Course Description

Between 1700 and 1815 modern German literature attained European stature with the writings of Lessing, Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin, Kleist, and the Romantic poets. The work of these writers has ever since been regarded as definitive to the extent that most subsequent German literature has been either directly or indirectly a reaction to it.

The period was one of rapid and far-reaching change, as the rationalism of the Enlightenment was succeeded in literature by the passion and extravagance of the Sturm und Drang, the restraint and formal perfection of Weimar Classicism, and the fantasy and introspection of Romanticism. It was also an age of major achievements in German thought, from Leibniz's optimism of progress to Herder's defence of past ages and primitive cultures, and from the 'Copernican Revolution' of Kant's critical philosophy to the idealism of Fichte and Schelling. It was likewise a time of religious crisis, as the exclusive claims of Christianity were challenged by Lessing, Goethe, and others and reasserted by the Romantics.

Not least, the eighteenth century was an age of great historical significance, as the enlightened absolutism of Frederick the Great and Joseph II was followed by the impact of the French Revolution and Napoleon's victories on Germany, and the foundations of German nationalism were laid.

This course also offers the opportunity of getting to know a single writer in depth, since it is possible to concentrate entirely on the works of Goethe. Goethe is Germany's greatest poet - arguably Europe's greatest in the last 250 years - and an acquaintance with his major works is still a part of the culture of any educated German. You may already know some of them - Werther or Faust I or Iphigenie - but by taking this option you will fill in the gaps in your knowledge of the most read works and learn something of works that are less likely to be familiar - the Wilhelm Meister novels, the mysterious Romantic novel Die Wahlverwandtschaften, the phantasmagorical world of Faust II, for example. If you wish, too, you can study Goethe's scientific writings.

Section A: Literature 1700-1815 (including Goethe's works to 1832)

This list sets out the range of topics available to students in the examination, together with titles which are particularly recommended for study on each topic. Specific guidance on the preparation of topics will be provided by lecturers and supervisors. As you consider your options, you should bear in mind that there will be at least one question on the examination paper relating to each of the topics listed, and that questions typically require you to answer on TWO OR MORE texts. You are free to draw on whatever appropriate material you have at your disposal in response to particular questions as set - subject to the general principle, which appears as a rubric on the examination paper, that 'candidates should not draw substantially on the same material more than once'.

The first two topics (Poetry and Drama) will require answers on TWO OR MORE texts and with reference to TWO OR MORE authors. The authors concerned may be chosen from the list provided for the topic or from among those who are the subject of topics of their own, provided (as above) that you do not draw substantially on the same material more than once. For primary texts, Reclam editions are listed here because they are cheap and easily obtainable. Students should nevertheless consult the commentaries in modern critical editions where these are available, as they are for Lessing (ed. Göpfert, 8 vols), Goethe (Hamburg edition, 14 vols), Schiller (ed. Fricke and Göpfert, 5 vols), Kleist (ed. Sembdner), Hölderlin (ed. Beissner), among others.

1. Poetry

Candidates should study poems by two or more of the following writers

• *Günther, Gedichte, Reclam no. 1295
• *Brockes, Gedichte, Reclam no. 2015
• *Haller, Die Alpen und andere Gedichte, Reclam 8963
• Hagedorn, Gedichte, Reclam no. 1321
• Klopstock, Oden, Reclam no. 1391
• Wieland, Musarion, Reclam no. 95
• Schiller, Gedichte, Reclam 7714
• Novalis, Gedichte, Reclam no. 3236
• Brentano, Gedichte, Reclam no. 8669
• Eichendorff, Gedichte, Reclam no. 7925

Also relevant are poems by Goethe (topics 3 and 5 and Special Topic I) and Hölderlin (topic 7)

Background reading: Interpretations of selected poems in Gedichte und Interpretationen: Aufklärung und Sturm und Drang, Reclam no. 7891; W. Segebrecht (ed.), Gedichte und Interpretationen: Klassik und Romantik, Reclam 7892.

Candidates should study dramas by two or more of the following writers:

• *Lessing, Miss Sara Sampson, Reclam no. 16, Minna von Barnhelm, Reclam no. 10, Emilia Galotti, Reclam no. 45, Nathan der Weise, Reclam no. 3. See also Lessings Werke, ed. Göpfert, 8 vols (Munich, 1970-79), with useful notes and commentaries.
• *Gerstenberg, Ugolino, Reclam 141
• *Lenz, Der Hofmeister, Reclam no.1376, Die Soldaten, Reclam no. 8124
• *Wagner, Die Kindermörderin, Reclam no. 5698
• *Klinger, Sturm und Drang, Reclam 248, Die Zwillinge, Reclam 438

Also relevant are dramas by Goethe (topic 3 and Special Topic I), Schiller (topic 6), Kleist (topic 8).

Relevant theoretical works: Lessing, Hamburgische Dramaturgie, esp. Sections 11, 14, 19, 46, 59, 70, 74-83, 89-91, 101-4, Herder, essay on 'Shakespeare' in Von deutscher Art und Kunst, Reclam no. 7497, R Grimm (ed), Deutsche Dramentheorien, Vol 1, 3rd edn, 1980.

Background reading: Francis Lamport, Lessing and the Drama (Oxford, 1981), German Classical Drama (1990), Edward McInnes, 'Ein ungeheures Theater': The Drama of the Sturm und Drang (Frankfurt, 1987), D. Hill (ed.), Literature of the Sturm und Drang, 2002, Karl S Guthke, Das deutsche bürgerliche Trauerspiel, 6th edn., 2006

(a) Goethe in Frankfurt
* Götz von Berlichingen, Reclam no. 71; Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, Reclam no. 67; Von deutscher Baukunst, Zum Shakespeares-Tag (HA 12, 7-15, 224-7),

(b) Goethe in Weimar
* Iphigenie auf Tauris, Reclam no. 83; Egmont, Reclam no. 75; Torquato Tasso, Reclam no. 88

For both (a) and (b): relevant poems from: * Gedichte, Reclam no. 6782 or CUP selection, ed. Swales.

All of the works listed can be found in Goethes Werke, Hamburger Ausgabe, ed. Erich Trunz, 14 vols (Hamburg, 1948-64 and many later editions, also available in paperback); this is the most useful annotated edition of Goethe's works.

Background reading: T.J. Reed, Goethe, Past Masters series (Oxford, 1984). For a fuller list of works by and on Goethe, see Section B below and the supplementary reading list.

Questions will require answers on two or more works, except that a question will also be set requiring reference only to Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre.

Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. (HA 7), Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung (some extracts and a summary in HA 8);
R. Pascal The German Novel (Manchester, 1956) 3-29; M. Beddow, The Fiction of Humanity (Cambridge, 1982), 63-158; M. Minden, The German Bildungsroman : Incest and Inheritance (Cambridge, 1997); Reclam Erläuterungen und Dokumente volume, ed. Ehrhard Bahr
Die Wahlverwandtschaften (HA 6)
W. Benjamin, 'Goethes Wahlverwandtschaften'(written 1921-2) in: Illuminationen (Suhrkamp Taschenbuch); H.G. Barnes Goethe's "Wahlverwandtschaften". A literary interpretation (Oxford, 1967); Reclam Erläuterungen und Dokumente volume ed. U. Ritzenhoff
Italienische Reise (HA 11, 7-349)
Novelle (HA 6); Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (HA 8)
N. Boyle, 'Goethe: Novelle' in: Landmarks in German Short Prose ed. P. Hutchinson (Peter Lang, 2003)

Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (topic 3), Unterhaltungen deutscher Ausgewanderten and Campagne in Frankreich (Goethe Special Topic I), and Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre (Goethe Special Topic II) are also relevant to this topic.

