Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship
This article examines the status of the poem 'Eins und Alles' in Goethe's intellectual legacy. Looking separately at the history of its composition and publication, it will become obvious that initially 'Eins und Alles' was an attempt to combine monism with an appropriate co...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Blackwell Publishing
2008
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| _version_ | 1826277169882464256 |
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| author | Sachers, R |
| author_facet | Sachers, R |
| author_sort | Sachers, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article examines the status of the poem 'Eins und Alles' in Goethe's intellectual legacy. Looking separately at the history of its composition and publication, it will become obvious that initially 'Eins und Alles' was an attempt to combine monism with an appropriate conception of the individual. As such the poem shows an ambivalent mix of Spinozist and Leibnitzian thinking on the role of a subject as individual substance, and its evidence of a late stage of Goethe's engagement with German Idealism in general and Schelling in particular. Furthermore, throughout the process of its composition and first publication, 'Eins und Alles' was closely connected to Goethe's autobiographical work in his scientific journals, and in its second publication in 1827 in the collection <em>Gott und Welt</em> the poem maintained some of this scientific background. It was Eckermann's addition of 'Vermächtnis' to that collection in 1836 that confirmed the juxtaposition of the last couplet of 'Eins und Alles' and the opening lines of 'Vermächtnis'. Thus, when critics interpret 'Eins und Alles' exclusively in the context of 'Vermächtnis' they not only establish an anachronistic reading but also develop a suggestion made by Eckermann turning 'Eins und Alles' into one of a pair of poems defining Goethe's legacy and therefore creating a particular and influential picture of the poet in the public's mind. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:24:52Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:6a02b50e-ca72-4a80-a979-852d8f15960d |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:24:52Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | Blackwell Publishing |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6a02b50e-ca72-4a80-a979-852d8f15960d2022-03-26T18:54:45ZGoethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarshipJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6a02b50e-ca72-4a80-a979-852d8f15960dLiterature (non-English)Literatures of Germanic languagesEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetBlackwell Publishing2008Sachers, RThis article examines the status of the poem 'Eins und Alles' in Goethe's intellectual legacy. Looking separately at the history of its composition and publication, it will become obvious that initially 'Eins und Alles' was an attempt to combine monism with an appropriate conception of the individual. As such the poem shows an ambivalent mix of Spinozist and Leibnitzian thinking on the role of a subject as individual substance, and its evidence of a late stage of Goethe's engagement with German Idealism in general and Schelling in particular. Furthermore, throughout the process of its composition and first publication, 'Eins und Alles' was closely connected to Goethe's autobiographical work in his scientific journals, and in its second publication in 1827 in the collection <em>Gott und Welt</em> the poem maintained some of this scientific background. It was Eckermann's addition of 'Vermächtnis' to that collection in 1836 that confirmed the juxtaposition of the last couplet of 'Eins und Alles' and the opening lines of 'Vermächtnis'. Thus, when critics interpret 'Eins und Alles' exclusively in the context of 'Vermächtnis' they not only establish an anachronistic reading but also develop a suggestion made by Eckermann turning 'Eins und Alles' into one of a pair of poems defining Goethe's legacy and therefore creating a particular and influential picture of the poet in the public's mind. |
| spellingShingle | Literature (non-English) Literatures of Germanic languages Sachers, R Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title | Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title_full | Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title_fullStr | Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title_full_unstemmed | Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title_short | Goethe's legacy? 'Eins und Alles' and its career in scholarship |
| title_sort | goethe s legacy eins und alles and its career in scholarship |
| topic | Literature (non-English) Literatures of Germanic languages |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sachersr goetheslegacyeinsundallesanditscareerinscholarship |