In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, James Macpherson's Ossian was regarded as one of the most important works of world literature. The Celtic bard was elevated to the status of "Homer of the North" (Madame de Staël), and his poetry to the "Mother of Romanticism" (Uhland, Jean-Paul). At the same time, he presents the prototype of the sentimental poet by looking back to the past with "sweet sorrow" and providing aesthetic compensation for the distance from the ideal. The present study undertakes the first comprehensive account of German "Ossianomania" and provides access to important textual material. The theoretical basis is provided by a post-structuralist take on models of receptive aesthetics and discourse analysis. Volume 1 deals with the Poems of Ossian, contemporary discourses and the early stages of the reception of Ossian's work. Volume 2 deals with the main and late stages of the reception. Volumes 3 and 4 present the German translations underlying the reception and the most important reader testimonies.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, James Macpherson's Ossian was regarded as one of the most important works of world literature. The Celtic bard was elevated to the status of "Homer of the North" (Madame de Staël), and his poetry to the "Mother of Romanticism" (Uhland, Jean-Paul). At the same time, he presents the prototype of the sentimental poet by looking back to the past with "sweet sorrow" and providing aesthetic compensation for the distance from the ideal. The present study undertakes the first comprehensive account of German "Ossianomania" and provides access to important textual material. The theoretical basis is provided by a post-structuralist take on models of receptive aesthetics and discourse analysis. Volume 1 deals with the Poems of Ossian, contemporary discourses and the early stages of the reception of Ossian's work. Volume 2 deals with the main and late stages of the reception. Volumes 3 and 4 present the German translations underlying the reception and the most important reader testimonies.

Today’s spectrum of research in literary studies is characterized by a sense of openness to the methods of comparative literature and cultural studies, along with a wide range of interdisciplinary crossover. The spectrum Literaturwissenschaft series is intended to be a forum for this pluralistic new model of literary studies. It presents papers that are informed by methodologically innovative, frequently comparative approaches, and whose findings are of importance well beyond the narrow boundaries of national philological horizons.