Employs an innovative approach by "stages" to offer a unified vision of European Romanticism over the half-century of its growth and decline. Romanticism was a truly European phenomenon, extending roughly from the French Revolution to the 1848 revolutions and embracing not only literature and drama but also music and visual arts. Because of Romanticism's vast scope, most treatments have restricted themselves to single countries or to specific forms, notably literature, art, or music. This book takes a wider view by considering in each of six chapters representative examples of works - from across Europe and across a range of the arts - that were created in a single year. For instance, in the first chapter, focusing on the year 1798, Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads,Tieck's novel Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen, and Goya's painting El sueno de la razon. The following chapters treat works from the years 1808, 1818, 1828, 1838, and 1848. This approach by "stages" makes it possible to determine characteristics of six stages of Romanticism in its historical and intellectual context and to note the conspicuous differences between these stages as European Romanticism developed-for example, the waxing and waning of religious themes, the shifting visions of landscape, the gradual ironic detachment from early Romanticism. In sum, the volume offers a unified vision of European Romanticism in all its aesthetic forms over the half-centuryof its growth and decline. Theodore Ziolkowski is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University.

About the Author
Theodore Ziolkowski is Professor Emeritus of German and Comparative Literature, Princeton University.

Reviews
The long overdue monograph on Romanticism from a European perspective and proves the suitability of a synchronistic, intercultural approach worth reading...Innovative. * GESTERN | ROMANTIK | HEUTE *
Written in a clear, engaging style... an accessible introduction to a wide range of Romantic texts of different genres and other Romantic artworks. * OXFORD COMPARATIVE CRITICISM AND TRANSLATION REVIEW *
Throughout, Ziolkowski reveals a passion for the arts that marks him out as a humanist. In his view art is life-enhancing. His default mode is celebration. ...[T]his book deserves nothing but praise. As the fruit of what used to be called 'ripe scholarship', Ziolkowski's brilliant conspectus warrants a place in every library of European Romanticism. * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *



Book Information
ISBN 9781640140424
Author Theodore Ziolkowski
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Camden House Inc
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g