The generic term Dorfgeschichten originates in the title of Berthold Auerbach's Schwarzwälder Dorfgeschichten (1842ff.). It refers to prose narratives about village life which were published from around 1840 and were regarded in the German-speaking world (and only there) for up to two decades as an “epoch-making” phenomenon. Despite the variety of their forms the Dorfgeschichten were perceived to be an independent genre of texts giving answer…