Product Description: In the mid 19th century, old and new beliefs about literature crossed paths in quite varied ways. The 18 essays in this anthology explore forgotten constellations of literary communication during this period. They cast light on developments in the periodical press and the literary marketplace as well as poetics, analyzing the historical, religious, and societal functions of literature...read more

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of the literary and literature-theoretical work of Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698-1783). It draws a new profile of the proponent of the Zurich Enlightenment, revising the negative judgments of literary history. In biblical epics, political dramas and children's plays Bodmer created models of society that were based on ideals such as friendship and human kindness. He was much more radical in his pronouncements than his writing contemporaries, and he declared these models to be the political basis of every society.