A Study of Goethe's 'West-östlicher Divan'

Goethe published the 'West-östlicher Divan' [West-Eastern Divan] in 1819, a cycle of poems in twelve 'Books'. They were written in the wake of the upheaval of the Napoleonic wars and were inspired by his discovery of the poetry of the Persian poet Hafis (whose work was translated and published by Joseph von Hammer in 1812-14), an experience enhanced by his sharing of this 'revelation' in an intense relationship with Marianne von Willemer, a married friend whose family he visited on two journeys to his native Rhine/Main region. The poems have often felt to be abstruse and/or inconsequential, combining an apparent simplicity, very often using simple verse forms, with a content that was inevitably alien to the public (for instance, Islamic notions of paradise). To counter this Goethe felt it necessary to publish a set of 'Notes and essays for the better understanding of the 'West-östlicher Divan''. The poems were indeed met with incomprehension from the public and to a degree these poems have remained neglected in Goethe studies.

This study aims to present this work in its rightful position, interpreting it as a work which, despite its 'strange', some feel remote, content, in fact reflects a very complex range of issues that are central to Goethe's thought and experience. The complex combination of factors (referred to above) contributing to its genesis and inspiration means that the central notion behind the cycle, that these are the 'eastern poems of the western poet' (as Goethe calls them in an Arabic inscription on the title page of the first edition), who undertakes a journey to the east and engages with its culture, its poets, religions and above all with his beloved 'Suleika', is an extraordinary device for Goethe to explore archetypal patterns in human experience that bridges a cultural divide. Edward Said's notion of 'Orientalism' as a colonial tool is shown to be inadequate to explain what is happening in Goethe's engagement with the east, which can be described as a kind of 'dialogue', that is open, humble and receptive, rather than condescending or superior.

For the general reader, this study will provide an challenging perspective on intercultural relations from a different era and perhaps provide a potentialy productive way of approaching the subject. More specifically, the study will provide a useful introduction for students approaching the work for the first time, enabling them to overcome some apparent obstacles, and at the same time opening up access to the richness and complexity of the work. It is in the analysis of this thematic complexity, covering religious, philosophical, scientific, ethical, political, aesthetic, emotional and personal issues that the study aims to make its contribution to scholarship. It will offer new perspectives on this work and reveal a coherence in the cycle, showing it to be Goethe's way of responding to public and personal crises, that he could not tackle directly, but which he could engage with by means of this apparently beguiling 'flight' into a different cultural context. The application and benefits of the work will therefore operate on a variety of levels.