Maß (Moderation, Measure)

This entry on Maß (moderation, measure) explores a concept that has not received much attention in Goethe scholarship and makes a case for its usefulness and versatility in tracking how Goethe addresses a philosophical issue with a history stretching at least back to Aristotle’s conception of “the golden mean.” It shows how Goethe’s writings respond to numerous issues connected with the concept of moderation, ranging from the problem of self-moderation, when an individual’s own internal calibration comes in conflict with societal norms, to the more theoretical question of how to define the correct standard of measure (Maßstab). The discussion of moderation in Goethe’s work is, to be sure, coupled with its opposite, namely the potentially deadly threat of immoderation and excess, such as one finds in Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774; The Sorrows of Young Werther), Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795; Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship), and Torquato Tasso (1790). Such potential conflicts, which also raise questions of where to position the standard of measure (Maßstab) of behavior, lead naturally into contexts of scientific experimentation, as in Goethe’s essay “Der Versuch als Vermittler von Objekt und Subjekt” (1792; The Experiment as Mediator of Object and Subject), where such standards take on a different valence from their role in mathematically based natural sciences. In addition, Goethe’s novel, Die Wahlverwandtschaften (1809; Elective Affinities), provides a poetic model where conflicts between individually and socially calibrated notions of measure and moderation play out with major ethical consequences. The entry concludes with a reflection on different kinds of aesthetic experience, each with its particular understanding of Maß: the individual’s appreciation of the sublime, the theatrical performance, and the embodiment of the self through poetic meter. Throughout these examples, the entry will underscore the role of narrative constraints: regardless of whether the medium is prose or poetry, one finds that questions of Maß as moderation in Goethe’s writings are often accompanied by questions of narrative control and excess. The following overview and analysis of Maß in Goethe’s writing will show that this term is a nodal point of ethical, epistemological, and aesthetic concerns.

Rhythmus (Rhythm)

The lexeme Rhythmus has a long history of its own. In the context of Goethe’s thought, it needs to be approached via both his theoretical discussions of the term and his handling of rhythm in his literary work. Goethe conceives of rhythm in terms of its materiality, and its major philosophical opportunity is the intense connection that it offers between subject and object. Goethe’s attitude to meter—that is, rhythm organized for the purposes of poetic production—was ambivalent: although he mastered any number of different verse forms, he remained suspicious of poetic rhythms that were too metronomic. The creative tension of rhythm is an implicit theme in various works and is explored through two examples in this entry: the poem “Der Musensohn” (1774/1800; The Son of the Muses) and the character Mignon from the novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795–1796; Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship).

TRAVELLING AS THE WAY OF SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN GERMAN LITERATURE FOR YOUNG ADULTS AT THE FIRST HALF OF THE XIX CENTURY

The aim of the research is to examine the theme of travelling in the works of German authors of the first half of the 19th century in relation to its didactic orientation to the spiritual and physical improvement of the developing hero. The article examines different motives of the spiritual and physical formation of young heroes, and an important plot constitutive motif of journey. In the novel of upbringing by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (“Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre”, 1796; “Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, oder Die Entsagenden”, 1829), a significant place is given to the idea of transformation and development, which is embodied in the narrative. The heroes of Goethe’s dilogy find their place in life, improving themselves in movement and work. The journey occupies a significant place in the children’s literature of this period (L. Chimani, Ch. Hildebrandt, L. Hölder, J. Meynier, K. Biernatzki), and a few others. The methodology is based on the principles of comparative literary studies. Works from the same period of German literature are compared typologically. Writers working for children and young people pick up and develop the theme of distant wanderings and the discovery of new territories. Robinson becomes a popular hero again. Writers use the genre of robinsonade not only to show the attractiveness of travelling, but also to create an example of raising a physically and spiritually mature hero who is ready to overcome all sorts of obstacles.

Zusammenhang (Nexus)

The lexeme Zusammenhang (nexus) was introduced into philosophy by the German rationalists, who conceived of the world as a multiplicity of independent substances coordinated in a system of pre-established harmony. In his critique of these metaphysicians, Kant insisted that things hang together in not one but two ways—as an aggregate of a posteriorisense data, or as a system of a priori concepts—and that these two nexus are separated by an epistemological chasm. This entry proposes that Goethe’s nexus concept recovers the middle term excluded by Kant’s binary distinction and that this middle term plays a key role in both his scientific and literary writings, including the Hefte zur Morphologie (1817-1824; Notebooks on Morphology), Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (1795-96; Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship), and Die Wahlverwandtschaften (1809; Elective Affinities). By comparing Goethe’s theoretical use of the nexus concept with his literary use of the nexus motif, this entry articulates a relation of part to whole that displays more coherence than a mere aggregate, yet is more dynamic than an absolute system.

Eine Tochter Mignons: Nell in Dickens’ Old Curiosity Shop

The essay studies the influence of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre on Charles Dickens’s The Old Curiosity Shop. The relation of Nell and her grandfather, of the latter and his brother, and Nell’s comic counterpoint, the Marchioness, are all inspired by Goethe’s novel. Yet Dickens’s de-aristocratization, desexualization, and re-Christianization represent crucial differences from the German model.