Historical fiction in Conrad Ferdinand Meyer’s Plautus im Nonnenkloster

Abstract

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer’s literature is characterised by a preference for historical themes and the formal refinement of its texts. These are two attributes that, however, have equally served as grounds for disapproval by critics who have identified limitations in the work’s merit. On the one hand, attention has been drawn to the restricted scope of the historical representation; on the other, to its sterilising aestheticism. In order to broaden the interpretative possibilities of his fiction, this article proposes an analysis of the novella Plautus im Nonnenkloster, which highlights the relevance of the historical dimension by not separating it from the temporal interplay within the narrative structure; furthermore, the careful composition does not undermine the most vivid meanings suggested by the plot, rather the opposite.