ヘーゲルと近代散文文芸 : 美学講義のコンテクスト

Abstract

Hegel lectured on aesthetics, first in Heidelberg (1818) and then four times in Berlin (1820/21, 1823, 1826 and 1828/29). By the time, his philosophy had come to maturity. As well-documented, after Hegel's death, Hegel's pupils (Hegelians) planned to publish the collected works of their master, and Gustav Hotho, one of Hegel's followers who was a keen auditor of the lectures on aesthetics, was entrusted with editing Hegel's "Lecture on Aesthetics". Referring to his own notes of Hegel's lectures and some other friends', Hotho elaborated on Hegel's "Lecture on Aesthetics' in the so-called triadic form of the dialectic system. Even though those people interested in Hegel's works have had doubts about the overly systematic structure of the text, the understanding of Hegel's aesthetics must have been dependent on for a long time this "Lecture on Aesthetics" edited by Hotho because Hegel's original manuscripts had been lost and other reliable sources of the lectures had also been scattered and misplaced. Recently, in the latter half of the 20th century, a new editorial project of Hegel's works has been started and besides this, his lectures also have been newly edited. Concerning his aesthetics, new materials of his lectures from different periods written by various auditors had noted were found, and notes of both 1820/21 and 1823 lectures were published at the end of the 20th century. Through recent new studies on Hegel's aesthetics which refer to these new materials, it came to light that Hegel's aesthetics hadn't be closed as systematically as Hotho's edition had shown, but his understanding of arts had always shown expansion in each successive lecture. On literature, it is certain that Hegel always understood it within the framework of traditional classification ('epic', 'lyric' and 'drama'). It seems that by following this classification system, it was difficult for Hegel to understand the meaning of modern prosaic literature. In fact, in his lectures on aesthetics, we can find only a few references to this topic. Therefore, as far as paying our attention to only his aesthetic lectures, his lack of understanding in this field would be remarkable compared with Fr. Schlegel, for instance, one of the German Romanticists of those days, who advocated prose (Roman') just as one type of ideal modern literature. However, if we don't limit our view only to his aesthetics, but more widely reexamine his philosophical thoughts, it will become clear that Hegel had been familiar with modern prosaic literary works and often applied them to explain his core philosophical concepts. In "Phenomenology of Spirit" (1807), Diderot's "Rameaus Neffe" translated by Goethe, for instance, plays an important role in clarifying the constructive alienation of modern society. Hegel's lectures on aesthetics must have been developed in the context of such philosophical thoughts, and these auditors must also have listened to and understood his lectures against such a philosophical background. So, we should take account of the text of Hegel's philosophy, in order to understand his aesthetics more concretely and comprehensively.