Vyacheslav Ivanov on German Romanticists

Demonstrating the importance of J. Goethe for the creative life of the contemporary time, V.I. Ivanov emphasizesthe symbolic outlook of the German poet. Looking at the development of verbal art during the centuries, Ivanov looks at it as the courseof symbolism development. According to Ivanov, Goethe is one of the significant representatives of this movement. The Russian poetwrites that the principle of symbolism reflected in Goethes creative work is topical in the modern time as it now embodies the poetry ofthe recent years. Ivanov compares two similar attitudes to the antiquity, as Winkelmann and Goethe understand them. If the formerwanted to approach the antique world by becoming an ancient man, the latter attempts to be a cheerful pagan person who does notcare about the values of the Nordic world. Goethe is a sunny and clear personality. Antique tragedy the focus of which is centred onDionysus is alien to him. The poets soul cannot stand the chaotic, sombre, chthonic features of Dionicism. He wrote about the tragedy,My soul would break against it. It is known that Nietzsche rejected the tragic nature of Goethes Faust. In 1794 Goethe met Schiller.Ivanov could not but comment on the arguments about symbolism between them. They understood the term differently. Goethe thoughtthat each individual thing is a reflection of a general idea, its symbol. An idea is a part of a thing; it is immanent to it (following Aristotle).Schiller thought that idea is transcendent to it (following Plato), and objects are just copies of the idea, its symbols. The argumentlasted during their entire lives. Ivanov considered Goethe a representative of realistic symbolists. He put the phenomenon of poetry in thecentre of his philosophy, and as such he rejected the requirements and cultural preferences of the crowd. Goethe opposed the classic antiquityto the Nordic barbarity, giving the preference to the former. But the genius could not be one-sided - his Faust is a fusion of twoprinciples: cosmic and chaotic ones, the Greek antiquity and the German Middle Ages. Ivanov considers Novalis an authentic Germanromanticist. He agrees with V. Zhirmunsky who thought that romanticism and symbolism are parts of the whole, one thing continues theother one; the dream of romanticism became the reality of symbolism. The German romanticism has followers in Russia includingV. Zhukovsky, senior Slavophiles, F. Tyutchev, F. Dostoevsky. Underlining the significant influence of Goethe on Novalis, Ivanovstressed his creative ingenuity. Goethe practised pure contemplation, Novalis was solving the problem of action in the world scale;Goethe was the cognition theoretic and Novalis was the embodiment of world creativity. Ivanov characterizes Goethes poetry asweak-willed contemplation, Novalis poetry - as theurgy.

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