Due to his early death and the lack of a critical edition of his works until 1929, Novalis’ (pseudonym of Friedrich von Hardenberg, 1772-1801) reception in German literature was somewhat restricted, albeit since then he has been recognized as the leading philosopher-poet of the early Romantic Movement. So it comes as a surprise to see Novalis’ reputation flourishing among a small number of important authors in New England (1830-1850), essentially during the romantic period in American literature with Transcendentalism at its core. How a German esoteric poet with a Moravian background was able to gain a foothold in a basically pragmatist Anglo-Saxon culture, can only be explained within the context of the previous discovery and acceptance of the classicist works of Goethe and Schiller,…
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Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Novalis's reception among New England's Romantic poets". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 January 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19333, accessed 21 November 2024.]
