Heinrich von Ofterdingen (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg
- First Published: 1802
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—inner space
- Time of Work: The Middle Ages
- Setting: Germany
- Genres: Long fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Poetry or poets, Dreams, Flowers, Germany or German people, Middle Ages, Fairy tales, Atlantis
- Locales: Germany
The Plot
Heinrich von Ofterdingen was published posthumously and remains a fragment. It is questionable whether Novalis could have taken the novel much further, for it progresses rapidly from the outer to the inner world, with associations increasing exponentially. Part 1 ends with Klingsohrs fairy tale, an extremely dense and complicated story that remains impervious to consistent interpretation. Some regard it as the epitome of a Romantic literary fairy tale. Others reject it because it does not make sense. The Germanist Emil Staiger omitted Klingsohrs fairy tale from...
[The entire page is 1007 words long]
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