Author(s)

Irina Arkadyevna Tyutyunnik, Svetlana Ivanovna Tyutyunnik

Corresponding Author

Svetlana Ivanovna Tyutyunnik

ABSTRACT

The article discusses the novel of Christian Heinrich Spiess “The Knights of the Lion” (Die Loewenritter), which left a noticeable mark in the 19th-century German literature. The works of this type occupied a significant place in the cultural life of Germany. In this context one should note knightly dramas. One of the most famous writing was Goethe's drama “Goetz von Berlichingen”, which influenced the further development of the works of this genre. The German tale of chivalry “The Knights of the Lion”, created at the end of the 18th century, was essentially one of the few works of literature of the time in which one can observe the changes in the essence of attention to historical processes. It’s true that there is no historicism in the modern sense in such works. It is important to note that by this time there occurs a rethinking of the meaning of the novel genre for literature, as well as the fact that the theorists of aesthetics and literature are beginning to see in it an independent literary phenomenon, which reflects the world around a person, that is, an early understanding of the novel as a certain fairy tale (fiction) gives way to an understanding of the novel as a reflection of reality. Thus the aim of the paper is to investigate the sources and peculiarities of German tale of chivalry of the second part of the 18th century and analyse Spiess’s novel “The Knights of the Lion” as a typical novel of such kind in German literature.

KEYWORDS

Christian Heinrich Spiess, German tale of chivalry