Heinrich Heine Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Thomas Pfau

Critical Essay by Thomas Pfau

SOURCE: Pfau, Thomas. “Nachtigallenwahnsinn and Rabbinismus: Heine's Literary Provocation to German-Jewish Cultural Identity.” In Romantic Poetry, edited by Angela Esterhammer, pp. 443-60. Philadelphia, Penn.: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2002.

In the following essay, Pfau poses questions about Heine in relation to contemporary critics' definitions of Romanticism.

A persistent question about Romanticism centers on the continuity or discontinuity between Romanticism and our own critical present. Have we moved decisively beyond the historical and rhetorical parameters of the period in question, or are contemporary, critical reflections on Romanticism but distant echoes of the period's aesthetic and critical legacy? A related question concerns the features, literary and otherwise, that one ought to consider representative of Romanticism. Does the period prima facie encompass certain stylistic qualities, or is it defined by a spectrum of affective dynamics—such as nostalgia, sentimentalism, paranoia, millenarian enthusiasm, skepticism, or idealism? Does Romanticism stand for its subjects' immersion in an...
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