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Professor Sir Isaiah Berlin gave six one hour lectures on Romanticism in the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 1965. They were subsequently Broadcast in the Third Programme in 1966 and evoked ...great interest. In his conversation with Graham Martin Sir Isaiah expresses a view that, although Romanticism is very difficult to define there is, yet, some central core of meaning to the term, Romanticism being the biggest single shift in the human consciousness for a very long time indeed. He sees the origin of Romanticism in Germany, where it developed out of a reaction against powerful France, with it's "spick and span" culture, which some Germans felt was superficial and artificial and which reflected nothing of the depths of the human soul. Germany, a highly religious Protestant country reacted against Catholic universalism. What sprang up in Germany, Sir Isaiah believes, was an aesthetic school which regarded nature and man in terms of a work of art. From this issued the Romantic view that the artist literally creates something new. "The imagination is literally creative." The central notion of all Romanticism is: "that goals, purposes, the vision which you want to impart, the life which you want to lead, the state which you want to create, the political state, or anything else, is not found but invented.
Professor Sir Isaiah Berlin gave six one hour lectures on Romanticism in the National Gallery of Art, Washington in 1965. They were subsequently Broadcast in the Third Programme in 1966 and evoked ...great interest. In his conversation with Graham Martin Sir Isaiah expresses a view that, although Romanticism is very difficult to define there is, yet, some central core of meaning to the term, Romanticism being the biggest single shift in the human consciousness for a very long time indeed. He sees the origin of Romanticism in Germany, where it developed out of a reaction against powerful France, with it's "spick and span" culture, which some Germans felt was superficial and artificial and which reflected nothing of the depths of the human soul. Germany, a highly religious Protestant country reacted against Catholic universalism. What sprang up in Germany, Sir Isaiah believes, was an aesthetic school which regarded nature and man in terms of a work of art. From this issued the Romantic view that the artist literally creates something new. "The imagination is literally creative." The central notion of all Romanticism is: "that goals, purposes, the vision which you want to impart, the life which you want to lead, the state which you want to create, the political state, or anything else, is not found but invented.
| Module code and title: | A202, The age of revolutions |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A202; 34 |
| First transmission date: | 1972-10-16 |
| Published: | 1972 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:18:48 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Helen Rapp |
| Contributors: | Isaiah Berlin; Graham Martin |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Romanticism in Germany |
| Master spool number: | TLN04FM189J |
| Production number: | TLN04FM189J |
| Available to public: | no |
