Friedrich Gundolf's reading of seventeenth-century German literature : the scholar-artist and his context

Nash, Andrew John (2024) Friedrich Gundolf's reading of seventeenth-century German literature : the scholar-artist and his context. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

Friedrich Gundolf's critical approaches to Baroque German literature are explored in this thesis using his published and unpublished writings. It aims to contribute to knowledge by examining a largely unpublished body of material, and by paying close attention to Gundolf's language, style, and use of religious terminology. His ideas are viewed in historical and comparative terms, and works by Charles Taylor, Hans-Georg Gadamer, George Steiner, Frank Kermode, and Terry Eagleton are used as reference points. Gundolf's papers in the University of London Senate House Library contain notes for several lecture series on 17th century German literature, which extend to over 1,600 pages. This is surprising given his apparent lack of sympathy for much of his subject matter, as he regarded the Baroque in literature as being both a time of dissolution caused by the anarchy of Protestant individualism, and also one of domination by rationalistic rules. Nevertheless, issues related to his views on seventeenth-century literature pervade his thought. Gundolf's critical approaches and aesthetics are compared to those of T.S. Eliot, F.R. Leavis, Heidegger, Adorno and Benjamin. All these were interested in the relationship between literature, culture, and society. Gundolf's writing crosses the boundaries between the academic and the creative and essayistic. This led to tension with Stefan George, who viewed Gundolf's post-war academic work, with its interest in a number of German writers since Luther, as a sign that Gundolf was moving away from the creative ideals of the George-Kreis and accommodating himself to the academic world. The thesis argues that Gundolf's work is still relevant because it raises enduring questions about literature and criticism, even when it is dealing with a topic with which it is often unsympathetic. It challenges us to reflect on our own responses and how they are influenced by historical and cultural contexts.

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