Stefan Höppner | University of Münster (original) (raw)

Videos by Stefan Höppner

Klassik Stiftung Weimar/University of Freiburg, February 4, 2021. An introduction to Johann Wolfg... more Klassik Stiftung Weimar/University of Freiburg, February 4, 2021. An introduction to Johann Wolfgang Goethe's personal library and his networks with other writers, as measured by book submissions from Germany and beyond. This lecture was delivered for the University of Freiburg's "Wintervorträge" and was geared towards a general public. Includes rarely seen documents and footage of Weimar's prestigious Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek.

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Papers by Stefan Höppner

Sammlung und Netz: Theoretische und praxeologische Implikationen, 2024

This study concerns a novel, experimental way of visualizing diverse objects connected to Goethe'... more This study concerns a novel, experimental way of visualizing diverse objects connected to Goethe's Theory of Color (Farbenlehre) by means of a graph database. The article also discusses the potential and possible pitfalls of such an approach for the visualization of collections of cultural objects in general, partcicularly those of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, where this experiment was conducted.

Verschwinden: Vom Umgang mit materiellen und medialen Verlusten in Archiv und Bibliothek, 2024

This is a paper about Goethe's strategies in shaping his material estate - especially about his d... more This is a paper about Goethe's strategies in shaping his material estate - especially about his destruction of papers to keep them from damaging his image for posterity. - In: Verschwinden: Vom Umgang mit materiellen und medialen Verlusten in Archiv und Bibliothek. Ed. Madeline Brook, Stefanie Hundehege and Caroline Jessen. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2024. 23-26.

Stefan Höppner's book is dedicated to Goethe's most important working tool - his library. It is n... more Stefan Höppner's book is dedicated to Goethe's most important working tool - his library. It is not just one of the most prominent collections of books by a German-language author, but also one of the few authors' libraries from the time around 1800 to have been almost completely preserved. Moreover, its development since Goethe's death is exceptionally well documented. On the basis of partly unpublished archival records, the digital re-cataloging of the books, and Goethe's writing traces in the volumes, this book provides completely new insights into the poet's working methods and networks. The history of his library, however, is also about the later treatment of Weimar Classicism, both in research and in political and cultural institutions from the German Empire to the present. - For copyright reasons, I cannot upload The Text. Sorry!

Supralibros: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft Anna Amalia Bibliothek, 2017

A short introduction to "Goethe Bibliothek Online", the electronic catalogue of Johann Wolfgang G... more A short introduction to "Goethe Bibliothek Online", the electronic catalogue of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's library and his borrowings from the ducal library in Weimar, Germany, we created in our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar".

Supralibros: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft Anna Amalia Bibliothek, 2019

A preliminary stocktaking of our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar", including the... more A preliminary stocktaking of our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar", including the new digital catalogue "Goethe Bibliothek Online" and digital visualizations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's borrowings from the ducal library in Weimar, Germany.

Publications of the English Goethe Society, 2021

In his writings on world literature, Goethe highlights direct ‘intellectual commerce’ between liv... more In his writings on world literature, Goethe highlights direct ‘intellectual commerce’ between living authors while also emphasizing indirect exchange through intermediaries such as translators. This paper investigates whether book submissions to Goethe mirror these complementary modes on a material level. In our study, we map submissions in foreign literature and German literature in translation across time and space. We also attempt to determine the roles of the submitters with regard to the volumes sent. In practice, we demonstrate that the ‘intellectual commerce’ Goethe appreciated was mostly a domestic, indirect affair — a surprising result that raises questions with respect to the international reach of Goethe’s actual world literary practices. - For copyright reasons, this paper cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Joseph D. O’Neil. Figures of Natality: The Birth of the Political in the Age of Goethe, 2021

My review of a book by Joseph D. O'Neil, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University ... more My review of a book by Joseph D. O'Neil, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University of Kentucky. In this volume, O'Neil employs the philosophy of Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) for re-readings of canonical literary texts from the age of Goethe. For copyright reasons, I cannot provide an upload - my apologies.

Internationales Archiv für Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur, 2021

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s personal library was a prime source of his literary and scientific w... more Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s personal library was a prime source of his literary and scientific writings, but has nonetheless found little attention in research. This study explains this disregard by examining the library as both “familial inheritance” (Erbe) and “cultural heritage” (Kulturerbe), two conflicting concepts that, nonetheless, both resulted in the monumentalization of the writer’s book collection. By turning Goethe’s library into a monument, the individual, telling histories of the books he owned, has often been overshadowed. Many books are associated with multiple owners and have gone through the hands of Goethe’s family, friends, and assistants. Against this background, provenance research allows us to gain new insights into Goethe’s works, reading and writing practices, as well as his stylization as a German national poet.

Zwischen Utopia und Neuer Welt: Die USA als Imaginationsraum in Arno Schmidts Erzählwerk. Würzburg: Ergon, 2005

In his lifetime, West German post-war novelist Arno Schmidt wrote three novels that were either s... more In his lifetime, West German post-war novelist Arno Schmidt wrote three novels that were either set in the US or controlled by the American government: "Die Gelehrtenrepublik" (The Egghead Republic, 1957), "KAFF auch Mare Crisium" (Boondocks/Moondocks, 1960), and "Die Schule der Atheisten" (The School for Atheists, 1972). In my dissertation, I demonstrated how Schmidt did not aim at a realistic description of an actual country, but rather made use of literary traditions of describing 'Amerika' as a heterotopia in order to criticize politics and society in post-war Germany. Schmidt equally drew on literary utopias (which in turn had been an influence on the founding process of the United States) and European/German descriptions of the 'New World', from Early Modern travel writing and Shakespeare's "Tempest" to modernist Anti-Americanism and the texts of fellow West German post-war writers.

Stefan Höppner / Jörg Kreienbrock (Hrsg.), Die amerikanischen Götter. Transatlantische Prozesse in der deutschsprachigen Literatur und Popkultur seit 1945, Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2015

"Als die amerikanischen Götter nach 45 aus dem Meer stiegen, die Kaugummi lutschten und [...] die... more "Als die amerikanischen Götter nach 45 aus dem Meer stiegen, die Kaugummi lutschten und [...] diese wunderbare neue Musik spielten", schreibt Karl Heinz Bohrer, "haben wir zum ersten Mal einen Schritt in die Säkularisation getan." Die Rezeption amerikanischer Populärkultur, wie sie sich musikalisch im Jazz, in Beat und Pop manifestiert, wird für viele Autoren und Musiker Westdeutschlands zur Chiffre für einen radikalen Neubeginn, unbelastet von der als veraltet und übermächtig erfahrenen Tradition Alt-Europas. Literatur im Zeichen von Pop und Beat plädiert für eine Kultur der Oberfläche, des Populären, der Geschwindigkeit. So entsteht eine intensive, sowohl praktische als auch theoretische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Faszinosum der US-amerikanischen Kultur, die sich weitaus komplexer und gebrochener gestaltet, als große Teile von Kritik und Forschung es lange Zeit gesehen haben. Der vorliegende Band versammelt ein Dutzend Fallstudien, welche die westdeutsche Rezeption amerikanischer Popkultur zwischen den 1940er Jahren und heute exemplarisch nachzeichnen. Abgerundet wird die Sammlung durch ein Interview mit einem zentralen Autor der sogenannten Popliteratur, Thomas Meinecke.

Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte, 2021

An unknown chapter from the history of Goethe's personal library. Before Hans Ruppert's 1958 publ... more An unknown chapter from the history of Goethe's personal library. Before Hans Ruppert's 1958 publication of a printed catalgoue, there had been numerous attempts to realize such a project. Between 1937 and 1942, National socialist 'Reichsjugendführer' Baldur von Schirach (1907-1974), who had grown up in Weimar, was a fervent supporter of this catalogue. In my article, I tell the the story how this came about - and why the project ultimately failed at the time. For copyright reasons, I was unable to upload the article, sorry. For more information, see https://www.wiko-berlin.de/wikothek/multimedia/jenseits-von-strassburg.

Arbitrium, 2018

A review of Thea Dorn's novel based on the Faust myth and featuring an "immortal" Romantic scient... more A review of Thea Dorn's novel based on the Faust myth and featuring an "immortal" Romantic scientist Johann Wilhelm Ritter (1776-????) as one of its protagonists. - For copyright reasons, this article cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

German Studies Review, 2017

This article explores the reception of literary romanticism in two genres of German alternative p... more This article explores the reception of literary romanticism in two genres of German alternative pop music, Krautrock and Goth. It discusses two bands named after romantic writer Friedrich von Hardenberg that reference romanticism for opposite purposes: Novalis, a 1970s band, champions utopian visions typical of left-wing counterculture, while their present day counterpart, neofolk band Novalis Deux, formulates an implicitly right-wing criticism of Western liberalism. Both bands also highlight different aspects of the artistic movement: while Novalis invokes the utopian leanings of early romanticism, Novalis Deux focuses on the dark side of human nature, a vital undercurrent throughout the entire romantic period. - For copyright reasons, this article cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Die amerikanischen Götter: Transatlantische Prozesse in der deutschsprachigen Literatur und Popkultur seit 1945. Ed. by Stefan Höppner and Jörg Kreienbrock. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2015., 2015

After the German defeat in 1945, there was a demand for information on the cultures of the Allied... more After the German defeat in 1945, there was a demand for information on the cultures of the Allied Forces that occupied Germany. To this end, journalist Margret Boveri (1900-1977) published her book "Amerika-Fibel für erwachsene Deutsche" (1946). While being of American descent herself, Boveri wrote a text that was eminently critical of the US and its popular culture; moreover, the book was heavily influenced by the author's experience of being temporarily interned as a German journalist in New York during World War II. In my article, I present the main arguments of Boveri's book and try to show how they are based in a conservative German tradition of cultural criticism, namely with regard to "Der Arbeiter" by Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), who praised Boveri's book in a personal letter. - For copyright reasons, I am unable to upload this article. Sorry!

Comic und Literatur: Konstellationen, 2012

A paper on wordless narration and the experience of migration to an entirely unfamiliar culture. ... more A paper on wordless narration and the experience of migration to an entirely unfamiliar culture. Written in German. - For copyright reasons, this paper cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Internationales Archiv für die Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur (IASL), 2021

Table of contents for the bulk of a journal issue that I co-edited with Caroline Jessen and Ulrik... more Table of contents for the bulk of a journal issue that I co-edited with Caroline Jessen and Ulrike Trenkmann. We were interested in exploring what the issue of provenance of specific books and artworks can add to the interpretation of literary texts. Most articles are based on presentations from a conference that Caroline Jessen and I organized at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2017. Our conference was part of the "Autorenbibliotheken" (Writers' Libraries) project of the Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel (MWW) research association.

Focus on Literatur, 1999

Published in: Focus on Literatur 6.1 (1999): 16-37. My very first published research article - an... more Published in: Focus on Literatur 6.1 (1999): 16-37. My very first published research article - and an early example of internet research. Writing from Eugene, Oregon, I could not have possibly done this without online access to the German newspaper articles I discuss here (I actually did this on an old computer from the late 1980s, which tended to crash if you dared to load Windows 3.1).

Herausforderung Biologie, 2010

Originally published in: Herausforderung Biologie: Fragen an die Biologie – Fragen aus der Biolog... more Originally published in: Herausforderung Biologie: Fragen an die Biologie – Fragen aus der Biologie. Ed. Rüdiger Heinze, Johannes Fehrle, and Kerstin Müller. Münster; Berlin; Vienna; Zurich; London: LIT, 2010. 83–112. Print. --- This is an early study for my 'Habilitation' thesis "Natur / Poesie", in which I wrote about German Romantic scientists as literary writers. This particular article was inspired by an Ethics in Biology class at the University of Freiburg, where I presented on two of 'my' writers, Johann Wilhelm Ritter and Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert - largely forgotten today, but highly regarded at their time. The organizers of this class then invited me to write up my results for a volume of selected contributions to their class - which I gladly did.

Klassik Stiftung Weimar/University of Freiburg, February 4, 2021. An introduction to Johann Wolfg... more Klassik Stiftung Weimar/University of Freiburg, February 4, 2021. An introduction to Johann Wolfgang Goethe's personal library and his networks with other writers, as measured by book submissions from Germany and beyond. This lecture was delivered for the University of Freiburg's "Wintervorträge" and was geared towards a general public. Includes rarely seen documents and footage of Weimar's prestigious Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek.

5 views

Sammlung und Netz: Theoretische und praxeologische Implikationen, 2024

This study concerns a novel, experimental way of visualizing diverse objects connected to Goethe'... more This study concerns a novel, experimental way of visualizing diverse objects connected to Goethe's Theory of Color (Farbenlehre) by means of a graph database. The article also discusses the potential and possible pitfalls of such an approach for the visualization of collections of cultural objects in general, partcicularly those of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, where this experiment was conducted.

Verschwinden: Vom Umgang mit materiellen und medialen Verlusten in Archiv und Bibliothek, 2024

This is a paper about Goethe's strategies in shaping his material estate - especially about his d... more This is a paper about Goethe's strategies in shaping his material estate - especially about his destruction of papers to keep them from damaging his image for posterity. - In: Verschwinden: Vom Umgang mit materiellen und medialen Verlusten in Archiv und Bibliothek. Ed. Madeline Brook, Stefanie Hundehege and Caroline Jessen. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2024. 23-26.

Stefan Höppner's book is dedicated to Goethe's most important working tool - his library. It is n... more Stefan Höppner's book is dedicated to Goethe's most important working tool - his library. It is not just one of the most prominent collections of books by a German-language author, but also one of the few authors' libraries from the time around 1800 to have been almost completely preserved. Moreover, its development since Goethe's death is exceptionally well documented. On the basis of partly unpublished archival records, the digital re-cataloging of the books, and Goethe's writing traces in the volumes, this book provides completely new insights into the poet's working methods and networks. The history of his library, however, is also about the later treatment of Weimar Classicism, both in research and in political and cultural institutions from the German Empire to the present. - For copyright reasons, I cannot upload The Text. Sorry!

Supralibros: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft Anna Amalia Bibliothek, 2017

A short introduction to "Goethe Bibliothek Online", the electronic catalogue of Johann Wolfgang G... more A short introduction to "Goethe Bibliothek Online", the electronic catalogue of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's library and his borrowings from the ducal library in Weimar, Germany, we created in our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar".

