Title: Wilhelm Raabe's Der Hungerpastor and Charles Dickens' David Copperfield
First published: 1997
Description: Der Hungerpastor (1864-65) is Wilhelm Raabe's most popular novel. This monograph shows how Raabe borrowed much of the plot and characters from Charles Dickens's best-selling David Copperfield (1849-50). By providing the reasons why Raabe borrowed from Dickens, this study goes far beyond the existing research on the parallels between these two Bildungsromane. A comparison of the heroes, their Jewish antagonists and a number of female characters demonstrates the extent of Raabe's indebtedness to Dickens.

The intertextuality ranges from direct verbal echoes to a mere use of Dickens's ideas upon which Raabe builds a novel distinctly his own.
Subjects: Influence, Intertextuality, History and criticism, Bildungsromans, Raabe, wilhelm karl, 1831-1910, Dickens, charles, 1812-1870, German Bildungsromans, English Bildungsromans
People: Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Wilhelm Karl Raabe (1831-1910)
LC classification: PT2451.H83 A76 1997