Addendum: German Baroque Literature and Related Arts in Their European Context

Abstract

The poems of Logau, Gryphius, Gerhardt, Dach, Fleming and G~inther demonstrate that the literary language of the seventeenth century is often little, if at all, different from contemporary German. The lack of extensive difference is significant when one considers that the great literary masterpieces prior to the seventeenth century-the few extant Germanic pieces, the Middle High German flowering, etc.-are written in an idiom which is not the language we teach today. Even the writings of Martin Luther and Hans Sachs frequently involve such substantial differences in word order and vocabulary as to make them difficult for beginners. The renditions and adaptations of literary monuments prior to the Baroque are thus translations, like Chaucer into contemporary English. In general, the lyrics of the seventeenth century comprise the first significant phase of German literature which can be easily used in contemporary language and literature classes.