The Career of Rene Wellek

8/13/2019 The Career of Rene Wellek

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THE CAREER OF RENE WELLEK

Chapter One of Rene Wellek by Martin Burro, Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1981

Europe and America

In the fall of 1978, the distinguished American literary theorist, critical historian, and comparatist scholarRen Wellek spoke at the Sterling emorial !i"rary, #ale $ni%ersity, on the occasion of an e&hi"ition of hispu"lications for the cele"ration of his se%enty'fifth "irthday( After outlining the main tasks ahead of him, theSterling )rofessor *meritus of +omparati%e !iterature looked "ack on his riting life o%er the past fifty'fouryears and noted that his "ooks reflected the many changes in literary scholarship and criticism( Still, hehoped that he had preser%ed his o n integrity and a core of con%ictions( Wellek, hose impulse hasal ays "een to help clarify the methodological -o er of .a"el, once e&plained/ 0 y %ie s and aspirationsare "est e&pounded in my "ooks( any literary scholars the orld o%er kno the con%ictions andaspirations in Wellek2s "ooks, if not in all of his hundreds of scattered essays and re%ie s( Appealing alsoto the student of literature and criticism are the stages of Ren Wellek2s remarka"le de%elopment, particu'larly his formati%e years in *urope and the years preceding his ac3uiring American citi4enship in 1956(

I Vienna

Ren Wellek as "orn in ienna on August , 19 :, the oldest of three children( In this old ;aps"urgcapital


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influenced his life decisi%ely( -hough he still spent long hours at his !atin, he gre increasingly sceptical ofmechanical instruction(

II Prague

With the collapse of the Austro';ungarian *mpire in 1918, the Welleks =and infant *li4a"eth> mo%ed tothe ancient cathedral city of )rague, that pictures3ue settlement at the entrance to *astern *urope(0+4echoslo%akia after the ar, Wellek notes, 0more than e%er, stood at the crossroads of all culturalinfluences, in conse3uence of her geographical position, her Sla%onic language and her Westernsympathies( !ike his father

oseph anko lectured on Bothic %ocalism and consonantism, Arnost @raus on the Minnesnger, HtokarDischer on the life and poetry of ;eine, D( ( Salda on Sym"olism, and Kcla% -ille on comparati%e folklore(Drom each Wellek learned, "ut from each he ithheld total allegiance( Dascinated "y the Judgmental"oldness of Driedrich Bundolf Ls Shakespeare und der deutsche Beist =1911> and Boethe =1916>, Wellek in19 : %isited ;eidel"erg to hear Bundolf lectureE after calling on him, ho e%er, Wellek as repelled "yBundolf Ls adoring cult of Stefan Beorge(

At +harles $ni%ersity, Wellek enJoyed the lectures on *nglish literary history gi%en "y the highly regarded+4ech scholar and teacher ilm athesius =188 ( -he no"le and polite athesius, Wellek later

rote, as 0the type of the +4ech scholar ho gre up under Austria in the tradition of +4ech)rotestantism, ith asaryk as a model in mind, ho de%oted himself to the "uilding of the nation "et eenthe ars( Furing athesius2s sudden loss of sight, Wellek = ho then cared only for Shakespeare and theRomantic and ictorian poets> read portions of -he Dairie Mueene to him and o"ser%ed that often

athesius2s responses to Spenser ent "eyond the con%entions of nineteenth'century positi%istic phil'ology( athesius, in fact, encouraged his students to free themsel%es from fanatic Berman factualism andto rite +4ech e&position in the simple, clear style of the *nglish( -hough athesius seemed to Wellekinsufficiently concerned ith the pro"lem of e%il and tragedy, ith irrationality and the interior life athesiusinstilled in him 0a sane respect for order, tradition, common sense, lucidity distrust of the merely ne , thepretentious and opa3ue( ( ( a concern for genuine disco%ery, for the frontiers of kno ledge(

III Wandering Scholar

With his father2s financial help, Wellek in 19 5 spent t o months in *ngland preparing his thesis on0-homas +arlyle and Romanticism and responding fa%ora"ly to the etaphysical re%i%al( -he ne&t year heand other +4ech students, under the auspices of the .ritish $nion of students, %isited +am"ridge,.irmingham, !i%erpool, H&ford, .ristol, and !ondon( As an undergraduate Wellek "egan pu"lishing hisefforts in +4ech "ooks and periodicals ;is first essay, in Discher and Salda2s re%ie @ritika, took to task (

( SlKdek2s +4ech translation of Romeo and uliet ( Hther early essays are on .yron and Shelley, earlyre%ie s on %arious studies in +4ech, *nglish, Drench, and Berman( $nder athesius, Wellek completedhis thesis on +arlyle/ Wellek argues that +arlyle fought the *nlightenment ith eapons from BermanRomanticism, "ut remained a )uritan( In une 19 6, at age t enty'three, Wellek recei%ed the degreeFoctor of )hilology(


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Supported "y the +4ech inistry of *ducation, Wellek once more %isited *ngland, this time to prepare amonograph on Andre ar%ell in relation to .aro3ue and !atin poetry( .ut at H&ford, here he met ario)ra4, Wellek as surprised to learn that the Drench scholar )ierre !egouis as preparing a large "ook on

ar%ell( With recommendations from H&ford Wellek applied to the Institute of International *ducation, andin the fall of 19 7 he ent to )rinceton as a )rocter Dello of *nglish( ;e spent a "usy year in the regulargraduate seminars of -homas ( )arrott, Ro"ert @( Root, +harles +( Hsgood, and orris W( +roll($nfortunately, Wellek2s seminar assignments ere much like those of his early years in Bermanicphilology( At the time, )rinceton offered no modern or American literature( Wellek, ho e%er, managed toread ;( !( encken, an Wyck .rooks, and the Ge ;umanists(

