Ossian
From Angl-Am
Revision as of 13:28, 19 April 2007 by Olaf Simons (Talk | contribs)
I read int Ossian and its surrounding materials for the Basismodul-Lecture last winter and was greatly surprised. The title offers an ancient epic poem - and does not keep its promise. Instead we get a dissertation about the qualities of this poem and what is called a translation of the original Scottish work.
The text was everything but that translation - it was much rather a fake, the original epic was never found. It became, nonetheless, influential: as an early work of original northern poetry (before such works came to be discovered). Ossian inspired imitations, versifications and translations, and the preface had done a good job to kindle this fire.
The seminar might focus on the
- textual history,
- the complex European reception history,
- the influence on real discoveries such as Beowulf
- the question why scientists like Johann Gottfried Herder could read this book as authentic.