Heinrich Heine and Giacomo Leopardi
Subtitle: The Rhetoric of Midrash (Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature)
Publisher: Peter Lang Publishing
Published: September 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 151
ISBN-13: 9780820441528
Subjects: German Poetry; Italian Prose; Poetry; Literary Criticism; Continental European; Heine, Heinrich; Leopardi, Giacomo; Political and social views; Religion; General; 1797-1856; 1797-1856.; 1798-1837; 1798-1837.; Heine, Heinrich,; History and criticism; Leopardi, Giacomo,; Ludwig Borne; Ludwig Bèorne; Midrash; Operette morali
Description: "This book breaks new ground in the field of Heine and Leopardi scholarship by providing a critical analysis of similarities between the rhetorical strategies of Heinrich Heine's text Ludwig Borne. Eine Denkschrift and Giacomo Leopardi's "Il Cantico del Gallo Silvestre" (in Operette Morali) and the midrashic process.

In their texts, Heine and Leopardi interweave biblical references, historical events, and personal encounters with their narrative and juxtapose them to a contemporary situation, thus presenting the reader with their interpretation of an existential experience. These narratives are midrashic in inviting multiple interpretations of equal validity.

In an age imbued with optimism, Heine and Leopardi discredit the whole tradition of the eschatological messianic message of redemption and negate the Enlightenment's belief in the renewal of society."--BOOK JACKET.