2012
Cairn
Camille Jenn, « Heinrich von Kleist et la France. Réflexions autour de contradictions », Études Germaniques, ID : 10670/1.zcpvu8
The article sets out and analyses Heinrich von Kleist’s difficult and traumatic relationship with France in his writings and his biography. What one can observe is a sort of oscillation between radical critique and the reactivation of French influences on his work. Although political and historical events bring him to a pessimistic view of History and he is deeply critical of Napoleon’s political and military action in Germany and Prussia, one can detect – behind this layer of propaganda – reminiscences of French influences in his writings (whether it be novels or dramas), such as the structuring role of Rousseau and Helvetius in Kleist’s poetical motives.