Book Description

The revolutionary spirit that animates the culture of the Germans has been alive for at least twelve centuries, far longer than the dramatically fragmented and reshaped political entity known as Germany. German culture has been central to Europe, and it has contributed the transforming spirit of Lutheran religion, the technology of printing as a medium of democracy, the soulfulness of Romantic philosophy, the structure of higher education, and the tradition of liberal socialism to the essential character of modern American life.

In this book leading scholars and critics capture the spirit of this culture in some 200 original essays on events in German literary history. Rather than offering a single continuous narrative, the entries focus on a particular literary work, an event in the life of an author, a historical moment, a piece of music, a technological invention, even a theatrical or cinematic premiere. Together they give the reader a surprisingly unified sense of what it is that has allowed Meister Eckhart, Hildegard of Bingen, Luther, Kant, Goethe, Beethoven, Benjamin, Wittgenstein, Jelinek, and Sebald to provoke and enchant their readers. From the earliest magical charms and mythical sagas to the brilliance and desolation of 20th-century fiction, poetry, and film, this illuminating reference book invites readers to experience the full range of German literary culture and to investigate for themselves its disparate and unifying themes.

Contributors include: Amy M. Hollywood on medieval women mystics, Jan-Dirk Müller on Gutenberg, Marion Aptroot on the Yiddish Renaissance, Emery Snyder on the Baroque novel, J. B. Schneewind on Natural Law, Maria Tatar on the Grimm brothers, Arthur Danto on Hegel, Reinhold Brinkmann on Schubert, Anthony Grafton on Burckhardt, Stanley Corngold on Freud, Andreas Huyssen on Rilke, Greil Marcus on Dada, Eric Rentschler on Nazi cinema, Elisabeth Young-Bruehl on Hannah Arendt, Gordon A. Craig on Günter Grass, Edward Dimendberg on Holocaust memorials.

Customer Reviews (1)

An Invaluable Collection, but not a History
This is the second of the Harvard University Press' avowedly "new" versions of literary history, having been preceded by a "New History of French Literature." It stands in marked contrast to the traditional banal historical surveys, which often read like annotated bibliographies rearranged in chronological order, which give the reader no flavor for actual literature.It is also different from an ideosyncratic synthetic history which presents the viewpoint of one critic, glossing over certain periods and authors in order to dwell on others, merely because the author finds them more interesting or in better conformity with his thesis.Instead, this book is a compilation of essays written by over 150 specialists in different periods and aspects of German literature, each essay concentrating upon a particular work, or a particular moment in German literary history.
In some respects, it works amazingly well, seeing 1200 years of Germanic literature through a series of epiphanies.The quality of the essays is extremely high, and there are enough of them that the reader does get a notion of the richness and breadth of literary creation in the German language.Best of all, the essays are such that they tend to create a hunger to read many of the works reviewed.The reader can browse through the book, following one of the many threads provided by the diverse assembly of critics, jumping from one essay and epoch to another, noting along the way many works of which he may never have heard, accumulating a rich mine of future reading.
But the History's chief success is also its chief failing:such a book can never be catholic enough to serve as a reference with which to place in its historical or literary context any book which one has read, or of which one has heard.Some significant minor authors are omitted altogether, as well as a few major ones, and especially as we approach more recent times the selection has to become ever more arbitrary and limited.The greatest names in German literature are inevitably slighted due to the format, as they are given only slightly greater treatment than the lesser figures which each also command at least one essay.Goethe's Faust, most notably, does not really loom as the immensely important monument which it is, nor does it receive the kind of elaborate explication it deserves.To those tired of grazing solely on the highest treetops who might be tempted to say 'Good riddance,' one must point out that this is supposed to be a general history, and not an eclectic selection of good books the uninitiated might not otherwise have read. Another defect is that by focusing exclusively on individual works, and on the moments in history which have witnessed their birth, there are no general essays which cover the broad and pervasive literary movements such as Romanticism or Expressionism, nor are there any extended discussions of such recurrent literary genres and themes as the Bildungsroman, or the fantastic novel.In short, this is a superb anthology of essays, which deserves to be put on the shelf next to a more traditional history.The inclusion of some thematic essays, and an extended narrative to bridge the gaps and tie the essays together would partially remedy this defect at the expense of making a fat book even fatter, but I am afraid that without turning it into an encyclopedic reference of at least two volumes, a book of this structure cannot fully realize its ambition to become a "new history" which transcends the traditional model.Nonetheless, for its sheer readability, and especially given the ignorance which even most educated English-speaking readers now have of literature in German, it is a worthy acquisition for any lover of literature. ... Read more

Book Description
Literary fiction in Germany has long been a medium for contemplation of the 'nation' and questions of national identity. From the mid-1990s, in the wake of heated debates on the future direction of culture, politics and society in a more 'normal', united country, German literature has become increasingly diverse and seemingly disparate - at the one extreme, it represents the attempt to 'reinvent' German traditions, at the other, the unmistakable influence of Anglo-American forms and pop literature. A shared concern of almost all of recent German fiction, however, is the contemporary debate on globalisation, its nature, impact and consequences for 'local culture'. In its engagement with globalisation the literature of the Berlin Republic continues the long-established practice of reflection on what it is to be 'German'.

