1744 – 1796
Friedrich von Blankenburg (1744-1796) was a German literary theorist and novelist, best known for his 1774 work 'Versuch über den Roman' (Essay on the Novel), one of the first systematic theoretical treatments of the novel as a literary form. He argued for the novel's legitimacy as a serious artistic genre capable of depicting inner psychological development, paralleling drama in its aims while using different means.
Authored 'Versuch über den Roman' (1774), the first major German theoretical treatise on the novel
Argued that the novel depicts inner psychological life whereas drama depicts outer action
Defended continuity of artistic purpose across historical forms (e.g., Sophocles to Shakespeare)
Influenced later German Romantic theories of the Bildungsroman
Contributed to the legitimization of prose fiction as a serious literary genre