Horn of Oberon: Jean Paul Richter's School for Aesthetics

For the first time the Preparatory School for Aesthetics by Jean Paul Richter, a major document of German romanticism and a landmark in the development of comic theory, is available to the English-speaking public. This translation, based on Richter's revised edition of 1813, is accompanied by a critical introduction by Margaret Hale.

Richter, known under his pen name of Jean Paul, enjoyed considerable popularity in both England and America in the 19th century for his humorous romances. Jean Paul's discussion of the comic and of humour, and his attempt to discriminate between different narrative modes, remain his most significant contributions to modern literary analysis. Coleridge depended heavily on them for his lecture on 'Wit and Humor,' and other echoes are found in Meredith, Bergson, and Freud.

The work is remarkable also for its insights in many other areas: characterization, the function of criticism, and for a contemporary view of German literature at the beginning of the 19th century.

In her introduction,Margaret Hale indicates the important points of contact and the differences between Jean Paul and other German romantic writers. She shows how the color and wit of his style confirm the theoretical presuppositions of the work itself and, at least in part, explain the absence of any previous complete translation of this important landmark in German literary theory.