THE CONCEPT OF EXPERIENCE IN GOETHE'S LATE WORK, ESPECIALLY IN THE NOVEL WILHELM MEISTER'S JOURNEYMAN YEARS

• Grant number: 25/03591-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: September 03, 2025
• End date: February 02, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Modern Foreign Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Marcus Vinicius Mazzari
• Grantee: Marcus Vinicius Mazzari
• Host Investigator: Michael Jaeger
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Abstract

The main aim of this project is to focus on the meaning that the concept of "experience" (Erfahrung) took on in Goethe's late work, not only literary, but also epistolary and memorialistic. The research corpus includes the novel "Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years", published in a second version in 1829. More generally, the formal features (some of which are listed in the Project) and the conceptual elements of Goethe's late style will be addressed, including, in addition to "experience", the concepts of "intensification", "polarity", "activity" and "renunciation" (Entsagung). The aim of this research (and the publications resulting from it) is to bring to light dimensions of Goethe's work that are still little known (not only in Brazil) and which should reinforce the perception of its extraordinary relevance today. Industrialization and the suppression of artisanal work (Nachodine's story), migratory movements, sketches of utopian models are, for example, themes from "Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years" that point to Goethe's topicality. (AU)