Identität und Maske

This volume concentrates on episodes in Middle High German literature in which identity becomes ambiguous through the using of disguises. In this way, these episodes are not underestimated as droll story elements but are actively used to explain how identity is constructed in medieval literature. It is the aim of this monograph to uncover and analyze the link between identity and disguise and in so doing contribute to a fuller understanding of the different and manifold ways of identity construction in the Middle Ages and to show parallels to modern forms if identity. Subject of the study is the Tristan character who uses disguises continuously due to his illicit love to Isolde and the resulting need for secrecy. This is achieved by not only looking at the ‘Tristan’ of Gottfried of Straßburg but at all Middle High German Tristan narrations of the 12th and 13th century.