Abstract

The unmistakable modernity of Novalis' poetics derives its dynamic force from its adherence to the philosophical movement of German Idealism. Yet few studies of Novalis' works go beyond a cursory reference to J.G. Fichte's Grundlage der gesamten Wissenschaftslehre. This study breaks with traditional Novalis scholarship by laying bare and underscoring Novalis' close reading of all of Fichte's early works. After a brief chapter elucidating Fichte's concept of the imagination the bulk of the work is devoted to in-depth analyses of three key notions constitutive of Novalis' poetics: the sign, time and chance (Zufall). The final chapter weaves the strands of previous discussion into a coherent whole by examining the central concept in Novalis' poetics Gemut. The volume enriches our understanding of Fichte's philosophy, Novalis' poetics and that watershed era of modernity: German Romanticism."