Die Geburt des modernen Mysteriendramas aus dem Geiste Weimars: Zur Aktualität Goethes und Schillers in der Dramaturgie Rudolf Steiners (review)

The brainchild of Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), anthroposophy is a mystical form of meditative thinking that develops the faculty of cognition under the aegis of “spiritual realism,” the aim being the realization of the truth that to know oneself requires not only that one come to recognize one’s desires but also to understand these desires, which in anthroposophical terms means to gain insight into karmic connections across the soul’s multiple incarnations. So begins Christian Clement’s study of the modern Mysteriendrama with an introduction not just to the book but also to anthroposophy, or “moderne Geisteswissenschaft” as he consistently recasts it. By this reformulation, Clement is already stating one of his major claims, namely that Steiner’s “spiritual science” is really a consequential continuation of nineteenth-century modes of thinking—specifically “goethesche Wissenschaftstheorie” and “schillersche Anthropologie” (10)—in which no distinction exists between Kunst and Wissenschaft. Schooling the faculties to be sensitive to truth (aletheia, or “Unvergessen”) means learning literally to re-cognize prenatal experience from former incarnations and the way this impacts the present. An opportunity for gaining access to such insights is allegedly offered in Steiner’s mystery plays, a tetrology that begins with Pforte der Einweihung (1910).

As editor of the Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften of the Weimarer Ausgabe of Goethe’s works, Steiner became known as a philologist and editor, but as a literary figure he has remained basically unknown, despite the fact that his collected works span hundreds of volumes—354 to be exact, on topics ranging from architecture to education, from literary interpretation to aesthetic production. It is on the literary that Clement’s study concentrates, but in order to demonstrate the unity of thought in Steiner’s oeuvre, Clement’s first chapter introduces the philosophisches Frühwerk, particularly Steiner’s Philosophie der Freiheit (1894), in order to demonstrate the continuity from these early philosophical texts to the later mystical teachings. This continuity centers on Steiner’s ongoing engagement with Weimar Classicism, particularly Schiller’s Aesthetic Letters but most importantly Goethe’s “Märchen,” the touchstone to which Clement repeatedly returns.

This intellectual heritage is explored more extensively in the second chapter, which bears the title “Goethe und Schiller als Väter der Steinerschen Ästhetik.” Although Schiller’s Formtrieb and Stofftrieb are frequently invoked whenever Clement discovers an appropriate binary in Steiner’s thought, it is Goethe’s “Märchen” that is emphasized as “den Ausgangspunkt der Anthroposophie” (72), an assertion later strengthened: “In der Tat sind im Märchen so viele grundle-gende Anschauungen der Anthroposophie keimhaft vorgebildet, dass man dieses als einen Schlüsseltext zum Verständnis der Anthroposophie betrachten muss” (91). It is on this point of Steiner’s reception of Weimar in his mystery plays that Clement stakes his central claim: not only do Goethe and Schiller have an influence on Steiner’s anthroposophy, but this instance of reception history “geh[t] jeden an, der am künstlerischen und geistigen Leben der Gegenwart Anteil nimmt” (10). This is a bold claim, but one in which Clement is heavily invested. Steiner’s anthroposophical texts have received only very limited attention, but Clement argues that these texts must be understood as relevant not only for disciples of Steiner’s anthroposophical teachings, but for anyone who has a stake in intellectual history, anyone who is interested in Goethe and his works and their meaning for the present.

Although the subtitle of the book insists on the Aktualität of Weimar in Steiner’s dramaturgy, in order to demonstrate Steiner’s topicality today Clement reaches for comparisons to a wide range of other literary-cultural figures (from Plato to Derrida and Chomsky). Noticeably absent, or at least underrepresented, is Nietzsche, whose Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik is clearly invoked in Clement’s title. Particularly the claims of the third chapter, on the origin of...