
German Literature
A Very Short Introduction
Nicholas Boyle(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 28. February 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-19-920659-9 (ISBN)
Description
German writers, from Luther and Goethe to Heine, Brecht, and Guenter Grass, have had a profound influence on the modern world.
This Very Short Introduction presents an engrossing tour of the course of German literature from the late Middle Ages to the present, focussing especially on the last 250 years. Emphasizing the economic and religious context of many masterpieces of German literature, it highlights how they can be interpreted as responses to social and political changes within an often violent and tragic history. The result is a new and clear perspective which illuminates the power of German literature and the German intellectual tradition, and its impact on the wider cultural world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
This Very Short Introduction presents an engrossing tour of the course of German literature from the late Middle Ages to the present, focussing especially on the last 250 years. Emphasizing the economic and religious context of many masterpieces of German literature, it highlights how they can be interpreted as responses to social and political changes within an often violent and tragic history. The result is a new and clear perspective which illuminates the power of German literature and the German intellectual tradition, and its impact on the wider cultural world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Reviews / Votes
Boyle has a sure touch and an obvious authority...this is a balanced and lively introduction to German literature. * Ben Hutchinson, TLS * highly impressive... Professor Boyle concentrates on creating a lucid, wide-ranging historical background against which each of the five periods is brought to life, with a challenging choice of examples * Forum for Modern Language Studies *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
15 black-and-white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 175 mm
Width: 113 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
161 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-920659-9 (9780199206599)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2008
OUP eBook
€5.49
Available for download
Person
Nicholas Boyle is the Schroeder Professor of German and President of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge. He was also Head of the University's Department of German from1996 to 2001. He has so far published two volumes of his prizewinnning biography, Goethe: the Poet and the Age, and his most recent book is Sacred and Secular Scriptures: a Catholic approach to literature published in 2004, based on the Erasmus Lectures which he delivered at Notre Dame University. Professor Boyle is a Fellow of the British Academy, holds an honorary degree from Georgetown University in Washington DC, and was awarded the Goethe Medal of the Goethe Institut in 2000.
Author
, Schroeder Professor of German and President of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Content
Introduction ; 1. The Bourgeois and the Official: A Historical Overview ; 2. The Laying of the Foundations (to 1781) ; 3. The Age of Idealism (1781-1832) ; 4. The Age of Materialism (1832 to 1914) ; 5. Traumas and Memories (1914-) ; Further Reading & References ; Index