230571 Myths, Legends, (Fairy) Tales and the Romantics (S) (WiSe 2009/2010)

Myths, legends and tales are part of folk tradition; they are old, ‘unsophisticated’ forms of popular culture that used to be transmitted orally. Why did the Romantics fall back upon these antiquated and primitive forms? How did they revive them? Why did they draw upon these archaic themes? How exactly did they do so?

The course will be structured into three sections. The first section ‘(fairy) tales’ will look at the influence of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainment on Romantic works such as, for example, Byron’s “The Gioaur” or Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”. The reception and translation history of the Arabian Nights’ will also be considered in this context. The second section ‘myths’ will examine mythic figures and subject matters such as Prometheus (Byron, P. B. Shelley, M. Shelley). Further, philosophical ideas about mythology by German Romantics and their influence upon English Romanticism shall find way into this discussion. The final section ‘legends’ will primarily focus on Rhine Romanticism and British tourism at that time.

Admittedly the reading load for this seminar will be somewhat demanding.