The theory of the novel in early German romanticism

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One of the most significant aspects of the «critical revolution» brought about by the early romantic school in Germany is undoubtedly the highlighting of the novel as the reigning genre in modern literary consciousness. Future oriented, «divinatory» ideas about new possibilities for novelistic art were developed, which not only influenced the entire period of romanticism, but also left their imprint upon modern literary endeavors as well. On the basis of the most recent critical editions of their works, including a wealth of posthumous fragments, the present study attempts to develop the theory of the novel according to the leading critics of the romantic school, Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis, and to relate it to the larger concept of poetry of the early romantics.