Literary Conclusions: The Poetics of Ending in Lessing, Goethe, and Kleist

239 Pages·2022·2.114 MB·English

by  Oliver Simons

Literary Conclusions

Literary Conclusions
The Poetics of Ending in
Lessing, Goethe, and Kleist
Oliver Simons
northwestern university press
evanston, illinois
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
Copyright © 2022 by Northwestern University. Published 2022 by Northwestern
University Press. All rights reserved.
An earlier version of “Werther’s Pulse,” the first part of this book’s second chapter,
appeared in the Goethe Yearbook XXVII (2020): 31– 46.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Simons, Oliver, author.
Title: Literary conclusions : the poetics of ending in Lessing, Goethe, and
Kleist / Oliver Simons.
Description: Evanston, Illinois : Northwestern University Press, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021051215 | ISBN 9780810144798 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780810144804 (cloth) | ISBN 9780810144811 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 1729– 1781— Criticism and
interpretation. | Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 1749– 1832— Criticism and
interpretation. | Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777– 1811— Criticism and interpretation. |
German literature— 18th century— History and criticism. | German literature—
19th century— History and criticism. | Closure (Rhetoric)
Classification: LCC PT289 .S56 2022 | DDC 830.9/006— dc23/eng/20211019
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051215
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 3
Thinking through Conclusions
Chapter 1 15
Lessing’s Form of Reason
Chapter 2 59
Goethe and the Powers of Conclusion
Chapter 3 103
Kleist’s Genres
Conclusion 153
From Urteilskraft to Schlusskraft
Notes 169
Bibliography 205
Index 225

Acknowledgments
I am indebted to many friends and colleagues for their help with this book.
I began discussing Kleist’s endings with Anders Engberg- Pedersen more than
ten years ago. It was a memorable evening in Cambridge, and I hope more will
follow before too long. I am grateful to the students in two tragedy courses
I taught at Harvard and Columbia, who read with me most of the dramas
considered here. The idea for this book came from the discussions with them.
I would like to thank the German departments at UC Davis, Northwestern,
Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Toronto, and Columbia for giving me the oppor-
tunity to present early versions of the readings that have shaped this book. I
have shared chapter drafts, proposals, or ideas in various stages with Mark
Anderson, Stefan Andriopoulos, Danny Bowles, Claudia Breger, Jeremy
Dauber, Michael Gamper, Eva Geulen, Willi Goetschel, Andreas Huyssen,
Markus Krajewski, Jens Meierhenrich, Dorothea von Mücke, Harro Mül-
ler, Sophie Alexander Salvo, and Klaus Scherpe. I am very grateful for their
suggestive comments, critical questions, and encouragements. I am especially
indebted to Rüdiger Campe and David Wellbery for their generous feedback
on my manuscript. Their thinking about the eighteenth century had already
shaped this book when I received their thoughtful remarks and constructive
criticism. I would like to thank Dan Geist for diligently editing and improv-
ing my writing in so many ways, and Xan Holt for his continuous support
over the past years. Xan has accompanied this book from its early drafts to
its last words, patiently correcting my English and challenging me with criti-
cal comments. At Northwestern University Press, my special thanks to Trevor
Perri for his unwavering support and Anne Gendler for guiding the book
through its final stages.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their confidence and faith,
which made it all possible. No book will ever be long enough to thank Sylke,
Mathilda, and Carl for their love and support. This book is for them.
vii

Literary Conclusions