The many catastrophes of German history have often been described as tragic. Consequently, German literature, music, philosophy, painting, and even architecture are rich in tragic connotations. Yet exactly what -tragedy- and -the tragic- may mean requires clarification. The poet creates a certain artful shape and trajectory for raw experience by -putting it into words-; but does putting such experience into words (or paintings or music or any other form) betray suffering by turning it into mere art? Or is it art that first turns mere suffering into tragic experience by revealing and...