Description
Book SynopsisGeorg Brandes (1842-1927) was one of the leading literary critics in Europe of his time. His Main Currents of Nineteenth Century Literature (1872-1890) was a foundational text to the field of comparative literature and extolled by Thomas Mann as the “Bible of the young intellectual Europe at the turn of the century.” Georg Brandes eventually developed into a truly global public intellectual, living by his pen and public lectures. On the eve of World War I, he was one of the most sought-after commentators, vigorously opposing all conflicting factions. This book seeks to understand Brandes’ trajectory, to evaluate Brandes’ significance for current discussions of literary criticism and public engagement, and to introduce Brandes to an international audience. It consists of 15 original chapters commissioned from experts in the field.
Trade Review“Comparative Literature contributes to a sense of being at home in a world that is heterogeneous and fractured, rather than affirming a monolithic canon marked by territory and homogeneity.” This is what our editors wrote in the introduction of the 200th jubilee volume Taking Stock – Twenty-Five Years of Comparative Literary Research (2019). The past volumes in this series provide a look into the history of Comparative Literary Studies of the last three decades. Having started with ‘classical’ literary studies, the series opened to contemporary approaches such as migration studies, memory studies, and human-animal studies. Thus, it is ready for its future. Norbert Bachleitner, Universität Wien, Austria - Juliane Werner, Universität Wien, Austria
Table of ContentsList of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction “A Master of Productive Criticism” Jens Bjerring-Hansen, Anders Engberg-Pedersen and Lasse Horne Kjældgaard Part 1 The Comparatist 1 The Fox and the Stork Georg Brandes and the Institutionalization of Comparative Literature Ben Hutchinson 2 Georg Brandes and the History of Emotions Anders Engberg-Pedersen 3 Sexual Morality, Gender Equality, and Pioneering Women Writers in Brandes’ Comparative Writings Sophie Wennerscheid 4 Georg Brandes and the Writing of Typological Literary History Lasse Horne Kjældgaard 5 “The Prose of Life” Brandes and the Concept of the Prosaic Annegret Heitmann 6 “Bringing the Foreign Closer to Us” Cross-Cultural Literary Matchmaking in Georg Brandes’ Letters Julie K. Allen Part 2 The Public Intellectual 7 The Pétroleuse and the Prophet Georg Brandes and the Making of an Intellectual Torben Jelsbak 8 The Southern Prism of the Northern Breakthrough Georg Brandes and Italy Stefan Nygård 9 Brandes – Ibsen Rethinking the Modern Breakthrough Narve Fulsås 10 Between Deification and Rejection Georg Brandes as an Ambivalent Public Figure in the German-Speaking World Monica Wenusch 11 The Domesticated European? Georg Brandes’ Impressions of Russia and his Russian Reception Birgitte Beck Pristed 12 “The Universal Struggle for World Renown” Georg Brandes’ Global Literary Strategies Jens Bjerring-Hansen 13 Georg Brandes’ Erasure of Jewishness and Cosmopolitanism in his Later Writings Søren Blak Hjortshøj 14 “The Slaughter of the Youth of Europe” Georg Brandes and the Young Generation in The World at War Martin Zerlang 15 Brandes after Nietzsche Aristocratic Radicalism vs. Human Rights William Banks Index
