German poet, writer, and critic (1773?1853)
Johann Ludwig Tieck
(
;
German:
[tiːk]
; 31 May 1773 – 28 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the
Romantic movement
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Early life
[
edit
]
Tieck was born in
Berlin
, the son of a rope-maker. His siblings were the sculptor
Christian Friedrich Tieck
and the poet
Sophie Tieck
. He was educated at the
Friedrichswerdersches Gymnasium
[
de
]
, where he learned Greek and Latin, as required in most preparatory schools. He also began learning Italian at a very young age, from a grenadier with whom he became acquainted. Through this friendship, Tieck was given a first-hand look at the poor, which could be linked to his work as a Romanticist. He later attended the universities of
Halle
,
Gottingen
, and
Erlangen
. At Gottingen, he studied
Shakespeare
and
Elizabethan
drama.
[1]
On returning to Berlin in 1794, Tieck attempted to make a living by writing. He contributed a number of short stories (1795–98) to the series
Straussfedern
, published by the bookseller
C. F. Nicolai
and originally edited by
J. K. A. Musaus
. He also wrote
Abdallah
(1796) and a novel in letters,
William Lovell
(3 vols, 1795–96).
[1]
Adoption of Romanticism
[
edit
]
Tieck's transition to
Romanticism
is seen in the series of plays and stories published under the title
Volksmarchen von Peter Lebrecht
(3 vols., 1797), a collection containing the fairy tale
Der blonde Eckbert
, which blends exploration of the paranoiac mind with the realm of the supernatural, and a witty dramatic satire on Berlin literary taste,
Der gestiefelte Kater
. With his school and college friend
Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder
(1773?1798), he planned the novel
Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen
(vols. i?ii. 1798) which, with Wackenroder's
Herzensergiessungen
(1796), was the first expression of the Romantic enthusiasm for old German art.
[1]
In 1798 Tieck married and in the following year settled in
Jena
, where he, the two brothers
August
and
Friedrich Schlegel
, and
Novalis
were the leaders of the early Romantic school (also known as
Jena Romanticism
). His writings between 1798 and 1804 include the satirical drama,
Prinz Zerbino
(1799), and
Romantische Dichtungen
(2 vols., 1799?1800). The latter contains Tieck's most ambitious dramatic poems,
Leben und Tod der heiligen Genoveva
,
Leben und Tod des kleinen Rotkappchens
, which were followed in 1804 by the "comedy" in two parts,
Kaiser Oktavianus
. These dramas are typical plays of the first Romantic school. Although formless and destitute of dramatic qualities, they show the influence of both
Calderon
and Shakespeare.
Kaiser Oktavianus
is a poetic glorification of the
Middle Ages
.
[1]
In 1801 Tieck went to
Dresden
, then lived for a time at
Ziebingen
near
Frankfurt (Oder)
, and spent many months in Italy. In 1803 he published a translation of
Minnelieder aus der schwabischen Vorzeit
, then between 1799 and 1804 an excellent version of
Don Quixote
, and in 1811 two volumes of Elizabethan dramas,
Altenglisches Theater
. From 1812 to 1817 he collected in three volumes a number of his earlier stories and dramas, under the title
Phantasus
. In this collection appeared the stories
Der Runenberg
,
Die Elfen
,
Der Pokal
, and the dramatic fairy tale
Fortunat
.
[1]
In 1817 Tieck visited England in order to collect materials for a work on Shakespeare, which was never finished. In 1819 he settled permanently in Dresden, and from 1825 he was literary adviser to the Court Theatre. His semi-public readings from the dramatic poets gave him a reputation which extended far beyond the capital of the
Kingdom of Saxony
. The new series of short stories which he began to publish in 1822 also won him a wide popularity. Notable among these are "Die Gemalde", "Die Reisenden", "Die Verlobung", and "Des Lebens Uberfluss".
More ambitious and on a wider canvas are the historical or semi-historical novels
Dichterleben
(1826),
Der Aufruhr in den Cevennen
(1826, unfinished), and
Der Tod des Dichters
(1834).
Der junge Tischlermeister
(1836; but begun in 1811) is a work written under the influence of
Goethe
's
Wilhelm Meister
. His story of
Vittoria Accorombona
(1840) was written in the style of the French Romanticists and shows a falling-off.
