ABSTRACT
Wilhelm Raabe's literary engagement with German colonialism and with Germany's wider implication in the cultural history of European colonialism stands out in the context of German Realism, and the development of his anti-colonialism from his novella Sankt Thomas. Raabe also stands out in the context of German Realism for combining his critique of colonialism with extensive engagement with modernization and progress in later nineteenth-century Germany. Raabe's complex representation of and response to the combined challenges of modernization and colonialism in Meister Autor is just one example of the often precarious balance in his works between the acknowledgement and endorsement of historical developments and the melancholy reflection on accelerated change. In an ironic reference to the new bible of bourgeois tourism, 'Baedeker', project most emblematic of Alexander Rodburg's role as ruthless modernizer and 'Stadteverwuster' is his proposal to redirect two local streams in order to create a spectacular artificial waterfall, even though this will destroy the eco-system of an entire valley.
