Question

What did Goethe think of the Chinese novel that he encountered in his reading?

a.) it was an unusually good novel , an exception to the thousands of Chinese novels published
b.) the characters and plot suggested to Goethe that people of East Asian cultures could not be moral
c.) It affirmed Goethe's view that poetry was universal for all of humanity
d.) he concluded that the Chinese invented the genre of novel under the influence of their Western counterparts.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option c. Goethe's encounter with Chinese literature affirmed his belief in the universality of poetry across different cultures, matching the Romantic era's values.

Step-by-step explanation:

When examining Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's encounter with Chinese literature, it can be discerned that Goethe had a recognition of the universal nature of poetic expression that transcended cultural boundaries.

Goethe found in Chinese novels, a confirmation of his belief that poetry was a universal element of human culture. This aligns with the Romantic period's emphasis on sentiment, emotion, and the natural world as sources of literary inspiration and the idea that literature could serve as a medium for expressing the universal human experience.

The correct option, based on Goethe's interests and his era's literary values, would then be (c) It affirmed Goethe's view that poetry was universal for all of humanity.