flower unfolding its leaves and petals. Or like a poet unfolding his verses.”
“Doesn’t that remind you of Aristotle?”
“It does indeed. The Romantic natural philosophy had Aristotelian as
well as Neoplatonic overtones. Aristotle had a more organic view of natural
processes than the mechanical materialists . . .”
“Yes, that’s what I thought. . .”
“We find similar ideas at work in the field of history. A man who came to
have great significance for the Romantics was the historical philosopher
Johann Gottfried von Herder, who lived from 1744 to 1803. He believed that
history is characterized by continuity, evolution, and design. We say he had a
‘dynamic’ view of history because he saw it as a process. The Enlightenment
philosophers had often had a ‘static’ view of history. To them, there was only
one universal reason which there could be more or less of at various periods.
Herder showed that each historical epoch had its own intrinsic value and each
nation its own character or ‘soul.’ The question is whether we can identify with
other cultures.”
“So, just as we have to identify with another person’s Situation to
understand them better, we have to identify with other cultures to understand
them too.”
“That is taken for granted nowadays. But in the Romantic period it was a
new idea. Romanticism helped strengthen the feeling of national identity. It is
no coincidence that the Norwegian struggle for national independence
flourished at that particular time—in 1814.”
“I see.”
“Because Romanticism involved new orientations in so many areas, it
has been usual to distinguish between two forms of Romanticism. There is
what we call Universal Romanticism, referring to the Romantics who were
preoccupied with nature, world soul, and artistic genius. This form of
Romanticism flourished first, especially around 1800, in Germany, in the town
of Jena.”
“And the other?”
“The other is the so-called National Romanticism, which became popular
a little later, especially in the town of Heidelberg. The National Romantics
were mainly interested in the history of ‘the people,’ the language of ‘the
people,’ and the culture of ‘the people’ in general. And ‘the people’ were seen
as an organism unfolding its innate potentiality—exactly like nature and
history.”
“Tell me where you live, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
“What united these two aspects of Romanticism was first and foremost
the key word ‘organism.’ The Romantics considered both a plant and a nation
to be a living organism. A poetic work was also a living organism. Language
was an organism. The entire physical world, even, was considered one
organism. There is therefore no sharp dividing line between National
Romanticism and Universal Romanticism. The world spirit was just as much
present in the people and in popular culture as in nature and art.”
“I see.”
“Herder had been the forerunner, collecting folk songs from many lands
under the eloquent title Voices of the People. He even referred to folktales as
‘the mother tongue of the people.’ The Brothers Grimm and others began to
collect folk songs and fairy tales in Heidelberg. You must know of Grimm’s