Sturm und Drang [Storm and Stress]

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Movements, styles and periods (literature)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1767-1786

Places

Germany (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Recommended Reading

“

Sturm und Drang

” [Storm and Stress] is the name of a fairly brief (approximately 1767-1786) but highly productive period in German literature situated between the literary manifestations of the Enlightenment and Weimar Classicism. This period is also called

Geniezeit

[the era of “universal”, “original” or “powerful” genius]. The established English translation “Storm and Stress” is not entirely felicitous: “passion and energy” or “energy and rebellion” would be more appropriate.

Sturm und Drang

derives its name from a drama by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger (1752-1831) originally titled

Wirrwarr

[

Chaos

] and re-named

Sturm und Drang

(1776) on the suggestion of Christoph Kaufmann (1753-1795), a propagator of the cult of genius and minor writer of the time.

It has

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2477 words

Citation: Knapp, Gerhard P.. "Sturm und Drang [Storm and Stress]". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 February 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1266, accessed 23 November 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article

Sturm und Drang [Storm and Stress]

Domains

Dates

Places

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback