Gesamtkunstwerk

Gesamtkunstwerk, a term coined by R. Wagner. It denotes a work of art to which music, poetry, mime, painting (in décor), etc. all contribute. It is clearly fashioned by Wagner to suit his own later works. Heinrich Mann, with characteristic paradox, affirmed in his autobiography (Ein Zeitalter wird besichtigt, 1945) that the true Gesamtkunstwerk is the 19th-c. novel.