Reluctant Romantics : on the fairy tale poetics of the Brothers Grimm and their relationship to German Romanticism
Date
2014-12-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
The legacy of the Brothers Grimm continues to fascinate readers and researchers alike. The
200-year anniversary of the first publication of their fairy tales sparked a renewed interest in
the life, work and times of the brothers. Fascinated by the past, by the political present and
by the literary future of Romanticism, the Brothers Grimm stayed together in an unusual
working union. They established what was to become German philology and published many
invaluable works on language and history, myths and folk tales. This article will focus on the
brothers’ place in German Romanticism through their contribution of fairy tales. The period was
marked by political and philosophical thought that emphasised authentic experienced and the
spiritual unity of art, science and philosophy. There was a strong call for national emancipation.
Literature was required to embody this unity through an established national literature founded
on German folk traditions. The Grimms seemed to have heeded that call. But a careful study
reveals that their intentions were motivated less by the literary movement than by their own
strong convictions which they upheld even at the cost of compromising the authenticity they
claimed to uphold in their poetics. The many controversies regarding the origins, collection and
editing of the fairy tales is inextricably linked to the brothers’ difficult relationship with the
Romantic Movement. Two hundred years later, this article seeks to give an appraisal of the
Brothers’ motivation for their poetics and of the research conducted thus far.
Description
CITATION : Dos Santos, I. 2014. Reluctant Romantics: on
the fairy tale poetics of the Brothers Grimm and their
relationship to German Romanticism. Literator,
35(1):1-8 (Art. #1073), doi:10.4102/lit.
v35i1.1073.
The original publication is available at http://www.literator.org.zar
The original publication is available at http://www.literator.org.zar
Keywords
Fairy tales -- Germany -- History and criticism, Romanticism -- Germany, Brothers Grimm, German literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism, Grimm, Jacob -- 1785-1863, Grimm, Wilhelm -- 1786-1859
Citation
Dos Santos, I. 2014. Reluctant Romantics: on
the fairy tale poetics of the Brothers Grimm and their
relationship to German Romanticism. Literator,
35(1):1-8 (Art. #1073), doi:10.4102/lit.
v35i1.1073.