ABSTRACT:
On the basis of the essay Über das Studium der griechschen Poesie (On the Study of Greek Poetry), this work intends to investigate the concept of imitation in the thought of the young Friedrich Schlegel. In addition to pointing out two different uses of this concept - which appears either as imitation of the real or as imitation of the ancients - it is our aim to identify alternations and terminological tensions that might illuminate the author's philosophical position regarding the deep legitimacy crisis which, at the time, hounded the concept of art as imitation of nature. It is our intention to show that, although Schlegel did recognize the negative effects of the thoughtless employment of the classical model on the theory and practice of modern art, he also put forward a positive sense in which imitation could be harmonized with the founding philosophical principles of an idealist Kantian-like aesthetics.
KEYWORDS:
Friedrich Schlegel; Imitation; Poetry; Modernity