Rethinking Cultural Identity in Goethe's Italienische Reise and Heine's Ital
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2013 The north-south divide in the German imaginary: rethinking cultural identity in Goethe’s Italienische reise and Heine’s Italian Reisebilder Lukas Nelson Bauer University of Wollongong Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. 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Recommended Citation Bauer, Lukas Nelson, The north-south divide in the German imaginary: rethinking cultural identity in Goethe’s Italienische reise and Heine’s Italian Reisebilder, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Language Centre, University of Wollongong, 2013. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4041 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Language Centre Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts The North-South Divide in the German Imaginary: Rethinking Cultural Identity in Goethe’s Italienische Reise and Heine’s Italian Reisebilder Lukas Nelson Bauer BA (1st Class Hons) This thesis is presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wollongong November 2013 ABSTRACT The North-South divide in Europe represents a cultural as well as geographical boundary that has influenced individual nations’ understanding of their history and identity. This divide is particularly prominent in the cultural dialogue between Germany and Italy, and has impacted the construction of German identity. This thesis explores German representations of Italy by examining the Italian travel writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Heinrich Heine. Goethe’s Italienische Reise, which relates his travels in Italy in 1786-88, transformed the image of the South in the German literary imagination of the early 19th century. Goethe established Italy’s classical heritage as the source of German cultural traditions and as an essential element of German identity. Due to Goethe’s preeminence in the literary scene, the journey to Italy was used as a vehicle by a later generation of writers to simultaneously challenge Goethe’s authority and distance themselves from his influence. Amongst these writers, Heine, in his Italian Reisebilder, arguably subverts the Goethean experience of Italy most overtly. Heine critically engages with the North-South divide in the German imagination and challenges the privileged position assigned to Italy by German writers like Goethe, who in his encounter with antiquity in Italy, constructed a narrative of ideal origins and belonging for Germans rooted in Roman heritage. However, claiming Italy – particularly Rome – as the source of one’s own cultural tradition was a right reserved only for members of mainstream Western culture, consequently excluding Jews from that version of German history. Heine aspires to be Goethe’s legitimate heir and uses Italienische Reise as his point of departure. However, he deconstructs Goethe’s Italy, thus simultaneously signalling his difference as a Jew to his predecessor while asserting his place in the tradition that excludes him. My textual analysis of Goethe’s and Heine's accounts of their travels to Italy in Italienische Reise and the Italian Reisebilder focuses on the negotiation of cultural identity through representations of the North-South divide. My study analyses Goethe’s complex attitudes towards Germany during this period and Heine’s wrestling with his place in German culture. My investigation of the cultural dialogue between Germany and Italy also briefly explores the history of the North-South divide and the ways in i which this dialogue was influenced by the changing modes of travel, evident in Goethe’s and Heine’s journeys, from the Grand Tour to modern tourism. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I am deeply indebted to my principal supervisor, Professor Kerry Dunne, for her consistent dedication to my research project and her commitment which went far beyond my dissertation in guiding my academic development. Throughout my candidature, Professor Dunne has been a close mentor and a continuous source of support and encouragement. Special thanks go to my co-supervisor Dr Karen Daly, for her support and insightful feedback on my research. Especially during the final months, Dr Daly has given me crucial help and encouragement in preparing this thesis for submission. I would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr Heather Jamieson, who worked closely with me on improving my writing style and articulating my argument. My appreciation to the University of Wollongong for allowing me to pursue this research with the support of an Australian Postgraduate Award. Additionally, I received financial backing from the University of Wollongong to attend the German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA) Conference, held at the University of Queensland in November 2011. Attending this conference allowed me to present my research to experts in the field internationally and benefit from their varied contributions and responses. Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents for their support and understanding during the ups and downs of thesis writing and for their valuable suggestions and proofing. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OF PRIMARY WORKS CITED .......................................................... vi 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 2. THE CULTURAL DIALOGUE BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH ........................................ 23 2.1 Tacitus’s Germania: A Founding Myth for Germans ........................................................... 23 2.2 Northern European Representations of Italy during the Grand Tour .................................... 31 2.3 “Sie durchziehen dieses Land in ganzen Schwärmen”: The Advent of Mass Tourism in early 19th Century Travel to Italy .................................................................................... 42 3. THE BIFURCATION OF DUTY AND PLEASURE IN GOETHE’S JOURNEYS TO ROME AND NAPLES ................................................................................................................. 51 3.1 An Ambivalent Reaction: Goethe’s First Impressions of Italy ............................................. 51 3.2 Goethe’s Pilgrimage to Rome: Revisiting the Foundation Myth .......................................... 73 3.3 “Wenn man in Rom gern studerien mag, so will man hier nur leben”: Finding and Losing Arcadia ..................................................................................................................... 91 4. NEW AVENUES FOR IMAGINING GERMAN SUPERIORITY ........................................... 115 4.1 Goethe’s Pursuit for the Urpflanze: Uncovering the Botanical and Mythical Roots of Europe ................................................................................................................................ 115 4.2 The Shadow of Weimar in Zweiter Römischer Aufenthalt ................................................. 128 5. RE-IMAGINING ITALY IN HEINE’S REISEBILDER ............................................................ 143 5.1 Heine’s Dual Dilemmas as a Jew and a Goethe Contemporary .......................................... 143 5.2 In Goethe’s Footsteps? Heine’s Other Italy ........................................................................ 155 5.3 The Journey to Italy as a Rite of Passage: The Jewish Bid for Assimilation in Die Bäder von Lucca ... ............................................................................................................182 5.4 Towards a New Understanding of Belonging in Restoration Europe ................................. 197 6. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................