German literature of the nineteenth century, 1832-1899

About this book

"This volume provides an overview of the major movements, genres, and authors of nineteenth-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 discussed in its broader European perspective, with special emphasis on its cultural and socio-political context. The volume is introduced by essays considering 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 of the book presents overviews of the principal movements of the time (Junges Deutschland, Vormarz, 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. Among the writers discussed are Heinrich Heine, Georg Buchner, Adalbert Stifter, Franz Grillparzer, Annette von Droste-Hulshoff, Gottfried Keller, Richard Wagner, Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gerhart Hauptmann, Theodor Fontane, and Frank Wedekind. The final section of the book provides bibliographical resources in the form of a critical bibliography and lists of primary and selected secondary sources. Contributors to the volume are distinguished scholars of German literature, culture, and history from North America and Europe. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.