Heinrich Heine and the World Literary Map

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction: Canon and the World Literary Writer

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 1-20

3. “The Harz Journey”: Travelogue as Philosophical Satire

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 21-38

4. The Exile as Cultural Translator

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 39-94

5. Censored Works, Exiled Lives, Poetic Remembrances

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 95-125

6. Ludwig Börne: A Memorial—A Double-Voiced Narrative of Exile

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 127-147

7. Encoded Body, Encrypted Dance: Performance Contra Censorship

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 149-170

8. Heinrich Heine: An Enduring Inspiration of World Literature

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 171-194

9. Prefatory Postscript

   • Azade Seyhan

   Pages 195-207

10. Back Matter

    Pages 209-225

    PDF

This text provides a key reassessment of the German author Heinrich Heine’s literary status, arguing for his inclusion in the Canon of World Literature. It examines a cross section of Heine’s work in light of this debate, highlighting the elusive and ironic tenor of his many faceted prose works, from his philosophical and political satire to his reassessment of Romantic idealism in Germany and the unique self-reflexivity of his work. It notably focuses on the impact of exile, belonging, exclusion, and censorship in Heine’s work and analyzes his legacy in a world literary context, comparing his poetry and prose with those of major modern writers, such as Pablo Neruda, Nazım Hikmet, or Walter Benjamin, who have all been persecuted and exiled yet used their art as resistance against oppression and silencing.  At a time when a premium is placed on the value of world literatures and transnational writing, Heine emerges once again as a writer ahead of his time and of timeless appeal. 

• World and German Literature
• Heinrich Heine and Literary Canon
• Cultural Translator
• Exile and Literature
• Cultural Translations and Literature
• Heine and World Literature
• German Culture and World Literature

“The book will prove stimulating for those working in similar areas, especially scholars of Heine as a writer on exile and as a critic of representation.” (William Ohm, Heine-Jahrbuch, Vol. 61, 2022)

• Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, USA

  Azade Seyhan

Azade Seyhan is the Fairbank Professor in the Humanities, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Affiliated Faculty in Middle East Studies at Bryn Mawr College, USA. She is the author of Writing Outside the Nation (2001) and Tales of Crossed Destinies: The Modern Turkish Novel in a Comparative Context  (2008). She has published and lectured extensively on German Idealism and Romanticism, critical theory, exile narratives, Turkish-German literature, and the theory of the novel.

Policies and ethics