Defined as logical beauty and form of paradox, Friedrich Schlegel's (1772-1829) romantic irony incorporates ancient Socratic irony and reinterprets it, inserting it as a nuclear element of his theorization on literary criticism. The current paper analyses the concept of romantic irony seeking to situate its alterations at the end of 18th century, when it changed its meaning for metacritics, philosophical reflexion, fictional rupture, aesthetical distance and form of art exposition.
Friedrich Schlegel; Romantic irony; Socratic irony; History of Literary Criticism; Early German Romanticism