Symbolisierung der Ordnung als Bewaeltigung des Chaos: T. S. Eliots 'Four Quartets' und Rainer Maria Rilkes 'Duineser Elegien' (German text)

One of the characteristics of the modern world is the loss of order. This results in a sense of disorientation, of having lost one's place, or shelter. The established values are no longer recognized, and this leads to the search for their replacement.; Both T. S. Eliot and Rainer Maria Rilke struggled with this problem: how does one find sense in a world where traditional values are no longer applicable? In both their main works, the Four Quartets and the Duineser Elegien respectively, Eliot and Rilke each suggests a way of re-ordering the world.; T. S. Eliot proposes turning back to the Christian notion of the incarnated Logos and detecting a pattern in which the Word as meaning is conferred by the words of poetry. Though clearly stating the distinction between transcendence and immanence, Eliot does not argue dualistically but brings these two concepts back together. His view is not simply an adaptation of an old notion, rather, this idea is expressed in a new way for a new era.; Rainer Maria Rilke cannot accept any transcendent realm, anything beyond the here and now. However, Rilke does try to convey that sense of being which goes beyond the merely material and the purely immanent. Rilke seems governed by a finite perspective, but the thesis explores difficulties in Rilke's consistency in holding to this viewpoint.; As different as both poets are, this thesis will demonstrate a certain affinity in their desire to give a new meaning to a world in desperation. They cannot be satisfied with a purely material stance—which for them would result in a fundamental nihilism.