Werther lesen und Werther als Leser

Nature and the “Dark Pastoral” in Goethe’s Werther

“…As Morton notes for dark ecology, the mesh incorporates cultural discourses and practices as much as it does the more traditionally conceived natural and ecological entities and spaces. The fact that Goethe's Werther begins with a radical alteration of the usual exchanges typical of an epistolary novel has received much attention, and debate continues regarding its implications for the sympathetic audience, 32 the transformation of the genre, 33 and the move into unmediated experience. 34 Yet equally relevant in terms of innovative form is the second radical alteration that occurs when we are suddenly no longer allowed "direct" access to Werther's thoughts about nature and about other people and instead read selected fragments of his scribbling as well as the words of the others.…”