The Psychology of the Sublime: On the Function of Poetry in Klopstock's Aesthetic Essays

Abstract

Both the image of Klopstock and his place in literary history have shifted during the last fifty years. Earlier researchers, for example Vietor (132) and Kaiser (107), viewed him primarily as a precursor of Sturm und Drang and Klassik by pointing to his role in the development of a literature oriented on subjectivity, as expressed in the cult of the genius and the poetics of experience (Erlebnislyrik). By contrast, more recent scholars such as Kevin Hilliard (187) and Winfried Menninghaus (308) have depicted Klopstock as a figure standing at the end of the Baroque period and the Humanist tradition, one who is strongly indebted to their tradition of rhetoric. This study will inquire into the justification for these classifications and will point out other lines of influence through which Klopstock can be understood. By using two of his poetic writings, the Gedanken uber die Natur der Poesie and his Von der heiligen Poesie, as well as his essay Von der Darstellung, one can sketch out his aesthetic position and determine his position within the history of the development of modern German literature. In order to establish Klopstock's literary role, one must begin by defining Klopstock's view of the purpose of literary art, and examining both the anthropological and psychological foundations which underlie this view. Finally, one must consider the means that Klopstock believes are appropriate for achieving his intended goal and the terms in which he describes those means. The emerging conclusion that Klopstock is a transitional figure who stands between the predominant opposing conventions of the early eighteenth century