language and nationality in german pre-romantic and romantic thought

Language and Nationality in German Pre-Romantic and Romantic ThoughtAuthor(s): W. W. ChambersSource: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 1946), pp. 382-392Published by: Modern Humanities Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3716729 .

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LANGUAGE AND NATIONALITY IN GERMAN PRE- ROMANTIC AND ROMANTIC THOUGHT

Serious German interest in language first became noteworthy with the formation of the Sprachgesellschaften. These were, however, concerned almost exclusively with the improvement of the mother tongue. Opitz formulated rules of usage and syntax. His successors directed their efforts towards getting rid of the alarming number of useless foreign words in the literary vocabulary. Their aim was to develop the

language, so that it might become the medium for serious literature, and thus to raise its prestige to the level of English and French.

They did not indulge in speculation on the origin, development, or character of language in general nor on the qualities of German in particular. Opitz, for example, was interested only in good taste and was quite as opposed to provincialisms as he was to foreign words and phrases. His standards were arbitrary rather than based on organic principles.

As time went on, the tendency to identify language with nationality, or at least with the community of those who shared the same mother tongue, gradually appeared. One of the first to touch on this aspect was Harsdoerffer in his Poetischer Trichter of 1650. He draws a brief comparison between how people live and how they speak, and indicates the kinship of some of the German languages with one another, by indicating how linguistic development takes place.

Die Volker gegen Mittag, welche zartlich und schwach sind, reden auch zartlich und subtil: die Volker gegen Mitternacht welche stark und ernsthafft sind, pflegen grob und hart auszusprechen: Der Gestalt, dass keine Sprache nach der unterschiednen Ausrede einen ganz andern Ton, Klang und Verstandnis bekommet: dann das gemeine Volk, welches die meinsten Stimmen machet, mehrmals der ganzen Sprache eine andere Art angegossen: So gar dass nach Verflussung etlicher hundert Jahre, die Teutschen den Englander, Schottlander, Irren, Schweden, Danen, etc nicht mehr verstanden, da sie doch ihre Geschlechte von einem Stam-vater und ihre Sprachen von einem Grunde urspriinglich herfuhret.1

Harsdoerffer did not go any more deeply into the subject than this and it was the end of the century before anything more comprehensive was written. In 1697 Leibniz published his Unvorgreifliche Gedanken, betreffend die Ausiibung und Verbesserung der deutschen Sprache. His purpose was still the same as that of Opitz, but there was a significant difference in approach. Opitz had been concerned with the formation of a literary language.

Die Ziehrlichkeit erfordert, das die worte reine und deutlich sein. Damit wir aber reine reden mogen, sollen wir uns befleissen, dem welches wir Hochdeutsch nennen besten vermogens nachzukommen, und nicht derer 6rter sprache, wo falsch geredet wird, in unsere schriften vermischen.2

Let us contrast this with a passage from Leibniz:

Der Grund und Boden einer Sprache, so zu reden, sind die Worte, darauf die Redens- Arten gleichsam Fruchte herfur wachsen. Woher dann folget, dass eine der Haupt- Arbeiten deren die Teutsche Haupt-Sprache bedarf seyn wurde eine Musterung und

1 Harsdoerffer, Poetischer Trichter, Niirnberg, (Neudrucke deutscher Literaturwerke des 16. 1650, Dritter Teil, p. 6. und 17. Jahrhunderts. No. 1), p. 27.

2 Opitz, Buch von der deutschen Poeterei



W. W. CHAMBERS 383

Untersuchung aller Teutschen Worte, welche. ..nicht nur auf diejenigen gehen soil, so jedermann brauchet sondern auch auf die, so gewissen Lebens-Arten und Kiinsten eigen; und nicht nur auf die, so man Hochteutsch nennet, und die im Schreiben anitzo allein herrschen, sondern auch auf Platt-Teutsch, Markisch, Obersachsisch, Frankisch, Bayrisch, Oesterreichisch, Schwabisch, oder was sonst hin und wieder bei dem Landmann mehr als in den Stadten brauchlich, auch nicht nur was in Teutschland in obung, sondern auch von Teutscher Herkunft in Holl- und Engellandischen wozu auch fiirnehmlich die Worte der Nord-Teutschen, das ist der Danen, Norwegen, Schweden und Islander .. zu ziehen und letztlichen nicht nur auf das, so noch in der Welt geredet wird, sondern auch was verlegen und abgangen, nehmlichen das Alt-Gotische, Alt- Sachsische und Alt-Frankische wie sichs in uralten Schriften und Runen findet.1

