August Wilhelm Von Schlegel

Schlegel, August Wilhelm Von 

Born Sept. 8,1767, in Hanover; died May 12,1845, in Bonn. German literary historian and writer. Brother of F. von Schlegel.

A. von Schlegel studied classical philology at the University of Göttingen from 1787 to 1791. Beginning in 1818, he taught literary history at the University of Bonn and did work in Sanskrit studies. He was one of the founders of comparative linguistics. Schlegel belonged to the Jena school of German romantics. In his works, including the Berlin lectures on literature and aesthetics (1801–04, published 1884) and the Vienna lectures on dramatic art and literature (1808, published 1809–11), he gave the first systematic analysis of romanticism as a historical and aesthetic concept. In this analysis, which became famous throughout Europe, he contrasted ancient, classical aesthetics to modern, romantic aesthetics.

An outstanding theorist of artistic translation, Schlegel translated works by Dante, Calderón, and Petrarch; his translations of the plays of Shakespeare remain unsurpassed. Schlegel’s own literary works, including Poetic Works (1811) and his dramas, were influenced by classicism.

WORKS

Kritische Schriften und Briefe, vols. 1–6. Stuttgart, 1962–67.
In Russian translation:
“Lektsii o literature i iskusstve: Fragmenty.” In Istoriia estetiki, vol. 3. Moscow, 1967.

REFERENCES

Berkovskii, N. Ia. “Esteticheskie pozitsii nemetskogo romantizma.” In Literaturnaia teoriia nemetskogo romantizma. Leningrad, 1934.
Besenbeck, A. Kunstanschauung und Kunstlehre A. W. Schlegels. Berlin, 1930.

N. IU. PALIEVSKAIA