Description
Book SynopsisIn this book, the author has three aims: (1) to elaborate an interpretation of Goethe''s lyric poetry adequate to the intricacies of its subject matter; (2) to demonstrate the significance of that poetry to the development of European Romanticism; (3) to establish a method of inquiry that weaves together the major strands of theoretical reflection in modern literary studies. Remarkably enough, no study of Goethe''s early lyric poetry has been published in English in the last fifty years. But the reading of this poetry the author presents is not intended merely to introduce an English readership to a major body of work; rather, the book delineates for the first time in any language an account of the symbolic network or organizing myth that underlies Goethe''s individual poems. This marks a decisive break with the previous research on Goethe, which has tended to view his poetry as the expression of occasional experiences. The author shows, on the contrary, that Goethe''s lyric work ci
Trade Review
"The Spectacular Moment is a beautifully produced volume, and it is evident that Wellbery has crafted each sentence with remarkable care and elegance. As with all important contributions to the field, there are points he raises and interpretive turns he takes that can and need to be challenged.... [Wellbery's] discussion of Goethe's early lyric should form a vital part of any graduate seminar on the topic, as well as of course being a cornerstone for future analysis." -- Eighteenth-Century Current Bibliography
"Wellbery provides a fresh understanding of Goethe's new poetic discourse, analyzing its semiological, discursive, and hermeneutic features. In the process, he relates Goethe's lyric poetry to the entirety of his writings, establishing links and filiations that have not previously been noted. All this is done in the broad context of historical comparison and in dialogue with previous scholarship." -- Ernst Behler * University of Washington *
Table of Contents
Note on abbreviations Part I. The Specular Moment: 1. Idyllic and lyric intimacy 2. the crisis of vision 3. Transcendental etudes Part II. The Sexualization of Specularity: 4. The originary donation 5. Genius and the wounded subject of modernity Part III. The Myth of Lyric Voice 6. Primordial orality 7. Primordial song Part IV. Poetic Vocation: 8. Hermeneutics and the origin of humanity 9. The sublime Notes Index.
