Author : Mary Cosgrove,Anna Richards
Publisher : Camden House
Page : 200 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781571135285
Sadness and Melancholy in German-language Literature and Culture by Mary Cosgrove,Anna Richards Pdf
Focusing on "Sadness and Melancholy in German-language Literature and Culture," volume 6 investigates the often subversive function and meaning of sadness and melancholy in German-language literature and culture from the seventeenth century to the present where, arguably, it has fallen from the heights of melancholy genius and artistic creativity of earlier epochs to become the embarrassing other of a Western civilization that prizes happiness as the mark of successful modern living. Interrogating the distinction between sadness as an anthropological constant and melancholy as a shifting cultural discourse, the contributions explore how different authors use established literary and cultural topoi from melancholy discourses to comment on topics as diverse as war, religion, gender inequality, and modernity. As well as essays on canonical figures including Goethe and Thomas Mann, the volume features studies of sadness in lesser-known writers such as Betty Paoli and Julia Schoch. -- From publisher's website.