Post-1790 poems from: * Gedichte, Reclam no. 6782 or CUP selection, ed. Swales, or HA1; Römische Elegien (HA 1, 157-73) + suppressed elegies and Priapic poems (eg. WA I, 53, 3-7 or ed. & trans. D. Luke and H.R. Vaget (London, 1988));West-Östlicher Divan (HA 2);
'The Spectrum of Goethe's Poetry', German Life and Letters. Special Goethe Number, 1982-3, pp. 77-115.

Hermann und Dorothea (Goethe Special Topic I) is also relevant to this topic.

Die Räuber, Reclam no. 15; Kabale und Liebe, Reclam no. 33; Wallensteins Tod, Reclam no. 42; Maria Stuart, Reclam no. 64; Die Jungfrau von Orleans, Reclam no. 47; Wilhelm Tell, Reclam no. 12.

Background reading: Schiller-Handbuch, ed. M. Luserke (2005); Lesley Sharpe, Schiller (Cambridge, 1991); W. Hinderer (ed.), Interpretationen: Schillers Dramen, Reclam 8807; K.S. Guthke, Schillers Dramen, 1994.

Gedichte, Reclam no. 6266; Hyperion, Reclam no. 559; Empedokles, ed. Maurice Benn, Clarendon Series.

Background reading: David Constantine, Hölderlin, (Oxford, 1998); S. Wackwitz, Hölderlin, (Sammlung Metzler, 215), second edition, 1997.

8. Kleist

Dramas, especially: Die Familie Schroffenstein, Reclam no. 1768; Amphitryon, Reclam no. 7416; Penthesilea, Reclam no. 1305 ; Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, Reclam no. 178 Stories, especially: Michael Kohlhaas, Reclam no. 218; Die Marquise von O...; Das Erdbeben in Chili, Reclam no. 8002 Über das Marionettentheater in Kleist, Der Zweikampf etc., Reclam 8004.

Background reading: Hilda M. Brown, The Ambiguity of Art and the Necessity of Form (Oxford, 1998); A. Stephens, Heinrich von Kleist: The Dramas and Stories, 1994; S. Allan, The Plays of Heinrich von Kleist, 1996, The Stories of Heinrich von Kleist, 2001.

Section B: Goethe (Special Topics), Thought, and History

The options available within each set of questions, with recommended reading, are given below. Apart from the core texts, students are not expected to have read all the texts listed below for any given topic. Supervisors will give further guidance.

German thought in the 18th century (1)

Either

Recommended accompanying texts:

• Kant: Prolegomena; Grundlegung
• Fichte: selections in Deutscher Idealismus pp122-219;Versuch einer neuen Darstellung der Wissenschaftslehre
• Schelling: selections in Deutscher Idealismus pp228-280; Abhandlungen zur Erläuterung des Idealismus der Wissenschaftslehre
• Hegel: selections in Deutscher Idealismus pp332-387; Vorrede and sections I and IVA of Phänomenologie

Suggested background reading:

• Karl Ameriks (ed), Cambridge Companion to German Idealism(2000)
• F Copleston, A History of Philosophy vol 6, ch 10,13,14,17; vol 7, ch 1,2,3,5,6,9.
• WT Stace, The Philosophy of Hegel, Part 1, ch 2 ('Modern Philosophy and Hegel')
• Michael Inwood, A Hegel Dictionary (1992)
• Hajo Holborn, 'German Idealism in the Light of Social History' in: Germany and Europe: Historical Essays (1970).
• John Kemp, The Philosophy of Kant (1968)
• Roger Scruton, Kant (OUP Past Masters Series)
• Howard Caygill, A Kant Dictionary (1995)
• Dieter Henrich, Fichtes ursprüngliche Einsicht
• HJ Sandkühler, FWJ Schelling (1987)
• Manfred Frank and Gerhard Kurd (ed) Materialien zu Schellings philosophischen Anfängen.

b) Theodicy

Core texts:

• Kant: Kritik der Urteilskraft §83 to the end; Über das Mißlingen aller philosophischen Versuche in der Theodizee

Recommended accompanying texts:

• Leibniz, Monadologie
• Lessing, Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts
• Herder, Gott
• Kant, Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßenVernunft 1.-3. Stück
• Schleiermacher, Über die Religion

