“Paris” and “Buxtehude”. The semanticizations of space in Wilhelm Schröder’s Swinegels Reise nah Paris as Friedensstifter in the context of nationalism in Low German literature of the 1860s and 1870s

Abstract

In the 1860s and 1870s, Wilhelm Schröder was a prolific author of Low German texts with a focus on current political issues. Schröders texts offer rich material for an examination of nationalism in Low German literature and its positioning in the area between literature and politics at the time of the wars of unification. Based on Jurij M. Lotman’s reflections on the narrative function of semanticizations of space, those semanticizations are identified and analyzed in Schröder’s Swinegels Reise nah Paris as Friedensstifter. The text designs a world that is clearly divided into a French and a North German area. It is shown how the latter represents the whole of Germany in Schröder’s Text. The analysis of Schröder’s semanticizations of space forms the basis for elaborating the text’s attitude towards Northern Germany, Germany, and nation building. Schröder’s thematization of current political events and his clearly articulated nationalist positions are also demonstrated in the author’s other works. Furthermore, they are placed in the context of Low German literature at the time of the wars of unification. During this time, Low German literature increasingly focused on political events. In order to understand this tendency, the text suggests that, in addition to the general rise of nationalism, the 1860’s waning of interest in Low German literature that was not written by Fritz Reuter should also be taken into account. The starting point for that argumentation is Schröder’s biography as an author and his position in the literary scene.