English Comedians in Germany 1585-1700

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhart Hoffmeister (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Movements, styles and periods (literature)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1585-1700

Places

Germany (Location)
England (Involved)

Resources

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In contrast to the situation in England, France, Italy and Spain, a professional German theater came into existence only belatedly and after a long transitional period during which “English Comedians” or itinerant acting groups from Britain played a key role in the transmission of the Elizabethan repertory and staging achievements. Before their arrival in 1585, German drama was in a state of decline. During the course of the Reformation (1517-55) and the rise of the Counter-Reformation (from 1555), heated partisanship for and against the new faith had pushed the aesthetic realm of poetry (literature as

belles lettres

) to the point of extinction. Decades of propagandizing in the form of satirical broadsheets, polemical prose and religious plays dominated the literary production. In the…

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1221 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "English Comedians in Germany 1585-1700". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1731, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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