_Die Schweizerische Literatur des achzehnten Jahrhunderts_. Von T.C.
MÖRIKOFER. Leipzig: Verlag von S. Hirzel. 8vo. pp. 536.
In the early part of the Middle Ages Switzerland contributed
comparatively little to the literary glory of Germany. Beyond Conrad
of Würzburg, who is claimed as a native of Basel, no Swiss name can be
found among the poets of the Hohenstaufen period. In a later age it is
rather the practical than the romantic character of the Swiss that is
manifested in their productions. The Reformation brought them in closer
contact with German culture. There was need of this; for in no country
was the gap wider between the language of the people and that of the
learned. Scholars like Zwinglius and Bullinger were almost helpless,
when they sought to express themselves in German. Little appeal could,
therefore, be made to the masses in their own tongue by such writers.
During the whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the
vernacular was even more neglected than before. It was not until the
beginning of the eighteenth that Latin and French ceased to be the only
languages deemed worthy of use in literary composition. In 1715 Johannes
Muralt wrote his "Eidgnöszischen Lustgarten," and later several other
works, mostly scientific, in German. Political causes came in to help
the reaction, and from that time the Protestant portion of the Helvetic
Confederation may be said to have had a literature of its own.
It is the history of the literature of German Switzerland during the
eighteenth century that Mörikofer has essayed to write. He has chosen a
subject hitherto but little studied, and his work deserves to stand by
the side of the best German literary histories of our time.
The author begins with the first signs of the reaction against the
influence of France, agreeably portraying the awakening of Swiss
consciousness, and the gradual development of the enlightened patriotism
that impelled Swiss writers to lay aside mere courtly elegance of
diction for their own more terse and vigorous idiom.
This awakening was not confined to letters. Formerly the Swiss, instead
of appreciating the beauties of their own land, rather considered them
as impediments to the progress of civilization. It seems incredible to
us now that there ever could have been a time when mountain-scenery,
instead of being sought, was shunned,--when princes possessing the most
beautiful lands among the Rhine hills should, with great trouble
and expense, have transported their seats to some flat, uninviting
locality,--when, for instance, the dull, flat, prosy, wearisome gardens
of Schwetzingen should have been deemed more beautiful than the
immediate environs of Heidelberg. Yet such were the sentiments that
prevailed in Switzerland until a comparatively late date. It is only
since the days of Scheuchzer that Swiss scenery has been appreciated,
and in this appreciation were the germs of a new culture.
As in Germany societies had been established "for the practice of
German" at Leipsic and Hamburg, so in various Swiss cities associations
were formed with the avowed purpose of discouraging the imitation of
French models. Thus, at Zürich several literary young men, among them
Hagenbuch and Lavater, met at the house of the poet Bodmer. The example
was followed in other cities. Though these clubs and their periodical
organs soon fell into an unwarrantable admiration of all that was
English, the result was a gradual development of the national taste.
Since then the literary efforts of the Swiss have been characterized by
an ardent love of country. A direct popular influence may be felt in
their best productions; hence the nature of their many beauties, as well
as of their faults. To the same influence also we owe that phalanx of
reformers and philanthropists, Hirzel, Iselin, Lavater, and Pestalozzi.
A great portion of the work under consideration is devoted to the lives
and labors of these benefactors of their people. The book is, therefore,
not a literary history in the strict sense of the term. It gives a
comprehensive view of the culture of German Switzerland during the
eighteenth century. To Bodmer alone one hundred and seventy-five pages
are devoted. In this essay, as well as in that on the historian Müller,
a vast amount of information is presented, and many facts collated by
the author are now given, we believe, for the first time.
_Literaturbilder.--Darstellungen deutscher Literatur aus den Werken der
vorzüglichsten Literarhistoriker_, etc. Herausgegeben von J.W. SCHAEFER.
Leipzig: Friedrich Brandstetter. 8vo. pp. 409.
There is no lack of German literary histories. While English letters
have not yet found an historian, there are scores of works upon every
branch of German literature. Of these, many possess rare merits, and are
characterized by a depth, a comprehensiveness of criticism not to be
found in the similar productions of any other nation. Whoever has once
been guided by the master-minds of Germany will bear witness that the
guidance cannot be replaced by that of any other class of writers.
Nowhere can such universality, such freedom from national prejudice, be
found,--and this united to a love of truth, earnestness of labor, and
perseverance of research that may be looked for in vain elsewhere.
The difficulty for the student of German literary history lies, then, in
the selection. A new work, the "Literaturbilder" of J.W. Schaefer, will
greatly tend to facilitate the choice. This is a representation of
the chief points of the literature of Germany by means of well-chosen
selections from the principal historians of letters. The editor
introduces these by an essay upon the "Epochs of German Literature."
Then follow, with due regard to chronological order, extracts from the
works of Vilmar, Gervinus, Wackernagel, Schlosser, Julian Schmidt, and
others. These extracts are of such length as to give a fair idea of the
writers, and so arranged as to form a connected history. Thus, under
the third division, comprising the eighteenth century until Herder and
Goethe, we find the following articles following each other: "State of
Literature in the Eighteenth Century"; "Johann Christian Gottsched," by
F.C. Schlosser; "Gottsched's Attempts at Dramatic Reform," by R. Prutz;
"Hagedorn and Haller," by J.W. Schaefer; "Bodmer and Breitinger," by
A. Koberstein; "The Leipsic Association of Poets and the Bremen
Contributions," by Chr. F. Weisse; "German Literature in the Middle of
the Eighteenth Century," by Goethe; "Gottlieb Wilhelm Rabener," by H.
Gelzer; "Gellert's Fables," by H. Prutz. Those who do not possess the
comprehensive works of Gervinus, Cholerius, Wackernagel, etc., may thus
in one volume find enough to be able to form a fair opinion of the
nature of their labors.
The "Literaturbilder," though perhaps lacking in unity, is one of the
most attractive of literary histories. A few important names are missed,
as that of Menzel, from whom nothing is quoted. The omission seems the
more unwarrantable, as this writer, whatever we may think of his views,
still enjoys the highest consideration among a numerous class of German
readers. The contributions of the editor himself form no inconsiderable
part of the volume. Those quoted from his "Life of Goethe" deserve
special mention. The work does not extend beyond the first years of the
present century, and closes with Jean Paul.