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Heimat als identität und ökologisches bewusstsein stiftender faktor: zu ansätzen in Romanen um 1900 von Bruno Wille, Hermann Hesse und Josef Ponten

This essay is concerned with the significance of emotional attachment to place as a factor constituting identity and stimulating awareness of environmental change, and with the part played by literature in fostering place-belonging. It traces the shifting meanings of ‘Heimat’ over the course of the 20th century, including problematic associations with nationalism and racism and its rehabilitation since the 1970s in the context of globalisation and environmental concern. Three novels written around 1900 are examined. These go beyond the socially conservative, nationalistic conception of the time and anticipate aspects of today’s dynamic, active, open and plural understanding of Heimat.