Dieter Borchmeyer (born 3 May 1941 in Recklinghausen) is a German literary critic.

Borchmeyer is

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of Modern German Literature (''Neuere Deutsche Literatur'') and Dramatic Theory (''Theaterwissenschaft'') at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, where he is currently ''Seniorprofessor''. Borchmeyer is president of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. His principal fields are German literature from the 18th to the 20th century and music theatre. He has published on

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, Schiller,

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Life

Borchmeyer began his study of ''

German studies German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on German culture, German h ...

'' and Catholic

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in 1961 at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. After gaining his doctorate in 1970 he taught from 1972 until 1979 at a Munich ''Gymnasium'' and simultaneously carried out teaching duties at the German Department of the University. After his ''Habilitation'' in 1979 he taught at the Universities of

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. In 1982 he was called to the Professorship of Dramatic Theory at the University of Munich. Since 1988 he is Professor of Modern German Literature (''Neuere Deutsche Literatur'') and Dramatic Theory (''Theaterwissenschaft'') at the University of Heidelberg. In connection with the invitation to the pianist and musicologist Siegfried Mauser, who had been convicted by law, Borchmeyer was met with fierce criticism in the context of a planned event on the Heidelberg lectures on cultural theory.Volker Oesterreich: Nun hat er den Salat. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, 21. November 2018.

Works (selection)

I. Books * Tragödie und Öffentlichkeit. Schillers Dramaturgie im Zusammenhang seiner ästhetisch-politischen Theorie und die rhetorische Tradition. München 1973 (Wilhelm Fink) * Höfische Gesellschaft und Französische Revolution bei Goethe. Adeliges und bürgerliches Wertsystem im Urteil der Weimarer Klassik. Athenäum Verlag Kronberg/Ts. 1977 * Das Theater Richard Wagners. Idee – Dichtung – Wirkung. Stuttgart 1982 (Reclam) * Richard Wagner – Theory and Theatre. Oxford 1991 (Oxford University Press) * Weimarer Klassik. Portrait einer Epoche. Weinheim 1994. Bearb. Neuaufl. 1998 (Beltz / Athenäum) * „Des Grauens Süße“. Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. München 1997 (Hanser). Neuauflage: Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. Darf nur heimlich lösen mein Haar. München 2003 (Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag) * Goethe. Der Zeitbürger. München 1999 (Hanser) * Richard Wagner. Ahasvers Wandlungen. Frankfurt a.M. 2002 (Insel) * Macht und Melancholie. Schillers Wallenstein. Überarbeitete Neuauflage mit einem Geleitwort v. Raymond Klibansky. Neckargemünd und Wien 2003 (Edition Mnemosyne) * Drama and the World of Richard Wagner. Princeton University Press 2003 * Goethe (DuMont Schnellkurs). Köln 2005 * Mozart oder die Entdeckung der Liebe. Frankfurt a.M. 2005 (Insel) * Nietzsche, Cosima, Wagner; Porträt einer Freundschaft. Frankfurt 2008 (Insel) II. Editions * Richard Wagner: Dichtungen und Schriften. Jubiläumsausgabe in 10 Bänden. Hrsg. nd kommentiertvon D.B. Frankfurt a.M. 1983 (Insel) * Goethe: Dramen 1765–1775. Unter Mitarbeit von Peter Huber hrsg. nd kommentiertvon D.B. In. Goethe: Sämtliche Werke. Briefe, Tagebücher und Gespräche. I. Abt. Bd. 4. Frankfurt a.M. 1985 * Moderne Literatur in Grundbegriffen. Hrsg. von D.B. und Viktor Zmegac. Königstein/Ts. 1987 (Athenäum). Zweite, neubearbeitete Auflage, Tübingen 1994 (Niemeyer) * Goethe: Dramen 1776–1790. Unter Mitarbeit von Peter Huber hrsg. nd kommentiertvon D.B. In: Goethe: Sämtliche Werke. Briefe, Tagebücher und Gespräche. I.Abt. Bd.5. Frankfurt a.M. 1988 (Deutscher Klassiker Verlag) * Goethe: Werke. 6 Bde. Winkler Weltliteratur Dünndruck Ausgabe eu hrsg., mit Geleitwort und Nachworten versehen von D.B.München 1992 (Artemis & Winkler) * Goethe: Dramen 1791–1832. Hrsg. v. D.B. und Peter Huber. In: In: Goethe: Sämtliche Werke. Briefe, Tagebücher und Gespräche. I.Abt. Bd. 6. Frankfurt a.M. 1993 (Deutscher Klassiker Verlag) * Nietzsche und Wagner. Stationen einer epochalen Begegnung. 2 Bde. Hrsg. von D. B. und Jörg Salaquarda. Frankfurt a.M. 1994 (Insel) * Richard Wagner. Der Ring des Nibelungen. Ansichten des Mythos. Hrsg. v. Udo Bermbach und D.B.. Stuttgart 1995 (Metzler) * Franz Wilhelm Beidler: Cosima Wagner. Ein Porträt. Richard Wagners erster Enkel: Ausgewählte Schriften und Briefwechsel mit

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

. Hrsg., komm. u. mit einem biographischen Essay v. D.B. 3. Aufl. Würzburg 2011 (Königshausen & Neumann) * Richard Wagner und die Juden. Hrsg. v. D.B., Ami Maayani u. Susanne Vill. Stuttgart/Weimar 2000 * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust. Sämtliche Dichtungen. Mit einem Nachwort von D.B.. Düsseldorf u. Zürich 2003 (Artemis & Winkler)) * Der Ernstfall. Martin Walsers „ Tod eines Kritikers“. Hrsg. v. D.B. / Helmuth Kiesel. Hamburg 2003. * Mozarts Opern. Das Handbuch. Hrsg. von D.B. u. Gernot Gruber. 2 Teilbände. Laaber 2007 (Laaber) ; III. Festschrift * Getauft auf Musik. Hrsg. v. Udo Bermbach und Hans Rudolf Vaget (mit Auswahlbibliographie). Würzburg 2006 (Königshausen und Neumann).

References

External links

Dieter Borchmeyer's homepage (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borchmeyer, Dieter 1941 births German literary critics Living people Writers from Essen Goethe scholars Wagner scholars