Time, History, and Literature: Selected Essays of Erich Auerbach

by Erich Auerbach, Jane O. Newman (Translator), James I. Porter (Editor), James I. Porter (Introduction)

Overview

Important essays from one of the giants of literary criticism, including a dozen published here in English for the first time

Erich Auerbach (1892-1957), best known for his classic literary study Mimesis, is celebrated today as a founder of comparative literature, a forerunner of secular criticism, and a prophet of global literary studies. Yet the true depth of Auerbach's thinking and writing remains unplumbed. Time, History, and Literature presents a wide selection of Auerbach's essays, many of which are little known outside the German-speaking world. Of the twenty essays culled for this volume from the full length of his career, twelve have never appeared in English before, and one is being published for the first time.

Foregrounded in this major new collection are Auerbach's complex relationship to the Judaeo-Christian tradition, his philosophy of time and history, and his theory of human ethics and responsible action. Auerbach effectively charts out the difficult discovery, in the wake of Christianity, of the sensuous, the earthly, and the human and social worlds. A number of the essays reflect Auerbach's responses to an increasingly hostile National Socialist environment. These writings offer a challenging model of intellectual engagement, one that remains as compelling today as it was in Auerbach's own time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691169071
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	02/16/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	682,495
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

James I. Porter is Chancellor's Professor in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. Jane O. Newman is Professor of Comparative Literature and European Languages and Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments James I. Porter vii

Introduction James I. Porter ix

Translator's Note Jane O. Newman xlvii



Part I. History and the Philosophy of History: Vico, Herder, and Hegel

1. Vico's Contribution to Literary Criticism (1958) 3

2. Vico and Herder (1932) 11

3. Giambattista Vico and the Idea of Philology (1936) 24

4. Vico and Aesthetic Historism (1948) 36

5. Vico and the National Spirit (1955) 46

6. The Idea of the National Spirit as the Source of the Modern Humanities (ca. 1955) 56

Part II. Time and Temporality in Literature

7. Figura (1938) 65

8. Typological Symbolism in Medieval Literature (1952) 114

9. On the Anniversary Celebration of Dante (1921) 121

10. Dante and Vergil (1931) 124

11. The Discovery of Dante by Romanticism (1929) 134

12. Romanticism and Realism (1933) 144

13. Marcel Proust and the Novel of Lost Time (1927) 157

Part III. Passionate Subjects, from the Bible to Secular Modernity

14. Passio as Passion (1941) 165

15. The Three Traits of Dante's Poetry (1948) 188

16. Montaigne the Writer (1932) 200

17. On Pascal's Political Theory (1941) 215

18. Racine and the Passions (1927) 236

19. On Rousseau's Place in History (1932) 246

20. The Philology of World Literature (1952) 253



Appendix: Sources for Translated Citations Jane O. Newman 267

Bibliographical Overview James I. Porter 271

Index 277

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Even the most enthusiastic readers of Erich Auerbach's Mimesis will be surprised by the extent to which this collection of essays changes the appreciation of Auerbach's work. Shifting from the New Critical fluency of his historical readings, these selections pay closer attention to the relation between forms of language and the transformation of the world through human thought and behavior. This revelatory book presents a new view of Auerbach, whose work gains in philosophical pertinence and complexity."—Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht, Stanford University

"At last, a book that exposes the audacity of Auerbach's philosophical anthropology. Thanks to her deep understanding of the nuances of German, Jane Newman skillfully captures the intricate rhythms and verbal creativity of Auerbach's prose. James Porter, meanwhile, shows us the hidden genius of Auerbach as a thinker who reveals the beauty and terror of history and the people who make it."—Stephen G. Nichols, James M. Beall Professor Emeritus of French and Humanities, Johns Hopkins University

"The brilliant, innovative, and eminently sophisticated essays in this vitally important and long-overdue book demonstrate not only the breadth of Auerbach's erudition, but also the continued relevance of his work for literary scholars today. A stunning achievement."—John Hamilton, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

"This collection will be invaluable to anyone studying literary theory, historiography, or cultural studies."

Choice

10/28/2013
The 20 essays collected here—many of them translated from the German for the first time—bear out editor Porter’s contention that Auerbach (1892–1957), best known for his literary study Mimesis, was one of the 20th century’s great literary critics. Though themes range from the study of “passion” as a concept in world literature to appreciations of Proust, Rousseau, and Montaigne, two areas of special interest dominate this collection: the theories of 18th-century philologist Giambattista Vico regarding primitive humans and the origins of our culture; and the concept of figuration (elaborated in the lengthy essay “Figura”), especially as it pertains to the work of Dante. In “Vico and Herder,” Auerbach discusses how “primitive humans created their lives as a form of poetry” that acknowledged the gods and their handiwork, and how the rites and ceremonies they instituted to placate those gods gave rise to the customs and laws that have shaped our civilization since. In “Typological Symbolism in Medieval Literature,” Auerbach shows how Dante, in his Divine Comedy, deploys a figurative or typological interpretation of events in the Bible as prefigurations or recapitulations that reflect history’s “providential design.” Auerbach packs his dense prose with literary and philosophical references that show his formidable scholarship, which sometimes makes the reading slow-going. Those well-versed in comparative literature will find his insights stimulating. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Jane O. Newman, Co-Winner of the 2014 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of a Scholarly Study of Literature, Modern Language Association

From the Publisher