J. M. R. Lenz, Die Soldaten [The Soldiers]

Elystan Griffiths (University of Birmingham)
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Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz's play

Die Soldaten

[

The Soldiers

, 1776] is probably the best known of the author's works and one of the most influential products of the German

Sturm und Drang

[Storm and Stress] movement. Lenz was a pioneer of a radically open form of drama in German, which broke with the classical poetics of Aristotle and challenged the primacy of French neo-Classicism on the German stage. In his dramatic practice, Lenz dispensed with established conventions to produce a vital, dynamic theatrical form, which abandons linear exposition in favour of a rapid unfolding of events, blurs customary distinctions between comedy and tragedy and eschews the studied

bienséance

[propriety] of French neo-Classical theatre. A further hallmark of Lenz's writing was his preoccupation with…

1993 words

Citation: Griffiths, Elystan. "Die Soldaten". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 December 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12296, accessed 23 November 2024.]

12296 Die Soldaten 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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