Prolegomena zu einer historischen Raum-Narratologie am Beispiel von drei autodiegetisch erzählten Romanen

Abstract

After the spatial turn, questions concerning the representative and poietic function of literary spaces have arisen – questions which can only be answered by means of contextual and intertextual readings. Spatial concepts of different eras must be compared with each other in order to move toward a diachronic, and hence ‘postclassical’, narratology of space. This article takes an initial step in this direction: The spatial concepts of three autodiegetic novels – Der Abentheuerliche Simplicissimus, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, and Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge – are analyzed with Genetteʼs categories; and these analyses are expanded upon using parameters such as degree of heteroreferentiality, modes of narrating space, and spatial symbols. Based on these results, the article concludes with some continuative thoughts on a historical narratology of space.