Leonard Forster – författare

In this study of poetry written in languages other than the poet's native tongue Professor Forster begins with a general survey of multilingualism and its effects on literature. This is followed by a survey of medieval examples, with the main emphasis on Latin as lingua franca and language of scholarship. In the nineteenth century the concept of language as a function of nationality arose and 'language-loyalty' came to play an important part. With Dadaism and Surrealism language once again became simply material with which the poet worked and in principle any language was as good as another. Professor Forster examines with particular attention works by Milton, Stefan George, Rilke, T. S. Eliot and James Joyce. His discussion leads to more general questions of the relationship between the poet and his medium.

In this short introductory book, Professor Forster examines Petrarchism as a European phenomenon transcending national boundaries. He begins with a general survey of themes and conventions, providing, with quotation, something like a repertory of the devices. He then shows in an important historical study how various vernacular literatures were seeking for a renewal of poetic diction at the moment when Petrarchism was available to meet the need. The third study examines specific forms and shows how realism in love-relationships could be accommodated within the tradition. A fourth shows how the literary conventions, applied to England's Virgin queen, could serve political and national ends; and the last shows the devices still being used in Goethe's Faust. This is a learned and engaging book, ranging freely among literatures: Latin, Italian, French, Dutch, English, and German, with translations provided. It gives an introduction to one of the most important and longest-lasting traditions in comparative literary studies.

This volume was originally published in 1948. Students of sixteenth-century Germany and its literature, in need of a text and translation of the works of Conrad Celtis, the Humanist, who wrote in Latin, will find it in Mr Forster's selection. Latin literature was in some respects a generation ahead of the vernaculars. It is in Latin that the big changes first become apparent. But in present-day education the tendency away from Latin makes it difficult for students to study this as it ought to be studied. Mr Forster, judging by his lecture-room experience, believes that there is a need and a way to remedy this difficulty. He has selected texts from Celtis to illustrate tendencies in humanist thought, writing a commentary upon each, and adding a literal translation.