GRK 412:  Classicism and Romanticism in the European Context. The Aesthetic Invention of Modernity in Literature, the Fine Arts, Music, and the Culture of Every-Day Life

• Subject Area: Linguistics ; Art History, Music, Theatre and Media Studies ; Philosophy
• Term: from 1997 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272231

The aesthetic concepts of 'classicism' and 'romanticism' appeared in European literature and art in various national manifestations and at different points in history. Literary and aesthetic criticism have so far tended to analyse these phenomena as isolated from one another. Furthermore, 'classicism' and 'romanticism' are generally seen as fundamentally divergent and competing concepts. The research training group, however, regards these two aesthetic movements as complementary systems developed as functional models in times of crisis and change in order to protect and preserve national and European identities. Both systems are understood as manifestations of modernity, as reactions to the thrust of modernisation, treating aesthetic concepts not in an isolated fashion but embedded in contexts pertaining to the history of mentality and the history of science. Our attempts to establish the function and historical place of the 'classicism-romanticism complex' will focus on the crucial phase, the 'Sattelzeit', between 1750 and 1830. However, earlier pre-figurations, such as 17th and 18th century aesthetic concepts in France, Italy or England, and later forms like neo-classicism and neo-romanticism around 1900 as well as in postmodernism, will also be taken into account. We will seek out the specific national constellations within the literary field and examine the processes by which these are mediated and developed. At the same time, interrelations between various art forms, literature, music, the fine arts, and architecture, will be an issue for discussion. Finally, the aesthetic discourse in its various manifestations will be examined as to its bearings on phenomena of every-day culture, on the question of how dominant notions of what is 'classic' or 'romantic' influence norms of behaviour and how they work to shape patterns of daily life.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Marcel Baumgartner; Professor Dr. Raimund Borgmeier; Professor Dr. Herbert Grabes (†); Professor Dr. Helmut Krasser; Professor Dr. Gerhard Kurz; Professor Dr. Friedrich Lenger; Professor Dr. Peter Nitsche; Professor Dr. Ansgar Nünning; Professor Dr. Dietmar Rieger; Professor Dr. Martin Seel; Professor Dr. Hartmut Stenzel; Professor Dr. Friedrich Vollhardt
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Günter Oesterle, since 9/2004