Description

Book Synopsis

The Waiting Water addresses one of the most recurrent and troubling motifs in German Realist literaturedeath by drowning. Characters find themselves before bodies of water, presented with the familiar realm above the surface and the unobservable, uncanny domain beneath it. With somber regularity, they then disappear into the depths. Alexander Sorenson explores the role that these hidden deaths in water play within a literary movement that set out precisely to reveal universal truths about human life. The poetics of submergence, he argues, revolve around two concepts fundamental to Poetic Realismorder and sacrifice.

Focusing on texts by Adalbert Stifter, Gottfried Keller, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, and Theodor Storm, along with material from earlier and later epochs, The Waiting Water shows that the pervasive symbolism of drowning scenes in German Realism, which typically occur in zones of narrative invisibility on the social periphery, reveals the

The Waiting Water

    Product form

    A Hardback by Alexander Sorenson

    £97.20

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £108.00 – you save £10.80 (10%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Thu 22 Oct 2026.

    1 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of The Waiting Water by Alexander Sorenson

      Book details

      Publisher Cornell University Press
      Published 9/15/2024
      ISBN-13 9781501777097
      978-1501777097
      ISBN-10 1501777092
      Also in:
      Literature: history and criticism

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      The Waiting Water addresses one of the most recurrent and troubling motifs in German Realist literaturedeath by drowning. Characters find themselves before bodies of water, presented with the familiar realm above the surface and the unobservable, uncanny domain beneath it. With somber regularity, they then disappear into the depths. Alexander Sorenson explores the role that these hidden deaths in water play within a literary movement that set out precisely to reveal universal truths about human life. The poetics of submergence, he argues, revolve around two concepts fundamental to Poetic Realismorder and sacrifice.

      Focusing on texts by Adalbert Stifter, Gottfried Keller, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, and Theodor Storm, along with material from earlier and later epochs, The Waiting Water shows that the pervasive symbolism of drowning scenes in German Realism, which typically occur in zones of narrative invisibility on the social periphery, reveals the

      Recently viewed products

      © 2026 Book Curl

        • American Express
        • Apple Pay
        • Diners Club
        • Discover
        • Google Pay
        • Maestro
        • Mastercard
        • PayPal
        • Shop Pay
        • Union Pay
        • Visa

        Login

        Forgot your password?

        Don't have an account yet?
        Create account