The Self as Muse Narcissism and Creativity in the German Imagination 1750-1830

This volume treats the unprecedented interest in notions of the self in German literature from 1750 to 1830. The legitimacy of the use of the term "narcissism" in connection with texts of this period is put into question by the fact that authors were ignorant of the meaning of the word as used today. Mathas (Univ. of Oregon) seeks to avoid this dilemma by using the term as preoccupation with the self in the broadest sense. The editor divides the book's nine essays into four parts: "Narcissism and the Senses," "Narcissism and Morality," "Over and against Freud" (which focuses on the narcissistic structure of the modern psyche), and "Reading and Writing Narcissism." The contributors discuss works and theories of authors both well known and less familiar--Goethe's Werther, Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel's Lebenslaufe, Kant, Schiller, Herder, Lessing, Hamann, von Kleist, Hoffmann, Poe. Each of the essays has its own footnotes and bibliography, and a general index serves the entire volume. This is a handsome, well-edited volume that will undoubtedly provoke further discussion of the main topic. CHOICE The nine essays in this focused and consistently fruitful collection explore the extensive interest in the self and self-examination in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth century German culture. Alexander Mathas, has already established his credentials as a scholar of literary narcissism. It is a strength of the volume that so many of its essays directly support the central theses put forth in the introduction A good deal of scholarly work has already been devoted to the invention of selfhood and modern individuality in the late- eighteenth century, but there remains an open spot on that shelf for this thoughtful collection to fill. By focusing on narcissism's productive potential, within both German art and letters and the rise of modern subjectivity, the books' contributors produce a valuable set of insights. Monatshefte