[1]
Later years
[
edit
]
In later years Tieck carried on a varied literary activity as a critic (
Dramaturgische Blatter
, 2 vols., 1825?1826;
Kritische Schriften
, 2 vols., 1848). He also edited the translation of Shakespeare by
August Wilhelm Schlegel
, who was assisted by Tieck's daughter
Dorothea
(1790?1841) and by
Wolf Heinrich, Graf von Baudissin
(1789?1878);
Shakespeares Vorschule
(2 vols., 1823?1829); and the works of
Heinrich von Kleist
(1826) and of
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
(1828). In 1841
Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia
invited Tieck to Berlin, where he received a pension for his remaining years. He died in Berlin on 28 April 1853.
[1]
Literary significance
[
edit
]
Tieck's importance lay in the readiness with which he adapted himself to the emerging new ideas which arose at the close of the 18th century, as well as his Romantic works, such as
Der blonde Eckbert
. However, his importance in
German poetry
is restricted to his early period. In later years it was as the helpful friend and adviser of others, or as the well-read critic of wide sympathies, that Tieck distinguished himself.
[1]
Tieck also influenced
Richard Wagner
's
Tannhauser
. It was from
Phantasus
that Wagner based the idea of Tannhauser going to see the Pope and of Elisabeth dying in the song battle.
German composer
Wilhelmine Schwertzell
(1787-1863) used Tieck’s text in her songs “Herbstlied” and “Aus Genoveva.”
[2]
Works
[
edit
]
Tieck's
Schriften
appeared in twenty volumes (1828?1846), and his
Gesammelte Novellen
in twelve (1852?1854).
Nachgelassene Schriften
were published in two volumes in 1855. There are several editions of
Ausgewahlte Werke
by H. Welti (8 vols., 1886?1888); by J. Minor (in Kirschner's
Deutsche Nationalliteratur
, 144, 2 vols., 1885); by G. Klee (with an excellent biography, 3 vols., 1892), and G. Witkowski (4 vols., 1903)
[1]
and Marianne Thalmann (4 vols., 1963?66).
Translations
[
edit
]
"The Enchanted Castle", "Auburn Egbert" and "Elfin-Land" were translated in
Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations
(1823). "The Fair-haired Eckbert", "The Trusty Eckart", "The Runenberg", "The Elves" and "The Goblet" were translated by
Thomas Carlyle
in
German Romance
(1827), "The Pictures" and "The Betrothal" by Bishop Thirlwall (1825). A translation of
Vittoria Accorombona
was published in 1845.
[1]
"Des Lebens Uberfluss" was translated anonymously as
The Superfluities of Life. A Tale Abridged from Tieck
in
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
in February 1845, and again by E. N. Bennett as "Life's Luxuries" in
German Short Stories
in the
Oxford University Press
World's Classics
series in 1934.
The Journey into the Blue Distance
(
Das Alte Buch: oder Reise ins Blaue hinein
, 1834). "The Romance of Little Red Riding Hood" (1801) was translated by Jack Zipes and included in his book
The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood
(1983).
Letters
[
edit
]
Tieck's Letters have been published at various locations:
- Ludwig Tieck und die Bruder Schlegel. Briefe
ed. by Edgar Lohner (Munchen 1972)
- Briefe an Tieck
were published in 4 volumes by K. von Holtei in 1864.
[1]
- Tieck Ludwig, Edwin H Zeydel, Percy Matenko
Robert Herndon Fife
and Columbia University. 1937.
Letters of Ludwig Tieck Hitherto Unpublished 1792?1853.
New York London: Modern Language Association of America; Oxford University Press.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Roger Paulin:
Ludwig Tieck
, 1985
(in German)
(Slg. Metzler M 185, 1987; German translation, 1988)
- Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra.
Die Transzendenz der Gefuhle. Beziehungen zwischen Musik und Gefuhl bei Wackenroder/Tieck und die Musikasthetik der Romantik.
Saarbrucker Beitrage zur Literaturwissenschaft, no. 71. Ph.D. Dissertation (Saarbrucken, Germany: Universitat des Saarlandes, 2000). St. Ingbert, Germany: Rohrig Universitatsverlag, 2001.
ISBN
3-86110-278-1
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Related articles
| |
---|
Related categories
| |
---|
Medieval
| |
---|
Early modern
| |
---|
18th century
| |
---|
19th century
| |
---|
20th century
| |
---|
Contemporary
writers
| |
---|
German-language
Nobel laureates
| |
---|
German-language
literary awards
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|