Orientalism in German Literature: From Goethe's West-östlicher Divan to Thomas Mann's Joseph-Tetralogy

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A doctoral dissertation

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This dissertation examines representations of the Orient in German literature from Goethe through Thomas Mann, with particular attention to imagination, cultural projection, and literary authority. Through close readings of canonical texts, the study situates Orientalism within broader intellectual, aesthetic, and historical contexts.

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Rather than treating the Orient as a fixed geographical or cultural category, the work approaches it as a literary construction—one that reveals as much about European self-understanding as about the cultures it claims to depict.

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Although written as scholarly research, the dissertation continues to inform the author’s fiction, especially her engagement with cultural translation, historical memory, and the ethical dimensions of representation.

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(Doctorate in German Literature · Institution and year available upon request)

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Selected Essays & Reflections

 

Alongside academic research, Andrea Fuchs Petzi has written reflective essays on literature, history, and place. These texts occupy a space between scholarship and personal inquiry, often returning to questions later explored in fictional form.

 

Selected topics include:

• Literature as cultural memory

• Writing across languages and traditions

• The ethics of historical imagination

• Place, exile, and narrative inheritance

 

(Selected essays available upon request or linked individually)

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Lectures, Talks & Public Conversations

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Andrea Fuchs Petzi has given lectures and participated in literary conversations on topics including:

• German literary tradition and modernity

• Orientalism and cultural encounter

• Writing historical fiction across cultures

• Language, migration, and identity

These appearances reflect an ongoing engagement with literature as both artistic practice and intellectual inquiry.

 

Relationship to the Fiction

 

The author’s scholarly work does not function as commentary on her novels, nor do the novels serve as illustrations of theory. Instead, both emerge from a shared attentiveness to language, history, and the moral weight of representation.

 

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For Academic or Institutional Inquiries

 

Information regarding publications, lectures, or academic collaborations may be requested via the Media / Press section.