Gottfried Keller And His Critics

Survey of the criticism devoted to Gottfried Keller, the important nineteenth-century writer in German. The works of Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) rank alongside those of Goethe and Thomas Mann, yet this volume is the first in any language to examine the critical assessment and scholarly expertise devoted to him, ranging from the early stages of journalistic criticism to the present day. Professor Ruppel begins by exploring the literary industry in the nineteenth century, the literary market place, the tastes of the reading public, and the expectations of editors, before going on to survey representative journalistic assessments of Keller's writing, including critical correspondence from Keller's contemporaries. Subsequent chapters examine in chronological order the most important milestones in Keller scholarship, particularly twentieth-century criticism and the Anglo-American tradition. There is also a brief history of the translations of Keller's works into English, investigating some of the difficulties confronting English translators of Keller's poetically creative German. The study concludes with an overview of recent scholarly assessments covering the past twenty-five years.

Designed to provide English readers of German literature the opportunity to familiarize themselves with both the established canon and newly emerging literatures that reflect the concerns of women and ethnic minorities, the Encyclopedia of German Literature includes more than 500 entries on writers, individual work, and topics essential to an understanding of this rich literary tradition. Drawing on the expertise of an international group of experts, the essays in the encyclopedia reflect developments of the latest scholarship in German literature, culture, and history and society. In addition to the essays, author entries include biographies and works lists; and works entries provide information about first editions, selected critical editions, and English-language translations. All entries conclude with a list of further readings.

The history of this period in German literature is told through a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, a comprehensive bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on poetry, novels, historical narrative, philosophical musings, drama, and the exceptional writers who emerged and shaped German literature over the centuries.

An alternative genealogy of abstract art, featuring the crucial role of 19th-century German literature in shaping it aesthetically, culturally, and socially.

Despite its popularity during the nineteenth century, regional literature has often been overlooked with regard to its role in the development of German national consciousness. By exploring various illustrations of geographic-historical landscapes in texts written before the 1848 revolutions and after the 1871 unification, this book investigates the vital polyphony generated by unique regional voices throughout the age of nationalism. Close readings of texts by Berthold Auerbach, Theodor Storm, Wilhelm Raabe, Fritz Reuter, Theodor Fontane, Gottfried Keller, and Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach examine recognizable and unfamiliar regions. Although this study concentrates on provincial writings, literary regionalism's fictionality and simultaneous referentiality raise broader questions for the programmatic aesthetics of Poetic Realism and for inquiries into identity formation.

This book analyzes the development of Walter Benjamin's concept of experience in his early writings showing that it emerges from an engagement with visual experience, and in particular the experience of colour. It represents Benjamin as primarily a thinker of the visual field.