Johann Christoph Gottsched

Johann Christoph Gottsched (born Feb. 2, 1700, Judithenkirch, near Königsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]—died Dec. 12, 1766, Leipzig, Saxony [Germany]) was a literary theorist, critic, and dramatist who introduced French 18th-century classical standards of taste into the literature and theatre of Germany.

After studying at Königsberg, Gottsched was appointed professor of poetry at the University of Leipzig in 1730, becoming professor of logic and metaphysics there in 1734.

Earlier, in 1725 and 1726, Gottsched had published Die vernünftigen Tadlerinnen (“The Reasonable Female Critics”), a journal aimed at improving the intellectual and moral standards of women. A second journal, Der Biedermann (1727–29; “The Honest Man”), undertook the broader task of introducing the new rationalist creed to German letters. In 1730 he brought out his most important theoretical work, Versuch einer kritischen Dichtkunst vor die Deutschen (“Essay on a German Critical Poetic Theory”), the first German treatise on the art of poetry to apply the standards of reason and good taste advocated by Nicolas Boileau, the foremost exponent of classicism in France.

Gottsched’s poetic theory, which was circumscribed largely by artificial rules, proved to have little lasting influence upon later German literature. His most enduring achievement resulted from his collaboration with the actress Caroline Neuber, which led to the establishment of the Leipzig school of acting and criticism. Following classicist models, they effectively transformed the nature of the German theatre from a type of low entertainment, delighting in coarse sensual appeal, into a respected vehicle for serious literary effort. Gottsched’s Deutsche Schaubühne, 6 vol. (1741–45; “German Theatre”), containing chiefly translations from the French, provided the German stage with a classical repertory to replace the improvisations and melodramas previously popular. His own dramatic efforts (e.g., Sterbender Cato [1732; “The Dying Cato”]), however, are considered to be little more than mediocre tragedies in the classical style. His concern for style, advanced by his Ausführliche Redekunst (1736; “Complete Rhetoric”) and Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst (1748; “Foundation of a German Literary Language”), helped to regularize German as a literary language.