Coleridge, Schiller and Aesthetic Education - by M Kooy (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This is the first book of its kind to consider at length Coleridge's relationship to his near contemporary, Friedrich Schiller. Contrary to received opinion, the author shows that Schiller's notion of 'aesthetic education' was indeed valuable to Coleridge at an early stage in his career and that it helped to shape much of his work - from his theory of imagination and his notion of the clerisy to his views on women and his account of historical change. Combining close readings with historical research, this book challenges readers to rethink the radical potential of idealist aesthetics.

Review Quotes

'Kooy's book offers a fine, detailed analysis of the coherence between the aesthetic theories of Schiller and Coleridge. His treatment incorporates related scholarship meticulously and persuasively...[a] thorough and well-documented study which should encourage scholars to reconsider the relationship between Schiller and Coleridge.' - Janet Land, The Coleridge Bulletin

'...an elegantly and clearly written elaboration not only on the literary-historical influences that Schiller's work exerted on Coleridge, but also with a theoretical analysis of the similarities of the notion of Bildung in both.' - Angela Holzer, Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

'Michael John Kooy's Coleridge, Schiller and Aestheric Education is a model of rigor and structure: it explores a new topic, offers new information, conveys respect for both authors, indicates Colredge's knowledge of a German poet and philosopher without snickering at his indebtedness, identifies the debt and how Coleridge acknowledged it, and develops the comparisons in rational segments - love, metrics, play, the moral work of art - that apply to other areas in Romantic studies. The style is crisp, natural, and spare. In short, the book glitters.' - Anya Taylor, The Wordsworth Circle

About the Author

MICHAEL JOHN KOOY is a Lecturer in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies and Programme Director at the Centre for Research in Philosophy and Literature at the University of Warwick.