Die Zeit de Romans oder Moderne Mimesis

This dissertation examines three novels of the twentieth century: Hermann Broch's Schlafwandler (1932), Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus (1947), and Uwe Johnson's Jahrestage (1970--1983). Each novel deals with a decisive historical moment. The guiding question concerns the specific link between literature and history. In this context, the dissertation takes the genre of the "Zeitroman" literally and asks what "time" is in the novel. Informed by Paul Ricoeur's Time and Narrative, the texts are analyzed with regard to the narratology of time and time markers such as the clock and the calendar. Representation of the "real" in these novels, so goes the argument, must be understood as "world-making," which happens through these markers. A contribution to the history of the Zeitroman in the 20th century, this dissertation is concerned with the narratology of time as well as the reconciliation in literary studies among hermeneutics, narratology, cultural studies, and discourse analysis.