Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

German

Major Professor

Stefanie Ohnesorg

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the story "Der Ausflug der toten Mädchen" by Anna Seghers (1900-1983) through an examination of Seghers's ideas on reeducating the German people after the Second World War.

This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter includes an introduction, a biography of Anna Seghers and a summary of "Der Ausflug der toten Mädchen." The second chapter discusses the guilt of the Germans for the crimes against humanity committed during the Second World War. Anna Seghers does not see the German people as a homogeneous whole, but rather she distinguishes in her verdict of guilty between the groups of active Nazis, passive conformists, and the non-conformistsThe third chapter analyzes Seghers's models for the reeducation of the German people after the war. Seghers considers the non-conformists to be the most capable for the task of conveying values such as worth and dignity of every individual to the former Nazis and passive conformists. The final chapter focuses on the stylistic techniques Seghers uses as the weapons of an author in the struggle to reeducate the German people.

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