Poetry and the Sublime

We will examine some theories of the sublime, and read them alongside selected poets who take up certain related questions about representation, perception, and power. The goal will be to come to a better understanding of why the sublime is important as a category in thinking about the relationship between literature, philosophy, and history. Texts may include: Longinus, Schiller, Kant, and Paul de Man on the theory of the sublime, and poetry by Hölderlin, Wordsworth, Rilke, and Celan. In English; reading knowledge of German helpful but not required.