Harvard Studies in Comparative Literature

Looking at a broad spectrum of writers--English, French, German, Italian, Russian and other East Europeans--Virgil Nemoianu offers here a coherent characterization of the period 1815-1848. This he calls the era of the domestication of romanticism.

The explosive, visionary core of romanticism is seen to give way--after the defeat of Napoleon--to an expanded and softer version reflecting middle-class values. This later form of romanticism is characterized by moralizing efforts to reform society, a sentimental yearning for the tranquility of home and hearth, and persistent faith in the individual, alongside a new skepticism, shattered ideals, and consequent irony. Expanding the application of the term Biedermeier, which has been useful in describing this period in German literature, Nemoianu provides a new framework for understanding these years in a wider European context.

Theodore Andersson presents the first formal analysis of the Icelandic family sagas. Isolating the structural and larger rhetorical features which are peculiar to the genre and set it apart from other narrative forms, his study relates these features to the older Germanic heroic poetry and demonstrates the continuity between this literary tradition and the sagas. The second part of his book is devoted to synopses and outlines of twenty-four family sagas, with a commentary on each in which the author points out salient literary features and includes a separate relevant reading list.

Few great novels have enjoyed such immediate and lasting international fame as Werther, the work with which Goethe's world renown began. Yet from its first appearance down to the present day, hardly anyone has read the story as it was written: readers have almost always seen Werther in the light of the literary fashions of their own day.

Such fashions change and usually have no lasting effect, but this has not been true for Werther. A revolutionary work in the history of the modern novel, it was first taken up as one more sentimental tale, or as a sensationally immoral book. Later on, old legends were incorporated with new ones to such good effect that even today most of us think of a Werther who has been typed by some important literary tradition, or traditions, as much as of the actual hero of Goethe's classic novel.

The influence of these literary traditions on the fame of Werther is Stuart Atkins' theme. His book is rich in illustrative material showing how the creative power of the public mind helps shape critical prejudice or opinion. A wide public will relish his informative and often amusing account of how a great book is read.