German Literature of the Nineteenth Century, 1832-1899

This volume provides an overview of the major movements, genres, and authors of 19th-century German literature in the period from the death of Goethe in 1832 to the publication of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams in 1899. Although the primary focus is on imaginative literature and its genres, there is also substantial discussion of related topics, including music-drama, philosophy, and the social sciences. Literature is considered in its cultural and socio-political context, and the German literary scene takes its place in a wider European perspective. Following the editors' introduction, essays consider the impact of Romanticism on subsequent literary movements, the effects of major movements and writers of non-German-speaking Europe on the development of German literature, and the impact of politics on the changing cultural scene. The second section presents overviews of the principal movements of the time (Junges Deutschland, Vormdrz, Biedermeier, Poetic Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism, and Impressionism), and the third section focuses on the major genres of lyric poetry, prose fiction, drama, and music-drama. The final section provides bibliographical resources in the form of a critical bibliography and a list of primary sources. Contributors to the volume are distinguished scholars of German literature, culture, and history from North America and Europe: Andrew Webber, Lilian Furst, Arne Koch, Robert Holub, Gail Finney, Ernst Grabovszki, Benjamin Bennett, Jeffrey Sammons, Thomas Pfau, Christopher Morris, John Pizer, Thomas Spencer. Clayton Koelb is Guy B. Johnson Distinguished Professor of German at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Eric Downing is associateprofessor of German at the same institution.

Introduction - and Eric DowningThe Afterlife of Romanticism - Andrew J. WebberParallels and Disparities: German Literature in the Contextof European Culture - Lilian R. FurstRevolution and Reaction: The Political Contextof Central European Literature - Arne KochLiterary Controversy: Naming and Framing thePost-Romantic, Pre-Realist Period - Robert C. HolubPoetic Realisim, Naturalism, and the Riseof the Novella: 1850-1889 - Gail FinneyLiterary Currents of the 1890s: Symbolism, Impressionismand Turn-of-the-Century Austria - Ernst GrabovszkiThe Absence of Drama in Nineteenth-Century Germany - Benjamin K. BennettThe Nineteenth-Century German Novel - Jeffery L. SammonsLyric Poetry - Thomas PfauRichard Wagner: Opera and Music Drama - Christopher MorrisNavigating the Nineteenth Century: A Critical Bibliography - John PizerList of Primary Sources - Thomas Spencer