Echoes in the Text: Musical Citation in German Narratives from Theodor Fontane to Martin Walser

Literature’s role in developing a musical canon emerges from this study of German fiction between 1880 and 1987. It provides a close analysis of the various ways in which music is involved in selected novels and novellas by Theodor Fontane, Arthur Schnitzler, Alfred Doeblin and Martin Walser. Chapters on Fontane and Schnitzler examine each author’s musical biography as background to the use of the art in his fiction. For today’s readers, perhaps less familiar with the music on which these texts draw, the study enlarges their appreciation of these narratives by amplifying the resonance of the musical citations.