well-known German writers who published
their works within the next decades. The
influence of Dickens on Gustav Freytag,
for instance, is evident in his comedy Die
Journalisten (The Journalists) (1854) as
well as in his novel Soil und Haben (Debit
and Credit) (1855); it is also traceable in
some earlier novels of Wilhelm Raabe
such as Die Chronik der Sperlingsgasse
(The Chronicle of Sparrow lane) (1856),
Die Leute aus dem Walde (The People
from the Wood) (1863), Der Hungerpastor
(The Hunger Pastor) (1864) and in one of
the novels of his later period, namely
Horacker (1876). Fritz Reuter's epic poem
Kein Hiisung (No Housing) (1857) shows
Dickens' influence as well as his novel Ut
mine Stromtid (My Years as a Tramp)
(1864) and the same applies to Friedrich
Spielhagen's novels Hammer und Amboss
(Hammer and Anvil) (1869) and Noblesse
Oblige (1888).
Apart from sharing most of those features
of Dickens' works which - as mentioned
above - had appealed so much to the mo
dern reading public, these authors also
showed the moral optimism of the English
writer's earlier novels. Here Pickwick was
their evident model which also inspired
them to attempts at imitating that atmosp
here of warm humour which pervades this
novel.
Apart from Pickwick the influence of
David Copperfield made itself felt above
all. It brought about a revival of the novel
of development, for Soil und Haben as
well as Der Hungerpastor and Hammer
und Amboss and - just after the turn of the
century - Gustav Frenssen's Jörn Uhl
(1901) tells the story of a boy who through
many difficulties reaches maturity and
finds peace in a happy marriage.
Occasionally one of the German authors
took up one of Dickens' social themes: the
relationship between the cruel employer
and the helpless representatives of the
working class in Kein Hiisung resembles
that in Hard Times. Freytag's attitude to
the aristocracy of his time showed many
similarities to that in Dickens' works
whereas Spielhagen shared the English
author's depreciation of the legal professi
on.
These German writers also tried to imitate
those numerous idyllic scenes which we
find in Dickens' novels and which remind
us so much of the genre-painting of the
age. Additionally certain situations in
Dickens' novels seem to have had an
extraordinary fascination for them such as
life at school as depicted in Nicholas Nic-
kieby or the description of the storm and
shipwreck in David Copperfield - so that
their own presentation of such subjects
was coloured by the English models. The
same applies to certain human constellati
ons; we find relationships which resemble
those between Steerforth and Emily or
between Dombey and Florence more than
once in their books. Other characters were
formed after the example of Agnes, of
Uriah Heep, of Jo etc.
Here the German writers took up much of
Dickens' technique of characterization.
They followed his tendency to delineate a
person in black and white and used some
of his mannerisms: they endowed their
figures with descriptive names and with
typical gestures and constantly recurring
phrases. They even tried to imitate certain
peculiarities of Dickens' style: animism
became very popular with them.
In the meantime the publication of John
Forster's biography of Dickens had stimu
lated the interest of academic circles. In a
penetrating essay written in 1877 (which
unfortunately remained fragmentary),
Wilhelm Dilthey tried new approaches to
grasp Dickens' personality by a psycholo
gical analysis of his traumatic childhood
experiences. Other scholars dealt with
Dickens' political, social, and religious
views and his 'Weltanschauung' generally.
They also discussed Dickens' works: there
were numerous dissertations, essays and
12
