West-östliche Divan and the “Abduction/Seduction of Europe”: World Literature and the Circulation of Culture

The study reveals that Goethe's 'West-östliche Divan' (1819) challenges the separation of art from commerce, proposing an aesthetic that intertwines poetic presentation with luxury consumption. It explores the complex relationship between cultural exchange and political territories, highlighting how world literature emerges post-Napoleonic Wars, facilitated by lifted trade restrictions but also marked by historical instances of forced translations and plundered artifacts. The research approach juxtaposes Goethe's poetic inspiration from Hafez against Greek myths representing violence, while analyzing parallel commercial and cultural networks in 18th- and 19th-century Europe.

Purdy, D. (2015). West-östliche Divan and the “Abduction/Seduction of Europe”: World Literature and the Circulation of Culture. Goethe Yearbook, 22(1), 203–226. https://doi.org/10.1353/gyr.2015.0016