Germany is the birthplace of romanticism. The backwardness of the political economy, the weakness of the bourgeoisie, and the prevalence of idealist philosophy determined that early romanticism in Germany had a strong mystical and religious flavor. The Schlegel brothers were the theoretical founders of German Romanticism. They used "The Temple of Athena" as a basis to elaborate on the romantic concepts of individual liberation and artistic aimlessness. Under the influence of the Schlegel brothers, a group of early Romantic poets appeared in Germany, including Novalis (1772-1801) and Tick (1773-1853). Novalis' "Hymn to the Night" celebrates the "sacred, ineffable, mysterious" night and celebrates the wonderful feeling of death. Tick ??wrote three volumes of "Collection of Folk Fairy Tales", creating a new theme of fairy tale novels. After 1805, the "Heidelberg Romantic School" appeared in Germany, represented by Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) and Achim von Arnim (1781-1838). ). The former's lyric poem "Hypnotic Song" has the flavor of folk songs and is rich in poetry. The two collaborated on the publication of the folk song collection "The Boy's Magic Horn", which collected nearly 300 years of German folk songs. Brothers Jacob Green (1785-1863) and William Green (1786-1859) were linguists and folklorists. They compiled "Children's and Family Fairy Tales", which is regarded as one of the best fairy tales in the world. Excellent product. The novel "The Life of a Useless Man" by Joseph von Elchendorf (1788-1857) mixes fantasy and reality, and is full of mystery. After 1809, German Romanticism formed another center in Germany. Kleist's (1777-1811) comedy "The Broken Urn" criticizes the corruption of Prussian officialdom and judicial system, and is full of humorous and satirical features of folk comedy. "Tomcat Moore's View of Life" by Hoffmann (1776-1822) shows a philistine world of intrigues, male thieves and female prostitutes, with unique imagination and conception. The great poet Heine was also a romantic poet in his early years, but later turned to realism. Overall, the characteristics of romanticism in Germany are not obvious, and there are many changes in style. In the later period, it gradually integrated into the powerful realist literary trend.
France
The rebellious movement against traditional capitalist cultural ideas in literature, art and other cultural fields that emerged in France after the First World War spread to other European and American countries. Its content is not limited to literature, but also involves painting, music and other artistic fields. It raises issues such as the source of creation, methods of creation, and purpose of creation, as well as social issues such as the capitalist social system and people's living conditions. The Surrealists claimed that they were carrying out a "spiritual revolution."
The movement was initiated by a group of French youths who had participated in World War I. They witnessed the absurdity and destruction of the war and had doubts about traditional ideals, culture, and morality centered on reason. Old beliefs have lost their charm and need to be replaced by a new ideal. Surrealism is their attempt on the road of exploration.
Surrealism paved the way for modern literature. As a literary genre, Surrealism did not actually exist for a long time. As a literary and artistic trend and an aesthetic viewpoint, its influence is far-reaching.
The purpose of the Surrealists is to leave reality and return to the primitive, denying the role of reason and emphasizing people's subconscious or unconscious activities. The French subjective idealist philosopher Berglin's intuitionism and the Austrian psychopathologist Freud's "subconscious" theory laid the philosophical and theoretical foundation of Surrealism.
The emergence of the surrealist literary and artistic trend reflects the fear of reality and the frantic and restless mental state of the young generation of European bourgeoisie after the First World War. Writers who participated in the Surrealist Group include Brodon, Soupo, Zara, painters Arp, Masson and so on. Some writers belonging to this genre, such as Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard, etc., were actively influenced by the proletarian revolutionary movement and later turned to the progressive literary and artistic front. After World War II, Surrealism became popular in the United States, and the so-called "New Surrealism" school emerged, becoming a propaganda tool used by imperialism.
Surrealism has many literary functions. "Magnetic Field", co-authored by Brodon and Soupaud in 1921, was the first experimental work of Surrealism and raised the issue of unconscious writing and automatic writing for the first time. But typical surrealist works were produced after 1924. For example, Brodon's novels "The Dissolvable Fish" (1924) and "Naga" (1928) are representative works of surrealism. Aragon's collection of essays "The Peasants of Paris" published in 1926, and Eluard's collection of poems "The City of Pain" and "The Inside Story of Life" are all works of Surrealism.