This book investigates literary responses to the phenomenon of globalisation. The subject is approached from a wide range of thematic and theoretical perspectives in twelve chapters which, taken together, also provide an overview of German fiction from the mid-1990s to the present. The book serves both as an introduction to contemporary German literature for university students of German and as a resource for scholars interested in culture and society in the Berlin Republic. ... Read more

Book Description
Both reference work and general overview, this volume provides a comprehensive survey of medieval German literature from the 8th through the early 15th century. The authors concentrate on the works of the late 12th and early 13th centuries--a high peak of the literature--and examine late-medieval German lyric poetry in detail. Also inlcludes maps. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Compact Thorough Survey
I bought this volume to have an inexpensive guide to the literature of medieval Germany. It covers Old High German, early Middle High German, the Medieval German lyric, and post "Classical" literature. In addition to historical backgrounds, which are very much appreciated, there are short summaries of works as well as complete guides to further study.

Most interesting to me in all of these periods are the works of Wolfram von Eschenbach ("Parzival"), and the anonymous "Nibelungenlied." As much historical information as possible is included, and most helpfully, information on extant manuscripts is included. (I was shocked to find out that some of the more popular medieval German works come to us from only one or two complete manuscripts and perhaps a few fragments.)

The last chapter is a chapter titled, "Literature of the Late Middle Ages: Innovations and Continuing Trends." This chapter gives an overview of legal literature, chronicles, specialist literature (science and nature, medicine and geography, et al.), didactic literature (religious and otherwise), and works on Mysticism. The book is valuable enough without the last chapter- with the last chapter I find it indispensable in my studies of German medieval lit.

Recommended for those in the early stages of the study of this period looking for a roadmap, or for those whom would like a general outline with a solid bibliography on their bookshelves. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume of fresh essays by leading scholars develops a new approach to expressionist film. For nearly half a century Siegfried Kracauer's From Caligari to Hitler and Lotte Eisner's The Haunted Screen have shaped the understanding of the cinema of this period. However, fifty years on, there is a growing awareness that a new account is overdue. This attempt to rewrite the story of expressionist cinema begins with a fundamentally new interpretation of Dr. Caligari, and together with fresh views of other expressionist classics, offers new perspectives on important alternative film styles and genres that emerged in films by such eminent directors as Ernst Lubitsch, Joe May, Fritz Lang, Karl Grune, F. W. Murnau, and E. A. Dupont. In pursuing such variety, the book strives for a picture of the cinema in the early years of Weimar that in thematic as well as stylistic terms reflects the vibrant, multifaceted cultural and political developments of the period. The book is a joint venture of the Centre for European Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, the Institute for Film Studies at the University of Mainz, and the German Film Museum in Frankfurt. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Useful wedding poems
I was recently asked to officiate a wedding for a German couple residing in the US, so I dug down off my shelf, TREASURY OF GERMAN LOVE POEMS, QUOTATIONS AND PROVERBS. I've had the book for many years but had never really had an occasion to reference it, but thought it might lend a nice touch for a German wedding. I not only found several verses applicable and appropriate for this ceremony, but many that I will use for other ceremonies as well.

The book is particularly useful for someone like me who speaks very limited German in that it gives the German verse, followed by an English translation, and in some cases, a literal tranlation. It's contents come from such noted sources as Goethe, Lessing and Nietzsche. This little book would also be useful for students learning German.

Pastor Monty Rainey

Good book!
This book was definitely worth the money.My only slight disappointment is that I wish there were more poems and less proverbs but overall, I really like this little book. ... Read more

Book Description
This interdisciplinary study examines the impact of theemerging awareness of historicity on the concepts of modernity, identity,and culture as they developed in German thought around 1800. It shows howthis awareness determined the German notion of the priority of culturalidentity. Key texts from Sturm und Drang, Weimar Classicism, GermanRomanticism and German Idealism, including Goethe's Faust I and WilhelmMeisters Lehrjahre, are contextualised in relation to post-Enlightenmentdebates on historicity and modernity. The study traces the modification ofthe Enlightenment concepts of perfectibility and universal ideals toaccommodate the new notion of temporal particularity and impermanence. Thisis achieved by embedding these once static concepts in a historical processthat is powered by a self-prompting internal dialectic. Through syntheticabsorption within the historical succession the dialectical process allowsfor the continuity of values, while leaving room for discontinuity anddifference by relying on oppositional successions. The study reveals closeconnections between the intellectual concerns, the literary ambitions, andthe endeavours to construct a modern German identity during this period,which suggests a far greater intellectual coherence of the Goethezeitregarding intellectual challenges and objectives than has been previouslyassumed. ... Read more

