From Handke to Goethe: For a “heretical” reading of Classicism

Abstract

This article explores Handke's “heretical” reading of Classicism, and especially of Goethe, in his works of the 1980s. The Handkean concept of “das Klassische” acquires its own characteristics from considerations of form, a fundamental aesthetic element that arises from a dynamism between perception, production, result and artistic effect. Handkean form, as we will seek to demonstrate here, does not pre-exist the thing but comes with it, and the function of the artist is to illuminate it from within; accordingly, the possible formless character of form will be discussed. Handke's dialogue with Goethe's Classicism allows us to explore his formal conception of the work of art in greater depth, and also, in the background, to study new readings of Goethe's aesthetic evolution.