Tragedy and Comedy

Mark William Roche is I. A. O'Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, the Reverend Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Professor of German Language and Literature and Concurrent Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Roche is the author of Dynamic Stillness: Philosophical Conceptions of Ruhe in Schiller, Holderlin, Buchner, and Heine and Gottfried Benn's Static Poetry: Intellectual-Historical and Aesthetic Interpretations.

"The book displays immense learning and contains a multitude of insights, both about Hegel's theory of genres and about genre theory in general. I especially liked the author's ability to range over cinematic as well as literary examples, in encyclopaedic fashion and in a way that is both entertaining and provocative. He does full justice to the now-forgotten legacy of the nineteenth-century Hegelians, and clears up the misconception that for Hegel tragedy was the 'highest' genre, while at the same time having a great deal to say about Hegel's neglected theory of comedy. I became very enthusiastic about the book the further I read: the proof of the pudding is very much in the eating, and it is a rich feast. It is the first proper study of Hegel's theory of genres and its applicability today." — Martin Donougho, University of South Carolina"Roche has a wide command of the philosophical literature related to Hegel, in English, German and other languages. In addition he shows an extremely impressive range of reference to literary works. He is thorough in his approach, balanced in his insights, and provides a good systematic framework within which to interpret Hegel and rethink the issues of tragedy and comedy." — William Desmond, author of Art and the Absolute: A Study of Hegel's Aesthetics"Anyone who these days not only defends the intelligibility of a genre analysis of drama in the tradition of Hegel but also offers the kind of sophisticated and highly calibrated version provided by the author is engaged in a fruitful and important enterprise." — Cyril O'Regan, author of The Heterodox Hegel

• Acknowledgments Abbreviations, Translations, Gender 1 Introduction Historical Considerations in Generic StudiesSystematic Considerations in Generic StudiesHegel and IntersubjectivityArt and TruthArt and HistoryArt and EmotionsDrama, Novel, and FilmFramework of This StudyA Note to the Reader2 A Study of Tragedy The Tragedy of Self-Sacrifice (1)The Tragedy of Stubbornness (2a)The Tragedy of Opposition (2b)The Tragedy of Awareness (3)The Drama of SufferingParatragedy or the Tragedy of SufferingHeuristic Value and ElaborationSchiller's "Don Carlos"Bolt's and Joffe's "The Mission'3 A Study of Comedy Hegel on ComedyThe Comedy of Coincidence (1)The Comedy of Reduction (2a)The Comedy of Negation (2b)The Comedy of Withdrawal (2c)The Comedy of Intersubjectivity (3)The Comedy of Absolute Irony and the Hermeneutics of InterpretationElaborationHofmannsthal's "The Difficult Man"More Difficult Cases4 On the Drama of Reconciliation Tragedy, Comedy, ReconciliationSpeculative DramaMelodrama, the Problem Play, and the Drama of ReconciliationNeighboring Terms, Forms, and IssuesHitchcock's "I Confess"Contradictions in Aristotle and HegelPost-Hegelian Discussions of the Drama ReconciliationVarieties of SublationTragedy versus Reconciliation5 The Dialectic of Genre—or: Transitions and Interrelations Comedy as the Truth of TragedyTransitionsInterrelations between Tragic and Comic Subgenres6 Tragedy and Comedy Today The Disappearance of TragedyComedy, Despair, FinitudeComedy and the Negation of NegativityComic Harmony and Cooperation7 Afterword An Invitation for Further WorkAppendix A. Tragedy Appendix B. Comedy Appendix C. Drama of Reconciliation Notes Works Cited Index