Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800-1950 (review)

Abstract

MLR, 100.2, 2005 577 (supported by his colleague Michael Clyne, whose work on pluricentric languages he often cites) and in the place of Austria within German language and culture. As features of Austrian identity Bodi singles out an intense linguistic consciousness and a fondness forparody. Both are illustrated from the Austrian Enlightenment, the for? mer in an important essay entitled 'Sprachregelungals Kulturgeschichte. Sonnenfels: Uber den Geschaftsstil (1784) und die Ausbildung der osterreichischen Mentalitat', the latter by a study of Paul Weidmann's astonishing Der Eroberer (1786), which anticipates Joyce's 'Oxen of the Sun' in its resourceful parody of innumerable styles. Generally, the reflections on identity are welcome in suggesting how to liberate one? self from the narrow nationalism of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe and participate fluidlyin a wide range of cultural settings?something which Leslie Bodi's life and career exemplify most inspiringly. St John's College, Oxford Ritchie Robertson Internationales Germanistenlexikon 18 00-1950. Ed. by Christoph Konig. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2003. 3 vols: lxxxv +2200pp. + CD-ROM. ?428. ISBN 3-11-0175886 (the set); 3-11-015485-4 (book only); 3-11-017587-8 (CD-ROM only). Historical self-reflection has been a growing trend in many of the cultural sciences in recent years, and in German studies this has been reflected in a flood of new work on the history of Germanistik. The historical philology of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has become the subject of renewed research, biographies of nineteenth-century Germanists are in vogue, dissertations on classics of literature now typically include a chapter or more on the history of their interpretation, and the MLA has just produced a 'Historical Handbook' of German studies in the United States. One driving force behind this interest has been the Arbeitsstelle fiir die Erforschung der Geschichte der Germanistik in Marbach, which has been gathering data since its inception in 1972. The fruitsof the Marbach project are now presented in a new Germanistenlexikon, begun under its auspices in 1995, which henceforth will be the primary point of reference for all metascholarly work in the discipline. The Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800-1950 is a massive three-volume refer? ence work with an accompanying CD-ROM which documents the lives of influential Germanists from Karl Lachmann onwards. The printed version is lavishly laid out, with very full biographical articles of up to five columns in length on each of the scholars selected for inclusion. The entries have a standard format with bold-print headings, rendering the most basic information at a glance. Typically an article begins with data on birth and death, parents and spouse, native language when this is not obvious, followed by a multi-purposeheading 'Lebensumstande' rehearsing such key stages ofthe subject's non-academic biography as government service, party member? ship, adoptionof a new citizenship, serious illnesses, or occasionally colourful touches like James Boyd's hand injury which ended his promising career as a violinist, or, in the case of Hans Ferdinand Massmann: April-Nov. 1815 freiwilliger Auszug in den Kampf gegen Napoleon, ohne den Kriegesschauplatz rechtzeitig zu erreichen'. Re? ligion, if noted, is a separate heading, relevant especially in the nineteenth century, when it was still acceptable for this to affect scholarly judgement. Here, 'Jewish' refers to a professed religious affiliationrather than an ethnicity: thus Stephan Born is entered as 'jiid., dann konfessionslos'. Next the entries turn to academic career, with data on school and university study, doctorate and Habilitation, academic appointments , honours received, memberships, teaching and research specializations, and prominent disciples. The publication list is of necessity limited to highlights, yet even so, it frequently fillsa whole column. Editorial work is particularly highlighted. 578 Reviews The final section of each entry,'Literatur', lists publications and other sources which in some way document the life of the scholar, including biographies, Festschriften, obituaries, critical studies, archives, and Nachlasse. The result of this approach is an extremely thorough and systematic depiction of the personalities who have shaped the history of German studies. The CD-ROM version includes 114 extra articles, taking advantage of the fact that pressure of space is never as great in electronic publishing. Running on the software 'Folio Views', it provides a complete text...