Knowra Sturm und Drang Sturm und Drang Sturm und Drang was a German literary movement of the 1760s and 1770s that exalted emotional intensity, creative genius, and rebellion against social and artistic constraints.
Enlightenment : An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, criticism, and the pursuit of knowledge. Sturm und Drang challenged the movement’s confidence in rational rules and universal standards.
The Sorrows of Young Werther : A 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe about a young man’s unrequited love and despair. Its emotionally exposed protagonist became the movement’s best-known figure.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe : A German writer whose works include drama, poetry, fiction, and scientific writings. His early works became central examples before his later turn toward Weimar Classicism.
Genius (literary concept) : The idea that exceptional artistic creation arises from an individual’s innate, original power rather than learned rules alone. The movement treated spontaneous creation as a source of authority against prescribed forms.
Weimar Classicism : A German literary and cultural movement associated chiefly with Goethe and Schiller in Weimar around 1786–1805. Goethe and Schiller moved from youthful revolt toward this later ideal of form and human development.
Johann Gottfried Herder : A German philosopher and critic who argued for the importance of language, history, and cultural individuality. His defense of cultural particularity helped shape the movement’s challenge to French literary models.
Götz von Berlichingen : A 1773 historical drama by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe centered on a defiant sixteenth-century knight. Its unruly hero and loose dramatic form exemplify the movement’s rejection of convention.
Friedrich Schiller : A German poet, playwright, philosopher, and historian whose dramas include The Robbers and Mary Stuart. His early drama made rebellion against political and familial authority a defining stage conflict.
Emotionalism : An emphasis on emotion as a primary guide to thought, expression, or action. Intense feeling drives the movement’s characters and gives its writing urgency.
German Romanticism : A German movement in literature and the arts that emphasized imagination, feeling, nature, and the infinite. Its interest in emotion, individuality, and creative freedom carried forward themes developed by Sturm und Drang.
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