Dichtkunst als Soziologie? Ferdinand Tönnies und Friedrich Schiller

Abstract

Abstract Ferdinand Tönnies’ relationship to the sociology of art and literature was ambivalent and contradictory. On the one hand, the consideration of art and literature plays a role in Tönnies’ theoretical works. On the other hand, in the founding years of sociology, he was opposed to an independent sub-discipline in the sociology of literature because he feared for the unity of the discipline. All the more interesting is the fact that Tönnies repeatedly published on poets and poetry. In addition to articles on Theodor Storm, there are several studies on Friedrich Schiller as a poet and theorist, which show the sociologist as a reader and interpreter of literature. This paper attempts a critical review and classification of these works by Tönnies against the background of the political debate about Schiller in the Schiller anniversary year of 1905.