Since there as no opening for him at )rague, Wellek remained in the $nited States and taught Bermanthe ne&t year at Smith +ollege( -he follo ing year he returned to )rinceton to teach Berman( ;a%inga%oided at )rague the professors of positi%istic philosophy, at )rinceton he attended !edger Wood2sseminar on ;egel2s !ogic . Wellek2s thesis on +arlyle had led him to +oleridge, and +oleridge led him to@ant and Schelling( Furing this period, Wellek decided that the topic of his second thesis (Habilitation)

ould "e the influence of @ant on *nglish thought( Wellek then %oyaged home "y ay of *ngland( At the.ritish useum he scrutini4ed +oleridge2s manuscript 0!ogic, ama4ed to see the fair and unfair use+oleridge made of @ant(

I Privatdozent

.ack at +harles $ni%ersity "y the fall of 19: , Wellek completed Immanuel @ant in *ngland : 17 !"1#!#. -hough athesius had reser%ations a"out the su"Ject of the Habilitation, he ad%ised Wellek toenhance his chances of securing a professorship "y riting a paper on the iddle *nglish poem -he )earl .Wellek passed his $o%entura, "asing his inaugural lecture =0-he - o *nglands/ *mpiricism and Idealism in*nglish !iterature > on an entry in +oleridge2s note"ooks( Writes Wellek/ 0I de%eloped the contrast "et eenthe t o traditions ith an unconcealed preference for the )latonic idealistic poetic tradition( Still, athesiusselected Wellek as his e%entual successor as )rofessor of the ;istory of *nglish !iterature(

Drom 19: to 19:? Wellek li%ed in )rague( ;e "ecame an acti%e Junior mem"er of the famous )rague!inguistic +ircle, translated oseph +onrad2s &'an%e and F( ;( !a rence2s ons and Lo ers into +4ech,taught *nglish as a *ri atdo+ent, and rote in +4ech, *nglish and Berman for a %ariety of +4ech Journals(In 19: Wellek married Hlga .rodskK, an elementary'school teacher from ora%ia( Wellek early sur%eyedthe ork of the +am"ridge critics ith an inade3uate appreciation of idealism as it descends from)lato, ith underrating the coherence and comprehensi"ility of the Romantic %ie of the orld( !ea%is

rongly countercharged that Wellek as an a"stract philosopher ith an inade3uate appreciation ofsensiti%e concrete criticism( Wellek replied that he had intended only to sho that literary criticism directed


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against the soundness of thought is in%alid(

As .ronisla% Wellek "efore World War I had transmitted +4ech culture to Austria, so Ren Wellek "eforeWorld War II transmitted +4ech culture to *ngland( Se%eral of Wellek2s thoughtful, factual accounts of+4ech history and the +4ech situation stem from this period( In !ondon and en%irons, in speech and print,he sought help for his threatened homeland "y ac3uainting the *nglish ith %enera"le Anglo'+4echrelations, ith +4ech riters and %alues( Still, Ge%ille +ham"erlain, to Wellek2s utter dismay, let the littlecountry go( After ;itler2s troops marched into )rague in the spring of 19:9, the -hird Reich halted Wellek2ssalary(

I Iowa

American scholars came to Wellek2s aid( -homas )arrott informed Gorman Doerster of Wellek2s plight(Doerster, as Firector of the School of !etters at the State $ni%ersity of Io a, in%ited Wellek to Join the*nglish Fepartment as a lecturer on a one'year appointment( ;a%ing ascertained the e&act location ofIo a +ity on a map in the .ritish useum, Wellek and his ife gratefully sailed for America in une( .eforethe trip to Io a, Wellek orked at #ale for si& eeks on the manuscript of his Rise of *nglish !iterary;istory . -he Welleks mo%ed into a ne ly rented house in Io a +ity on Septem"er 1, 19:9


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li"eration, considered returning to )rague( #ale $ni%ersity, ho e%er, offered him a post, and Wellek"ecame a naturali4ed American citi4en in ay 1956( -hat same year #ale presented him ith an honoraryaster of Arts degree, and he Joined the editorial "oard =1956


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- o years after the pu"lication of +oncepts , )rinceton $ni%ersity )ress, ha%ing put its imprimatur in19:1 on the printing in +4echoslo%akia of @ant in *ngland , appropriately pu"lished Wellek2s third collection,si& essays under the unam"iguous title +onfrontations/ Studies in the Intellectual and !iterary Relations.et een Bermany, *ngland, and the $nited States during the Gineteenth +entury ( ;o ard umford onespronounced Ren Wellek 0the most erudite man in America(0 When #ale in 196? released the eagerlya aited third and fourth %olumes of Wellek2s critical ;istory


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19?8 the Fistinguished Ser%ice A ard came from the American +ouncil of !earned Societies( -he ne&tyear he as Dul"right Research Scholar in Italy, in Dlorence and Rome( Brants from the Rockefeller and.ollingen Doundations allo ed Wellek to take another lea%e from academic duties in 196:


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The Career of Rene Wellek

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