Critical response to Uhland's work from 19th century to present.Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862) is one of the founders of German literary scholarship and philology, and an important Romantic poet and dramatist. His Gedichte of 1815 contains the bulk of his work, including such famous balladsas Des Sängers Fluch; other significant writings are scholarly studies and editions, such as Walther von der Vogelweide (1822) and Alte hoch- und niederdeutsch Volkslieder. Professor Doerksen deals with the critical response to the entire body of Uhland's work from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. In so doing he provides not only a map of changing literary and critical fashions but also a fascinating picture of cultural and political trends in early and mid-nineteenth century Germany.
Victor G. Doerksen Libros



Describes the activities of writers working for liberalism in 19th-century Württemberg.A Path for Freedom describes a little understood activity of poets and writers of Württemberg in the first half of the nineteenth century. These writers, the majority of whom are consigned by historians to the 'Biedermeier'or conservative camp, were in fact engaged in what is here called the liberal project, using their writing to further the cause of constitutional liberalism.Poets like Uhland and Kerner, and lesser known journalists suchas Friedrich List and Rudolf Lohbauer, were engaged in working within the system to further the liberal cause; nonetheless, many of them served terms in prison for their actions. Professor Doerksen's book follows such figures beyond the pages of literary history to observe the Württemberg writers in their political roles and as literary combatants.This cross-disciplinary study will be of interest not only to Germanists but also to historians of social thought and German political movements of the nineteenth century.