A N E N G L I S H R E P O RT

GERMAN LITERATURE

GERMANY

• A federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe

• The most populous member state in the European Union• The major economic and political power of the European

continent and a historic leader in many theoretical and technical fields

• Known for its rich cultural and political history, Germany has been the home of many influential philosophers, music composers, scientists, and inventors

• German is the official and predominant spoken language in Germany. It is one of 23 official languages in the European Union, and one of the three working languages of the European Commission

TIME PERIODS OF GERMAN LITERATURE

• Medieval German Literature• The Baroque• Enlightenment• Sturm und Drang• Classicism• Romanticism• Young Germany• Naturalism• Expressionism• Dadaism

MEDIEVAL GERMAN LITERATURE

• German literature begins in the Carolingian period, first in Latin and then in Old High German

• Hildebrandslied – (The most famous work in OHG) a short piece of Germanic alliterative heroic verse which is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition

MEDIEVAL GERMAN LITERATURE

Other important works are:

• The Evangelienbuch (Gospel harmony) of Ottfried von Weissenburg, the short but splendid Ludwigslied• In the northern dialect of Old Saxon, a life of

Christ in the style of a heroic epic, known as the Heliand

MEDIEVAL GERMAN LITERATURE

Some authors and works of the high Middle Ages include:• Herzog Ernst • Heinrich von Freiberg • Ulrich von Türheim • Rudolf von Ems • Konrad von Würzburg • Heinrich Frauenlob • Reinmar der Alte

MEDIEVAL GERMAN LITERATURE

The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century, though the boundary to Early Middle High German (second half of the 11th century) is not clear-cut. The most impressive example of EMHG literature is the Annolied.

THE BAROQUE

• The Baroque period was one of the most fertile times in German literature• Many writers reflected the horrible experiences of

the Thirty Years' War, in poetry and prose• Grimmelshausen's adventures of the young and

naïve Simplicissimus, in the eponymous book, became the most famous novel of the Baroque period

THE BAROQUE

Some of the writers during this period who wrote about tragedies:• Andreas Gryphius• Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein

ENLIGHTENMENT

• The Age of Enlightenment refers to the 18th century in European philosophy, and is often thought of as part of a larger period which includes the Age of Reason

• This movement's leaders viewed themselves as a courageous, elite body of intellectuals who were leading the world toward progress, out of a long period of irrationality, superstition, and tyranny which began during a historical period they called the Dark Ages

• It is matched by the high baroque era in music, and the neo-classical period in the arts.

STURM UND DRANG“STORM AND STRESS”

• A Germany literary movement that developed during the latter half of the 18th century• Most commonly characterized as having lasted

from 1767 – 1785

STURM UND DRANG“STORM AND STRESS”

The writers during this period:• Goethe – wrote German’s first major drama, Götz

von Berlichingen (1773) and German’s most sensational and representative novel, Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther, 1774)• Schiller – wrote the play Die Räuber and other

early plays which were preludes to Romanticism• Klopstock• J. M. R. Lenz• Friedrich Müller

CLASSICISM

• It refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity as setting standards for taste which the classicist seeks to emulate• It is usually contrasted

with romanticism; the art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained

ROMANTICISM

• It was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe

• It stressed strong emotion, imagination, freedom within or even from classical notions of form in art

• It is also noted for its elevation of the achievements of what it perceived as heroic individuals and artists

YOUNG GERMANY“JUNGES DEUTSCHLAND”

• A group of German writers which existed from about 1830 to 1850• A youth movement• The movement

produced poets, thinkers and journalists, all of whom reacted against of Romanticism

NATURALISM

• A movement in theatre and film• In theatre, it developed in the late 19th and early 20th

centuries• It refers to theatre that tries to create a perfect illusion

of reality, a non-poetic literary style that reflects the way real people speak

EXPRESSIONISM

• Expressionism is the tendency of an artist to distort reality for emotional effect

• Expressionism is exhibited in many art forms, including painting, literature, film, architecture and music

DADAISM“DADA”

• A post-World War I cultural movement in visual art as well as literature (mainly poetry), theatre and graphic design• The movement was, among other things, a

protest against the barbarism of the War and what Dadaists believed was an oppressive intellectual rigidity in both art and everyday society; its works were characterized by a deliberate irrationality and the rejection of the prevailing standards of art

LITERARY WORKS IN GERMANY

• THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL)