The humour was too banal and obvious
rian public. In line with the then fashiona
ble 'Geisteswissenschaftliche' or Humani
ties tradition, he regarded periods of civili
zation such as the Middle Ages and the
Romantic Period as entities with a will of
their own, with a particular face, and with
specific character traits. With a great deal
of empathy, but from an almost intuitive,
rather individual point of view, Coenen,
quoting liberally from the works of Forster
and Dickens, alternated between approval
and disapproval. In his conclusion he
observed that Dickens did not so much see
differently, but rather that he saw more
acutely than his contemporaries. Dickens
grouped the sensory expressions of life
which he observed according to a simple,
vague classification, based on Christian
morality. But Coenen appreciated the poet
in Dickens, as revealed in the Christmas
stories. Like Chesterton, Coenen placed
the emphasis on the Dickens who extolled
house and home. Where the humour was
too banal and obvious, as in 'Pickwick
Papers' - here Coenen's views diverged
significantly from Chesterton's - Dickens
was weak. But sometimes Dickens's ima
gination appears to break free of the base
circumstances, and he soars above himself
and his limitations, and true tragedy beco
mes perceptible. But we, posterity, have
lost the required naiveté; we envy those
36
