“Wirklichkeit” and “Widerschein:” Berthold Auerbach’s Theory of Literature in Schrift und Volk: Grundzüge der volksthümlichen Literatur, angeschlossen an eine Charakteristik J. P. Hebel’s

Abstract

This essay explores how Berthold Auerbach's 1846 treatise on Volksliteratur functioned as a theory of literature interested in transforming the relationship between the individual and collective within the context of both poetical and social forms. By focusing chiefly on Auerbach's often overlooked Charakteristik of Hebel, I argue Schrift und Volk produces a Romantic-inflected Enlightenment subject through a process of Verklärung designed to create a social body while maintaining the integrity of the individual within that body.