Die Charakteristik Prolegomena zur Theorie und Geschichte einer deutschen Gattung - nebst komparatistischer Bemerkungen

The term ›characteristic‹ (›Charakteristik‹) refers to a genre of essayistic prose that is very close but not equivalent to the biographical short form, which reaches its peak in the German-speaking countries between Early Romanticism and ›Vormärz‹. By considering ›characteristic‹ as a literary genre with specific features, this present paper focuses on its pre- and early history in the Long Eighteenth Century. It starts with an overview of the current state of research, followed by a brief outline of the history of the concept, with special attention to the connections between philosophical and poetological discourses. Particular attention is devoted to the definitions of ›characteristic‹ given in essays and treatises on poetics of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Following a comparative approach, ›characteristic‹ is ultimately introduced in a transnational frame toreveal its proximity to other genres such as the written eulogy and the necrology