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heinrich von kleists poetics of passivity
controversial during his lifetime as well as among todays scholars and critics the german dramatist and writer of novellas heinrich von kleist 1777 1811 remains an enigma . was he a romantic or a classic a conservative or a liberal what is his status in the literary canon because of their enigmatic qualities kleists writings have attracted the attention of critics and theorists from well beyond the narrow confines of german literary studies comparatists historians philosophers legal scholars and even musicologists and dance historians . and outside academia his writings are as popular as ever . this book scrutinizes for the first time a key element in kleists thought and poetic process his obsession with the problem of passivity . scholars have long been attracted to the dynamic larger than life characters in kleists fiction and drama overlooking the fact that kleists works often turn on moments of stasis as these same protagonists are suddenly and sometimes brutally rendered passive . through a careful historically grounded and original investigation incorporating extensive primary research in late enlightenment natural philosophy and eighteenth century medical practices the study sheds light on these nodal points in kleists work contending that these structures of passivity are so pervasive and so systematic in his work that they can justifiably and profitably be viewed as constituting a kind of poetics . steven r. huff is associate professor in the department of german at oberlin college .
hardcover camden house ny 2009 isbn13 9781571134226 isbn10 1571134220
abridged n isbn 13 9781571134226 number in series 1 number of pages 227 publisher boydell & brewer inc release date 62135769600000 series title studies in german literature linguistics and culture