‚Les cinq cents millions de la Bégum‘ und ‚Die Liebe des Ulanen‘ Beitrag Deutsch-französische Fremd- und Selbstbilder bei Jules Verne und Karl May Hartmut Nonnenmacher Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift, Jahrgang 70 (2020), Ausgabe 1, Seite 31 - 51 Jules Verne (1828–1905) and Karl May (1842–1912) were major exponents of youth and popular literature in France and Germany respectively. In a comparative approach, my essay focuses on two narrative texts, published by these authors in the aftermath of the Franco-German War of 1870/71: In his novel ‚Les 500 millions de la Bégum‘ (1879) Verne contrasts the utopic town France-Ville, founded by a philanthropic French hygienst, with the dystopic town Stahlstadt, founded by a racist German chemist. On the other hand, in his serialized historic novel ‚Die Liebe des Ulanen‘ (1883–85), Karl May contrasts three generations of a German family with an antagonist French family during decisive moments of the Franco-German history of conflicts in the 19th century, such as the ones of 1814 and 1870/71. My focus lies on the use both authors make of national stereotypes and on their contribution to the construction and diffusion of national imaginaries in France and Germany.
„Village Property“, kulturelle Hybridität und Grenzen literarischer Übersetzung: Toni Morrisons ‚Tar Baby‘ Marion Kraft