ABSTRACT

This essay examines firework scenes in Matthias Claudius and Goethe, reading them in the context of a historical shift in the function of popular spectacles: from the representative role of fireworks in the ancien régime, to their broad availability as commodities in modernity. Claudius portrays that cultural change vividly and as the miniaturization of luxury. In Die Wahlverwandtschaften, meanwhile, the newly domesticated art of firework displays illuminates the link between the fashionable ‘little luxury’ and modern ephemerality. Thus, the following argues that literary representations of luxury around 1800, and of fireworks in particular, are examples of an ephemeral and increasing consumer culture at the time, and reflect contemporary accelerated temporalization. Moreover, the discussion of Goethe allows us to draw a line from Die Wahlverwandtschaften to his concept of the Veloziferisches, as well as making reference to other major works (‘An Schwager Kronos’; Faust).

摘要

本文考察了马蒂亚斯·克劳狄乌斯和歌德的烟花场景，在流行奇观功能的历史转变背景下解读它们：从烟花在旧制度中的代表作用，到它们作为现代商品的广泛可用性。克劳狄斯将这种文化变革生动地描绘为奢侈品的小型化。在选择性亲和力与此同时，新近被驯化的烟花艺术展示了时尚的“小奢华”与现代短暂性之间的联系。因此，以下论点认为，1800 年左右的奢侈品文学表现，尤其是烟花爆竹，是当时短暂且不断增长的消费文化的例子，反映了当代加速的时间化。此外，对歌德的讨论使我们能够从《选择性的亲缘关系》中划清界限到他的Veloziferisches概念，以及参考其他主要作品（'An Schwager Kronos'; Faust）。