Frank Bruno Wild Das Ende der Romantik in der Dunkelheit ihrer Ideen

About this book

The earthquake of Lisbon in 1755 led to a reappraisal of the Enlightenment movement. By the end of the eighteenth century this development had further intensified. Also, Romanticism was influenced by this change of opinions with lasting effect on the whole movement, which can only be understood as Black Romanticism.

With this consideration I refer to Friedrich Schlegel´s and Novalis´ great programmatic designs. These were just no announcements but these considerations have been implemented to literary activity. So the progressive Universalpoesie (Schlegel) transformed at further modification by Novalis to a gloomy enchantment in 1798: “Indem ich dem Gemeinen einen hohen Sinn, dem Gewöhnlichen ein geheimnisvolles Ansehen, dem Bekannten die Würde des Unbekannten, dem Endlichen einen unendlichen Schein gebe, so romantisiere ich es.”

In Hymnen an die Nacht (1800) by Novalis the representative model of the Romantic period is formed as mournful quest for infinity. Its dark romantic flavor immersed a century in the light of progressive literary depression and showed rapid further developments of fantastic approaches from early romantic days. It makes little difference, if you look at the enchanted fairy tales of Achim von Arnim, Jeremias Gotthelf and Adalbert Stifter on the one hand or you listen to the ghostly tales of Guy de Maupassant and occultistic literature of Joris-Karl Huysmans on the other hand.

Everywhere the exuberant creative will is distinguished of an inventive melancholy, which is typical of dark romanticism, but not - and contrary to previous conceptions - of romanticism at all. Epigonic undercurrents of realism, naturalism and symbolism continue functioning thoughts of dark romantic convergencies.