The Imperfect Look of Romanticism

Laura Gemma Flores Garcia

Abstract: In this short communication, we start from the novel The Young Wherter, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, where the main characteristics of German Romanticism are specified and how they impacted both other areas of art (music, poetry, painting) and in different European cities. Romanticism and the particularities that derived from it are addressed, such as: sentimentalism, the concept of the sublime, the picturesque, symbolism and nationalism. Through quotes from contemporary or later authors, Romanticism is presented as that movement opposed to the logic of the Enlightenment as an imperfect view that left an indelible mark even today.

Keywords: Romanticism, sentimentalism, sublime, nationalism