Book Description
German writers, be it Goethe, Nietzsche, Marx, Brecht or Mann, have had a profound influence on the modern world. This iVery Short Introduction/i illuminates the particular character and power of German literature and its impact on the wider cultural world. Nicholas Boyle presents an engrossing tour of the course of German literature from the middle Ages to the 20th century, focussing especially on the last 250 years. He looks at key themes like idealism, modernism, and trauma, showing how they have imbued the great German writers with such distinctive voices. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

The Plight of the West
Nihilism flickers with its black fire throught out the pages of this book and godlessness attends it as Erich Heller attempts to provide a spiritual physiognomy for the age.

Goethe is the major figure of Heller's meditations and Nietzsche who tries to forge a new soul in a world where Goethe's project to head off rationalism and scientism has failed.Heller spends much useful time in explaining the reasons for Goethe's attempt to found an anti-newtonian science.Fittingly, the name of William Blake makes a brief appearance.

Goethe saw the inhuman dimensions of the scientific project and where it was going with its inevitable war on poetic language and the construction of humane truths.

Rilke and Yeats are also stars of the book, particularly Rilke who creates Nietzschean poetry, poetry that exalts a radical inwardness against a god-free world.

I cannot diagram in this review the myriads of ideas and observations that make this book, The Disinherited Mind, so relevant to our own story. Erich Heller was one of the great titan critics of a century full of so many - Ernst Robert Curtius,Erich Auerbach, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and so many more.Heller read literature within a massive scope of historical awareness.His exegis is never dull but always as pertinent and relevant as the details in great adventure fiction. ... Read more

Book Description
This new edition of Mary and Henry Garland's classic Oxford Companion to German Literature substantially revises and extends its coverage, making an invaluable reference work available to a new generation of readers. Designed to be a reliable source of information on the whole sweep of literature from German-speaking countries from the eighth century onwards, the Companion now comes right up to the mid-1990s, including recent works such as Gunter Grass's controversial novel about the unification of East and West Germany, Ein weites Feld (1995). The entries, arranged in a single alphabetical sequence, cover authors and their major works, as well as historical, intellectual, and cultural backgrounds. For this new edition much of the original material has been thoroughly reworked in the light of up-to-date scholarship, and many completely new entries have been added, allowing improved coverage of the twentieth century, general topics, and women writers of all periods. The Companion's unrivalled historical coverage and depth of information - on subjects as various as Kafka and Kleist, Werther and Christa Wolf, Nietzsche and the Nibelungenlied, Jung and Jelinek, Rilke and Die Reformation - makes it an indispensable reference book for everyone with an interest in the literature and literary culture of the German-speaking world. ... Read more

Book Description
"A valuable contribution to understanding and interpreting a visually and philosophical ambitious and at the same time provocatively eccentric film maker."--German Studies Review ... Read more

Book Description
No other 20th-century writer of German-language literature has been as fully accepted into the canon of world literature as Franz Kafka. The unsettlingly, enigmatically surreal world of Kafka's novels and stories continues to fascinate readers and critics of each new generation, who in turn continue to find new readings. One thing has become clear: although all theories attempt to appropriate Kafka, there is no one key to his work. The challenge to critics has been to present a strong point of view while taking account of previous Kafka research, a challenge that has been met by the contributors to this volume. CONTRIBUTORS: JAMES ROLLESTON, CLAYTON KOELB, WALTER H. SOKEL, JUDITH RYAN, RUSSELL A. BERMAN, RITCHIE ROBERTSON, HENRY SUSSMAN, STANLEY CORNGOLD, BIANCA THEISEN, ROLF J. GOEBEL, RICHARD T. GRAY, RUTH V. GROSS, SANDER L. GILMAN, JOHN ZILCOSKY, MARK HARMAN JAMES ROLLESTON is Professor of German at Duke University. ... Read more

Book Description
PUBLISHED IN GERMAN. This volume, with its emphasis on complete texts, offers the classics Iphigenie auf Tauris, Der blonde Eckbert, Der goldne Topf, Woyzeck, Deutschland, Ein Wintermarchen, Granit, Die Judenbuche, Maria Magdalena, Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe, Bahnwarter Thiel, and Die Familie Selicke in complete versions. In addition, there are nearly 100 pages of poetry, from Goethe, Schiller, and Holderlin via the Romantics and Young Germans to the Realists and Naturalists, all chosen because they represent their times or the literary movements to which they belonged. ... Read more

Book Description
This is the first book to provide a complete German literary history up to the Unification of Germany in 1990. It is a history for our times: well-known authors and movements are set in a wider literary, cultural and political context, standard judgments are reexamined where appropriate, and a new prominence is given to writing by women. The book is designed for the general reader as well as the advanced student; titles and quotations are translated, and there is an extensive bibliography. ... Read more