Leibniz takes a very much wider view. He is not interested in a language within the language, rather in one German language for all purposes. He does not deal with the difference in speech between Meissen and Silesia, but with the difference between Teutsch and Welsch words in the national language. This in itself was not new, but he laid more emphasis on it than Opitz had done, and he was much more scientific than the Sprachgesellschaften. He formulated general principles for the

improvement of the language, where before there had been fanciful invention to enrich the vocabulary. And that was significant, when these principles were based on the study of the earlier stages of Germanic language, and on the varying degrees of relationship to German of the other living languages.

In Leibniz we find for the first time stress on the value of etymology, and the first indication of an archaeological value of words.

Stecket also im Teutschen Altertum und sonderlich in der Teutschen uralten Sprache ...der Ursprung der Europaischen Volker und Sprachen, auch zum Teil des uralten Gottesdienstes, der Sitten, Rechte des Adels, auch oft der alten Sachen, Oerter und Leute.... 2

There is also here a hint of German's peculiar value in this respect. Leibniz' desire for purity was not bigoted. He did not regard the use of a suitable

foreign word as a 'Tod-Siinde'.3 On the contrary, to ensure vigour of expression foreign words were needed. In borrowing these, it was necessary to give heed to the

language from which the words came. Preference should go to a word from one

spoken by a people whose beliefs and customs most resembled those of the Germans. Such a word would harmonize best with the existing vocabulary and the national mind. In practice, choice should be made first from Dutch, then English and Scandinavian, and finally Latin and the Romance languages. Here, as in the

previous point, he neither explains nor elaborates, but contents himself with indications.

Leibniz also speculated briefly on the nature of language in general. Es ist bekannt, dass die Sprache ein Spiegel des Verstandes.... Es ist aber bei dem

Gebrauch der Sprache, auch dieses sonderlich zu betrachten, dass die Worte nicht nur der Gedanken sondern der Dinge Zeichen seyn, und dass wir Zeichen notig haben, nicht nur unsere Meynung Anderen anzudeuten, sondern auch unseren Gedanken selbst zu helfen.4

This aspect of philosophical speculation was taken up by Gottsched. He empha- sized in particular the role and importance of language in the development of the

1 Leibniz, Deutsche Schriften, edited by 3 Op. cit. p. 455. E. Guhrauer, Berlin, 1838, vol. I, p. 460. 4 Op. cit. pp. 449-50.

2 Op. cit. p. 465.



384 Language and Nationality in German Thought human mind, but ignored national distinctions. Perhaps his most important sentence for us appeared in the second volume of the Beytrdge. Again we have only an indication, general in itself, but one which was later exploited.

Die Beschaffenheit der Menschen, die Verschiedenheiten der Himmelsgegenden, der Luft, der Speise, des Trankes, die Entlegenheit der Lander, der Wechsel der Gelegenheit, die Kriege, Siege, das Umschwarmen der Volker, die Zuziige neuer Anbauer, Religionen, Wissenschaften und Einwirkung fremder Sprachen bewirken die Veranderlichkeit und Umgestaltung der Sprache.1

It is the first statement of the influence of environment, but there is no inclination to offer any precise examples. It is likely that the lack of facts, on which to build, turned Gottsched from such theorizing, and from speculation on the descent of German, Dutch, Danish and Irish from an original Celtic language, to more practical matters. He returned to the preoccupations of Opitz, and devoted his energies to establishing a pure Meissen dialect as the literary language of all Germans.

It was only after the middle of the century that the discussion of linguistic problems was widespread. In 1755 Rousseau touched on some of them in his Discours sur l'Inugalite, and thereafter they became favourite topics for Journals and Academy discussions. In Germany, there followed a spate of works dealing chiefly with the origin of language.2 Sides were taken for and against the thesis that it had been divinely revealed. The main current of this hotly disputed matter affects us little, but much of the incidental speculation on subsequent evolution is apposite.