Supralibros: Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft Anna Amalia Bibliothek, 2019

A preliminary stocktaking of our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar", including the... more A preliminary stocktaking of our research project "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar", including the new digital catalogue "Goethe Bibliothek Online" and digital visualizations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's borrowings from the ducal library in Weimar, Germany.

Publications of the English Goethe Society, 2021

In his writings on world literature, Goethe highlights direct ‘intellectual commerce’ between liv... more In his writings on world literature, Goethe highlights direct ‘intellectual commerce’ between living authors while also emphasizing indirect exchange through intermediaries such as translators. This paper investigates whether book submissions to Goethe mirror these complementary modes on a material level. In our study, we map submissions in foreign literature and German literature in translation across time and space. We also attempt to determine the roles of the submitters with regard to the volumes sent. In practice, we demonstrate that the ‘intellectual commerce’ Goethe appreciated was mostly a domestic, indirect affair — a surprising result that raises questions with respect to the international reach of Goethe’s actual world literary practices. - For copyright reasons, this paper cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Joseph D. O’Neil. Figures of Natality: The Birth of the Political in the Age of Goethe, 2021

My review of a book by Joseph D. O'Neil, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University ... more My review of a book by Joseph D. O'Neil, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University of Kentucky. In this volume, O'Neil employs the philosophy of Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) for re-readings of canonical literary texts from the age of Goethe. For copyright reasons, I cannot provide an upload - my apologies.

Internationales Archiv für Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur, 2021

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s personal library was a prime source of his literary and scientific w... more Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s personal library was a prime source of his literary and scientific writings, but has nonetheless found little attention in research. This study explains this disregard by examining the library as both “familial inheritance” (Erbe) and “cultural heritage” (Kulturerbe), two conflicting concepts that, nonetheless, both resulted in the monumentalization of the writer’s book collection. By turning Goethe’s library into a monument, the individual, telling histories of the books he owned, has often been overshadowed. Many books are associated with multiple owners and have gone through the hands of Goethe’s family, friends, and assistants. Against this background, provenance research allows us to gain new insights into Goethe’s works, reading and writing practices, as well as his stylization as a German national poet.

Zwischen Utopia und Neuer Welt: Die USA als Imaginationsraum in Arno Schmidts Erzählwerk. Würzburg: Ergon, 2005

In his lifetime, West German post-war novelist Arno Schmidt wrote three novels that were either s... more In his lifetime, West German post-war novelist Arno Schmidt wrote three novels that were either set in the US or controlled by the American government: "Die Gelehrtenrepublik" (The Egghead Republic, 1957), "KAFF auch Mare Crisium" (Boondocks/Moondocks, 1960), and "Die Schule der Atheisten" (The School for Atheists, 1972). In my dissertation, I demonstrated how Schmidt did not aim at a realistic description of an actual country, but rather made use of literary traditions of describing 'Amerika' as a heterotopia in order to criticize politics and society in post-war Germany. Schmidt equally drew on literary utopias (which in turn had been an influence on the founding process of the United States) and European/German descriptions of the 'New World', from Early Modern travel writing and Shakespeare's "Tempest" to modernist Anti-Americanism and the texts of fellow West German post-war writers.

Stefan Höppner / Jörg Kreienbrock (Hrsg.), Die amerikanischen Götter. Transatlantische Prozesse in der deutschsprachigen Literatur und Popkultur seit 1945, Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2015

"Als die amerikanischen Götter nach 45 aus dem Meer stiegen, die Kaugummi lutschten und [...] die... more "Als die amerikanischen Götter nach 45 aus dem Meer stiegen, die Kaugummi lutschten und [...] diese wunderbare neue Musik spielten", schreibt Karl Heinz Bohrer, "haben wir zum ersten Mal einen Schritt in die Säkularisation getan." Die Rezeption amerikanischer Populärkultur, wie sie sich musikalisch im Jazz, in Beat und Pop manifestiert, wird für viele Autoren und Musiker Westdeutschlands zur Chiffre für einen radikalen Neubeginn, unbelastet von der als veraltet und übermächtig erfahrenen Tradition Alt-Europas. Literatur im Zeichen von Pop und Beat plädiert für eine Kultur der Oberfläche, des Populären, der Geschwindigkeit. So entsteht eine intensive, sowohl praktische als auch theoretische Auseinandersetzung mit dem Faszinosum der US-amerikanischen Kultur, die sich weitaus komplexer und gebrochener gestaltet, als große Teile von Kritik und Forschung es lange Zeit gesehen haben. Der vorliegende Band versammelt ein Dutzend Fallstudien, welche die westdeutsche Rezeption amerikanischer Popkultur zwischen den 1940er Jahren und heute exemplarisch nachzeichnen. Abgerundet wird die Sammlung durch ein Interview mit einem zentralen Autor der sogenannten Popliteratur, Thomas Meinecke.

Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte, 2021

An unknown chapter from the history of Goethe's personal library. Before Hans Ruppert's 1958 publ... more An unknown chapter from the history of Goethe's personal library. Before Hans Ruppert's 1958 publication of a printed catalgoue, there had been numerous attempts to realize such a project. Between 1937 and 1942, National socialist 'Reichsjugendführer' Baldur von Schirach (1907-1974), who had grown up in Weimar, was a fervent supporter of this catalogue. In my article, I tell the the story how this came about - and why the project ultimately failed at the time. For copyright reasons, I was unable to upload the article, sorry. For more information, see https://www.wiko-berlin.de/wikothek/multimedia/jenseits-von-strassburg.

Arbitrium, 2018

A review of Thea Dorn's novel based on the Faust myth and featuring an "immortal" Romantic scient... more A review of Thea Dorn's novel based on the Faust myth and featuring an "immortal" Romantic scientist Johann Wilhelm Ritter (1776-????) as one of its protagonists. - For copyright reasons, this article cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

German Studies Review, 2017

This article explores the reception of literary romanticism in two genres of German alternative p... more This article explores the reception of literary romanticism in two genres of German alternative pop music, Krautrock and Goth. It discusses two bands named after romantic writer Friedrich von Hardenberg that reference romanticism for opposite purposes: Novalis, a 1970s band, champions utopian visions typical of left-wing counterculture, while their present day counterpart, neofolk band Novalis Deux, formulates an implicitly right-wing criticism of Western liberalism. Both bands also highlight different aspects of the artistic movement: while Novalis invokes the utopian leanings of early romanticism, Novalis Deux focuses on the dark side of human nature, a vital undercurrent throughout the entire romantic period. - For copyright reasons, this article cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Die amerikanischen Götter: Transatlantische Prozesse in der deutschsprachigen Literatur und Popkultur seit 1945. Ed. by Stefan Höppner and Jörg Kreienbrock. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter, 2015., 2015

After the German defeat in 1945, there was a demand for information on the cultures of the Allied... more After the German defeat in 1945, there was a demand for information on the cultures of the Allied Forces that occupied Germany. To this end, journalist Margret Boveri (1900-1977) published her book "Amerika-Fibel für erwachsene Deutsche" (1946). While being of American descent herself, Boveri wrote a text that was eminently critical of the US and its popular culture; moreover, the book was heavily influenced by the author's experience of being temporarily interned as a German journalist in New York during World War II. In my article, I present the main arguments of Boveri's book and try to show how they are based in a conservative German tradition of cultural criticism, namely with regard to "Der Arbeiter" by Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), who praised Boveri's book in a personal letter. - For copyright reasons, I am unable to upload this article. Sorry!

Comic und Literatur: Konstellationen, 2012

A paper on wordless narration and the experience of migration to an entirely unfamiliar culture. ... more A paper on wordless narration and the experience of migration to an entirely unfamiliar culture. Written in German. - For copyright reasons, this paper cannot be uploaded. Sorry!

Internationales Archiv für die Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur (IASL), 2021

Table of contents for the bulk of a journal issue that I co-edited with Caroline Jessen and Ulrik... more Table of contents for the bulk of a journal issue that I co-edited with Caroline Jessen and Ulrike Trenkmann. We were interested in exploring what the issue of provenance of specific books and artworks can add to the interpretation of literary texts. Most articles are based on presentations from a conference that Caroline Jessen and I organized at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin in 2017. Our conference was part of the "Autorenbibliotheken" (Writers' Libraries) project of the Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel (MWW) research association.

Focus on Literatur, 1999

Published in: Focus on Literatur 6.1 (1999): 16-37. My very first published research article - an... more Published in: Focus on Literatur 6.1 (1999): 16-37. My very first published research article - and an early example of internet research. Writing from Eugene, Oregon, I could not have possibly done this without online access to the German newspaper articles I discuss here (I actually did this on an old computer from the late 1980s, which tended to crash if you dared to load Windows 3.1).

Herausforderung Biologie, 2010

Originally published in: Herausforderung Biologie: Fragen an die Biologie – Fragen aus der Biolog... more Originally published in: Herausforderung Biologie: Fragen an die Biologie – Fragen aus der Biologie. Ed. Rüdiger Heinze, Johannes Fehrle, and Kerstin Müller. Münster; Berlin; Vienna; Zurich; London: LIT, 2010. 83–112. Print. --- This is an early study for my 'Habilitation' thesis "Natur / Poesie", in which I wrote about German Romantic scientists as literary writers. This particular article was inspired by an Ethics in Biology class at the University of Freiburg, where I presented on two of 'my' writers, Johann Wilhelm Ritter and Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert - largely forgotten today, but highly regarded at their time. The organizers of this class then invited me to write up my results for a volume of selected contributions to their class - which I gladly did.

Hohlwelten - Les terres creuses - Hollow Earth, 2009

Habilitation Colloquium, University of Freiburg, Germany, 26 April 2014. - My habilitation presen... more Habilitation Colloquium, University of Freiburg, Germany, 26 April 2014. - My habilitation presentation, with very(!) extensive notes. It's not perfect, but then, it was never intended for publication. My thoughts about German science fiction novelist Dietmar Dath have partly found their way into my article "Häschenland und Sternenstaub: Das utopische Moment in Dietmar Daths Science Fiction," in: In Verben denken. Dietmar Dath Arbeitsbuch, ed. Christian Hippe and Philipp Theison, Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2023, 75-91.

Official Commemoration of the June 17, 1953 Uprisings in East Germany, at the University of Calgary, Canada, June, 2013., 2013

- A look at Uwe Johnson's posthumously published debut novel "Ingrid Babendererde" as a reflecti... more - A look at Uwe Johnson's posthumously published debut novel "Ingrid Babendererde" as a reflection of the June 17 rebellion in East Germany. Johnson wrote this novel while he was still living in the GDR.

Hermann-Hesse-Museum, Calw, Germany, December 14, 2018

As a long-time Hesse reader and scholar, it was a great honor for me to give a talk at the Herman... more As a long-time Hesse reader and scholar, it was a great honor for me to give a talk at the Hermann Hesse Museum in his birth town Calw on the Eastern slopes of the Black Forest. This paper deals with Hesse's ambivalent, even uneasy position within the literature and esthetics of the Weimar Republic. A revised and expanded version was published in: Hermann-Hesse-Jahrbuch 12 (2021), 23-50.

Medienmythos Faust, Klassik Stiftung Weimar, March 27, 2019

This was a talk for high school students from Christian-Ernst-Gymnasium, Erlangen, Germany. I tal... more This was a talk for high school students from Christian-Ernst-Gymnasium, Erlangen, Germany. I talked about adaptations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's drama "Faust" in the medium of comics, using "Faust" versions by Luciano Bottaro (Italy, 1958), Flix (Germany, 2009), and Osamu Tezuka (Japan, 1988) as my main examples.

Institutscolloquium, Deutsches Seminar, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, January, 2017

A presentation on Johann Wolfgang Goethe's library, as exemplified by his collection of German li... more A presentation on Johann Wolfgang Goethe's library, as exemplified by his collection of German literature, as well as on the digital catalogue Goethe Bibliothek Online (https://lhwei.gbv.de/DB=2.5/)

Inaugural Lecture as 'Privatdozent', Haus zur lieben Hand, University of Freiburg, 30 November, 2015

After finishing your 'Habilitation' at a German university, you are required to deliver an 'Antri... more After finishing your 'Habilitation' at a German university, you are required to deliver an 'Antrittsvorlesung' (inaugural lecture). This was mine, containing early reflections on researching Johann Wolfgang Goethe's personal library, a project I had just joined a few months earlier.

Ringvorlesung "Polyglotte Literatur", University of Freiburg, 1 July, 2013

Part of a lecture series on polyglot/multilingual literature organized by my Freiburg colleagues ... more Part of a lecture series on polyglot/multilingual literature organized by my Freiburg colleagues Weertje Willms and Evi Zemanek. A much revised and expanded version appeared as: "'Eine durable Technik des unendlich=klein=Polyglotten?': Interlingualität und Etym-Theorie in Arno Schmidts 'Zettel's Traum'." Polyglotte Texte: Formen und Funktionen literarischer Mehrsprachigkeit von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Ed. Weertje Willms and Evi Zemanek. Berlin: Christian A. Bachmann Verlag, 2014. 233-258.

Ringvorlesung "Welt-Entwürfe: Deutschsprachige Romane der Klassischen Moderne", University of Freiburg, Germany, 19 December, 2007

An introduction to Hermann Hesse's seminal novel. This was part of a lecture series on key modern... more An introduction to Hermann Hesse's seminal novel. This was part of a lecture series on key modernist novels from German literature, organized by the University of Freiburg's Department of German.

Conference "Henrik Steffens - Prophet of the Anthropocene?", Stavanger, Norway, 9 Sep. 2023. - St... more Conference "Henrik Steffens - Prophet of the Anthropocene?", Stavanger, Norway, 9 Sep. 2023. - Steffens' little-studied novella "Die Revolution" (1837) offers his views on the relationship between literature and politics in restoration Germany, albeit from a conservative and highly polemical point of view. This presentation attempts to locate the author's point of view within the spectrum of the literature of his time.

"The Nature of the Literary" Graduate Student Conference, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, U... more "The Nature of the Literary" Graduate Student Conference, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA. 29 January 1999. - An early presentation dealing with questions of authorship and power in Stefan Heym's novel "The King David Report" (1973).

American Conference on Romanticism 1998, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA. - My ver... more American Conference on Romanticism 1998, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA. - My very first conference presentation, which I just unearthed while going through some old papers. Here, I reflect on parallels between the Early Romantic poetics of Friedrich Schlegel and those of Arno Schmidt, particularly in his early "Poet Conversations in Elysium" (1940) and his opus magnum "Bottom's Dream" (1970).

German Studies Association Annual Meeting, 2022

German Studies Association Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, September 2022. - This is a paper on t... more German Studies Association Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, September 2022. - This is a paper on the circulation of objects between Goethe's correspondence, his library, and his autograph collection. Originally written for the annual GSA meeting, I was unable to travel and therefore this is the first time I present this paper to the public. With thanks to Dennis Schäfer and May Mergenthaler for their comments on this version.

Conference "Sammeln - Forschen - Wissen", Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar, Germany, 5 May... more Conference "Sammeln - Forschen - Wissen", Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar, Germany, 5 May 2017. - A discussion of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's library from the perspective of collection research, with an emphasis of Goethe's own collecting practices and the relationship between the ducal library, whose supervisor he was, and his personal book collection.

Modern Language Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, California, USA, 8 January, 2023

An overview of the digital visualizations created for our research projects "Goethes Bibliotheken... more An overview of the digital visualizations created for our research projects "Goethes Bibliotheken in Weimar" and "Goethe digital", both past and in progress. Also includes a discussion of our results for new insights into Goethe's working practices and personal networks

Conference "Literatur(wissenschaft) und Provenienz", Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, Germany, 2022

This paper explores how literary texts describe (fictitious) provenance features in printed books... more This paper explores how literary texts describe (fictitious) provenance features in printed books and employ them as part of the narrated story. Hermann Hesse's little-known story "Der Novalis" (1900) and J.J. Abrams' and Doug Dorst's novel "S." (2013) serve as main examples.

Workshop „Frühneuzeitliche Privatbibliotheken: Quellen – Methoden – Forschungsperspektiven“ im Graduiertenkolleg „Wissensspeicher und Argumentationsarsenal – Funktionen der Bibliothek in den kulturellen Zentren der Frühen Neuzeit“, University of Osnabrück, 22-24 February, 2017

This was a presentation at a workshop at the University of Osnabrück, Germany, dealing with earl... more This was a presentation at a workshop at the University of Osnabrück, Germany, dealing with early modern scholars' working libraries, mainly from the 16th-18th centuries. Johann Wolfgang Goethe's personal library is a late outlier, but still serves as an interesting example.

Panel "Towards an Archeology of Writers' Libraries", German Studies Association Annual Convention, San Diego, California, 3-6 October, 2016

A preliminary look at Goethe's philosophy of collecting - and long-time lack thereof - with regar... more A preliminary look at Goethe's philosophy of collecting - and long-time lack thereof - with regard to his personal library. This was part of a panel I co-organized with my colleagues Caroline Jessen from Marbach and Jörn Münkner from Wolfenbüttel at the annual convention of the (American) German Studies Association in San Diego, California.

International Conference "Experimental Narratives from the Novel to Digital Storytelling", University of London, UK, 26-27 February, 2015

Ever since Will Eisner marketed 'A Contract with God' (1978) as a “graphic novel”, the term has e... more Ever since Will Eisner marketed 'A Contract with God' (1978) as a “graphic novel”, the term has experienced a stellar career in the field of long-form comics. However, the term itself has found little critical attention. Is it more than a convenient marketing term? In particular, to which extent can graphic novels be called novels? My paper explores this question from four vantage points: First, is the narrative mode of long-form comics similar to linear narrative in literary texts? In particular, can they reach the complexity commonly attributed to literary texts? Second, do long-form comics fulfill a social function similar to 18th-century literary novels, chronicling the ordinary lives of everyday (bourgeois) hero/in/es? Third, to which extent does the label “graphic novel” serve as a tool for the claim for canonicity, competing with literary texts? And finally, are graphic novels indeed a timely version of the literary novel in a visual age?

Panel "Teaching Fascist Culture", GSA Annual Convention 2014, Kansas City, Missouri, September, 2014

An analysis of the Nazi images in Timo Vuorensola's SF movie 'Iron Sky' (2012), their ethical dim... more An analysis of the Nazi images in Timo Vuorensola's SF movie 'Iron Sky' (2012), their ethical dimension, and reflections on the possible use of the film in German Studies classes, particularly in a North American context.

