organiser:Joseph M. Sullivan, Department of Modern Languages, University of Oklahoma
Moderator/Chair:Evelyn Meyer, Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Saint Louis University, Missouri
Paper 716-aTo Have and Have Not: Wealth and Poverty in Wigamur, a 13th-Century Arthurian Romance
(Language: English)
Joseph M. Sullivan, Department of Modern Languages, University of Oklahoma
Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - Dutch, Language and Literature - German, Social History
Paper 716-bRewriting Medieval Texts as an Instrument for Social Criticism: Parzival as Social Reformer in Adolf Muschg's Der Rote Ritter - Eine Geschichte von Parzival
(Language: English)
Judith Benz, Department of World Languages & Cultures, Juniata College, Pennsylvania
Index terms: Language and Literature - German, Medievalism and Antiquarianism
Paper 716-cMarketing Modesty: The Economics of 'scham' in Der welsche Gast
(Language: English)
Kathryn Malczyk, Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, University of Pennsylvania
Index terms: Language and Literature - German, Women's Studies
Abstract

The presentations investigate how both medieval German texts and modern interpretations of classic medieval narratives treat issues of wealth and social reform. Thus Wigamur recommends that young aristocrats assume wealth only when they have proved qualified to do so. And in his modern interpretation of Wolfram's Parzival, Adolf Muschg presents the hero as a social reformer who improves the working conditions of commoners at Arthur's court. Finally, in his courtesy manual Der welsche Gast, Thomasin von Zerklaere encourages poorer audience members to cultivate modesty (scham) as a virtue that, for example, is valuable for a woman's successin the medieval marriage market.