Between apotheosis and demonization. The reception of Pombal in German-language literature and journalism around 1870

Abstract

 This article aims to present, analyze, and contextualize the reception of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, Marquis of Pombal, in the literary and journalistic production, in the German language, of the 1870s. To this end, the first section describes the historical processes of transformation and differentiation in Germania during this period and situates the specific occasion that brought Pombal to the forefront of journalistic and literary efforts. We are talking about the Prussian Kulturkampf (the cultural struggle or war) against the Catholic Church of Pope Pius IX, which resulted in the prohibition of the Society of Jesus in 1872, as well as the administration of Church properties by communities and the introduction of civil marriage. The vast majority of statements about Pombal refer, directly or indirectly, to this conflict. We will then move on to the portrayal of Pombal in Werther’s play and Holzwarth’s narrative. Through a close reading, we will explore the various representations of the Portuguese minister in the cultural imagination and their meanings. We will see that, in the course of the Kulturkampf, Pombal became a historical figure of reflection for very different national, political, confessional, and ideological groups.