In late nineteenth-century Germany, the onset of modernity transformed how people experienced place. In response to increased industrialization and urbanization, the expansion of international capitalism, and the extension of railway and other travel networks, the sense of being connected to a specific place gave way to an unsettling sense of displacement. Out of Place analyzes the works of three major representatives of German Realism-Wilhelm Raabe, Theodor Fontane, and Gottfried Keller-within this historical context. It situates the perceived loss of place evident in their texts within the contemporary discourse of housing and urban reform, but also views such discourse through the lens of twentienth-century theories of place. Informed by both phenomenological (Heidegger and Casey) as well as Marxist (Deleuze, Guattari, and Benjamin) approaches to place, John B. Lyon highlights the struggle to address issues of place and space that reappear today in debates about environmentalism, transnationalism, globalization, and regionalism. “Foremost among the study’s many strengths is how Lyon brings together diverse theories and historical data with literary readings to establish the complexity of late realist prose works and the issues with which they are in dialogue … Lyon’s study represents a valuable contribution to scholarship on German realism and stands to enrich conversations on space and place.” – Goethe Yearbook “On the whole, the book provides excellent insight not only into the development of the phenomenon of place but also to late realism more generally. It is a strong contribution to the vein of criticism that sees in late realism a response to the realities of modernity, rather than a retreat from them.” ―Katra Byram, Pacific Coast Philology “'In German realism, [...] place, as a source of identification and meaning, gives way to space as a site of external control and lost individuality.' This concluding statement of John B. Lyon's book on German realism aptly summarizes the results of this important study. Lyon contributes to our more nuanced understanding of German realism by foregrounding the modern aspects of realist prose. [...] In stimulating such thinking, Lyon's book will take its place next to other substantial American studies of nineteenth-century German literature by scholars such as Russell Berman, Robert Holub, and Eric Downing.” ―Peter C. Pfeiffer, German Quarterly “Lyon presents place in the novel as broken, diffuse, and full of unresolved tension, preparing the way for German Modernism...the argument that German Realism prefigures twentieth-century critical concerns is both persuasive and welcome.” ―Michael White, Modern Language Review “Lyon's rigorous but engagingly written book makes a significant contribution to scholarship in re-assessing 19th-century German Realism as a pioneering literary movement anticipating 20th-century modernism and philosophical debates about place and space in society.” ―Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, Monatshefte John B. Lyon is Professor of German at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He is the author of Crafting Flesh, Crafting the Self: Violence and Identity in Early 19th Century German Literature (2006) and Out of Place: German Realism, Displacement, and Modernity (Bloomsbury, 2013). Used Book in Good Condition