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Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz (1751-1792) is, after Goethe, the most important writer of the German Sturm und Drang. Crucial in the reinvention of German literature through the reception of Shakespeare, his works contain a scathing critique of the ethical, political, and sexual regimes then prevailing in German and Eastern European territories. Both aesthetically and politically, Lenz strongly influenced later German writers - most notably Georg Büchner and Bertolt Brecht. In Germany, Lenz is still widely read and performed. Given his importance and lasting reception, it is surprising that many of his texts are not available in English. While his best-known dramas have been translated, many of his essays have not, and none of his stories or poems have been. This is especially astonishing given the growth of English-language Lenz scholarship over recent decades. This volume contains new - and, in many cases, first - English translations of Lenz's most important plays, stories, poems, and essays. It is the first representative English collection of Lenz's works. Providing reliable translations of Lenz's key writings and succinct glosses of historical and literary references, this book is a valuable resource for classroom use or for anyone interested in German literature, the European Enlightenment, and the theory and practice of theater. Martin Wagner is Assistant Professor of German at the University of Calgary. Ellwood Wiggins is Assistant Professor of German at the University of Washington.
List of contents
A Note on the Translation
Introduction by the Editors
PART ONE. THE PLAYS
The Tutor
The New Menoza
The Soldiers
PART TWO. STORIES
The Hermit
The Country Pastor
PART THREE. ESSAYS
Remarks on the Theater
On
Götz von BerlichingenReview of
The New MenozaOn Scene Changes in Shakespeare
On the Marriages of Soldiers
PART FOUR. POEMS
Portrait of a Slain Man
Herr Professor Kant
Where Are You Now
Love in the Countryside
Impromptu in the Audience
Just to Hang upon Her Glance
Adorned with Beautiful Stones
Allwill's First Spiritual Song
Song Set to the German Dance
Song of a Shipwrecked European
Shakespeare's Ghost
Pygmalion
To the Spirit
Chronology
A Note on the Currencies in Lenz's Works
Selected Bibliography
About the author
J. M. R. Lenz, Martin Wagner, Ellwood Wiggins
Summary
First representative English collection of the Sturm und Drang writer Lenz, suited for the classroom and anyone interested in German literature, the European Enlightenment, or the theory and practice of theater.
