Johann Jakob Breitinger (1 March 1701 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

– 14 December 1776) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

Life

Breitinger studied

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 ...

and

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and first earned recognition from 1730 through a new edition of the Septuaginta. From 1731 he worked as Professor of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and later of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

in the gymnasium in Zürich. Breitinger was however best known for his collaborations with his friend

Johann Jakob Bodmer Johann Jakob Bodmer (19 July 16982 January 1783) was a Swiss author, academic, critic and poet. Life Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters. In ...

. In their joint work it cannot always to be distinguished, from whom most of the suggestions came. The main part of the historical collection ''Thesaurus Historicae Helveticae'' (1735) may be attributed to Breitinger. Breitinger's principal work ''Critische Dichtkunst'' (1740) was a rejection of the traditional poetic principle of imitation of nature for the benefit of the creative imagination; it had a big influence on German literary theory and the burgeoning

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

cult. In this context was also the literary-historically significant dispute of Bodmer and Breitinger with Johann Christoph Gottsched.

Works

* ''Kritische Abhandlung von der Natur, den Absichten und dem Gebrauche der Gleichnisse'', 1740 * ''Critische Dichtkunst'', 1740 * ''Verteidigung der schweizerischen Muse Herrn D. A. Hallers'', 1744

External links

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Kurzbiografie von Johann Jakob Breitinger

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breitinger, Johann Jakob 1701 births 1776 deaths Swiss literary critics Swiss male writers Writers from Zurich

Life

Works

Further reading

External links