LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:4 April 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Friedrich Hölderlin: Poets as Philosophers

Dr. S. Sridevi

Abstract

Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) was a German poet-philosopher who is viewed by scholars as a writer who naturalized the forms of classical Greek verse in German and in melding Christian and classical themes. Nietzsche is supposed to have been influenced by Hölderlin. Martin Heidegger interpreted Hölderlin’s poem “Ister” from a philosophical perspective and delivered important lectures and takes Hölderlin’s poems as illustrations to interpret his philosophical discourses. This paper aims at studying the predominant themes of the poems of Hölderlin that view the world from the position of a European scholar of the eighteenth century who understands the limitations of time and space and emphasizes on the fluidity of life.

Keywords: Hölderlin, Poets, Philosophers, Nietzsche, Heidegger

Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) was one of the greatest poets of Germany. Schelling and Hegel acknowledged him as their equal. Hölderlin’s philosophical fragments were first published in 1961. Many scholars are now studying his influence on German idealism. He is also considered to be a major influence on Hegel. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) referred to him as the “glorious Hölderlin.” Themes from Hölderlin are found abundantly in Nietzsche’s works. Another philosopher who was highly influenced was Wilhelm Dilthey (Forster in his “Foreword” 1-3.) We have to remember that the English poet Wordsworth was also born in 1770. Therefore, it is possible to interpret the poems of Hölderlin as an eighteenth century philosopher–poet who might have witnessed the fruits of Renaissance, French Revolution, and German academia’s Oriental Studies.

Hölderlin is supposed to have naturalized the forms of classical Greek verse in German and in melding Christian and classical themes. He gained little recognition during his lifetime and was almost totally forgotten for nearly 100 years. In the early years of the 20th century he was rediscovered in Germany and his reputation as one of the outstanding lyric poets in the German language has been established in Europe. Today he is ranked among the greatest of German poets and admired for his expressive style. He spoke about “the return of the gods.” (Witte)

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. S. Sridevi
Associate Professor of English
CTTE College
Chennai 600011
Tamilnadu, India
sridevisaral@gmail.com
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