The Wendish Research Exchange - Elle, Katharina: The Sorbs as a Central Theme in Novels. A Comparison of Novels by Arnold von Vietinghoff-Riesch and Werner...

Lětopis Abstract 2009 2: Elle, Katharina: The Sorbs as a Central Theme in Novels. A Comparison of Novels by Arnold von Vietinghoff-Riesch and Werner Bergengruen

The writer Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964) and the forestry specialist Arnold von Vietinghoff-Riesch (1895–1962) were contemporaries and both of German-Baltic origin. They were moreover both authors of novels “Am Himmel wie auf Erden” (In heaven and on earth)/ “Der tanzende Kranich” (The dancing crane), which give a prominent place to the Sorbs in very similar ways.

The question of the function of the Sorbian theme in the novels is at the centre of this analysis. It concentrates on the image of Sorbian culture and mentality which the two authors present, and their attitude towards the object of their observations. The main focus is on the two Sorbian characters in the novels (both women, Worschula and Márie), who are both examined in particular.