Theory as Practice: A Critical Anthology of Early German Romantic Writings

494 Pages·1997·24.68 MB·English

by  Jochen Schulte-Sasse

Theory as Practice
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Theory as Practice
A Critical Anthology
of Early German Romantic Writings
Jochen Schulte-Sasse, General Editor
Coedited, translated, and introduced by
Haynes Horne
Andreas Michel
Elizabeth Mittman
Assenka Oksiloff
Lisa C. Roetzel
Mary R. Strand
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges financial
assistance provided by the Department of German, Scandinavian, and
Dutch, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Graduate School of the
University of Minnesota for the publication of this book.
Copyright 1997 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290, Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Theory as practice : a critical anthology of early German romantic
writings / Jochen Schulte-Sasse, general editor ; translated,
annotated, and introduced by Haynes Home .. . [et al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8166-2778-9. — ISBN 0-8166-2779-7 (pbk.)
1. Romanticism—Germany. 2. Authors, German—18th century—
Aesthetics. 3. Authors, German—19th century—Aesthetics.
4. Philosophy, German. I. Schulte-Sasse, Jochen.
PT361.T55 1996
830.8'0145—dc20 96-17056
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
Contents
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xi
General Introduction: Romanticism's Paradoxical i
Articulation of Desire
Joche,n Schulte-Sasse
I. Critique in the Wake of German Idealism 45
Introductory Essay: Representing Self and Other in Early 47
German Romanticism
Elizabeth Mittman and Mary R. Strand
Notes to Introductory Essay 68
Texts
1. Earliest Program for a System of German Idealism (1796) 72
2. Selections from Fichte-Schelling Correspondence 73
(1800-1801)
3. Novalis: Fichte Studies (1795-96) 90
4. Friedrich Schlegel: Fichte's Basic Characteristics of the 112
Present Age (1808)
5. Friedrich Schlegel: On Incomprehensibility (1800) 118
6. Novalis: Faith and Love and Political Aphorisms (1798) 128
7. Novalis: Soliloquy (1798) 145
Notes 146
II. Theory of Aesthetics 155
Introductory Essay: Romantic Crossovers: Philosophy as Art 157
and Art as Philosophy
Andreas Michel and Assenka Oksiloff
Notes to Introductory Essay 178
v
vi Contents
Texts
1. Friedrich Schlegel: Dialogue on Poesy (1799) 180
2. A. W. Schlegel: Theory of Art (Selection) (1798-1803) 194
3. Novalis: The Universal Brouillon (1798-99) 226
4. Friedrich Schlegel: Introduction to the Transcendental 240
Philosophy (1800)
5. Friedrich Schlegel: Concerning the Essence of 268
Critique (1804)
Notes 277
III. The Fragmentary Imperative 287
Introductory Essay: The Early Romantic Fragment and 289
Incompleteness
Haynes Home
Notes to Introductory Essay 311
Texts
1. Friedrich Schlegel: Critical Fragments (1797-1801) 314
2. Friedrich Schlegel: Athenaum Fragments (1798) 319
3. Friedrich Schlegel: Ideas (1800) 326
4. Friedrich Schlegel: Fragments on Literature and 329
Poesy (1797)
5. Friedrich Schlegel: Philosophical Fragments (1796) 335
6. Friedrich Schlegel: Philological Fragments 344
Notes 354
IV. Toward a Theory of the Feminine 359
Introductory Essay: Feminizing Philosophy 361
Lisa C. Roetzel
Notes to Introductory Essay 380
Texts
1. Novalis: On Women and Femininity 382
2. Johann Wilhelm Ritter: Natural Philosophy of Femininity 390
3. Friedrich Schlegel: Theory of Femininity 397
4. Friedrich Schlegel: On Diotima (1795) 400
5. Friedrich Schlegel: On Philosophy. To Dorothea 419
6. Dorothea Veit-Schlegel: Selected Diaries and Letters 440
7. Caroline Schlegel-Schelling: Selected Letters/ 443
Reviews/Parody
Contents vii
Notes 455
Bibliography 463
Selected Studies on Early German Romanticism in English 463
German Romanticism in English Translation 467
Sources for Translations 469
Index 471
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Preface
In 1987, I asked six graduate students, three each from the Depart-
ments of German and of Comparative Literature at the University of
Minnesota, whether they were interested in a cooperative project on
Early German Romanticism. All responded with enthusiasm, and the
present volume is the product of our six-year collaboration. Our pro-
ject survived both the inevitable dispersal of the group after each stu-
dent's graduation and the equally inevitable disagreements on subject
matter, with our devotion to intellectual cooperation still intact. For
the first year, we did little besides an exhaustive reading and discus-
sion of German Romantic theory; in our second year, we started the
selection process and began discussing how best to render central
terms in English. Although in the end subgroups took responsibility
for individual sections, the translations and notes are the result of
genuine teamwork. Even the introductory essays to each section are,
to a certain extent, the result of collaborative efforts. However, these
essays do document slight differences in our readings of the material,
and the individuals identified by name wish to accept full responsibil-
ity' for the published version of their readings.
All of us would like to thank the Graduate School and the College
of Liberal Arts of the University of Minnesota for a generous grant
that allowed us to purchase computer equipment, the Western Euro-
pean Area Center for summer fellowships supporting the six graduate
students, and the Departments of German and Comparative Litera-
ture for technical and moral support.
Jochen Schulte-Sasse
October 1994
ix