Modern Languages and Literatures, Department of
Date of this Version
1-1-2001
Abstract
Gregor Wittkop, a name familiar to Hölderlin scholars following his 1993 publication of documents relating to Hölderlin‘s Tarmzeit (Hölderlin. Der Pflegsohn. Texte und Dokumente 1806—1843 mit den neu entdeckten Nürtinger Pflegschaftsakten), has combined archival research with literary interpretation to present in his newest study a nuanced view of Hölderlin‘s Nürtingen. The study consists of two parts: the first deals with Hölderlin‘s biography and his relationships with family members throughout his life, the second discusses a number of the poet‘s writings whose thematic center is «home» in both a biographical and idealized sense. Wittkop‘s familiarity with the social and legal background of relevant archival sources allows him to present a clear, detailed, and historically informed picture of Hölderlin‘s personal and economic relationships to his family. His literary analyses can be read with profit, and correctly circumscribe the universal-historical, eschatological dimensions of «home» in Hölderlin's writings.
Comments
Published in Colloquia Germanica 34:1 (2001), pp. 76-78. Published for the University of Kentucky Department of Germanic Languages and Literature by A. Francke AG Verlag, Bern. Copyright © 2001 A. Francke AG Verlag. Used by permission.