Laurence Sterne in Germany A Contribution to the Study of the Literary Relations of England and Germany in the Eighteenth Century

A meticulous study explores how Laurence Sterne’s wildly inventive prose crossed the English Channel and found eager readers in eighteenth‑century Germany. Framed within the broader surge of English influence on German letters, the work traces the early reception of Sterne’s novels through newspapers, literary journals, and the burgeoning market for translations.

Drawing on extensive research in both American and European libraries, the author reconstructs the cultural climate that welcomed British ideas as a counterweight to French taste. He shows how German periodicals acted as conduits, broadcasting English literary developments and prompting German writers to engage with Sterne’s humor, narrative tricks, and moral imagination.

For anyone fascinated by the pathways of ideas between nations, this book offers a vivid portrait of a pivotal moment when German literary identity was reshaped by an English voice. Listeners will come away with a clearer picture of how translation and trans‑national dialogue sparked a flourishing of German letters in the late 1700s.