Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary |
added Category:Books by Germaine de Staël using HotCat |
||
(12 intermediate revisions by 7 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{short description|1813 book by Germaine de Staël}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Germaine de Staël - De l'Allemagne.jpg|thumb|upright|Title page from the first volume (London, 1813)]]
'''''On Germany''''' ({{lang-fr|De l'Allemagne}}), also known in English as '''''Germany''''', is a book about German culture and in particular [[German Romanticism]], written by the French writer [[Germaine de Staël]]. It promotes [[Romanticism|Romantic]] literature, introducing that term to readers in France and other parts of Europe. The book was published in 1813, after the first edition of 10
==Summary==
The book is divided into four parts: "On Germany and German Customs", "On Literature and the Arts", "On Philosophy and Morals" and "Religion and Enthusiasm".{{sfn|Halsall|2004|p=266}} It surveys modern German literature and philosophy, praising writers like [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Gotthold Ephraim Lessing]], [[Jean Paul]] and [[Friedrich Schiller]]. It introduces French readers to the German concept of [[Romanticism|Romantic]] literature, a term derived from the [[chivalric romance]]s of [[medieval Europe]]. Like [[Friedrich Schlegel]], Staël views Romantic literature as modern, because its roots are in the [[Chivalry|chivalric]] culture of the [[Middle Ages]], and not in the classical models of [[ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome|Rome]].
Staël writes in favour of literature rooted in [[Christian culture]], which is defined by its preference for the internal life, as practised in the [[Confession (religion)|confession]]. She opposes [[neoclassicism]], which focuses more on action and is prone to use external rules, like those in [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[Poetics (Aristotle)|Poetics]]'' and [[Horace]]'s ''[[Ars Poetica (Horace)|Ars Poetica]]''. She places Christian belief in opposition to the pagan notion of [[Destiny|fate]], which she rejects. Romantic poetry, she says, is more relatable than classical imitations, because Christian culture is native to the French people, whereas classical culture is not. She also promotes the use of native French subjects to ensure that literature is relatable.{{sfn|Halsall|2004|p=266}}
==Publication==
A first edition of 10
==Legacy==
''On Germany'' had a greater influence than any of Staël's other works. Along with ''[[The Genius of Christianity]]'' (1802) by [[François-René de Chateaubriand]], it pointed out the direction that French Romanticism would follow. The recommendation to express the inner life, like in the Christian confession, led the way for a tradition of French [[Confessional writing|confessional literature]].{{sfn|Halsall|2004|p=266}} The book also had significant impact elsewhere, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it was the work that introduced the term ''Romanticism''. The scholar John Claiborne
==See also==
Line 20 ⟶ 21:
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
===Sources===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Isbell |first=John Claiborne |year=1994 |title=The Birth of European Romanticism: Truth and propaganda in Staël's 'De l'Allemagne', 1810–1813 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-43359-4 }}
{{Refend}}
==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}
▲: {{cite journal |last=Furst |first=Lilian R. |year=1976 |title=Mme. de Staël's De L'Allemagne: a Misleading lntermediary |journal=Orbis Litterarum |volume=31 |issue=1 |pp=43–58 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0730.1976.tb00514.x }}
{{Refend}}
Line 41 ⟶ 40:
[[Category:1810 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1813 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:French non-fiction books]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Christian literature]]
[[Category:Books about Germany]]
[[Category:Books of literary criticism]]
[[Category:Books by Germaine de Staël]]
|