Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- 14 Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism in France
- 15 Symbolism and Realism in Germany
- 16 Nineteenth-century British critics of Realism
- 17 American literary Realism
- 18 Decadence andfin de siècle
- 19 The avant-garde in early twentieth-century Europe
- V Some major critics of the period
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
15 - Symbolism and Realism in Germany
from IV - Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Series page
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- I Literary criticism as an institution
- II National developments in literary criticism
- III Critical movements and patterns of influence
- IV Later nineteenth-century developments: Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism and Decadence
- 14 Realism, Naturalism and Symbolism in France
- 15 Symbolism and Realism in Germany
- 16 Nineteenth-century British critics of Realism
- 17 American literary Realism
- 18 Decadence andfin de siècle
- 19 The avant-garde in early twentieth-century Europe
- V Some major critics of the period
- VI Genre criticism
- VII Literature and other disciplines
- Select bibliography and further reading
- Index
Summary
Nineteenth-century German literature has often been regarded as suffering from the disabling condition of provincialism. This shortcoming is felt with particular urgency in respect of the literary genre that emerges as the central expression of modern life from the late eighteenth century on: the Realistic novel. The Bildungsroman is often claimed to be a particularly German novel form. At one level, it has at its centre an experiential focus that is familiar from a number of key works of European Realism, for it explores the processes by which a young person is initiated into the ways of the world. Gottfried Keller's Green Henry offers a superlatively rich and complex understanding of the ways in which and the extent to which society is constituted not just of material things, but also of mental processes, of ideas, assumptions, values and symbolizations.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism , pp. 313 - 324Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013