Johannes Jacob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus [The Adventurous Simplex]

Alfred D. White (Cardiff University)

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)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1668 - 1669

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Burlesque
Novel
Picaresque

Resources

Grimmelshausen's best-known work, Simplicissimus, was published in 1668 (dated 1669), its sequel, the Continuatio, in 1669. Alone among the products of the German baroque, it speaks directly to the modern reader with its narrative verve, its portrayal of a turbulent historical epoch, and its psychological character analysis. The novel's historical theme is the Thirty Years' War (see separate entry) , its battlefields spreading across Germany; the overt aim is to warn the younger generation, twenty years on, against another war. Grimmelshausen's religious moral beyond this is contained more in narrations than in exhortations.

The protagonist's childhood is spent on his (supposed) parents' farm. When the farm is …

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1582 words

Citation: White, Alfred D.. "Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 June 2005 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14758, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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