Fremde : a reimagination of the correspondence between Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Werfel : [an honors thesis] (HONRS 499)

Abstract

Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Werfel, two of the most prominent German-language authors of the early twentieth century, corresponded via four letters and one personal meeting. The meeting was largely unsuccessful, and afterwards each author referred to the experience as fremd, the German word meaning foreign or strange. My creative project is a "reimagination" of the correspondence and interaction between the two authors. It relies on primary sources, including some of the letters, but I took liberties to imagine particular emotions and reactions that the two authors had. The final project is a story that brings the interaction between these two authors to life.