Von lebenden Toten und anderen Grenzgängern. Ordnungsdiskurs und Liminalität in höfischen, exemplarischen, schwankhaften und grotesken Mären, in der Binnenerzählung III,8 des 'Decameron' und im Fastnachtspiel 'Der Bauer im Fegefeuer'

Abstract

Based on the theories of liminality and discourse, living dead and other border crossers in medieval short stories ("Mären"), in the 'Bauer im Fegefeuer' and in the novella III,8 of the 'Decameron' are analysed. - Order relies on demarcation. Therefore, literary border crossers who touch or cross borders, their interactions with their social environment and the way they are integrated into the structure of the plot are predestined to emphasize the idea of order in a particular text. Due to this, the border crossers can be used as a tool to analyse the contribution of texts to the discourse on order. As this contribution to the discourse on order is of eminent importance for the classification of medieval short stories ("Mären"), the results of the thesis allow to further develop this classification itself. In addition, the concepts whose borders are touched or crossed become visible.