German Baroque Drama by Judith P. Aikin (review)

Book Reviews Judith P. Aikin. German Baroque Drama. Boston: Twayne, 1982. 186p. Until this work appeared, W. Flemming's introductions to a series of anthologies published in Germany in the 1930s constituted the only monographic survey of German Baroque drama. Nothing in English existed, and it was to fill this lacuna that Aikin, already known for her stimulating contributions to Lohensteinscholarship , wrote the latest addition to the Twayne's World Author Series. The paucity of English sources in the bibliography further attests to the need for her book. Structurally the work is very sound. It blends chronology with typology and limits itself by and large to those authors who appear in Flemming or who have subsequently attracted the attention of researchers. An interesting addition is the "Rudolstädter Festspiele" which here falls under the rubric of comedy. Indeed, the division of the comedies into "satirical" and "italianate" is very useful both as an approach for studying seventeenth-century drama and for better understanding the predilections of individual scholars. It is a pity that this distinction is not applied to Weise who is represented in the book with only two plays. Both he and Reuter, who is relegated to the conclusion, are treated very inadequately. Weise is included, along with Rist and Mitternacht, in a final chapter which appears to be a potpourri of those dramatists whose works do not readily conform to the poetic norms of the time. Although pedagogical necessity does cause structural peculiarities in the "Schuldrama," there is no need to regard this rhetorical theatre as a separate genre. This uncertainty in classification, reflected in the use of such vague terms as "conversion drama," "allegorical play," "Festspiel" and "rhetorical drama," reemphasizes the urgent need for a more defined terminology. Scholars in the Baroque will also be interested in the allegorical interpretations, particularly of the plays of Lohenstein and Stieler. Controversial issues (e.g., Lohenstein) are, however, presented from the author's perspective only, and while she has read most of the latest research, she certainly has not read all of it. In the section on pastoral drama, for example, she does not mention the proximity of this subgenre to tragedy (Wiedemann). She has not read my article on Joliphus which corrects some of the factual information to be found in Baesecke and is apparently unaware of Hoffmannswaldau's Pastor Fido-translation listed in Kroker. Much of the information on Haugwitz should be attributed to Hübner and Neumann rather than Heitner, and Schlienger's contributions towards solving the source problem in Horribilicribri/a? have passed unnoticed. The exclusion of Weise's biblical plays on the grounds that they are mere remnants of sixteenth-century tradition is completely unjustified, since scholarship has long established the secular nature of these plays. It should also be pointed out that this book deals primarily with German drama, treating the Jesuit plays only cursorily and ignoring the Protestant neoLatin drama altogether. Such observations should not, however, be construed as detracting fundamentally from the overall worth of this work which provides a solid survey of the dramatic theory and practice of the Baroque. In terms of style and clarity of expression, it is an excellent piece of prose and will provide a most useful introduction for English-speaking students. Access to the book is facilitated by a comprehensive index. R. J. ALEXANDER Arizona State University ...