The Impatient Muse: Germany and the Sturm und Drang.

In this concise, provocative study, Alan C. Leidner suggests that we turn away from the question of whether or not the Sturm und Drang was an integral part of the European Enlightenment to focus on its role in the particular context of eighteenth-century Germany. Reminding us of the extreme fragmentation in the German territories during this period, Leidner argues that Sturm-und-Drang authors attempted to create a national identity on paper before it became a political reality. He therefore rejects mimetic theories of art to view Sturm und Drang as a literature of ritual that produced a feeling of collective belonging in its audience. Yet these followers of the impatient muse often left reality behind in their rush to write the nation into existence.

Leidner begins with a look at "What They Saw in Lavater." He claims that the preacher's great appeal lay in the suasive power of his rhetoric. By using enthymemic syllogisms, Lavater …