Suggested background reading:

• TM Greene, Introduction to Religion wihin the limits of reason alone trans. TM Greene and HH Hudson (New York, 1934,1960)
• N Boyle, 'Pascal, Warburton, Lessing: the argument from despair' in Lessing Year-Book Sonderband (1984)
• J Cottingham, 'Leibniz' in German Men of Letters 6 ed. A Natan and B Keith-Smith (1972)
• S Sykes,Friedrich Schleiermacher (1971)
• G Hillin, 'Lessings theologische Schriften in Zusammenhang seines Werkes' in Lessing in heutiger Sicht ed. EP Harris and RE Schadt (1977) pp 37-64
• Nicholas Jolley (ed), The Cambridge Companion to Leibniz (Cambridge, 1995) esp. pp 382-410 'Perfection and Happiness in the Best Possible World'
• T D Kendrick, The Lisbon Earthquake (London, 1956)

Either

Recommended accompanying texts:

• Winckelmann, Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke (Reclam 8338)
• Lessing, Laokoön (various editions, eg W Barner, 1990)
• Hamann, Aesthetica in nuce (Reclam 926)
• Kant, 'Kritik der ästhetischen Urteilskraft' (Erster Teil of Kritik der Urteilskraft: eg ed Wilhelm Weischedel, Suhrkamp taschenbuch, 1974)
• Moritz, KP, 'Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen', 1788
• Schiller, 'Über naive und sentimentalische Dichtung' (various editions)
• F Schlegel, Gespräch über die Poesie ed Hans Eichner, (1985, UTB 1360)

Suggested background reading:

• Articles in The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 4 vols, ed Michael Kelly (Oxford, 1998)
• Terry Eagleton, The Ideology of the Aesthetic (Oxford, 1990)
• Henry Hatfield, Winckelmann and his German Critics, 1943
• id, Aesthetic Paganism in German Literature from Winckelmann to the Death of Goethe (1964)
• Hugh Honour, Neo-Classicism (1968)
• HB Nisbet ed, German Aesthetic and Literary Criticism. Winckelmann, Lessing, Hamann, Herder, Schiller, Goethe (1985)
• HB Nisbet, 'Laocoön in Germany: the reception of the group in Germany', OGS 10 (1979): 22-63
• S Körner, Kant, 1955, chapter 8
• Mary A McKloskey,Kant's Aesthetics (1987)
• Lesley Sharpe, Schiller's Aesthetic Essays: Two Centuries of Criticism (1995)
• HS Reiss, 'The Rise of Aesthetics from Baumgarten to Humboldt' in The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, Volume 4: The Eighteenth Century, pp 658-68, (Cambridge: CUP, 1997) ed HB Nisbet & Claude Rawson.

Recommended accompanying texts:

• Herder: Auch eine Philosophie der Geschichte
• Kant:Was ist Aufklärung?, Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte, Mutmaßlicher Anfang der Menschengeschichte, Das Ende aller Dinge, Zum ewigen Frieden
• Novalis: Die Christenheit oder Europa

Suggested background reading:

• HB Nisbet, 'Was ist Aufklärung? The Concept of Enlightenment in 18th-Century Germany', in Journal of European Studies (1982) pp 77-9
• HD Irmscher 'Die geschichtsphilosophische Kontroverse zwischen Kant und Herder' in Hamann-Kant-Herder ed. B Gajek (Frankfurt am. Main 1987) pp111-192
• GA Wells, 'Herder's Two Philosophies of History' in Journal of the History of Ideas 21 (1960) pp 527-35
• CL Becker: The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-century Philosophers (New Haven, 1932)
• JB Bury: The Idea of Progress (London, 1932) esp chapter 13, 'German Speculations'
• J Chytry, The Aesthetic State (1989)

The options available within each set of questions, with recommended reading, are given below. Students are not expected to have read all the texts listed below for any given topic. Supervisors will give further guidance.

or

or

or

or

Course adviser