Falke, Sturm oder großer Gesang – The Poet Rainer Maria Rilke (Seminar)


Life and work of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke are intimately connected. Influenced by the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, the works of Sigmund Freud and C.G. Jung as well as Far-Eastern philosophy, he used his writings and his person as means and purpose of cognition. Like no other poet, Rilke formulated a poetics of transcendence while suffering at the same time the insufficiencies of life around him. Today, at a time of new integrated models of experiencing and search for new utopias, Rilke’s work and fame is spreading as never before. This course explores the work of Rilke and its timeless meaning for today’s reader.

Required texts: Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Gedichte. (Insel) and Rainer Maria Rilke, Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge. Hrsg. u. komm. Manfred Engel. (Reclam).