From Romanticism to Critical Theory: Philosophy of German Literary Theory

Literary theory is perceived by many as being in a state of crisis, its dominant theoretical assumptions proving hard to sustain. From Romanticism to Critical Theory offers a new view of literary theory, seeing it not as a product of the French assimilation of Saussurian linguistics and Russian Formalism into what we term 'deconstruction', but rather as an essential part of modern philosophy which begins with the German Romantic reactions to Kant and can be traced through to Heidegger, Benjamin and Adorno. Andrew Bowie argues that, contrary to many current assumptions, the central question in contemporary literary theory is really the question of truth. He begins by showing how Kant's and F.H Jacobi's reflection on grounding truth in modern philosophy form the background to the exploration of the relationship between literature and philosophy in early German Romanticism. The importance attached by Friedrich Schlegel, Novalis and Schleiermacher to questions of literature for philosophical approaches to language is seen as playing a crucial role in the genesis of modern hermeneutics. Romantic ideas are also used to argue against the cultural materialist view of literature as merely a form of ideology and clear links are made between the thread of Romantic philosophical tradition in Heidegger's approaches to art truth and in such similar work of Benjamin and Adorno. From Romanticism to Critical Theory argues that key problems in contemporary literary theory are therefore inseparable from the major questions of modern philosophy after Kant. In addition to offering detailed accounts, based on many untranslated texts, of major positions in German literary theory since the Romantics, this controversial new reading makes fascinating and important links between hermeneutics, analytical philosophy and literary theory and will be a vital point of reference for future work in areas.