The Birth of European Romanticism: Truth and Propaganda in Staël's 'De l'Allemagne', 1810-1813

by John Claiborne Isbell

Overview

It was through Staël's bestseller, De l'Allemagne, that the term "Romanticism," coined in Germany, reached Europe and America. Around this term, Staël built a new and universal agenda: her manifesto offered Napoleon's Europe an alternative to everything he stood for. In this ground-breaking work, John Claiborne Isbell reasserts Staël's place in history and analyzes her vast agenda, which covers every Classical and Romantic divide in art, philosophy, religion and society from 1789 to 1815. This investigation sheds new light on the two different revolutions that created modern Europe, as seen here by a leader of both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521032001
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/23/2006
Series:	Cambridge Studies in French , #49
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Author's note; Introduction; 1. Birth of a nation - Staël's Romantic Germany in 1810; 2. Romantic literature and politics; 3. Philosophy and ethics in Napoleonic Europe; 4. Religion, love, enthusiasm - a new Enlightenment; Conclusion; Appendix: De l'Allemagne titles and dates; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The importance of Mme. de Stael's De l'Allemagne can scarcely be questioned." Monatshefte

"This is an important book that will undoubtedly encourgae debate across the spectrum of romantic criticism....The Birth of European Romaticism has great appeal to a wide general public as well as to specialists in the area." Philip Mellen, Germanic Notes and Reviews

From the Publisher