Lecture
An important turning point in the development of philology was the work of a number
of German scholars of the late 18th to mid-19th century: F.A. Wolf,
A. Boeckh, F. Schleiermacher, and others. The point is that from the mid-18th century Germany was seeking a foundation for the unification of the nation. This search
rested on the national spirit, folk creativity, and reason, which inevitably led to philology. It was precisely in this period that
the main features of contemporary philology were laid down.
The stage of philology that began at the turn of the 18th—19th centuries received the name of «new philology», and Wolf is considered its founder.
Friedrich August Wolf (1759—1824) — the first student known
to cultured humanity who, upon enrolling
in university (in Göttingen, Germany), registered himself
as Studiosus Philologiae (student of philology), that is, he used
this formula to designate his profession. Upon graduating from university he taught at a gymnasium, then was a professor at the universities of Halle and Berlin.
As noted in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia, Wolf
was raised in great strictness by his father, a cantor and organist. At the gymnasium Wolf studied
ancient languages with extraordinary zeal, while at the university he attended lectures irregularly,
preferring independent study. Upon completing his studies at the
university, he submitted, as a trial work, an article in which he set forth his views on the Homeric songs; but Professor
Heyne for some reason received Wolf's work quite coldly.
However, the work was soon published. In 1783 Wolf was invited to the chair of philosophy at the university in Halle.
In the course of his philological studies and teaching, Wolf
arrived at a new understanding of philology as the science of antiquity.
It was formulated by him in lectures that he gave from
1785 onward, and later in the work «Darstellung der Alterthums-Wissenschaft» (1807; «An Outline of the Science of Antiquity», trans. from the German, St. Petersburg,
1877).
The concept of the science of antiquity in Wolf pertains «to the basic content of the knowledge and information that acquaint us with the deeds and destinies, with the political, scholarly, and domestic condition of the Greeks and Romans, with their culture, their language, art, and
science, customs, religion, national character, and turn of
mind, acquaint us in such a way that we become capable
of thoroughly understanding the works that have come down to us from them and of taking delight in them, penetrating into their content and spirit, reviving
before ourselves ancient life and comparing it with later and contemporary life» (p. 17—18)1
.
He distinguishes two parts within this science.
The first part is formed by the so-called auxiliary sciences,
«preparing access to the objects» of study (p. 27). This
group includes three sciences:
l grammar — the science «of all periods of the life of a language»
(p. 19), that is, in effect linguistics;
l hermeneutics — «the art of perceptively uncovering
an author's thoughts from his exposition»;
l philological criticism, which studies the time of creation,
the authenticity and originality of monuments, and their initial
form.
These sciences, as Wolf writes, constitute the organ of scholarship proper.
The second part consists of the sciences that study the various aspects of
the life of the peoples of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Such are ancient geography, history, mythology, the history of literature, the history of the arts, and others.
Thus, according to Wolf, philology is the totality of sciences and scholarly methods for studying the life and culture of any people,
as well as the totality of historical-philological sciences studying ancient Greece and ancient Rome (classical philology
in one of its interpretations).
The ideas of F.A. Wolf received further development in the works of his contemporaries. Thus August Boeckh (1785—1867) put forward the thesis: «The goal
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the foundations of a theory of the genre and stylistic richness of the Russian language.
2.2. The turning-point significance of the works of F.A. Wolf
and his contemporaries for philology
An important turning point in the development of philology was the work of a number
of German scholars of the late 18th to mid-19th century: F.A. Wolf,
A. Boeckh, F. Schleiermacher, and others. The point is that from the mid-18th century Germany was seeking a foundation for the unification of the nation. This search
rested on the national spirit, folk creativity, and reason, which inevitably led to philology. It was precisely in this period that
the main features of contemporary philology were laid down.
The stage of philology that began at the turn of the 18th—19th centuries received the name of «new philology», and Wolf is considered its founder.
Friedrich August Wolf (1759—1824) — the first student known
to cultured humanity who, upon enrolling
in university (in Göttingen, Germany), registered himself
as Studiosus Philologiae (student of philology), that is, he used
this formula to designate his profession. Upon graduating from university he taught at a gymnasium, then was a professor at the universities of Halle and Berlin.
As noted in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedia, Wolf
was raised in great strictness by his father, a cantor and organist. At the gymnasium Wolf studied
ancient languages with extraordinary zeal, while at the university he attended lectures irregularly,
preferring independent study. Upon completing his studies at the
university, he submitted, as a trial work, an article in which he set forth his views on the Homeric songs; but Professor
Heyne for some reason received Wolf's work quite coldly.
However, the work was soon published. In 1783 Wolf was invited to the chair of philosophy at the university in Halle.
In the course of his philological studies and teaching, Wolf
arrived at a new understanding of philology as the science of antiquity.
It was formulated by him in lectures that he gave from
1785 onward, and later in the work «Darstellung der Alterthums-Wissenschaft» (1807; «An Outline of the Science of Antiquity», trans. from the German, St. Petersburg,
1877).
The concept of the science of antiquity in Wolf pertains «to the basic content of the knowledge and information that acquaint us with the deeds and destinies, with the political, scholarly, and domestic condition of the Greeks and Romans, with their culture, their language, art, and
science, customs, religion, national character, and turn of
mind, acquaint us in such a way that we become capable
of thoroughly understanding the works that have come down to us from them and of taking delight in them, penetrating into their content and spirit, reviving
before ourselves ancient life and comparing it with later and contemporary life» (p. 17—18)1
.
He distinguishes two parts within this science.
The first part is formed by the so-called auxiliary sciences,
«preparing access to the objects» of study (p. 27). This
group includes three sciences:
l grammar — the science «of all periods of the life of a language»
(p. 19), that is, in effect linguistics;
l hermeneutics — «the art of perceptively uncovering
an author's thoughts from his exposition»;
l philological criticism, which studies the time of creation,
the authenticity and originality of monuments, and their initial
form.
These sciences, as Wolf writes, constitute the organ of scholarship proper.
The second part consists of the sciences that study the various aspects of
the life of the peoples of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Such are ancient geography, history, mythology, the history of literature, the history of the arts, and others.
Thus, according to Wolf, philology is the totality of sciences and scholarly methods for studying the life and culture of any people,
as well as the totality of historical-philological sciences studying ancient Greece and ancient Rome (classical philology
in one of its interpretations).
The ideas of F.A. Wolf received further development in the works of his contemporaries. Thus August Boeckh (1785—1867) put forward the thesis: «The goal
42 43
of philology... the cognition of the cognized». This thesis is elucidated by the author himself: «to cognize... the cognized — means to understand; understanding
is the general function of philology». Gottfried Hermann (1772—1848)
insisted that philology is the criticism and interpretation of
the text.
Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768—1834) is recognized as the founder of modern hermeneutics as the science of understanding. Unlike exegetics, which interprets only sacred texts,
hermeneutics, according to Schleiermacher, studies the understanding of any
text. His main thesis: «To understand an utterance at first just as well, and then better, than its author». Hermeneutics is closely connected
with rhetoric.
«New philology» finds the meaning of its existence:
at the center of philology stands the problem of understanding; the resolution of this
problem is served by scholarly methods that can be applied in the study of any people (hermeneutics, criticism, and so on). At the same time, the understanding of philology is retained also as a
historical-philological complex of knowledge about ancient peoples (classical philology in one of its versions). In the course of
the 19th century, a divergence of philology and history would occur.
Thus began the transformation of philology as a complex
body of knowledge into philology as a complex of sciences and scholarly disciplines.
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