SOURCE: Schulte-Sasse, Jochen. “The Concept of Literary Criticism in German Romanticism.” In A History of German Literary Criticism, 1730-1980, edited by Peter Uwe Hohendahl, pp. 99-177. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1988.

In the following excerpt, Schulte-Sasse traces the development of German Romantic critical theory from its early stage, associated with the social critique of contemporary conditions, to its later stage when the movement's critical potential was diminishing.

The Concept of Criticism in the Context of Romantic Theories of Art

If we want to assess the Romantic concept of criticism in terms of social history, we first have to explain its relationship to the Romantic philosophy of history, for at least the early Romantic concept of criticism is anchored in a philosophy of history. In 1798 Friedrich Schlegel noted: “Classical and progressive are historical ideas and critical opinions—There c[riticism] and h[istory] are joined.”¹ Just as the opposition...