The Hegelian and Schillerian Context of Lukács’ Concept of Aesthetic Realism and Historical Novels About Tyranny and Class

(One) the general Hegelian and Schillerian ethics and aesthetics of Lukács’ concept of the realistic historical novel must be logically separated from (two) the contemporary political framework in which he wrote The Historical Novel, which is closely linked to the 1930s popular front movement against fascism. This is particularly important for understanding Lukács’ account of Heinrich Mann’s Young Henry of Navarre/Henry, King of France. It is also very important for understanding Lukács’ account of Walter Scott’s anti-tyranny novels, where only a strong Hegelian emphasis can unlock their peculiar mix of political radicalism, liberalism, and conservatism. Lukács linked Hegelian Sittlichkeit ethics and aesthetic realism with popular front Marxism so closely in The Historical Novel that they often appear as logically inseparable. But at a deeper philosophical level they are logically separable, and must be seen as such in order to bring out the deepest elements in the political-historical imagination in the two novelists who dominate The Historical Novel, Scott and Mann.