A Study of Goethe's 'West-östlicher Divan'

歌德于1819年出版了《西方-东方诗篇》[West-East Divan]，这是十二本《书》中的一系列诗歌。它们是在拿破仑战争的剧变之后写成的，灵感来自于他发现了波斯诗人哈菲斯的诗歌(其作品由约瑟夫·冯·哈默在1812-1814年翻译和出版)，这一经历因他与玛丽安·冯·威勒默的亲密关系而得到加强，玛丽安·冯·威勒默是一位已婚朋友，他曾两次前往他的家乡莱茵河/美因河地区拜访她的家人。这些诗歌常常被认为是深奥的和/或无关紧要的，结合了表面上的简单，经常使用简单的诗歌形式，与不可避免地与公众格格不入的内容(例如，伊斯兰对天堂的概念)相结合。为了反驳这一点，歌德觉得有必要出版一套《笔记和散文》，以便更好地理解《西方--狄凡》。这些诗歌确实遭到了公众的不理解，在某种程度上，这些诗歌在歌德的研究中一直被忽视。本研究旨在正确地展示这部作品，将其解读为一部作品，尽管它很奇怪，但有些人感到遥远，内容实际上反映了歌德思想和经历的核心问题。它的起源和灵感来自多种因素(如上所述)，这意味着这个循环背后的核心理念是“西方诗人的东方诗歌”(歌德在第一版首页的阿拉伯文中这样称呼它们)，他展开了一次东方之旅，并与那里的文化、诗人和宗教，尤其是他深爱的“苏莱卡”进行了接触，这对歌德来说是一个非凡的工具，可以探索人类体验中的原型模式，架起文化鸿沟的桥梁。爱德华·赛义德将东方主义视为一种殖民工具的观点被证明不足以解释歌德与东方的接触中所发生的事情，这可以被描述为一种开放、谦逊和接受的对话，而不是居高临下或高人一等。对于普通读者来说，这项研究将为不同时代的跨文化关系提供一个具有挑战性的视角，并可能提供一种潜在的、富有成效的方式来处理这一主题。更具体地说，这项研究将为第一次接触这项工作的学生提供有用的介绍，使他们能够克服一些明显的障碍，同时打开了接触这项工作的丰富性和复杂性的途径。正是在对这一主题复杂性的分析中，涵盖了宗教、哲学、科学、伦理、政治、审美、情感和个人问题，本研究旨在为学术做出贡献。它将为这部作品提供新的视角，并揭示出循环中的一致性，表明这是歌德应对公共和个人危机的方式，他无法直接处理这些危机，但他可以通过这种明显诱人的进入不同文化背景的方式参与其中。因此，这项工作的应用和效益将在不同层面上运作。

Goethe published the 'West-östlicher Divan' [West-Eastern Divan] in 1819, a cycle of poems in twelve 'Books'. They were written in the wake of the upheaval of the Napoleonic wars and were inspired by his discovery of the poetry of the Persian poet Hafis (whose work was translated and published by Joseph von Hammer in 1812-14), an experience enhanced by his sharing of this 'revelation' in an intense relationship with Marianne von Willemer, a married friend whose family he visited on two journeys to his native Rhine/Main region. The poems have often felt to be abstruse and/or inconsequential, combining an apparent simplicity, very often using simple verse forms, with a content that was inevitably alien to the public (for instance, Islamic notions of paradise). To counter this Goethe felt it necessary to publish a set of 'Notes and essays for the better understanding of the 'West-östlicher Divan''. The poems were indeed met with incomprehension from the public and to a degree these poems have remained neglected in Goethe studies.This study aims to present this work in its rightful position, interpreting it as a work which, despite its 'strange', some feel remote, content, in fact reflects a very complex range of issues that are central to Goethe's thought and experience. The complex combination of factors (referred to above) contributing to its genesis and inspiration means that the central notion behind the cycle, that these are the 'eastern poems of the western poet' (as Goethe calls them in an Arabic inscription on the title page of the first edition), who undertakes a journey to the east and engages with its culture, its poets, religions and above all with his beloved 'Suleika', is an extraordinary device for Goethe to explore archetypal patterns in human experience that bridges a cultural divide. Edward Said's notion of 'Orientalism' as a colonial tool is shown to be inadequate to explain what is happening in Goethe's engagement with the east, which can be described as a kind of 'dialogue', that is open, humble and receptive, rather than condescending or superior. For the general reader, this study will provide an challenging perspective on intercultural relations from a different era and perhaps provide a potentialy productive way of approaching the subject. More specifically, the study will provide a useful introduction for students approaching the work for the first time, enabling them to overcome some apparent obstacles, and at the same time opening up access to the richness and complexity of the work. It is in the analysis of this thematic complexity, covering religious, philosophical, scientific, ethical, political, aesthetic, emotional and personal issues that the study aims to make its contribution to scholarship. It will offer new perspectives on this work and reveal a coherence in the cycle, showing it to be Goethe's way of responding to public and personal crises, that he could not tackle directly, but which he could engage with by means of this apparently beguiling 'flight' into a different cultural context. The application and benefits of the work will therefore operate on a variety of levels.