Soziale Ausgrenzung: Die Darstellung Parzivals als Aussenseiter bei Wolfram von Eschenbach (German text)

The question of marginality has aroused great interest in recent years among the researchers in German literature. The present thesis follows along the lines of that trend and explores the concept of the High Middle Ages and in Wolfram's von Eschenbach epos Parzival. The primary purpose of the study was to establish prominent outsider characteristics in the poet's presentation of his title hero. To accomplish that task, the thesis was divided into two parts—the first giving a socio-historical account of the main aspects of outsiderdom in the mediaeval period, followed by a detailed analysis of those aspects in Wolfram's epos. The conclusions drawn at the end allow for a broader assessment of Parzival's life as an outsider.