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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



and his great popularity among the lower classes, are to be ex- 

 plained, at least in part, by the nature of the contents of his novels. 

 Cooper had, so to speak, broken virgin soil in the domain of litera- 

 ture. In the primeval forests of Cooper's novels the tired spirits 

 of Europe found a fresh and invigorating atmosphere. Then, too, 

 the people were fascinated by the splendid portrayal of life among 

 the aborigines, for the employment of the American Indian as a 

 legitimate character for purely literary purposes was new. The 

 American Indian himself was, however, by no means a novelty to 

 the Germans. A quarter of a century before, Chateaubriand had 

 made him the medium for the conveyance of Rousseau's doctrine 

 of the goodness of primitive man, a doctrine which was an outgrowth 

 of the prevailing social discontent in Europe. Chateaubriand's 

 'Atala,' 'Rene.' and 'Natchez,' with their poetic but weak por- 

 trayals of Indian life in America, had enjoyed great popularity, 

 'and translations of them were widely circulated in Germany.^ The 

 American Revolution had also served to call attention to the Ameri- 

 can Indian, and he was made the subject of several poems. Herder 

 had occupied himself with the Indian in his 'Ideen zur Philosophie 

 der Geschichte der Menschheit' (1784-1791). Ethnographical 

 works and journals of travel had further helped to cultivate an 

 interest in the American Indian. 



But even more attractive to the German reader than the Indian 

 were Cooper's pictures of American life, especially frontier life, 

 which appealed directly to the Germans who at this time took great 

 interest in America. It was the period preceding the reaction 

 commonly known as the "Young German" movement. Germany 

 was suffering political ignominy. Under the fearful rule of Met- 

 ternich there was little hope that the German's dream of the cen- 

 turies, a united Fatherland, could ever be realized. A last resort 

 for the afflicted German lay in the young republic beyond the sea. 

 The word "Amerika!" was an open sesame which presented 

 undreamed prospects. In 1817 the great emigration to America 

 had begun and continued for more than half a century, until 

 there was hardly a family in the remotest German village which 

 had not a kinsman or friend in America. The novels of Cooper 

 were therefore eagerly read by old and young. Through them the 

 prospective emigrant learned much about the new country, whither 

 he hoped to go. On the other hand, those who remained at home 

 found assuagement in these works for that deepseated indefinable 



1 Cf. My article 'The American Indian in German Fiction.' German American 

 Annals. May-August, 1913. 



