| Summary: | This dissertation examines Karl Philipp Moritz’s Anglophilia: its nature, how it enriches his own works, and to what extent he can be seen as a cultural mediator. Traces of Anglophilia can be found throughout Moritz’s oeuvre. Examples include his travel book <i>Reisen eines Deutschen in England</i>, his published but so far under-researched translations of four English novels and three non-fictional writings, and the many references to English authors and their works within his own such as <i>Anton Reiser</i>, which all clearly indicate his love for England. The findings of this dissertation show that Moritz’s Anglophilia is closely related to his interest in human nature and behaviour, and is characterised by personal discovery and intellectual necessity. It is a constant in his life and exerts an all-encompassing influence on his thinking and writing, blending in with his oeuvre as a whole as well as complementing it. Moritz’s social and literary environments, as well as his travels through England, provided him with the knowledge and means for his Anglophile reflections and his mediation of novel perspectives on English culture and literature. However, his Anglophilia is not only an element of his environment, but serves as an active instrument. He uses his published translations of English works to reflect on the existing social system, to explain various norms of behaviour and cultural peculiarities, and to present overarching ideals and politically progressive thoughts while encouraging the readership towards moral and utopian contemplation. In addition, he adapts English works he admires for autobiographical self-analysis and self-criticism and to discuss human nature. Shakespeare’s dramatic works serve Moritz in the expression of the psychological development of his persona <i>Anton Reiser</i> by staging his own life realities when facing existential liminal experiences. Milton’s <i>Paradise Lost</i> helps Moritz to intensify and process his feelings, to again articulate his existential problems but also conceptualise solutions, and to discuss and formulate moral-philosophical and metaphysical positions.
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