The German Romantic writer and composer E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) -- perhaps best known to the English-speaking world through his Nutcracker/I> and through Jacques Offenbach's opera Tales of Hoffmann -- struggled to convince his predominantly bourgeois public of the merits of art and literature. Not surprisingly, many of his most important novellas are bound up with the dilemmas of art and the challenges faced by the Romantic artist, and it is these Künstlernovellen that are the focus of this study. Birgit Röderargues that Hoffmann's artists are not simply individuals who create works of art, but rather figures through whom the author explores the predicament of those who reject the conventional world of bourgeois reality and seek to assert the claims of the imagination in a world dominated by prosaic rationalism. Contrary to previous scholars however, Röder demonstrates that Hoffmann's novellas clearly warn against a view of art as an autonomous aesthetic realm cut off from the world of reality. This is particularly apparent in Röder's analysis of gender relations in Hoffmann's oeuvre -- especially the relationship between (male) artist and (female) muse -- which underlines the extent to which art, literature, and the imagination are inseparably bound up with the prevailing social reality. The novellas that are given extensive consideration are Das Fräulein von Scuderi, Der Sandmann, Die Jesuiterkirche in G., Die Fermate, Der Artushof, Don Juan, Das Sanctus, and Rat Krespel.Birgit Röder teaches German language and literature at the University of Reading, UK.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
The book serves as a helpful, well-researched introduction and resource for Hoffmann's short fiction. CHOICE ...succeeds as an introduction to the many texts in which Hoffmann's artists struggle in the Romantic conflict that pits the ideal against the mundane. GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW (Röder's) chapter on "Don Juan" is ... the intellectual apex of the book. Here Röder dazzles us with the most sinuous extrapolation of various dialectical oppositions in the text, all generated by Mozart's music.... MONATSHEFTE Following a well documented introduction to the critical literature on Hoffmann, Röder provides a precise and clear analysis... of what she terms "the romantic dilemma." ETUDES GERMANIQUES Röder's book offers a fine introduction to the tales of Hoffmann for those with a reading knowledge of German.... (It) is both a solid contribution and an invitation for more work on an author too often neglected. GOETHE YEARBOOK --Various
About the Author
Birgit Röder teaches German language and literature at the University of Reading, UK.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet.
|
|||
|
Video reviews
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
