In an attempt to discover the "one-idea" with respect to which Goethe claimed he had worked while writing Die Wahlverwandtschaften, taking my cue from Goethe himself, I have united the investigational techniques of hermeneutics and complexity or chaos theory and brought them to bear on the structure of several of the mirroring events in the text. The overwhelming conclusion of this author is that, like those investigating chaos in nature, literary theorists must turn to comprehensive approaches if they wish to treat seriously the structure of texts as works which flow from nature: the nature of the human mind.
Contents: CHAPTER I Refractions. CHAPTER II Chaos: A Model for the Text. CHAPTER III The Hermeneutic Circle. CHAPTER IV A Vision of Wholeness. CHAPTER V Die Wahlverwandtschaften. A Reflection on Goethe's Structure of Nature. CHAPTER VI Patterns of Chaos. CHAPTER VII Ein wahrer Narziss. AFTERWARD In the Conclusion is a Beginning. An Alchemical Approach. Bibliography. Figures.
Contents: CHAPTER I Refractions. CHAPTER II Chaos: A Model for the Text. CHAPTER III The Hermeneutic Circle. CHAPTER IV A Vision of Wholeness. CHAPTER V Die Wahlverwandtschaften. A Reflection on Goethe's Structure of Nature. CHAPTER VI Patterns of Chaos. CHAPTER VII Ein wahrer Narziss. AFTERWARD In the Conclusion is a Beginning. An Alchemical Approach. Bibliography. Figures.