Weltschmerz

Weltschmerz(German:[ˈvɛltʃmɛɐ̯ts]^ⓘ;literally "world-pain" ) is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes thatrealitycan never satisfy the expectations of themind,^[1]^[2]resulting in "a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from the acute awareness ofeviland suffering ".^[3]

The term was coined by the GermanRomanticauthorJean Paulin his 1827 novelSelina,^[1]and in its original definition in theDeutsches Wörterbuchby theBrothers Grimm,it denotes a deep sadness about the insufficiency of the world ("tiefe Traurigkeit über die Unzulänglichkeit der Welt"). The translation can differ depending on context; in reference to the self it can mean "world-weariness", while in reference to the world it can mean "the pain of the world".^[4]

TheworldviewofWeltschmerzhas been retroactively seen as widespread among Romantic anddecadentauthors such as Jean Paul, theMarquis de Sade,Lord Byron,Giacomo Leopardi,William Blake,Charles Baudelaire,Paul Verlaine,François-René de Chateaubriand,Oscar Wilde,Alfred de Musset,Mikhail Lermontov,Nikolaus Lenau,^[5]Hermann Hesse,^[6]andHeinrich Heine.^[5]

Further examples[edit]

The modern meaning ofWeltschmerzin the German language is thepsychological paincaused bysadnessthat can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and (physical and social) circumstances.^[7]

InTropic of Cancer,Henry Millerdescribes an acquaintance, "Moldorf", who has prescriptions forWeltschmerzon scraps of paper in his pocket.John Steinbeckwrote about this feeling in two of his novels; inEast of Eden,Samuel Hamilton feels it after meeting Cathy Trask for the first time, and it is referred to as theWelshratsinThe Winter of our Discontent.Ralph Ellisonuses the term inInvisible Manwith regard to the pathos inherent in the singing of spirituals: "Beneath the swiftness of the hot tempo there was a slower tempo and a cave and I entered it and looked around and heard an old woman singing a spiritual as full ofWeltschmerzasflamenco".Kurt Vonnegutreferences the feeling in his novelPlayer Piano,in which it is felt by Doctor Paul Proteus and his father. InJohn D. MacDonald's novelFree Fall in Crimson,Travis McGee describesWeltschmerzas "homesickness for a place you have never seen".

References[edit]

^^a ^b"Weltschmerz | Romantic literary concept".Encyclopedia Britannica.Retrieved2020-10-06.
^Georg Büchmann (1898).Geflügelte Worte. Der Citatenschatz des deutschen Volkes.Haude & Spener'sche Buchhandlung (F. Weidling). pp. 223–224. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-05-29.Retrieved2022-01-31.
^Beiser, Frederick C. (2016).Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860-1900.Oxford University Press. p. 1.ISBN 9780191081347.
^"Weltschmerz is the word that perfectly sums up how you're feeling right now".Metro.2020-05-30.Retrieved2020-07-18.
^^a ^bBraun, Wilhelm Afred (1905).Types of Weltschmerz in German Poetry.London: Columbia University Press.ISBN 9780231944823.Retrieved9 April2016.
^Stelzig, Eugene L. (1988).Hermann Hesse's Fictions of the Self: Autobiography and the Confessional Imagination.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 81.ISBN 0-691-06750-3.Retrieved9 April2016.
^Heinssen, Johannes (2003).Historismus und Kulturkritik: Studien zur deutschen Geschichtskultur im späten 19. Jahrhundert(in German). Göttingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.p. 615.ISBN 9783525351932.

External links[edit]

The dictionary definition ofWeltschmerzat Wiktionary

[britannica-1] "Weltschmerz | Romantic literary concept".Encyclopedia Britannica.Retrieved2020-10-06.

[Georg_Büchmann-2] Georg Büchmann (1898).Geflügelte Worte. Der Citatenschatz des deutschen Volkes.Haude & Spener'sche Buchhandlung (F. Weidling). pp. 223–224. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-05-29.Retrieved2022-01-31.

[3] Beiser, Frederick C. (2016).Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860-1900.Oxford University Press. p. 1.ISBN 9780191081347.

[4] "Weltschmerz is the word that perfectly sums up how you're feeling right now".Metro.2020-05-30.Retrieved2020-07-18.

[Braun-5] Braun, Wilhelm Afred (1905).Types of Weltschmerz in German Poetry.London: Columbia University Press.ISBN 9780231944823.Retrieved9 April2016.

[Stelzig-6] Stelzig, Eugene L. (1988).Hermann Hesse's Fictions of the Self: Autobiography and the Confessional Imagination.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 81.ISBN 0-691-06750-3.Retrieved9 April2016.

[Heinssen-7] Heinssen, Johannes (2003).Historismus und Kulturkritik: Studien zur deutschen Geschichtskultur im späten 19. Jahrhundert(in German). Göttingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.p. 615.ISBN 9783525351932.

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v t e Emotions(list)
Emotions	Acceptance Admiration Adoration Aesthetic Affection Agitation Agony Amusement Anger Angst Anguish Annoyance Anticipation Anxiety Apathy Arousal Attraction Awe Belongingness Boredom Calmness Compassion Confidence Confusion Contempt Contentment Courage Cruelty Curiosity Defeat Depression Desire Disappointment Disgust Distrust Doubt Ecstasy Embarrassment vicarious Emotion work Empathy Emptiness Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Faith Fear Flow Frustration Gratification Gratitude Greed Grief Guilt Happiness Joie de vivre Hatred Hiraeth Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hygge Hysteria Ikigai (sense of purpose) Indulgence Infatuation Insecurity Inspiration Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Joy Kindness Loneliness Love limerence at first sight Lust Mono no aware Neglect Nostalgia Outrage Panic Passion Pity self-pity Pleasure Pride grandiosity hubris insult vanity Rage Regret Rejection Relief Remorse Resentment Revenge Sadness melancholy Saudade Schadenfreude Sehnsucht Sentimentality Shame Shock Shyness Social connection Sorrow Spite Stress chronic Suffering Surprise Sympathy Trust Wonder sense of wonder Worry
Worldviews	Cynicism Defeatism Nihilism Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Weltschmerz
Related	Affect consciousness in education measures in psychology Affective computing forecasting neuroscience science spectrum Affectivity positive negative Appeal to emotion Amygdala hijack Emotion and art and memory and music and sex and sleep classification evolution expressed functional accounts group homeostatic in animals perception recognition in conversation regulation interpersonal work Emotional aperture bias blackmail competence conflict contagion detachment dysregulation eating exhaustion expression and gender intelligence and bullying Empathy quotient intimacy isolation lability labor lateralization literacy prosody reasoning responsivity security symbiosis thought method well-being Emotionality bounded Emotions and culture history in decision-making in the workplace in virtual communication moral self-conscious social social sharing sociology Feeling Group affective tone Interactions between the emotional and executive brain systems Jealousy in art Meta-emotion Pathognomy Pathos Social emotional development Stoic passions Theory affect appraisal constructed emotion discrete emotion somatic marker
Italicsindicate emotion names in foreign languages

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