Johann Christoph Gottsched
born Feb. 2, 1700, Judithenkirch,
near Königsberg, Prussia [now
Kaliningrad, Russia]
died Dec. 12, 1766, Leipzig, Saxony
[Germany]
literary theorist, critic, and
dramatist who introduced French
18th-century classical standards of
taste into the literature and theatre of
Germany.
After studying at Königsberg,
Gottsched was appointed professor of
poetry at the University of Leipzig in
1730, becoming professor of logic and
metaphysics there in 1734.
Earlier, in 1725 and 1726, Gottsched
had published Die vernünftigen
Tadlerinnen (“The Reasonable Female
Critics”), a journal aimed at improving
the intellectual and moral standards of
women. A second journal, Der Biedermann
(1727–29; “The Honest Man”), undertook
the broader task of introducing the new
rationalist creed to German letters. In
1730 he brought out his most important
theoretical work, Versuch einer
kritischen Dichtkunst vor die Deutschen
(“Essay on a German Critical Poetic
Theory”), the first German treatise on
the art of poetry to apply the standards
of reason and good taste advocated by
Nicolas Boileau, the foremost exponent
of classicism in France.
Gottsched’s poetic theory, which was
circumscribed largely by artificial
rules, proved to have little lasting
influence upon later German literature.
His most enduring achievement resulted
from his collaboration with the actress
Caroline Neuber, which led to the
establishment of the Leipzig school of
acting and criticism. Following
classicist models, they effectively
transformed the nature of the German
theatre from a type of low
entertainment, delighting in coarse
sensual appeal, into a respected vehicle
for serious literary effort. Gottsched’s
Deutsche Schaubühne, 6 vol. (1741–45;
“German Theatre”), containing chiefly
translations from the French, provided
the German stage with a classical
repertory to replace the improvisations
and melodramas previously popular. His
own dramatic efforts (e.g., Sterbender
Cato [1732; “The Dying Cato”]), however,
are considered to be little more than
mediocre tragedies in the classical
style. His concern for style, advanced
by his Ausführliche Redekunst (1736;
“Complete Rhetoric”) and Grundlegung
einer deutschen Sprachkunst (1748;
“Foundation of a German Literary
Language”), helped to regularize German
as a literary language.
