Friedrich Bouterwek

author

Friedrich Bouterwek

1766–1828

A German philosopher, literary historian, and critic from the late Enlightenment, remembered for bringing wide-ranging European literature into view for German readers. His writing spans poetry, novels, aesthetics, and influential surveys of Spanish and other modern literatures.

1 Audiobook

History of Spanish and Portuguese Literature (Vol 2 of 2)

History of Spanish and Portuguese Literature (Vol 2 of 2)

by Friedrich Bouterwek

About the author

Born on April 15, 1766, in Oker near Goslar, Friedrich Bouterwek was a German philosopher, critic, and man of letters. He studied at the University of Göttingen, where he later became a professor of philosophy, and he built a reputation as a thoughtful interpreter of literature as well as ideas.

Bouterwek wrote in several forms, including poems, novels, and philosophical works, but he is especially known for his literary criticism and history. His best-known scholarly achievement is a multi-volume history of modern poetry and eloquence, a large project that helped introduce German readers to Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Italian literary traditions.

He died on August 9, 1828. Today he is chiefly remembered not as a single-school philosopher, but as a versatile scholar whose work connected philosophy with literary judgment and helped widen the German view of European writing.