Artifice or artistry: Calculation and awe in three Kunstmaerchen of Tieck, Hebbel and Huch (Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Hebbel, Ricarda Huch)

[摘要] The essential link between Volksmarchen and Kunstmarchen is the consistent theme in the Volksmarchen of restoration of a distorted world harmony. The impulse for the Romantic Kunstmarchen was an attempt to effect a reestablishment of order, both in the world and for the authors, by means of the Marchen. Connotations of Kunst in Kunstmarchen as either art or imitation correspond to the author;;s attitude towards the magical force: awe inspires artistry, but presumption produces imitations. Hebbel;;s abandonment of an absolute moral code results in a fundamental contradiction with the premises of the Marchen. Consequently, Der Rubin is an unconvincing attempt to reconstruct an all-encompassing harmony. Tieck, in Der blonde Eckbert, upholds the necessity of absolutes in the moral code as a foundation for the Marchen. Likewise, Huch shows in Lugenmarchen the unsatisfactory result of attempting to approach the magical realm through presumption and calculation.

[发布机构] Rice University