In 1759 the Prussian Academy offered a prize for the best dissertation, entitled Vom Einfluss der Meinungen auf die Sprache und der Sprache auf die Meinungen. It was won by Michaelis with an essay which Herder has described as 'unter dem, was die Deutschen iiber die Sprachen philosophiert, gewiss ein Hauptstiick'.3

Michaelis claimed that language was sometimes in a position to describe the nature of things, because words had often been formed when the corresponding things were discovered, and therefore formed so as to describe the things themselves. Such description is of course highly subjective. He quotes for example the German word for leprosy-Aussatz-a visual impression, and contrasts it with the Hebrew word which means the 'Lash of a whip ', a proof that the disease was regarded as a divine punishment. He follows up with a more humorous example which takes us a step farther. 'Vaccination' is a word which arouses no emotion at all. If the process had been called the 'Turkish operation' it would have been regarded as a fearful business; but if it had been called the 'Preserver of beauty' it would have become highly popular among the ladies.5 So Michaelis believes that the opinions of the people and their general attitude of mind give their language its characteristic shape. And the converse is true. The malleable minds of the young are shaped by the mother tongue.

1 Reichel, Gottsched, Berlin, 1912, vol. ii, Zusammenhange seines Denkens, Miinchen, 1905, p. 516. In this long study, Reichel attributes to pp. 158-63. Gottsched much more detailed theories on lan- 3 Herder, Werke, edited by B. Suphan, vol. I, guage than are justified by his relatively p. 326. scanty utterances on the subject. See vol. ii, 4 J. D. Michaelis, De l'influence des opinions pp. 502-23. sur le langage, Bremen, 1762, p. 16.

2 See R. Unger, Hamanns Sprachtheorie im 6 Op. cit. p. 118.



W. W. CHAMBERS 385

In the course of his dissertation, Michaelis remarked that languages varied in their wealth of words according as the peoples varied in the wealth of their ideas, but he showed that wealth in one branch of knowledge was often the compensation for poverty in another. When his dissertation received its official criticism, the reviewer said that it would have been better if the author had gone farther, and proved, by comparing the various peoples, that depth of mind, character and intelligence correspond directly to the wealth of the national language. Here is the first suggestion of a race theory with a fixing of respective values. But Michaelis quietly but firmly put the suggestion aside, affirming that it is wellnigh impossible to form any absolute opinion on the subject.l But he had given rise to speculation of the kind.

He had indeed only dealt with a small aspect of a large question, but he had offered a new line of thought and one which had great possibilities for development. His stimulating ideas influenced Herder, who was able to put them to good use in his consideration of the wider linguistic problems.

Like the majority of the writers of his day, Herder joined in the controversy over the divine origin of language, as the title of the most authentic expression of his views shows, Vom Ursprung der Sprache (1770).2 Herder was convinced that language was the result of conscious human effort to find Merkmale for objects. These Merkmale, or words of the primitive language, were the images of the things themselves on the soul, as imprinted by the senses, and especially by the ear.3 He believed that the original language was in the nature of a gallery of original knowledge and feeling. Like Michaelis, however, he would readily have admitted that some of that knowledge was erroneous, and some of that feeling misleading.

This original language could not long remain a unity. As the number of speakers increased, groups split off from the main body, and were soon separated from it and each other by hates and jealousies. Climatic conditions and geographical sur- roundings differed and brought changes in the developing languages. After so many centuries of development, language has become, according to Herder, 'die Denkart eines Volkes nach gewohnter Weise von alten Zeiten'.4 Each people has its own characteristics and its own type of mind, so each language by mirroring or condi- tioning these has its own characteristics. The English seek das Launische, the French Witz, the Italian das Schimmernde.5

There is, too, in all this the definite idea of evolutionary change.

Das Wesentliche unsres Lebens ist nie Genuss sondern immer Progression, und wir sind nie Menschen gewesen, bis wir .. zu Ende gelebt haben.6

The succession of generations appears like an infinite chain, to which new links are continually being forged, and it is the chain and not the link that counts.

Kein Einzelner Mensch ist fur sich da; er ist in das Ganze des Geschlechtes einge- schoben, er ist nur Eins fur die fortgehende Folge.

Was dies auf die ganze Kette fur Wirkung thue, sehen wir spater; hier schranken wir uns auf den Zusammenhang der ersten zween Ringe ein! auf die Bildung einer Familien-

1 Op. cit. pp. 61-71, 190. 3 Herder, Werke, vol. v, pp. 35-7. 2 Herder here argued in favour of the human 4 Werke, vol. xix, p. 4.

origin of language. Later he tried to reconcile 5 Werke, vol. I, p. 5. this with Hamann's ideas on divine revelation, 6 Werke, vol. v, p. 98. but this does not affect his view of the development of language.

M.L.R. XLI 25



386 Language and Nationality in German Thought denkart durch den Unterricht der Erziehung und da der Unterricht der eignen Seele, der Iceenkreis der Elter Sprache ist: so wird die Fortbildung des menschlichen Unterrichts durch den Geist der Familie durch den die Natur das ganze Geschlecht verkniipft hat, auch Fortbildung der Sprache.1 Yet the role of the individual is not insignificant: he must be fully aware of his duties and the consequences of his actions.

Jedes Individuum ist Mensch, folglich denkt er die Kette seines Lebens fort. Jedes Individuum ist Sohn oder Tochter, ward durch Unterricht gebildet: folglich bekam es immer einen Teil der Gedankenschatze seiner Vorfahren fruher mit, und wird sie nach seiner Art weiter reichen-also ist auf gewisse Weise kein Gedanke, keine Erfindung, keine Vervollkommnung, die nicht weiter fast ins Unendliche reiche. So wie ich keine Handlung thun, keinen Gedanken denken kann, der nicht auf die ganze Unermesslich- keit meines Daseins naturlich hinwiirke; so nicht ich und kein Geschopf meiner Gattung, was nicht mit Jedem auch fir die ganze Gattung und fur das fortgehende Ganze der ganzen Gattung wiirke.2

Such a conception of the human value of the individual-as opposed to his social value-and of his dominating influence in the various chains of development, or nations, was bound to produce a new conception of history. Herder himself was inspired by it in his Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit where he regards his material as a '.Kette der Geselligkeit und bildende Tradition vom ersten bis zum letzten Glied'.3 Its clearest expression was given, however, by Justus Moser, whose Osnabriicksche Geschichte was its best illustration.

Moser reacted against the artificial division of history into the reigns of kings. Historical periods should be determined by historical movements.

Solange wir aber den Plan unsrer Geschichte nicht auf diese oder eine andere Art zur Einheit erheben, wird dieselbe immer einer Schlange gleichen, die in hundert Sticke zerpeitscht jeden Teil ihres Korpers, der durch ein bischen Haut mit dem andern zusammenhangt, mit sich fortschleppt.4 The cross-section of historical periods, too, must show a more extensive surface. This followed from the new regard for the influence of environment. What this implies for the history of Germany Moser tells us:

Die Geschichte von Deutschland hat meines Ermessens eine ganz neue Wendung zu hoffen, wenn wir die gemeinen Landeigentumer, als die wahren Bestandteile der Nation, durch alle ihre Veranderungen verfolgen, aus ihnen den Korper bilden und die grossen und kleinen Bedienten dieser Nation als b6se oder gute Zufalle des Korpers betrachten. Wir konnen sodann dieser Geschichte nicht allein die Einheit, den Gang und die Macht der Epopoe geben, . . sondern auch den Ursprung, den Fortgang, und das unterschied- liche Verhaltnis des Nationalcharakters unter allen Veranderungen mit weit mehr Ordnung und Deutlichkeit entwickeln als wenn wir bloss das Leben und die Bemuhungen der Arzte beschreiben, ohne des kranken K6rpers zu gedenken. Der Einfluss, welchen Gesetze und Gewohnheiten, Tugenden und Fehler der Regenten, falsche oder gute Massregeln, Handel, Geld, Stadte, Dienst, Adel, Sprachen, Meinungen, Kriege und Verbindungen auf jenen Korper und auf dessen Ehre und Eigentum gehabt... und die gluckliche Mdssigung, welche das Christentum, das deutsche Herz und eine der Freiheit giinstige Sittenlehre gewirkt hat wiirde sich... in ein vollkommenes Gemalde bringen lassen.5

Here too the origin and development of the national character are to form the central interest. They are to be portrayed so as to show the present as a product of

1 Werke, vol. v, p. 116. 4 Justus Moser, Deutsche Staatskunst und 2 Werke, vol. v, pp. 134-5. Nationalerziehung (Sammlung Dietrich, 3), p. 319. 3 Werke, vol. xIII, p. 345. 5 Op. cit. pp. 330-1.



W. W. CHAMBERS 387

the past, to recall that the future is being shaped by the present and to warn us that we can best shape the future by considering the traditional lines of development. These can be observed by studying the appropriate language, sagas and

mythology. The interest in the latter had been stimulated by the researches of Bodmer and

the attempts of Klopstock to introduce Germanic mythology into German literature. For reasons now familiar to us it was claimed that mythology of national origin would be einheimisch and so instinctively understood. Herder discussed this in the Horen of 1796, maintaining, however, that for some people the Edda was furchtbar nordpolarisch and not at all einheimisch. He came to the conclusion that national

mythology was desirable but that Germanic myth could mean little to his com-

patriots until it was 'rejuvenated', by which he doubtless meant 'popularized' in

every sense of the word. These controversies served to strengthen the growing belief in the existence of a national character of vital importance to the individual and to the nation, and linked its origin with the development of language.

Throughout all this period of discussion and speculation the spirit, remained

philosophic. There was nothing nationalist about the postulation of national distinctions. The latter were merely noted and a healthy recognition of them made. There was no inducement to prove any marked superiority of the Germans. Scholars remained cosmopolitan in their views, and there were no notable political aims and rivalries.

It was the French Revolution which focused attention on political ideas: and it was the Napoleonic menace which raised immediate political problems. These were concerned not merely with the need for organizing resistance to the French armies, and later for liberating the country from Napoleonic oppression. As seen by the more nationalist minded the struggle for German independence was a fight against French domination from without and an intensification of the resistance to French cultural domination from within. It was a struggle, with German unity and internal government at stake. Was there to be, in the terminology of a later date, a Gross- deutschland or a Kleindeutschland, or a continuation of the Kleinstaaterei ? Should the state be ruled by a King, a class or the whole people? The solving of a host of pressing political questions was forced on thinking people with an urgency which accentuated the chaos.

To begin with, events merely intensified the cosmopolitanism and the liberalism of German poets and thinkers. But there were a few whose antipathy to the French Revolution existed from the start. These were for the most part the Prussian Junker dilettantes whose belief in the value of aristocratic privilege was so bound up with their allegiance to Prussia and Prussia's King that they were immune to francophile enthusiasms of popular inspiration. From this circle came that curious figure Friedrich de la Motte Fouque, who, though he passed through a brief phase of hero- worship of Napoleon the soldier, maintained a consistent attitude of nationalist conservatism from the beginning.

Even in his early poems, written before the end of the century, there are clear indications of his belief in heredity and German excellence, but these lacked foundation until he read Fichte's fourth Rede an die Deutsche Nation. Then followed the flood of poems, plays, novels and pamphlets, in which he elaborated and developed his theory, based on Fichte's premises and influenced by Moser's ideas.

25-2



Language and Nationality in German Thought In his fourth lecture, Fichte drew a distinction between the French and the

German peoples and attributed it to a difference in linguistic development. Die Verschiedenheit ist sogleich bei der ersten Trennung des gemeinschaftlichen

Stamms entstanden und besteht darin, dass der deutsche eine bis zu ihrem ersten Ausstromen aus der Naturkraft lebendige Sprache redet, die iibrigen germanischen Stamme eine nur auf der Oberfliache sich regende, in der Wurzel aber tote Sprache.... Beim Volke der lebendigen Sprache greift die Geistesbildung ein ins Leben; beim Gegenteile geht geistige Bildung und Leben jedes seinen Gang fur sich fort. Aus demselben Grunde ist es einem Volke der ersten Art mit aller Geistesbildung rechter eigentlicher Ernst,... dagegen einem von der letztern Art diese vielmehr ein genialisches Spiel ist, mit dem sie nichts weiter wollen. Die letztern haben Geist: die erstern haben zum Geiste auch noch Gemut. Die erstern haben redlichen Fleiss und Ernst in alien Dingen und sind mihsam, dagegen die letztern sich im Geleite ihrer glucklichen Natur gehen lassen.1 The extent of Fichte's own nationalism has been disputed in view of his more typical cosmopolitan past and of his return to cosmopolitan ideals in his final peroration, but there can be no doubt about the nationalist impetus, which he imparted to some of his contemporaries.

