Editorial. Thinking over Goethe

Abstract

Should we keep reading Goethe? The traditional mainstream in German Studies prescribes it. Nevertheless, such imposition provokes antipathy. This, together with his political conservatism, his resistance to aesthetic novelties and his crazy vision of science, create a very negative image of the writer. But, these motives of animosity must be nuanced. Its conservatism is understandable in biographical keys (he was a son of the bourgeoisie among aristocrats). He did not pretend to be aesthetically innovative, but many of his works overcame the conventional limits of literary genres. Moreover, his conception of science can be understood as an ecological critic to the dominant paradigm of his time.