Religious discourse and metapoetic reflection in Jean Paul's novels: The 'Rede des toten Christus', the 'Clavis Fichtiana', and Kain's monologue in 'Der Komet'.

Starting from a brief sketch of Jean Paul's general attitude toward religious and theological discourse and its biographical background, the study focusses on central texts of the German writer which refer to sermons and the communication practice of religious teaching as well as topics of metaphysical interest. In this thematic context, especially the interelation between body and soul and the issue of mortality and immortality are of crucial relevance. Several of Jean Pauls most important novel chapters are written as poetical sermons: 'The Dead Christ proclaims that there is no God', 'Clavis Fichtiana', and Kain's monologue in 'Der Komet'. They turn out to be altogether auto-reflexive, poetological texts: By imagining literary characters and narrators, and even his own literary alter ego 'Jean Paul' as preachers addressing a community of listeners, Jean Paul models literary communication stressing the effects of written texts on their reader's souls. With regard to the issue of mortality, his poetical sermons can be described as thought experiments exploring nihilistic concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]