It is profitable to consider Fouque in some detail. Although an extreme case, and one whose influence has rather been forgotten, he was widely read and admired in the first decades of the nineteenth century. He expounded a race theory, which he intended as the guiding principle in the reorganization of Germany. He did not, however, present his views in any exhaustive or systematic manner. Apart from a few pamphlets on the status of the nobility and the criticism of a French work on the influence of environment, he preferred to portray his ideas in a more literary manner, in plays, short stories and novels. Nevertheless, when we make allowance for this means of appeal to his contemporaries, we have no difficulty in piecing the elements together, and obtaining a complete and practical attempt to grapple with the realities of his time.2

Fouque was not concerned with a physical type with long skull, blue eyes and fair hair. His main interest was the attitude of mind, which he considered to be the characteristic feature of his race. This attitude of mind is what passes from one generation to the next. It is not merely the important unifying link of all those who possess it, but it is deffned by the life and experience of all the preceding generations, and the force which ensures the continuity is language.

Eine geschichtlich entwickelte Sprache ist der unverwerflichste Zeuge fir die Einheit und Ganzheit aller achtgeschichtlichen Entwicklungen selbst.3

1 Fichte, Werke, edited by J. H. Fichte, Berlin, 1846, vol. vII, pp. 325-7.

2 Fouque's pamphlets, etc., are to be found in the two volumes, entitled Gefiihle, Bilder und Ansichten, Leipzig, 1819. Etwas iiber den deutschen Adel, Hamburg, 1819, appeared separately. Der Mensch des Sidens und der Mensch des Nordens, Berlin, 1829, is the criticism of a French work by Bonstetten. The more interesting among his novels, plays and short stories are: Der Zauberring, Niirnberg, 1813; Kleine Romane, 6 vols., Berlin, 1814-19; Altsdchsischer Bildersaal, Niirnberg, 1818-20; Der Refugie, Gotha, 1824; Der Pappenheimer Kurassier, Nordhausen, 1842; and Abfall und Busse, Berlin, 1844. Although Fouque's method of exposition seems incredibly naive and sentimental, it is interesting to note that as hard-headed a soldier

as Gneisenau wrote to him in 1819: 'wenn ich im Laufe des letzten Winters mit Lob von Steffens Entschlossenheit sprach, einer ungluckschwan- geren Gesinnung kuhn entgegenzutreten, und dabei den Wunsch ausserte, dass andere redliche teutsche Schriftsteller ein Gleiches thun mochten, so konnte in Hinsicht auf Sie, mein verehrter Fouque, meine Meinung nur die sein, dass Sie von dem Gebiet frommer, ritterlicher Poesie aus, Ihren Kampf gegen die Verkehrtheit der unreifen Staatsverbesserer und ihrer Literatur richten mochten. In das Gebiet der politischen Tages- literatur herunterzusteigen... hiesse... die Vor- teile der Stellung aufzugeben... Bedenken Sie welchen Vorteil der philosophische Standpunkt unsern Steffens giebt; bewahren Sie daher Ihren poetischen.' 3 Etwas iber den deutschen Adel, p. 9.

388



W. W. CHAMBERS 389

This presupposes a far-reaching conception of language itself. Michaelis had stated in his Preisschrift that language, having in many instances been present at the birth of things and ideas, was able to provide us with the best description of their essential qualities or features. 'La langue...pouvoit les caract6riser d'une fa9on nette et precise et faire entrer l'essence des objets dans les signes qui devoient les representer.' 1 Fouque went much farther. He claimed that the original language always had this advantage. All its words were therefore not mere connotations but real descriptions of the things of life and living.

This is illustrated by the value he attached to etymology. Thus when he discusses the role of the nobility with the famous Hamburg publisher Perthes, Fouque starts off from the definition of 'Volk', which he finds in the word itself:

Die Benennung 'Volk' ist unverkennbar aus dem alten Worte Gefolg hervorgegangen, welches die Masse der Krieger andeutet, die sich um einen Hauptling oder Edeling sam- melte, um unter seiner Fuhrung unmittelbar den Krieg zu erlernen und zu bestehen, an seine Person durch die heiligsten Bande der Ehre und des Vertrauens geknipft.2

This, for him, is ample proof that Germanic tradition is against democracy. When naming the characters of his novels, too, he chooses words which are calculated to be descriptions of their natures-Ehrenhold, Reinwart, Friedewald, Decius Mus, Halfdan.

The people who spoke the original language embodied their descriptions of each thing in their word for it, so that they were continually aware of the full significance of the things they were talking about. And these words were passed on to suc- ceeding generations. But

Durch die Sprache nur gelangt man zum Denken und vornehmlich zu der Fahigkeit, seine Gedanken mitzuteilen.3

In this way the attitude of mind of each generation is defined and maintained according to the tradition of the community of those who speak the language concerned.

