„Es ist nicht gut, so ganz allein zu sein...“ : Männlichkeiten und Geschlechterbeziehungen in Theodor Storms später Novellistik

Sammanfattning: The present dissertation examines conceptions of masculinity in the works of Theodor Storm, a representative of German Poetic Realism. It shows how variations of masculinities are arranged, constructed and performed in Storm’s novellas within the bourgeois order of the supposedly 'stable' 19th century.The different types of masculinities are viewed and analysed in selected areas, as represented in the following four texts: Schweigen, Der Herr Etatsrat, Ein Doppelgänger and Der Schimmelreiter. Simultaneously, they constitute different research fields within Men's Studies, such as family, body/health, power/violence and also society/"male spaces".The main thesis of the dissertation is that Storm expands contemporary 19th-century perceptions of masculinity and femininity by making traditional gender stereotypes converge in his late novellas. The characters only partially match the bourgeois, bipolar gender model, and masculinity should be understood as a variation rather than as an opposition to femininity. Furthermore, the dissertation proposes that Storm should be considered a precursor to literary modernity to a larger extent than has previously been assumed. Therefore, the dissertation focuses on internal differentiation of the hegemonic bourgeois masculinity typical of the 19th century in Storm's works. Here, free spaces are observed between gender identities traditionally conceived as binary. Using Robert Connell's theoretical concept of hegemonic masculinity as a basis, the relationship between inferior, marginalized masculinities and normative ideals is particularly emphasized. Furthermore, the dissertation analyses the depiction of bourgeois self-conflicts in the text, through which Storm exposes the hegemonic stereotype of masculinity.