Primordial Poetry
Herder’s Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache and the Poetics of Lying
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9854879 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christoph Zeller (Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 93 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 250-276 |
| Publication date | 2018-07-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Germanic Review Literature Culture Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-8890 • E-ISSN: 1930-6962 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00168890.2018.1485007 |
| OpenAlex | W2914366763 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
Johann Gottfried Herder’s Abhandlung über den Ursprung der Sprache (1772) connects the idea of genesis with the myth of the poetic origin of language. Scholars have reflected extensively upon Herder’s introduction of anthropological and multi-causal perspectives on language, but largely dismissed the many literary allusions as indicators of its ethical preconditions. Herder substitutes the concept of “origin” with literary aesthetics by using the ancient canon of literature and art. The affective relationship between screaming and speaking is exemplified with the help of Sophocles’ Philoctetes, Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, and Lessing’s Laokoon oder über die Grenzen der Mahlerey und Poesie (1766). Through the lens of these texts Herder shows the dichotomy of truth and lie, but inherently challenges his own thoughts on authenticity, purity, and sincerity as foundations of moral progress
Art · Literature · Mythology · Poetics · Poetry · Sincerity · Theology · German Literature and Culture Studies · Historical Philosophy and Science · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Highly cited | No |
|---|