Novalis, Art et Utopie: A Romantic Paradigm for Today

Éditions Rue d'Ulm has published 'Novalis, Art et Utopie', a collection of fragments by the German Romantic poet and philosopher Novalis (1772–1801), selected and prefaced by Olivier Schefer. The book argues that Romanticism remains a vital paradigm for contemporary culture, which is still shaped by Romantic ideas. Novalis, a contemporary of Hölderlin, was a polymath—poet, philosopher, and scientist—fascinated by electricity, galvanism, diseases, the solar system, chemistry, botany, and mineralogy. The fragments offer direct access to his thought laboratory, revealing the centrality of religion (especially Christianity and the Catholic-Protestant divide in Germany) and the foundational references of Goethe and Shakespeare. Poetry is presented as the keystone of Novalis's system. Schefer's preface defines Romanticism, connects it to recent art movements like land art and the work of Gilbert & George, and explores key concepts such as will, illness, magic, and reality.