This course deals with one of the most contradictory and fascinating periods of German literature; namely, the time between the defeat of French conqueror Napoleon and the first democratic German Revolution in 1848. The contradictions are manifest in the different labels for this epoch, especially
"Vormärz" and "Biedermeier". Seen through the "Vormärz" lens, this epoch is mainly a prelude to the "Märzrevolution" from 1848, meaning that scholars should focus on revolutionary political developments under the conditions of "restoration" (i.e., the attempt to re-establish the power of monarchs and nobility), and on subversive literary texts. Seen through the "Biedermeier"
lens, however, this period was viewed as a time of peace after decades of political turmoil and war. The middle-class strove to find some modest material well-being and sought all sorts of "Gemütlichkeit", with an emphasis on family,friendship, and conviviality. In literature, this favored a gradual transition from Late Romanticism ("Spätromantik") to Early Realism ("Frührealismus"), marked by keen observations of everyday-life, humor and psychological portrayals.
One of the aims of this course is to show that, apart from the obvious tensions between "Vormärz" and "Biedermeier" authors, there are many interesting, though somewhat hidden, connections. Sure enough, the Jewish journalist and poet Heinrich Heine, a friend of Karl Marx and emigrant to France, did transform Romantic irony into biting political satire - but he also nurtured and ridiculed his own life-long yearning for a peaceful "Biedermeier" existence. And surely, the ingenious short-lived physician and fervent socialist Georg Büchner introduced to modern drama Woyzeck, the first authentic proletarian, driven to murder by a repressive society. But again, all Woyzeck is longing for in vain is a happy Biedermeier family. On the other hand, supposedly typical Biedermeier poets like the homely country curate Eduard Mörike, or the noble catholic bachelorette Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, were also keen observers of political and social developments. Their beautiful, seemingly apolitical, poems and narrations combine keen observation of nature and society with a psychological self-examination that is reflective of political, moral and sexual oppression in Biedermeier society.
Maybe the best example of the "two faces" of this time - and its lasting legacy in the U.S. - is the Schurz couple. The revolutionary journalist Carl Schurz was put in prison after the eventual suppression of the 1848 revolution, but managed to escape, migrate to the States, befriend Lincoln, and become one of the most prominent
"Forty-Eighters", serving as a Union General, Senator, Secretary of the Interior, and political reformer. Meanwhile, his wife Margarethe was instrumental in establishing the kindergarten system in the U.S. The course will also cover lesser-known authors of this age, analyze objects of visual culture, deal with the legacy of this time in Germany and the States - and reflect on parallels to our time. As part of my series of period courses from the Age of Goethe to 1900, it will be followed by a course on German Realism in fall.