The Quest of the Absolute : Birth and Decline of European Romanticism

"This eagerly awaited study brings to completion Louis Dupré's planned trilogy on European culture during the modern epoch. Demonstrating remarkable erudition and sweeping breadth, The Quest of the Absolute analyzes Romanticism as a unique cultural phenomenon and a spiritual revolution. Dupré philosophically reflects on its attempts to recapture the past and transform the present in a movement that is partly a return to premodern culture and partly a violent protest against it. Following an introduction on the historical origins of the Romantic Movement, Dupré examines the principal Romantic poets of England (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats), Germany (Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Hölderlin), and France (Lamartine, de Vigny, Hugo), all of whom, from different perspectives, pursued an absolute ideal. In the chapters of the second part, he concentrates on the critical principles of Romantic aesthetics, the Romantic image of the person as reflected in the novel, and Romantic ethical and political theories. In the chapters of the third, more speculative, part, he investigates the comprehensive syntheses of romantic thought in history, philosophy, and theology. The Quest of the Absolute is an important work both as the culmination of Dupré's ongoing project and as a classic in its own right. The book will meet the expectations of the specialist as well as appeal to more general readers with philosophical, cultural, and religious interests." -- Publisher's website.

Stories reflect culture, and American stories reflect American culture is Livia Polanyi's provocative thesis in Telling the American Story. Combining linguistic and cultural analyses, Polanyi provides thoughtful insights into many features of conversational stories that have either been put aside or omitted from formal analysis within cognitive science. She also brings to life stories as cultural artifacts in which every evaluation, presupposition, point, perspective,and interpretation is a reflection of popular culture.Examining the structure of autobiographical stories, Polanyi pays close attention to the storyteller's own evaluation of the events he or she is narrating — why it is being told, and what the audience is to learn by it. This leads to an extended discussion of the ways in which narrative structure is embedded in conversation. Polanyi shows how in negotiating a story and negotiating the point of a story, false starts and repairs can be used to further the narrative.Polanyi then analyzes several personal American stories such as"Fainting on the Subway" and "Eating on the New York Thruway" — for the propositions they express about American culture and draws these propositions together in a broad compendium, or grammar, of cultural assumptions. These chapters in particular provide perhaps the earliest and best efforts at making explicit the commonsense knowledge that underlies discourse and every other human activity.The book concludes with the creation of "The American story," a text made up of sentences each of which can be seen as a compressed form of a myriad of "real" stories told in American conversation. Livia Polanyi is with Bolt, Beranek and Newman. A Bradford Book.

Stories reflect culture, and American stories reflect American culture is Livia Polanyi's provocative thesis in Telling the American Story. Combining linguistic and cultural analyses, Polanyi provides thoughtful insights into many features of conversational stories that have either been put aside or omitted from formal analysis within cognitive science. She also brings to life stories as cultural artifacts in which every evaluation, presupposition, point, perspective, and interpretation is a reflection of popular culture.Examining the structure of autobiographical stories, Polanyi pays close attention to the storyteller's own evaluation of the events he or she is narrating--why it is being told, and what the audience is to learn by it. This leads to an extended discussion of the ways in which narrative structure is embedded in conversation. Polanyi shows how in negotiating a story and negotiating the point of a story, false starts and repairs can be used to further the narrative. Polanyi then analyzes several personal American stories such as Fainting on the Subway and Eating on the New York Thruway--for the propositions they express about American culture and draws these propositions together in a broad compendium, or grammar, of cultural assumptions. These chapters in particular provide perhaps the earliest and best efforts at making explicit the commonsense knowledge that underlies discourse and every other human activity. The book concludes with the creation of The American story, a text made up of sentences each of which can be seen as a compressed form of a myriad of real stories told in American conversation. Livia Polanyi is with Bolt, Beranek and Newman. A Bradford Book. Contents Preface Chapter 1: What Was and What Is Romanticism? Part I: Typology of Romantic Literature Chapter 2: English Romantic Poetry Chapter 3: German Romantic Poetry Chapter 4: French Romantic Poetry Part II: Systematic Discussionof Romantic Aesthetics, Psychology, and Ethics Chapter 5: The Beautiful and the Sublime Chapter 6: The Romantic Image of the Person as Reflected in the Novel Chapter 7: Romantic Ethics Chapter 8: Political Theories after the French Revolution Part III: Syntheses of Romantic Thought Chapter 9: The Romantic Idea of History Chapter 10: Philosophical Foundations of Romantic Thought Chapter 11: A New Religion? Conclusion Notes Index Louis Dupré analyzes Romanticism as a unique cultural phenomenon and a spiritual revolution. This study completes his trilogy on European culture during the modern epoch. Louis Dupre analyzes Romanticism as a unique cultural phenomenon and a spiritual revolution. This study completes his trilogy on European culture during the modern epoch.