Claudia Lindéns oskattbara bidrag till svensk litteraturvetenskap syns kanske främst i hennes teoretiskt förankrade, reflekterande och problematiserande litteraturhistoriska forskning. Hennes insats präglas också av en osläcklig nyfikenhet som tagit henne till mängder av författarskap, från en rad länder och hemmahörande i olika epoker. 

I hennes omfattande och mångsidiga utgivning samsas svensk romantik och Johann Wolfgang Goethe med Emily Dickinson och Karen Blixen; brittisk 1800-talsgotik får stå sida vid sida med björnar och moderna TV-vampyrer à la Twilight. Det är med stor tacksamhet som vänner och kollegor vill överräcka dessa studier, essäer och översättningar, vilka alla behandlar kärlekens svåra frågor, till Claudia på hennes sextioårsdag. 

This paper traces the development of Karl Philipp Moritz’s writings on aesthetics that were produced in the aftermath of the essay “Über den Begriff des in sich selbst Vollendeten” and that led up to the influential booklet Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen. The writings from this short period, stretching from 1786 through 1788, are epitomized by an increasing awareness of the deficiencies associated with man-made products, including works of art. Art is a formative imitation or imprint of nature’s eternal perfection but is in itself imperfect and transient. However, this lack of perfection is the very impetus behind all man’s ethical endeavors, that is, the struggle for nobility and love. By construing the work of art as fundamentally flawed and ephemeral, Moritz’s aesthetics problematizes the idea of perfection as well as the notion of aesthetic autonomy.

This volume re-examines traditional interpretations of the rise of modern aesthetics in eighteenth-century Britain and Germany. It provides a new account that connects aesthetic experience with morality, science, and political society. In doing so, it challenges long-standing teleological narratives that emphasize disinterestedness and the separation of aesthetics from moral, cognitive, and political interests.

The chapters are divided into three thematic parts. The chapters in Part I demonstrate the heteronomy of eighteenth-century British aesthetics. They chart the evolution of aesthetic concepts and discuss the ethical and political significance of the aesthetic theories of several key figures: namely, the third Earl of Shaftesbury, David Hume, and Adam Smith. Part II explores the ways in which eighteenth-century German, and German-oriented, thinkers examine aesthetic experience and moral concerns, and relate to the work of their British counterparts. The chapters here cover the work of Kant, Moses Mendelssohn, Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, and Madame de Staël. Finally, Part III explores the interrelation of science, aesthetics, and a new model of society in the work of Goethe, Johann Wilhelm Ritter, Friedrich Hölderlin, and William Hazlitt, among others.

This volume develops unique discussions of the rise of aesthetic autonomy in the eighteenth century. In bringing together well-known scholars working on British and German eighteenth-century aesthetics, philosophy, and literature, it will appeal to scholars and advanced students in a range of disciplines who are interested in this topic.

The life-changing experiences that Johann Wolfgang Goethe made during his journey to Italy (1786-1788) had repercussions not only on his aesthetic convictions but also on his scientific conception of nature. In the 1790s, after his return to Weimar, Goethe sought to reform, by means of critical journals, art exhibitions, prize competitions, and new theatrical practices, the art and literature of his age in a neoclassical direction. At the same time, he developed new scientific theories: most notably, his morphology, a pre-Darwinist theory of the evolution of nature. This chapter argues that both Goethe’s aesthetic thinking and his scientific research rely on a particular form of experimentalism. The idea-be it the idea of a natural phenomenon or the idea of a work of art-is only obtainable by means of exploratory experiments. Rather than being the origin of things, the idea constitutes the goal of the scientist’s or the artist’s teleological experimental process.