Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet.

Life

Born at Greifensee, near

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, and first studying

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In 1725 he was appointed professor of Helvetian

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at the ''Carolinum'' academy in Zürich, a chair which he held for half a century, and in 1735 became a member of the

Cantonal Council This is a list of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland. Each canton has a democratically elected cantonal legislature, as well as elected members to the Federal Assembly. The cantonal legislatures are elected for four years, except in Fribour ...

. He died at Zürich in 1783.

Works

His major writings are the treatises ''Von dem Wunderbaren in der Poesie'' ( 1740; this and following years link to corresponding "

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

in poetry" articles) and ''Kritische Betrachtungen über die poetischen Gemählde der Dichter'' (

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

), in which he pleaded for the freedom of the imagination from the restriction imposed upon it by French pseudo-

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...

. Bodmer's epics ''Die Sundflutz'' and ''Noah'' (both 1751) are imitations of

Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outsid ...

's ''Messias'', and his plays are entirely deficient in dramatic qualities. He also issued editions of the ''

Minnesingers (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who w ...

'' and part of the ''

Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...

''. He published (1721–1723), in conjunction with

Johann Jakob Breitinger Johann Jakob Breitinger (1 March 1701 in Zürich – 14 December 1776) was a Swiss philologist and author. Life Breitinger studied theology and philology and first earned recognition from 1730 through a new edition of the Septuaginta. From ...

and others, '' Die Discourse der Mahlern'', a weekly journal after the model of ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. In it, German poetry was severely criticised for its servility to French models. Through his prose translation of Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' (
Johann Miltons Episches Gedichte von dem Verlohrnen Paradiese
', 1742), he tried to make English literature accessible in Germany. He formed a German literary school in opposition to

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, with whom he carried on a prolonged controversy.

References

* This work in turn cites: ** T. W. Danzel, ''Gottsched und seine Zeit'' (Leipzig, 1848) **

J. Crüger ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

, ''J. C. Gottsched, Bodmer und Breitinger'' (Stuttgart, 1884) ** F. Braitmaier, ''Geschichte der poetischen Theorie und Kritik von den Diskursen der Maler bis auf Lessing'' (Leipzig, 1888) ** ''Denkschrift zu Bodmers 200. Geburtstag'' (Zürich, 1900) *

External links

* *
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern volume 5
', edited by

Charles Dudley Warner Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

1896 Johann Jakob Bodmer entry * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodmer, Johann Jakob 18th-century Swiss historians Swiss literary critics 18th-century Swiss journalists Swiss male poets People from Uster District 1698 births 1783 deaths Greifensee, Zürich Carolinum, Zurich, faculty 18th-century Swiss poets 18th-century male writers