Abstract

The present essay seeks to understand Hölderlin’s work throughout the concept of modernity theorized by Reinhart Koselleck (Sattelzeit). According to Koselleck, the historical changes introduced by the French Revolution determined a mutation in the collective perception of time with radical implications in the sphere of political languages. Our main thesis is that, as a writeridentified with the revolutionary hopes, Hölderlin’s texts managed to develope and display a sharp consciousness on this process. Under these premises the relationship between enthusiast rhetoric and the experience of historical acceleration (Beschleunigung) will be then examined focusing on some importantpassages of his literary work.