``A STRONG ANTIDOTE AGAINST UNBELIEF AND SEDUCTION'': CARL FRIEDRICH SCHEIBLER'S LEBEN UND SCHICKSALE DER POKAHUNTAS (1781) AND THE GERMAN THEOLOGICAL ENLIGHTENMENT

Abstract

This article endeavors the first in-depth analysis and historical contextualization of the 1781 novel Leben und Schicksale der Pokahuntas, einer edelmuthigen Americanischen Prinzessin; eine wahre und lehrreiche Geschichte, written by the Pomeranian pastor Carl Friedrich Scheibler. Not only is this text the earliest surviving literary adaptation of the Pocahontas story, but it also explores new avenues with respect to the representations of Native Americans in Germany. In addition, Scheibler is the first to employ the Pocahontas story in order to position himself within a theological debate that was raging in Germany at that time.