Occidental Regionalism in the Nibelungenlied: Medieval Paradigms of Foreignness

OCCIDENTAL REGIONALISM IN THE NIBELUNGENLIED: MEDIEVAL PARADIGMS OF FOREIGNNESS BY SHAWN ROBIN BOYD DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor C. Stephen Jaeger, Chair Professor Marianne Kalinke Associate Professor Frederick Schwink Associate Professor Laurie Johnson Associate Professor Carol Symes ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the issue of foreignness in the Nibelungenlied, raising questions about the nature, and crossing, of intra-Christian borders within the text that separate customs, practices, and worldviews. It analyzes cultural alterity and its attendant outcomes in the first half of the Nibelungenlied using concepts from anthropology and cultural and sociological theory. The dissertation argues that multiple levels of foreignness, as defined by the philosopher Bernd Waldenfels, separate characters in the Nibelungenlied. Despite their varying origins, these instances of alienation all have a common result: a lack of a complete picture of the world for individual characters and the prevention of close human connections that would allow intentions and motivations to be divined. Characters’ imperfect understandings of their surroundings are fostered by their foreignness and drive many of the conflicts in the text, including Siegfried’s verbal clash with the Burgundians when he first arrives in Worms, Brünhild’s entanglement with Gunther and Siegfried, and the argument between Kriemhild and Brünhild. In addition, this dissertation argues that the constant interaction with the foreign undergone by the court at Worms leads to a change in its culture away from one which sees appearance and reality as one and the same to one that takes advantage of the power granted by a newfound ability to separate Sein from Schein. iii To Amanda iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the patient guidance of my advisor C. Stephen Jaeger, whose enthusiastic support of the project was invaluable during its development. Thanks also go to the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for providing a home where I could study and write about medieval German literature. I would also like to thank my parents, whose love and support have been unflagging, no matter what paths I have found myself on in life. Finally, my love and thanks to my wonderful wife Amanda, who had to endure the many ups and downs of this project. Without her at my side, this dissertation would have never come to fruition. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE: SIEGFRIED, XANTEN, AND THE QUESTION OF FOREIGNNESS IN THE NIBELUNGENLIED ............................................................................45 CHAPTER TWO: KNOWLEDGE AND THE FOREIGN IN THE CONFRONTATION AT WORMS ........................................................................................................................................89 CHAPTER THREE: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AS SOURCES OF CONFLICT IN THE NIBELUNGENLIED: BURGONDEN AND THE FOREIGN ......................................137 CHAPTER FOUR: (MIS)JUDGING THE FOREIGN: KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION, AND THEIR SUBVERSION THROUGH DECEIT ........................................181 CHAPTER FIVE: THE FRAUENZANK AND THE ADOPTION OF SUBTERFUGE BY THE BURGUNDIAN CULTURE .............................................................225 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................274 WORKS CITED ..........................................................................................................................278 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation explores the issue of foreignness in the Nibelungenlied. The study raises questions about the nature, and crossing, of intra-Christian borders1 within the text that are drawn by customs, practices, and worldviews – in other words, culture. The performance or reading of the text during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries may have had the power to extend the limits of the imaginable for those who came in contact with it, engaging its audience in considering how cultural difference did, or could, affect life in their own world.2 This dissertation analyzes cultural alterity3 and its attendant outcomes in the first half of the Nibelungenlied using concepts from anthropology and cultural and sociological theory. The issue of difference in the western half of the Nibelungenlied world becomes a central topic very early in the text. It is introduced by Siegfried’s challenge to the Burgundians in the third Aventiure, which describes a conflict informed by the behavior, and expectations thereof, fostered by cultural difference. The kingdom of Burgonden, the culture of which is depicted as peaceful and inward-focused, is shocked by the appearance of the obstreperous Siegfried on its doorstep. Siegfried’s home of Xanten, although courtly like Worms, welcomes individuals from 1 According to Robert Bartlett, “Latin Christendom consisted of those churches worshipping in Latin and according to a rite approved by the papacy, usually the Roman rite. One of the striking features of the western Church, is, in fact, its insistence on the dominance of one liturgical language and one cultic form. There are a few dubious or borderline cases, where special circumstances allowed other languages or rites within the Roman obedience, but these were few in number and diminished over time,” The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350 (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993), 18. 2 For literature’s ability to have an impact in the real world of the Middle Ages see C. Stephen Jaeger, “Book-Burning at Don Quixote’s: Thoughts on the Educating Force of Courtly Romance,” Keith Busby and Christopher Kleinhenz, eds. Courtly Arts and the Art of Courtliness: Selected Papers from the Eleventh Triennial Congress of the International Courtly Literature Society (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2006): 5-28. 3 “Alterity” has a specific meaning in the philosophical vocabulary of “otherness,” as will be discussed below. However, in the phrase “cultural alterity” it simply serves as a synonym for “difference.” 2 the world beyond its borders. The knight himself has traveled in foreign lands and picked up elements of those cultures with which he comes into contact. Thus the learned behavioral idioms of Siegfried and the Burgundians differ greatly, nearly leading to violence until Gernot can assuage the rage of Siegfried by appealing to the courtly side of his background that until then had been overshadowed by a proclivity for engaging foreigners with force. Difference, the Other, and the Foreign When speaking about “difference” in this context, one encounters definitional issues that must be negotiated first. Application of the word “difference” to the concept of culture4 raises more questions than it answers due to its all-encompassing nature. Foremost among those questions is to what degree does the form of a cultural practice, custom, or tradition need to diverge from analogous elements in that same culture before it brings forth a wholly other culture? In other words, does variability within one culture actually signal the presence of multiple cultures, or at least subcultures? And on the other side of the coin, how closely must cultures resemble each other before they are considered to be a single entity? One word that on its surface leaves no room for cultural commonalities is “foreign,” which in its cultural, as well as national, connotation emphasizes apartness and which often enters discussions of cultural difference. An American is by definition a foreigner when traveling in Asia, because it is not his or her place. But as with “different,” the colloquial notion of “foreign” is problematic for our purpose of discussing difference in the cultural realm. It does not take into account the complexity of culture, including the ability to become “foreign” within one’s own culture and place, or the mutability of culture, its capacity to turn foreign. So while the Nibelungenlied 4 A definition of “culture” as used in this definition follows below. 3 clearly deals with those acting away from their homes, those who have not been influenced and infused with the history, customs, and culture of what takes place and has taken place within that circumscribed and specific space, the colloquial meaning of “foreign” or “the foreign” is neither precise nor robust enough when examining the text for traces of conceptions of cultural difference. This study will be using a specific philosophical description of the concept to assist in that end. But before that can be formulated, it is important to first examine the interconnected terms of otherness (as the core of “difference”) and foreign, as they are often the basis of literary studies but without elaboration do not afford the appropriate precision to serve as useful interpretive tools. Otherness is a concept closely tied to difference insofar as it is the result of separating oneself from other individuals, declaring one’s own independence and natural, formal, and qualitative difference from other human beings. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel began the line of thought on the other

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