Name: Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece
Price: 818.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Friedrich Holderlin
ISBN: 9781783746569

portada Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece

Type

Physical Book

Author

Friedrich Holderlin

Translated by

Howard Gaskill

Publisher

Open Book Publishers

Language

English

Pages

236

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

23.4 x 15.6 x 1.4 cm

Weight

0.51 kg.

ISBN13

9781783746569

Synopsis "Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece"

Friedrich Hölderlin's only novel, Hyperion (1797-99), is a fictional epistolary autobiography that juxtaposes narration with critical reflection. Returning to Greece after German exile, following his part in the abortive uprising against the occupying Turks (1770), and his failure as both a lover and a revolutionary, Hyperion assumes a hermitic existence, during which he writes his letters. Confronting and commenting on his own past, with all its joy and grief, the narrator undergoes a transformation that culminates in the realisation of his true vocation.Though Hölderlin is now established as a great lyric poet, recognition of his novel as a supreme achievement of European Romanticism has been belated in the Anglophone world. Incorporating the aesthetic evangelism that is a characteristic feature of the age, Hyperion preaches a message of redemption through beauty. The resolution of the contradictions and antinomies raised in the novel is found in the act of articulation itself. To a degree remarkable in a prose work of any length, what it means is inseparable from how it means. In this skilful translation, Gaskill conveys the beautiful music and rhythms of Hölderlin's language to an English-speaking reader.

Friedrich Holderlin

(Author)

View Author's Page

Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) was a German poet, novelist, and philosopher, considered one of the most important figures of Romanticism and German idealism. He was born on March 20, 1770, in Lauffen am Neckar, in southwestern Germany. His childhood was marked by the premature death of his father, after which he was raised by his mother and stepfather. He studied Theology at the seminary in Tübingen, where he befriended future thinkers such as Hegel and Schelling.

Although initially destined for the religious ministry, Hölderlin leaned towards literature and philosophy. His work combines influences from Greek classicism, German idealist thought, and a deep spiritual sentiment. His poetry, infused with references to mythology and nature, seeks a synthesis between the human and the divine.

His novel Hyperion or The Hermit in Greece (1797–1799) and his lyrical poetry—including odes and hymns—established him as an innovator of poetic language. From 1806, his mental health severely deteriorated, and he lived secluded in Tübingen, under the care of a family friend, until his death in 1843.

Hölderlin was virtually forgotten in his lifetime, but his legacy influenced modern poets such as Rilke, Celan, and Heidegger.

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