E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'romanticism' : assimilation and adaptation
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Date
1983Author
Oliver, Norman
Metadata
Abstract
The intention of this thesis is to help clarify
the confusion existing in literary criticism about the
degree of E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'Romanticism'.
Chapter I deals with the problem of arriving at
a satisfactory definition of what actually constitutes a
Romantic work. While not claiming to provide an all-encom¬
passing definition, it works from the assumption that there
are a number of elements common to the majority of works
classed as Romantic: the conception of the imagination as
a radically creative force, symbolic expression as a means
of circumventing the problem of the inadequacy of language
to portray poetic insight and the complexity of the uni¬
verse, a belief in a fall from an original state of harmony
and innocence and, finally, the importance of particular
literary antecedents of whom it was thought that they
exemplified elements of 'das Moderne' in art. It is con¬
tended that in terras of such a definition, Hoffmann must
be regarded as a Romantic. Chapter T then goes on to discuss
secondary literature which has concerned itself with the
problem of E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'Romanticism'.
Chapter II shows that Hoffmann's interest in psy¬
chology and the so-called 'Nachtseiten' does not constitute
a shift away from Romanticism but that, rather, this
interest should be regarded as a logical development of
his 'Romanticism'.
Chapters III, IV, V7and VI deal with Hoffmann's
oeuvre from the Fantasie-uund Nachtstiicke to Pes Vetters
Eckfenster. They show that in,terms of the definition of
Romanticism outlined in Chapter I, Hoffmann remained a
Romantic throughout his life.
The conclusion provides not only a summation of
the thesis but also points to the future by suggesting
that Hoffmann's development of Romantic aesthetics through
the practice of writing made a significant contribution
to the development of the novel. Further, that his works
in many respects pre-empt the existential and aesthetic
problems discussed by the Modern and Post-Modern movements.