Zur Bildersprache der Franzoesischen Revolution in Goethes Dramen: Goethes Naturmetaphern und Natursymbole als Ausdruck seines Geschichtsbildes nach 1789. [German text]

This dissertation analyzes Goethe's metaphors and symbols from nature which refer to the events of the French Revolution and occur in his dramas after 1789, Der Gros-Cophta, Die Aufgeregten, Der Burgergeneral, and Das Madchen von Oberkirch, in his major work, Die naturliche Tochter, and in acts II and IV of Faust II. Included in the discussion are also his epic, Hermann und Dorothea, his novel, Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten, and his early drama, Gotz von Berlichingen. The methodology of this study is eclectic. The basic points of reference are modern theories of metaphor and symbol as well as studies on the figurative language of the French Revolution and its function in general. In order to elucidate Goethe's concept of revolution, modern treatments of the term revolution, its history and its perception have been included.;In the main, the dissertation shows that Goethe did not notice the metaphorization of the term revolution, understood as linear progress toward something new, since he depicts the French events in terms of a natural catastrophe, implying a cyclical concept of history. Goethe's nature metaphors and symbols relating to the French Revolution were conventional revolutionary images. They were taken from nature because nature yielded ambiguous images which could be interpreted in a positive or negative way. Goethe integrated them into his literary work in a unique manner. If we understand the symbol as a stabilized metaphor we can observe that in Goethe's post-1789 works former nature metaphors were likely to develop into symbols for the French events.;In his metaphors Goethe transferred the realm of nature onto the realm of politics because he assumed that the same underlying rules govern both areas. In nature, however, things return to the old condition. Therefore, Goethe's use of nature images in his literary work stands for a cyclical concept of history and may have served him, if not to undo a historical process, at least to adapt it to his own more conservative attitude. However, Goethe was never a mindless opponent of the French Revolution. The dissertation's focus on Goethe's metaphors allows for a systematic and precise assessment of his use of language and its concomitant concept of history, yielding a more discerning insight into Goethe's attitude towards the French Revolution.