E.T.A. Hoffmann in England. Probleme der Praxis und Theorie interkultureller Literaturrezeption im 19. Jahrhundert

This study makes a contribution to the history of E.T.A. Hoffmann's influence by offering a comprehensive compilation and indexing of English literary criticism's reception testimonies and, for the first time, placing them within the framework of comparative reception research, the theory of transnational literary mediation and the history of literary criticism in the 19th century. Questions of intercultural literary reception, such as divergences in the literary criticism of an author across national borders or the processes and conditions within a context of reception, cannot be answered within the methodological limits of literary studies alone. They require an analytical instrument that takes into account the heterogeneous objects of analysis and the different dimensions of intercultural reception. Different approaches to the theoretical consideration of individual aspects of intercultural reception (world literature, evaluation, context, translation theory and practice, socioliterary conditions) are therefore gathered here, the work of E.T.A. Hoffmann is examined exemplarily, and its reception in England in the 19th century is analysed as a concrete individual study. The theoretical foundation in the first part is based on the one hand on Pierre Bourdieu's literary sociological considerations, as especially his idea of the literary field is suitable for describing the dynamics of literary criticism and the reception of works. In the sense of an intercultural theory, these dynamics are further enhanced in Pascale Casanova's model of a "world republic of letters". The other two parts of the work are dedicated to the concrete case of Hoffmann: on the one hand, they open up a selection of Hoffmann's work with the poetological principles and themes contained in the literary texts, on the other hand, they look at the English reception by presenting the reception prerequisites, such as the status of translations into English, the type of text transfer and literary critical evaluations of Hoffmann's works in reviews and translation prefaces, and by highlighting prominent positions such as those of Sir Walter Scott.