Romanticism

What is Romanticism? In this Very Short Introduction Michael Ferber answers this by considering who the romantics were and looks at what they had in common -- their ideas, beliefs, commitments, and tastes. He looks at the birth and growth of Romanticism throughout Europe and the Americas, and examines various types of Romantic literature, music, painting, religion, and philosophy. Focusing on topics, Ferber looks at the 'Sensibility' movement, which preceded Romanticism; the rising prestige of the poet; Romanticism as a religious trend; Romantic philosophy and science; Romantic responses to the French Revolution; and the condition of women. Using examples and quotations he presents a clear insight into this very diverse movement, and offers a definition as well as a discussion of the word 'Romantic' and where it came from. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

What is Romanticism? In this Very Short Introduction Michael Ferber answers this by considering who the romantics were and looks at what they had in common -- their ideas, beliefs, commitments, and tastes. He looks at the birth and growth of Romanticism throughout Europe and the Americas, and examines various types of Romantic literature, music, painting, religion, and philosophy. Focusing on topics, Ferber looks at the 'Sensibility' movement, which preceded Romanticism; the rising prestige of the poet; Romanticism as a religious trend; Romantic philosophy and science; Romantic responses to the French Revolution; and the condition of women. Using examples and quotations he presents a clear insight into this very diverse movement, and offers a definition as well as a discussion of the word 'Romantic' and where it came from. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The renowned scholar Rüdiger Safranski’s Romanticism: A German Affair both offers an accessible overview of Romanticism and, more critically, traces its lasting influence, for better and for ill, on German culture. Safranski begins with the eighteenthcentury Sturm und Drang movement, which would sow the seeds for Romanticism in Germany. While Romanticism was a broad artistic, literary, and intellectual movement, German thinkers were especially concerned with its strong philosophical-metaphysical and religious dimension. Safranski follows this spirit in its afterlife in the work of Heinrich Heine, Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann, and through the later artistic upheavals of the twentieth century. He concludes by carefully considering Romanticism’s possible influence in the rise of National Socialism and the student revolt of 1968. Romanticism: A German Affair is essential reading for anyone interested in the power of art, culture, and ideas in the life of a nation.

This richly illustrated volume invites readers to explore the phenomenon and fascination of Romanticism, a movement that shaped the cultural and aesthetic landscape of the nineteenth century and continues to resonate in modern consciousness. The Romantic era ignited a profound shift in the arts, celebrating imagination, emotion, and the sublime power of nature. The book offers a nuanced view of Romanticism’s revolutionary impact. It journeys through the movement’s origins in the experimental ferment of the eighteenth century, its apex in German, French, and British painting, and its later echoes across Europe and North America. The author examines key figures such as Caspar David Friedrich, J.M.W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix, and Théodore Géricault, exploring their transformative approaches to landscape, light, and human passion. The narrative also unravels the movement’s intricate relationship with themes of melancholy, the sublime, and the spiritual reconciliation of the individual with the universal. Acclaimed art historian Norbert Wolf illuminates Romanticism’s capacity to evoke longing, its poeticization of life through art, and its engagement with profound contradictions— an embrace of both light and shadow. By tracing the stylistic and cultural trajectories of Romantic painting, from Germany’s High Romanticism to the North American Hudson River School, he situates these works within broader artistic and intellectual traditions. Filled with breathtaking reproductions of major works, and backed by impeccable scholarship, Romanticism reveals a movement that transcended national boundaries and bridged the intersection of emotion, imagination, and the sublime.

This richly illustrated volume invites readers to explore the phenomenon and fascination of Romanticism, a movement that shaped the cultural and aesthetic landscape of the nineteenth century and continues to resonate in modern consciousness. The Romantic era ignited a profound shift in the arts, celebrating imagination, emotion, and the sublime power of nature. The book offers a nuanced view of Romanticism’s revolutionary impact. It journeys through the movement’s origins in the experimental ferment of the eighteenth century, its apex in German, French, and British painting, and its later echoes across Europe and North America. The author examines key figures such as Caspar David Friedrich, J.M.W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix, and Théodore Géricault, exploring their transformative approaches to landscape, light, and human passion. The narrative also unravels the movement’s intricate relationship with themes of melancholy, the sublime, and the spiritual reconciliation of the individual with the universal. Acclaimed art historian Norbert Wolf illuminates Romanticism’s capacity to evoke longing, its poeticization of life through art, and its engagement with profound contradictions— an embrace of both light and shadow. By tracing the stylistic and cultural trajectories of Romantic painting, from Germany’s High Romanticism to the North American Hudson River School, he situates these works within broader artistic and intellectual traditions. Filled with breathtaking reproductions of major works, and backed by impeccable scholarship, Romanticism reveals a movement that transcended national boundaries and bridged the intersection of emotion, imagination, and the sublime.