Learning from France: Ludwig Börne in the 1830s

Schonfield, E. (2020) Learning from France: Ludwig Börne in the 1830s. In: Paulus, D. and Pilsworth, E. (eds.) Nationalism Before the Nation State: Literary Constructions of Inclusion, Exclusion, and Self-Definition (1756-1871). Series: National cultivation of culture (22). Brill: Leiden, pp. 171-193. ISBN 9789004366831 (doi: 10.1163/9789004426108_010)

Abstract

This chapter considers Ludwig Börne’s key contribution to political and literary debates about German national identity in the 1830s. In a similar way to Heinrich Heine, his intellectual colleague and rival, Börne sets out a cosmopolitan agenda for German liberals, calling on them to learn from the progressive politics of the French. He therefore represents a German patriotism that rejects nationalism, seeing France as an example for Germany to follow. Through a close reading of Börne’s two masterworks Briefe aus Paris [Letters from Paris, 1832–1834] and Menzel der Franzosenfresser [Menzel: He Eats French People, 1837], this chapter shows how Börne advocates an enlightened form of patriotism that emphasises political rights and reasoned debate, in contrast to Wolfgang Menzel’s Romantic, organic conception of German nationhood.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schonfield, Dr Ernest
• Authors: Schonfield, E.
• College/School: College of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > German
• Publisher: Brill
• ISBN: 9789004366831
• Published Online: 22 April 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Koninklijke Brill NV
• First Published: First published in Nationalism Before the Nation State: Literary Constructions of Inclusion, Exclusion, and Self-Definition (1756-1871): 171-193
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy