Christoph Martin Wieland

1805 portrait of Christoph Martin Wieland by Ferdinand Jagemann

Christoph Martin Wieland (German: [ˈviːlant]; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first Bildungsroman (Geschichte des Agathon),[1] as well as the epic Oberon, which formed the basis for both Friederike Sophie Seyler's opera of the same name and Carl Maria von Weber's opera of the same name. His thought was representative of the cosmopolitanism of the German Enlightenment, exemplified in his remark: "Only a true cosmopolitan can be a good citizen."[2][3][4] He was a key figure of Weimar Classicism and a collaborator of Abel Seyler's theatre company.

  1. ^ Swales, Martin. The German Bildungsroman from Wieland to Hesse. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. 38.
  2. ^ Rasmussen, Dennis C. (2014). The Pragmatic Enlightenment. Cambridge University Press. p. 12.
  3. ^ Carter, April (2013). The Political Theory of Global Citizenship. Routledge.
  4. ^ Wellbery, David E. (2004). A New History of German Literature. Harvard University Press. pp. 382–383. ISBN 9780674015036.