Searching for a father (literary motif)

The literary motif of the search for a father is differentiated in literature according to the variants of the tragic and the conciliatory type. Both Anthony van der Lee and Kurt KT Wais are of this opinion, only Michael Mecklenburg rejects this strict structure.

A characteristic of both types is the search for the non-existent father. The motive for the search for a father is as follows: The boy grows up exposed to his parents. It is raised by animals or ordinary people. In young adulthood he goes in search of his parents, but primarily in search of his father. Another possibility is the boy's upbringing with the mother who was abandoned by the producer. This can have happened both before the child was born and when the boy was young. Usually the father is forced to do this by external constraints because he has to return home or is expelled. He leaves the son a Gnorisma (identification mark), which is supposed to be useful for later discovery. This is a "central link between father and son [...] [,] the only sure possibility of recognition" . In young adulthood, the boy goes on a search for a father after learning about him from his mother. In addition to the search for the father, the focus for him is on finding his own identity. For the boy, moving out into the distance is usually associated with numerous adventures.

The motive of the search for a father often occurs in connection with the father-son struggle. In the literature this is referred to as "a very dramatic and therefore effective form of recovery" . According to van der Lee, finding a father can end both tragically and forgivingly. In the first case, father and son meet in battle, recognizing each other too late and the father often killing his son. The search ends in a forgiving way when father and son recognize each other in time and return to the mother or wife together. Mecklenburg sees other variants such as the unsuccessful search for a father.

Examples of the search for a father can be found in literary works by Biterolf and Dietleib , King Oedipus , Parzival , Wigalois and the mythological figure of Telegonos .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Anthony van der Lee: On the literary motif of the search for a father. Amsterdam 1957, p. 10.
↑ Kurt KT Wais: The father-son motif in poetry. Volume 1. Until 1880. Berlin 1931, p. 2.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Michael Mecklenburg: Parody and Pathos. Heroic legends reception in the historical epic of poetry. Munich 2002. ISBN 3-7705-3669-X . P. 176.
↑ Horst Daemmrich, Ingrid Daemmrich: Topics and motifs in literature. A manual. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Tübingen, Basel 1995. ISBN 3-7720-1734-7 . P. 361.
^ Elisabeth Frenzel : Motives of world literature. A lexicon of longitudinal sections of the history of poetry (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 301). 6th, revised and expanded edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-520-30106-2 , p. 732.

[van_der_Lee,_1957-1] Anthony van der Lee: On the literary motif of the search for a father. Amsterdam 1957, p. 10.

[2] Kurt KT Wais: The father-son motif in poetry. Volume 1. Until 1880. Berlin 1931, p. 2.

[Mecklenburg,_2002-3] Michael Mecklenburg: Parody and Pathos. Heroic legends reception in the historical epic of poetry. Munich 2002. ISBN 3-7705-3669-X . P. 176.

[4] Horst Daemmrich, Ingrid Daemmrich: Topics and motifs in literature. A manual. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Tübingen, Basel 1995. ISBN 3-7720-1734-7 . P. 361.

[5] Elisabeth Frenzel : Motives of world literature. A lexicon of longitudinal sections of the history of poetry (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 301). 6th, revised and expanded edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-520-30106-2 , p. 732.