Unbestimmte Rhetorik

In the 18th century rhetoric was ousted from its prominent status as an essential part of the educational system, thus losing ground over and against philosophy and forfeiting its significance for poetry. And yet it still proved to be indispensable. Friedrich Schlegel's engagement with rhetoric was intensive and critical. The first part of this study examines the concept of rhetoric in Romanticism. Schlegel's knowledge and reception of the canon is described, showing that in his approach rhetoric is poeticized, thus losing some of its concrete intentionality. But this Romantic view does not confirm the theory that rhetoric disappeared for good around 1800. The second part of the book looks at the divergent course taken by the history of rhetoric (with special reference to Romanticism) and discusses the different concepts underlying the conflicting departures involved.