Gessner's 'Voegel', Klopstock's 'Frühlingswürmchen' and Lavater's 'Schmetterling'. Metaphors of Mortality and and Metamorphosis in Eighteenth-Century Religious Literature
- Event type
- Lecture
- Series
- English Goethe Society Lectures
- Address
- Bedford Room, G37, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
- Speakers
- Sarah Fengler (University of Oxford)
- Event dates
- Contact
- jane.lewin@sas.ac.uk 020 7862 8966
Speaker: Sarah Fengler (Oxford)
This lecture explores animal metaphors of mortality and metamorphosis in three eighteenth-century works of religious literature. Gessner’s epic poem Der Tod Abels (1758) describes how the discovery of a dead bird prompts Eve to reflect on her responsibility for human mortality. Klopstock’s hymnic poem ‘Die Frühlingsfeyer’ (1759) questions the impermanence of life by the example of a little insect, the ‘Frühlingswürmchen’. In Lavater’s play Abraham und Isaak (1776), the metamorphosis of a butterfly proves that death is the threshold to eternity. What were the functions of animal metaphors in the literary reception of the Bible, and how did they
shape the German-language tradition of religious literature?
This lecture will be held in person (Room G37, Senate House) and will be streamed live via Zoom.
Attendance is free. Advance registration is essential.
