The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer

The Art of Literature

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Title: The Art of Literature
Author: Arthur Schopenhauer
Release Date: January 14, 2004 [EBook #10714]
Language: English
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THE ESSAYS
OF
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
TRANSLATED BY
T. BAILEY SAUNDERS, M.A.

THE ART OF LITERATURE.

CONTENTS.
PREFACE ON AUTHORSHIP ON STYLE ON THE STUDY OF

LATIN ON MEN OF LEARNING ON THINKING FOR ONESELF
ON SOME FORMS OF LITERATURE ON CRITICISM ON
REPUTATION ON GENIUS

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The contents of this, as of the other volumes in the series, have been
drawn from Schopenhauer's _Parerga_, and amongst the various
subjects dealt with in that famous collection of essays, Literature holds
an important place. Nor can Schopenhauer's opinions fail to be of
special value when he treats of literary form and method. For, quite
apart from his philosophical pretensions, he claims recognition as a
great writer; he is, indeed, one of the best of the few really excellent
prose-writers of whom Germany can boast. While he is thus
particularly qualified to speak of Literature as an Art, he has also
something to say upon those influences which, outside of his own
merits, contribute so much to an author's success, and are so often
undervalued when he obtains immediate popularity. Schopenhauer's
own sore experiences in the matter of reputation lend an interest to his
remarks upon that subject, although it is too much to ask of human
nature that he should approach it in any dispassionate spirit.
In the following pages we have observations upon style by one who
was a stylist in the best sense of the word, not affected, nor yet a
phrasemonger; on thinking for oneself by a philosopher who never did
anything else; on criticism by a writer who suffered much from the
inability of others to understand him; on reputation by a candidate who,
during the greater part of his life, deserved without obtaining it; and on
genius by one who was incontestably of the privileged order himself.
And whatever may be thought of some of his opinions on matters of
detail--on anonymity, for instance, or on the question whether good
work is never done for money--there can be no doubt that his general
view of literature, and the conditions under which it flourishes, is
perfectly sound.
It might be thought, perhaps, that remarks which were meant to apply
to the German language would have but little bearing upon one so
different from it as English. This would be a just objection if
Schopenhauer treated literature in a petty spirit, and confined himself to
pedantic inquiries into matters of grammar and etymology, or mere

niceties of phrase. But this is not so. He deals with his subject broadly,
and takes large and general views; nor can anyone who knows anything
of the philosopher suppose this to mean that he is vague and feeble. It
is true that now and again in the course of these essays he makes
remarks which are obviously meant to apply to the failings of certain
writers of his own age and country; but in such a case I have generally
given his sentences a turn, which, while keeping them faithful to the
spirit of the original, secures for them a less restricted range, and makes
Schopenhauer a critic of similar faults in whatever age or country they
may appear. This has been done in spite of a sharp word on page
seventeen of this volume, addressed to translators who dare to revise
their author; but the change is one with which not even Schopenhauer
could quarrel.
It is thus a significant fact--a testimony to the depth of his insight and,
in the main, the justice of his opinions--that views of literature which
appealed to his own immediate contemporaries, should be found to
hold good elsewhere and at a distance of fifty years. It means that what
he had to say was worth saying; and since it is adapted thus equally to
diverse times and audiences, it is probably of permanent interest.
The intelligent reader will observe that much of the charm of
Schopenhauer's writing comes from its strongly personal character, and
that here he has to do, not with a mere maker of books, but with a man
who thinks for himself and has no false scruples in putting his meaning
plainly upon