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Contributors: Dieter Borchmeyer, Charles A. Grair, Gail Hart, Thomas P. Saine, Jane K. Brown, Cyrus Hamlin, R. H. Stephenson, Elisabeth Krimmer, Helmut Pfotenhauer, Benjamin Bennett, Astrida Orle Tantillo, W. Daniel Wilson. Simon Richter is associate professor of German at the University of Pennsylvania. Camden House CAMDEN HOUSE History of German Literature HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE Full set ISBN 1-57113-103-5 The most detailed history of German literature in English CAMDEN HOUSE HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE Vol. 1: Early Germanic Literature and Culture Edited by Brian Murdoch and Malcolm Read, University of Stirling, UK Volume 7 Vol. 2: German Literature of the Early Middle Ages Edited by Brian Murdoch, University of Stirling, UK Volume 7 The Literature of Weimar Classicism Vol. 3: German Literature of the High Middle Ages Edited by Will Hasty, University of Florida Vol. 5: German Literature of the Eighteenth Century: The Enlightenment and Sensibility Edited by Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Ohio State University Vol. 6: Literature of the Sturm und Drang Edited by David Hill, University of Birmingham, UK Vol. 8: The Literature of German Romanticism Edited by Dennis Mahoney, University of Vermont Vol. 9: German Literature of the Nineteenth Century, 1832-1899 Edited by Clayton Koelb and Eric Downing, University of North Carolina Vol. 10: German Literature of the Twentieth Century Ingo R. Stoehr, Kilgore College, Texas Praise for Volume 6, Literature of the Sturm und Drang: “An important addition to the secondary literature . . . . In his magisterial introduction Hill provides an excellent overview that paves the way for the more specialized contributions. The 20-page bibliography is a valuable tool for anyone interested in the Sturm und Drang.” CHOICE Praise for Volume 8, The Literature of German Romanticism: “Among the beautifully written essays are studies of terminology, genre, gender, politics, the natural sciences, folklore, music, and art. . . . An excellent addition to the literature.” CHOICE Camden House 668 Mt. Hope Avenue Rochester NY 14620-2731 USA, and P.O. Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK www.boydellandbrewer.com or: www.camden-house.com ISBN 1-57113-249-X The Literature of Weimar Classicism Vol. 4: Early Modern German Literature Edited by Max Reinhart, University of Georgia In Germany, Weimar Classicism (roughly the period from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s return to Germany from Italy in 1788 to the death of his friend and collaborator Friedrich Schiller in 1805) is widely regarded as an apogee of literary art, the brief historical moment when a handful of German writers rivaled Homer, Virgil, and Dante. But outside of Germany, Goethe is considered a Romantic, and the notion of Weimar Classicism as a distinct period is viewed with skepticism. This volume of new essays regards the question of literary period as a red herring. Weimar Classicism is best understood as a project that involved nothing less than the ambitious attempt not only to imagine but also to achieve a new quality of wholeness in human life and culture at a time when fragmentation, division, and alienation appeared to be the norm. By not succumbing to the myth of Weimar and its literary giants, but being willing to explore the phenomenon as a complex cultural system with a unique signature, this book provides an account of the shaping beliefs, preoccupations, motifs, and values of Weimar Classicism. Contributions from leading German, British, and North American scholars open up multiple interdisciplinary perspectives on the period. Essays on the novel, poetry, drama, and theater are joined by accounts of politics, philosophy, visual culture, women writers, and science. The reader is introduced to the full panoply of cul