Before the Storm (Fontane novel)
Title page of an edition from 1913 | |
| Author | Theodor Fontane |
|---|---|
| Original title | Vor dem Sturm |
| Translator | R. J. Hollingdale |
| Language | German |
| Publisher |
|
Publication date |
|
| Publication place | Germany |
Published in English | 1985 |
| Pages | 911 |
Before the Storm: A Novel of the Winter of 1812–13 (German: Vor dem Sturm. Roman aus dem Winter 1812 auf 13) is the 1878 debut novel of the German writer Theodor Fontane.
Background
Fontane was a well-known poet and famous for his travel writings in Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg, and had been a full-time writer from the age of 30. Later in life he turned to writing novels of which Before the Storm was the first, published when he was 58.[1] Fontane described the general subject of the novel as "the entry of a great idea, of a great moment into an essentially very simple class and condition of men". He wrote that he wanted to capture "the great emotion" among Prussians fighting back against Napoleon and simultaneously "not to be too disturbing, or even particularly gripping".[2]
Plot
The novel is set in the Kingdom of Prussia in 1812 and 1813 and depicts the reactions to the Napoleonic Wars, providing a portrayal of the country and the historical situation in Europe.[3][4][5][6][7]
Publication
Before the Storm was serialised in the weekly magazine Daheim from 5 January to 21 September 1878. Wilhelm Hertz in Berlin published it as a book in four volumes in October the same year.[8] Oxford University Press published R. J. Hollingdale's English translation in 1985.[1]
Adaptation
It was the basis for ARD's television serial Vor dem Sturm, broadcast in six episodes in May and June 1984.[9]
References
- ^ a b Encyclopedia of Literary Translation Into English: A-L. 2000. p. 461. ISBN 9781884964367.
- ^ Bance, Alan (1982). Theodor Fontane: The Major Novels. Cambridge University Press. p. 16. ISBN 9780521245326.
- ^ Hamnett, Brian (2011). The Historical Novel in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Representations of Reality in History and Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 277–281. ISBN 9780199695041.
- ^ Ghanbari, Nacim (2011). "Dynastisches Spiel Theodor Fontanes Vor dem Sturm". Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesgeschichte (in German). 80: 186–207. doi:10.1007/BF03375746.
- ^ Neuhaus, Stefan (2001). "Zeitkritik im historischen Gewand? Fünf Thesen zum Gattungsbegriff des Historischen Romans am Beispiel von Theodor Fontanes Vor dem Sturm". Travellers in Time and Space / Reisende durch Zeit und Raum (in German). Leiden: Brill. pp. 209–225. doi:10.1163/9789004333949_014.
- ^ Franzel, Sean (2008). "Cultures of Performance, Gender, and Political Ideology in Fontane's 'Vor dem Sturm'". Colloquia Germanica. 41 (1): 11–31. JSTOR 23982253.
- ^ Düwel, Klaus (1997). "Archäologie im Roman. Zum Wagen Odins in Fontanes „Vor dem Sturm": Christian Wagenknecht zum 60. Geburtstag". Prähistorische Zeitschrift (in German). 72 (2): 234–243. doi:10.1515/prhz.1997.72.2.234.
- ^ Chambers, Helen (1997). The Changing Image of Theodor Fontane. Camden House. p. 2. ISBN 9781571130846.
- ^ Der neue Serien-Guide (in German). Vol. 4: S - Z. Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf. 2004. p. 517. ISBN 9783896025135.
Further reading
- Wagner, Walter (1966). Die Technik der Vorausdeutung in Fontanes 'Vor dem Sturm' und ihre Beteutung im Zusammenhang des Werkes (in German). Marburg: N.G. Elwert Verlag.
- Zuberbühler, Rolf (2015). Fontane und Hölderlin. Romantik-Auffassung und Hölderlin-Bild in »Vor dem Sturm« (in German). Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110938913.
External links
- Projekt Gutenberg-DE
- Media related to Vor dem Sturm at Wikimedia Commons
- Suhrkamp