If this evolution continues uninterrupted-which does not mean uninfluenced by other forces-then certain essential characteristics mark out the speaker of such a language. He is first of all ernst. His'natural perception of the deep nature of things prevents him from taking a superficial view of them. He is not given to mockery and he weighs well the consequences of his actions, before he acts. He is instinctively sittlich because he realizes that this is the demand of life. He is also still and froh. Out of the depths of his being there rises peace of mind, for he has confidence in his Creator and is buoyed up by the Glauben, Hoffnung, Liebe, which are his unfailing strength. Above all, he is a Gefiihlsmensch, because his instinct is so sure and his appreciation of things so many-sided and vivid. Such, in the opinion of Fouque, has been the development of the Germans. Like most of his contemporaries his interpretation of deutsch is wide. It includes the Scandinavians, and, when used of earlier ages, covers all those peoples we should now term 'Germanic'. In short he defines Deutschheit as 'das folgerechte, unter gottlichem Schutze naturgemass aus der Wurzel hervorwachsende Leben'.4

1 Michaelis, De l'influence des opinions sur le 3 Der Mensch des Sidens und der Mensch des langage, Bremen, 1762, p. 187. Nordens, p. 56.

2 Etwas uber den deutschen Adel, p. 25. 4 Etwas iber den deutschen Adel, p. 15.



390 Language and Nationality in German Thought In contrast he sets a people whose linguistic development shows a break. Such

a people are the French. They began by speaking the same language as the Germans but at an advanced stage in their history gave it up in favour of another. But this new one could be no more than a dead language to them. They could no longer penetrate to the essence of things through their new words. The speakers of such a language were bound to become shallow and superficial. They would lack respect, even for the sacred things of life, and would show no sense of obligation to others, or deep feelings of affection for close relatives and friends. Franztum is then 'das iiberfahrende aus Worten in Worte iibergehende, von Spriingen zu Spriingen forthiipfende Experimentiren mit den wichtigsten Angelegenheiten dieser Welt'.l With the French are classed, naturally, the Italians and the Spaniards, the group being generally called verwelschte Germanen. They are Germanic peoples who have degenerated and paid the price of their folly by losing their noble and serenely optimistic German character.

Of course other influences must be taken into account. A notable example is Christianity, which moderated the excesses of the heathen German character and shed a new light on life, giving a truer sense of values to the laws of man's commerce with man. More significant because it intensified racial differences is environment. Once again the Germans are contrasted with the French. The former have been able to enjoy little that they have not won by careful planning and hard work. Their soil is poor, their climate exacting. They live so to speak in time. The French, by comparison, live in space. Their homeland is so rich in natural wealth that their life has been easier. What is the result?

Wer mehr im Raum lebt als in der Zeit richtet sich die Welt zum behaglichen Ruheplatz ein. Wer mehr in der Zeit lebt, als im Raum, erkennt die Welt fur eine Pilgerbahn und sein irdisches Dasein fur eine Reise.2

This adds yet another deep distinction between the respective national characters. The difference between Deutsche and verwelschte Germanen is the basic one, but

political circumstance induced Fouque to carry on with his logic. There are finer distinctions to be made among the Germans. Fouque admitted that

das Reindeutsche...sich eben so wenig, als das Reinmenschliche unvermittelt aus- spricht und ausgesprochen hat, sondern immer durch das Medium von Cherusken, Swewen, Sachsen, Franken, Preussen, Oesterreicher, und wie die fast unzahligen Abschattungen dieser noch sonst heissen mogen.3

This is of course the obvious extension of the previous reasoning. Each of these communities developed a dialect of its own and lived in its own peculiar environment, so minor differences were bound to appear. Fouque recognized their existence, but did not attempt the more dangerous task of defining either their extent or their implication.

However he made another race distinction of a different kind to explain the social system of Prussia. As we have seen he defined the Volk as the crowd of followers. Through centuries of following they have developed the minds of followers and therefore cannot conceive either bold plans or noble ideals. They are essentially blod, by which he means short-sighted mentally and morally. On the other hand,

1 Etwas uber den deutschen Adel, p. 15. 2 Der Mensch des Siudens und der Mensch des Nordens, p. 9. 3 Etwas iiber den deutschen Adel, p. 43.



