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Ponte Academic Journal
Nov 2020, Volume 76, Issue 11

A SPACE OF SEMANTIC RESONANCE: IDEA OF THE WORLD LITERATURE IN GOETHE'S "CHINESEGERMAN BOOK OF SEASONS AND HOURS"

Author(s): Lagutina Irina

J. Ponte - Nov 2020 - Volume 76 - Issue 11
doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2020.11.10



Abstract:
Using the example of the cycle of Goethes poems Chinese-German Book of Seasons and Hours, in which he combines motifs from Chinese and German literature as well as his own poetry, the paper suggests a hypothesis in the light of which an attempt is made to consider the influence of Goethes natural-philosophical ideas on peculiarities of his concept of the world literature. In particular, it will be a matter of integrating the individual (das Besondere) into the universal (das Allgemeine), of the concept of the Nature as a living whole. At the same time this universal law of Nature creates a mechanism for the functioning of the living stream of the world literature, where separate national literatures are circulating. The Chinese-German Book of Seasons and Hours, where the uniqueness of a single day and the constancy of the seasons are combined, where the memories of the past days are embedded in the imaginary space of China, creates a space of semantic resonance where both aesthetic and natural-philosophical Goethe's vision are in the mutual reflecting.
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