Johann Heinrich Merck (1741-1791) ist weniger als Dichter und Aoebersetzer, dafA1/4r aber umso mehr als Literaturkritiker und Korrespondenzpartner fA1/4r die deutsche Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts von groAer Bedeutung. Der KanzleisekretAr und Kriegsrat A1/4bte u. a. auf Herder und den jungen Goethe einen starken EinfluA aus. Er verlegte Goethes berA1/4hmte Schrift "Von deutscher Baukunst" und finanzierte den Druck des "GAtz von Berlichingen." In den "Frankfurter Gelehrten Anzeigen," Wielands "Merkur" und der "Allgemeinen Deutschen Bibliothek" trat er mit vielbeachteten Rezensionen hervor. Sein Briefwechsel mit bedeutenden Protagonisten der intellektuellen Welt, u. a. Goethe, Hamann, Herder und Wieland, macht ihn zu einem Fokus des deutschen Literatur- und Geisteslebens im letzten Drittel des 18. Jahrhunderts. Der aus einem DarmstAdter Kolloquium hervorgegangene Band, der u. a. Reproduktionen von Zeichnungen Mercks aus dem Bestand des Hessischen Landesmuseums bietet, erschlieAt in systematischer Ausgewogenheit Werk und Bedeutung Johann Heinrich Mercks in BeitrAgen namhafter Wissenschaftler. Autoren sind u. a. JArg-Ulrich Fechner, Marie-Therese Federhofer, Andrea Heinz, Hartmut Vollmer, Gerhard Sauder, Robert Seidel und die Herausgeber.

The volume is a collection of contributions by renowned literary scientists on selected German-language novels from the Classical Modern Age (ca. 1890-1933). Each text is introduced individually according to a set scheme and classified within the cultural-historical context of the Classic Modern Age. Emphasis is placed on current approaches to interpretation, providing the reader with an extensive overview of the respective latest research.

A panel of authors, critics, and academics convened by the Literaturhaus in Munich in 1999 voted Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities the most important German novel of the 20th century. Their collective judgment rests on strong foundations: on the work's encyclopedic compass, embracing intellectual, social, political, and cultural concerns embodied in themes of striking originality; on its probing of key issues of Austrian and German life from the first four decades of the twentieth century; on the brilliance of its language, unsurpassed by any other 20th-century author writing in German. While this Companion gives The Man without Qualities the central focus it deserves, it also contributes to a deeper understanding of Musil's other significant works; in harnessing a team of established scholars from North America and Europe to the task of providing an assessment of Musil's work, it sets new standards in scope and originality. The analyses are embedded in an appreciation of the intellectual contexts of Musil's writing, yielding fresh insights into Musil's artistic accomplishment and into his place in the Austrian and German cultural traditions of the 20th century. CONTRIBUTORS: PHILIP PAYNE, KLAUS AMANN, GALIN TIHANOV, MATTHIAS LUSERKE-JAQUI, SILVIA BONACCHI, CHRISTIAN ROGOWSKI, PETER HENNINGER, WALTER FANTA, KARL CORINO, GENESE GRILL, BURTON PIKE, RA1/4DIGER GARNER Philip Payne is Professor of German Studies at Lancaster University, UK; Graham Bartram is Senior Lecturer in German Studies at Lancaster University, UK; and Galin Tihanov is Professor of Comparative Literature and Intellectual History and Co-Director of the Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Cultures at the Universityof Manchester, UK.

A fresh and extensive look at the works of the great Austrian novelist in the context of the German and Austrian culture of his time. A panel of authors, critics, and academics convened by the Literaturhaus in Munich in 1999 voted Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities the most important German novel of the 20th century. Their collective judgment restson strong foundations: on the work's encyclopedic compass, embracing intellectual, social, political, and cultural concerns embodied in themes of striking originality; on its probing of key issues of Austrian and German life fromthe first four decades of the twentieth century; on the brilliance of its language, unsurpassed by any other 20th-century author writing in German. While this Companion gives The Man without Qualities the central focus it deserves, it also contributes to a deeper understanding of Musil's other significant works; in harnessing a team of established scholars from North America and Europe to the task of providing an assessment of Musil's work, it setsnew standards in scope and originality. The analyses are embedded in an appreciation of the intellectual contexts of Musil's writing, yielding fresh insights into Musil's artistic accomplishment and into his place in the Austrianand German cultural traditions of the 20th century. Contributors: Philip Payne, Klaus Amann, Galin Tihanov, Matthias Luserke-Jaqui, Silvia Bonacchi, Christian Rogowski, Peter Henninger, Walter Fanta, Karl Corino, GeneseGrill, Burton Pike, Rudiger Goerner Philip Payne is emeritus Professor of German Studies at Lancaster University, UK; Graham Bartram is retired as Senior Lecturer in German Studies at Lancaster University, UK; and Galin Tihanov is the George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature at Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Schillers Werk kompakt und verstandlich. Das Handbuch stellt neben ausgewahlten Gedichten samtliche Dramen und alle Prosa-Schriften Schillers in detaillierten Werkanalysen vor. Im Mittelpunkt steht der bedeutendste Werkkomplex: die Dramen. Die literatur- und kulturgeschichtlichen Bezuge werden prasentiert und das grundsatzliche anthropologische Interesse des Dichters, Mediziners, Philosophen und Historikers Schiller gewurdigt. Umfangreiche Angaben zur Entstehungs- und Deutungsgeschichte runden die einzelnen Artikel ab.