W. W. CHAMBERS 391

the natural leaders are the nobles, characterized by their Freiherzigkeit. He traced them back through the knights of the Middle Ages to the heroes of the sagas and the Heldenlieder. As a Junker he affirmed:

Wir sind, die wir sind, als Sohne uns'res Vaterlandes, als Kinder uns'rer Vater.... Zudem sind uns're Vater meist auch uns're Erzieher, bewusst und unbewusst, wobei die letzte Art und Weise oftmals am entscheidensten wirkt.... Nimm nun noch dazu, dass von einem Kriegerstamm die Rede ist, seit langen Jahren her zum Schutze des Landes bestellt, durch begiinstigende Mfusse in den Stand gesetzt die edle Kunst der Waffen zu iiben und zu ergrunden, in die Gesinnung der Ehre und des freudigen Muthes von Jugend an durch Gesprach, Erzahlung, Anschauen eingeweiht, so wird es freilich unbegreiflich vorkommen, wie man dessen Befugniss, die Heerscharen zu fuhren, so entschieden angreifen kann. Aber freilich muss es auch immerfort ein Kriegerstamm sein und bleiben.1

It matters little to him if the contemporary representatives are a little rusty in their skill with arms. As he says later

Ich sah mehr auf den dadurch erzeugten Geist als auf die soldatische Brauchbarkeit.2

And that, for Fouque, was the more important consideration by far. If we sum up the practical conclusions from all these aspects of his race theory we

realize how complete an answer to politics and life he had formulated. Since he was a German it was his duty to be conscious of his German characteristics. This he could only do by studying language, saga and history, to discover the traditions and customs of his community or nation, and he must try to revive them in practice and in spirit as far as modern conditions allow. Only along these lines could he as an individual attain harmony of personality: only along these lines could he become a useful member of his race.

It was the duty of each German to protect from foreign taint-and especially from Verwelschung-his native land and not less his mother tongue, the two determinants of the eternal national character. In 1813 this meant opposition to Napoleon and rejection of French as the fashionable language of society. But it must not be assumed that these ideas were applicable only to the emergency of those years. The entire course of history was viewed as the struggle to keep the German Spirit intact.

Inside Germany it meant politically that it was probably impossible to unite the various states because of their differences of nature, but there was sufficient similarity of character among the Abschattungen to assure the success of a league of small states. In short it justified a Kleindeutsch attitude. In Prussia it vindicated the claim of the nobility to be the ruling class under the King, while reminding the Junkers more of their duties than of their rights.

In Fouque the identification of language and nationality is most complete and finds its most pointed political application. Although he found all the essentials in Herder, Moser and Fichte, he alone had the political opinions which could induce him to proceed by simplified logic from their statements to the limits of naive absurdity. It should, however, be noted that some reservation must be made when assessing Fouque's intelligence. His views as expressed were intentionally simplified and exaggerated, so that the bldd general public should not fail to get his meaning. He was avowedly conducting propaganda for a political idea.

1 Gefiihle, Bilder und Ansichten, vol. I, pp. 46-7. Op. cit. p; 65.



392 Language and Nationality in German Thought So long as the main political purpose was anti-French these ideas were popular.

They were quite generally professed during the Wars of Liberation. Arndt, in particular, accepted the Fichte distinction between the Germans and the French with eagerness, proclaiming the merits of the Germans, who being neither verbas- tardet nor Mischlinge have retained their innate purity through the medium of their mother tongue.1

When the French danger passed, Fouque continued to propagate his ideas in the interests of the Prussian nobility and German conservatism. This was much less popular, for the rising generation was unsympathetic, cynical and derided his methods. Most of the Nationalists were Liberals and they disputed his views. There was still on the part of the latter, however, an inclination to combat him with his own weapons. Thus we find that Jahn countered Fouque's conclusions, drawn from the meaning of Volk, with a statement that by the same reasoning the Deutsche were a nation among whom the things of the people came first, and therefore were traditionally democratic.

But linguistic arguments were soon forgotten in politics, and linguistic study, after its biief advance into the discussions of the problems of the day, retired to academic circles. This time it became the province, not of philosophers, but more appropriately of medievalists and philologists, whose unbiased approach and devotion to fact promised a more reasonable if less spectacular future.

W. W, CHAMBERS LEEDS

1 Arndt, Volk und Staat, ed. Requadt (Kroner), pp. 92-3.



language and nationality in german pre-romantic and romantic thought

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