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‘Incorrigible Jacobins’: Hazlitt’s Engagement with German Literature

Oergel, Maike

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Abstract

The fact that William Hazlitt engaged closely with contemporary German literature throughout his life has so far not received any detailed attention in Hazlitt research. The essay focuses on Hazlitt's assessment of German drama put forward in his third lecture series on Elizabethan drama, given in December 1819, and argues that his characterization of contemporary German drama as revolutionary and 'paradoxical' is intended to suggest to his audience that this kind of literature can function as a model for socially and politically progressive English literature. German literature's model function is facilitated by what Hazlitt outlines as the close kinship between the English and German literary traditions. Hazlitt's argument that German literature is revolutionary is informed by key ideas from German Sturm und Drang and German Romantic cultural theory, which he appears to draw from August Wilhelm Schlegel. Hazlitt's characterization of German literature as 'paradoxical', however, relies on his own definition of this term as describing possibly irresponsible, yet revolutionary effective, iconoclastic art and thought. This paradoxical quality of contemporary German literature derives, for Hazlitt, from its recent revolutionary heritage.

Citation

Oergel, M. (2020). ‘Incorrigible Jacobins’: Hazlitt’s Engagement with German Literature. Hazlitt Review, 13(1),

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 1, 2020
Publication Date 2020-12
Deposit Date Jun 17, 2020
Publicly Available Date Dec 31, 2020
Journal Hazlitt Review
Print ISSN 1757-8299
Publisher Hazlitt Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Issue 1
Keywords Hazlitt, William; Schlegel, August Wilhelm; Herder, J.G.; Sturm und Drang
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4391217
Related Public URLs https://www.ucl.ac.uk/hazlitt-society/hazlitt-review

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