22-10-2019

THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER (1774)

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

An illustration of not only romantic fiction but also what the mode of self-writing implies in
romantic fiction.

The thematic centre of romanticism is the concept of selfhood. Even the theme of Nature
sheds light on the notion of selfhood as an object of celebration (individualism)

It is not only a matter of choice:

The epistolary + diary correspond to what the pursuit of romantics: expressing the self

The use of the 1st person narrator: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly/ Wuthering Heights/ Dracula

-> Justifies the quest for self-expression.

“I have conscientiously gathered everything I have been able to find about the story of poor
Werther and here lay it before you...” he is not Goethe, rather a narrator: a fictitious editor.

1st person narrator= the protagonist eventually passes away before finishing the narrative.

An implicit metaphor of the trace (=writing as an act of archiving/documenting)

The narrative as friend/ a mirror

Presenting the epistolary narrative a potential mirror/double to any reader who seeks a kind of
sympathy, comfort --> a noble mission of this “little book”

Justification of the apparent violation of privacy/ relativizing the idea of intrusion, violation =
double digression: a reader and an editor.

Romantic irony: was prominent during the romantic literature (Goethe’s intention behind
opting for a fictional intrusive voice to tell the tragic story of the protagonist; his death)

 About assuming a critical distance vis-à-vis the very form/ tradition that the writer is
seriously adopting/ appropriating.
 The ironic tone unveils the contradictions of the aesthetic /literary paradigm.

One of the contradictions is that the irrational side of the human being is approached through
reason especially in poetry. (= artistic paradoxes)

The unusual choice of Goethe’s expresses his need to draw attention of the paradoxes of the
epistolary form.

8-10 page-essay: Dangling Man, Bellow or 2 texts a bundle of letters by Henry James+ Adam
and eve by Mark Twain.
29-10-2019

The 1st person epistolary narrative is framed by the intrusive narrative voice=3rd voice and part
of the fictional world.

-> Not only restricted to the post-modern experimental fiction/novel.

Open-ended structure --> the narrator have to survive

By violating the formal technical rules he draws our attention to the existence of these devices
=the technical apparatus

-> all the choices the fiction writer makes are purely artificial

The narrative thus draws our attention to the paradoxes that inform the literary creation.

Romantics never really challenged the mimetic aspect of literature (in relation to the notion of
selfhood)

….Challenges it open-endedness+ the illusion of intimate communication (because of the

intrusive voice)

Any third entity (beside the narrator and the narratee), whether us the real reader or other
fictional reader in the narrative, reminds us with the idea of violation.

The implication intended is part of the romantic irony  becomes part of the narrative

To make legitimate his transgression.

The confusion in the form of the narrative could be seen in the light of the editing process.

The editing does not only highlight the intrusion but also made doubtful the content in the
letters. By creating this unnecessary intrusion, he reminds us not only that all fiction is
artificial but also reminds us that with this type of fiction that uses the method of self-writing
the artificial quality of storytelling is made even more radical, striking. =Paradoxes of fiction

o The pursuit of authenticity is defied despite the effect of immediacy.

For the romantics what matters/ dramatizes the romantic ideal of self-expression in diary
and/or the epistolary form. (= could justifies the deliberate confusion made in the entries)

The excessive exclamations dramatize the artificiality and the theatricality (acting as if) of the
narrative.

--> reminiscent of Don Quixote

Part of the irony created is partly made between..

The artificiality of the narrative is omnipresent in post-modern texts.

Literature and real life are two distinct realms, meant to be kept distinct.
We are reminded of this fact we are meant to suspend while reading fiction.

 Self-irony.

Goethe reminds us that even the romantic ideal of self-expression is artificial, against the
claim of authenticity. (not meant to attack this romantic ideal)

The romantic champion of authenticity is Wordsworth.

The romantic irony displays a critique to the romantic ideal.

The fragments of the narrative remind us of the confusion intended: we tend to mistake
the epistolary form for the diary form, given the apparatus of short-line paragraphs.

My Homer: refers to Werther’s interpretation of Homer not only the book at his hands.

“My friend, do I need to tell you that, you who have so often borne the burden of seeing me swing from
grief to excess, and from sweet melancholy to ruinous passion? I treat my little heart like a sick child:
whatever it wishes for is granted. Don't spread this about; there are people who would hold it against me.”

 Assuming the confessional tone of the private communication of the letter is even
reinforced with the motif of secrecy.
 The revelations made by the addressee to be secret are made public.
 Werther did not know about the future intervention of the editor.
 The motif of secrecy is meant to be an instance of private and exclusive
communication.

The moment he begins to pay attention to the representational effect of his writing we can
detect another instance of romantic irony that Goethe tries to communicate.

“What I said to you recently about painting is certainly also true for literature; all that is necessary is to
recognize excellence and dare to speak it, but that is saying a lot in few words. Today I witnessed a scene
that, cleanly copied out, would produce the most beautiful idyll in the world; but why "literature,"
"scene," and "idyll"? If we are to participate in a phenomenon of nature, must one always toil away at
it?”

 Werther hares his puzzlement with the representational effect of literary and artistic
constructs alike.
 Artistic creativity is not part of nature, is rather a cultural and a human invention
 The ideal reverence of nature as romantic principle is challenged by Werther’s
experience/ dilemma: representing it in language or in pictorial forms
 Romantic poems are meant to be an expression/ celebration of the repudiation of
culture. The moment they start writing poetry they are in the very moment of doing it
drifting away from nature to culture.
 Werther is unveiling one of the most striking paradoxes of literature.
 "Literature," "scene= reminder of one the technical devices we approach Nature --this is an
artificial mediation.