Up to now, Johann Gottfried Herder has been seen as a symbolic figure for overcoming "classical" rhetoric in German Storm and Stress. This view is however at variance both with Herder's own rhetorical practice and with his intensive study of the discipline and his objection to Kant's condemnation of it. Björn Hambsch bases his study on Herder's complete works and numerous manuscript sources and provides the first analysis of Herder's engagement with classical and modern rhetoric; he illuminates the complex interplay of critique, application and transformation of knowledge of rhetorical theory and practice in Herder's life's work.

Björn Hambsch, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.