The Literary Absolute is the first authoritative study of the emergence of the m
odern concept of literature in German romanticism. The authors trace this concep
t from the philosophical crisis bequeathed by Kant to his successors, to its dev
elopment by the central figures of the Athenaeum group: the Schlegel brothers, S
chelling, and Novalis.
This study situates the Jena romantics fragmentary mode
l of literature a model of literature as the production of its own theory in rel
ation to the development of a post-Kantian conception of philosophy as the total
and reflective auto-production of the thinking subject. Analyzing key texts of
the period, the authors articulate the characteristics of romantic thought and a
t the same time show historical and systematic connections with modern literary
theory. Thus, The Literary Absolute renews contemporary scholarship, showing the
romantic origins of some of the leading issues in current critical theory."
