"Worte sind hier umsonst": Die Beschreibung des Unbeschreiblichen in Goethes "Werther" und Hölderlins "Hyperion"

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Two of the most important epistolary novels in German literature, Johann Wolfgang Goethe's "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" and Friedrich Hölderlin's "Hyperion", are analysed with reference to an aspect, which determines the problematic nature of narrative and description and thus illustrates a basic linguistic problem facing the author of epistolary novels. The (epistolary) novel is here seen as a paradigm of written narrative, which for this reason also gives an immediate and graphic example of a linguistic or narrative problem, the causes of which, together with some suggested solutions, are discussed in the article.
Translated title of the contribution"Words are here for nothing": The description of the indescribable in Goethes "Werther" and Holderlins "Hyperion"
Original languageGerman
JournalZeitschrift für deutsche Philologie
Volume122
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)481-508
Number of pages28
ISSN0044-2496
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.10.2003
Externally publishedYes