Dances of the Self in Heinrich von Kleist, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Heinrich Heine brings to light little-known German resources on dance by juxtaposing cultural history with aesthetic theory and close readings of literary works. Joining performance studies with psychoanalytical theory, Lucia Ruprecht addresses dance as a performative exercise which constitutes a decisive force within the formation of subjectivity that is enacted in the literary texts.

Lucia Ruprecht is acting University Lecturer in German and Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, UK.

Contents: Introduction; Dance, writing and trauma; Heinrich von Kleist and the mechanics of grace; E.T.A. Hoffmann and the true art of dance; Heinrich Heine and the new language of the body; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.