Abstract
Johann Gottfried Herder’s Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache (1772) connects the idea of genesis with the myth of the poetic origin of language. Scholars have reflected extensively upon Herder’s introduction of anthropological and multi-causal perspectives on language, but largely dismissed the many literary allusions as indicators of its ethical preconditions. Herder substitutes the concept of “origin” with literary aesthetics by using the ancient canon of literature and art. The affective relationship between screaming and speaking is exemplified with the help of Sophocles’ Philoctetes, Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, and Lessing’s Laokoon oder über die Grenzen der Mahlerey und Poesie (1766). Through the lens of these texts Herder shows the dichotomy of truth and lie, but inherently challenges his own thoughts on authenticity, purity, and sincerity as foundations of moral progress.
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