German Studies Association Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, October, 2013

The legacy of Romanticism looms large in German culture. At the same time, little attention has b... more The legacy of Romanticism looms large in German culture. At the same time, little attention has been paid to its echoes in popular culture, especially in pop music. The present article is a case study of two bands called Novalis that are representative of how two musical movements generally deal with the heritage of literary romanticism. The earlier Novalis (1971-1985) was a progressive rock band from the so-called Krautrock tradition of the 1970s, albeit much less popular and influential than their more famous peers Kraftwerk, Can, Faust, or Amon Düül II. The other band, Novalis Deux (founded in 1995) is part of Germany's rich Goth subculture. The earlier Novalis band exemplifies a tendency within Krautrock, an intellectualization of pop music also characteristic of progressive rock at the time, and heavily criticized by Punk a few years later. While much of "prog rock" relies on musical experiments and expansions of the three minute song form, it is also characterized by deliberate references to literary traditions. In contrast, Goth treats Romanticism in a much broader manner; literary references are part of a much more varied canon of cultural traditions and artifacts that are seen as akin to Goth and opposed to mainstream culture. -- A revised and shortened version was published as "A Tale of Two Novalises: The Legacy of Early Romanticism in German Alternative Pop Music.“ German Studies Review 40.2 (2017): 289-312.

Annual Convention, Canadian Association of Teachers of University German in Victoria, British Columbia, June, 2013

This paper was presented at the annual convention of the Canadian Association of Teachers of Univ... more This paper was presented at the annual convention of the Canadian Association of Teachers of University German in Victoria, BC, in June, 2013 . -- More than twenty years after its inception, Rammstein is still one of the most controversial and most successful German bands. As German theorist Moritz Baßler has demonstrated in 'Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes' (2006), a large share of their appeal – both in domestic and international markets – stems from their appropriation of fascist art, namely the films of Leni Riefenstahl. At the same time, their musical aesthetics are greatly influenced by the Slovenian band Laibach that started to perform in German and use Nazi symbolism to provoke Yugoslavian authorities in the wake of Tito’s death. This paper explores Rammstein’s adaptation of Laibach’s musical and visual strategies to a German context and its implications; this connection has often been claimed, but never been studied in detail. Two close readings will be at the core of this paper: The first will deal with Laibach’s 'Geburt einer Nation' (1987), a cover version of Queen’s song 'One Vision' that, by slight changes in their translation of the lyrics, turn an homage to Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, into a hymn to fanatic nationalism. A second part will then cover Rammstein’s appropriation of Laibach’s strategies to a German context, as exemplified by the lyrics and video for the Depeche Mode cover 'Stripped' (1998). One result is that, while Rammstein are less explicit in their use of elements of fascist aesthetics, partly due to German laws against anticonstitutional enunciations, they work just as consciously with the traditional punk/new wave strategy of “Überidentifikation” as a strategy of subversion, as bands like DAF, Throbbing Gristle, and Laibach did in the 1980s. While both Rammstein and Laibach consider themselves left-wing, the intentional ambivalence of their art demonstrably exposes them to appropriation and identification by listeners with Nazi sympathies.

MLA Annual Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, 3-6 January, 2013

A look at Dietmar Dath's SF novel 'Die Abschaffung der Arten' and its ethical implications in the... more A look at Dietmar Dath's SF novel 'Die Abschaffung der Arten' and its ethical implications in the light of ecocriticism. This was written for an MLA panel on ecocriticism in contemporary German literature.

MLA Annual Convention 2011, Los Angeles, California, 7 January, 2011

For a long time, Graphic Novels did not play a major role in German culture. Only recently, Germa... more For a long time, Graphic Novels did not play a major role in German culture. Only recently, German comic artists have begun to use the medium to probe their own biography. For several reasons, Line Hoven’s Liebe schaut weg (Love Looks Away, 2007) is a particularly interesting example: Over three generations, intertwining episodes depict the history of a German-American family from the 1930s to the 1970s, from the conflicts of the Nazi era and World War II to the author’s childhood. By embedding her parents’ and grandparents’ biographies in historical and cultural context, she reflects on her own hybrid identity. In my presentation, I will put special emphasis on the use of both German and English as the text’s languages, and their significance for negotiating the author’s double cultural identity. -- This is a paper from the 2011 MLA Convention in Los Angeles. To my knowledge, this was the first English-language presentation on Hoven's book, even before the English translation was published.

'Gothic N.E.W.S.', 8th Biennal conference of the International Gothic Association, Université de Provence, Aix-en-Provence, France, 25-29 June, 2007

Few 20th Century German writers have been shaped by their reception of Edgar Allan Poe as decisiv... more Few 20th Century German writers have been shaped by their reception of Edgar Allan Poe as decisively as Arno Schmidt (1914-1979). Not only was Schmidt an active Poe scholar, especially with regard to the author’s reception of German Romanticism, he also translated roughly a third of the foremost German edition of Poe’s works. However, it is Poe’s continuous presence in numerous intertextual references in his prose that arguably constitutes the most important aspect of Schmidt’s Poe reception, especially in the gargantuan typescript novel 'Bottom’s Dream' (Zettels Traum, 1970). So far, critics have interpreted this book mainly as a deconstruction of Schmidt’s long-time role model Poe. With the aid of “etym theory”, a self-developed reading model based on Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, first-person narrator Daniel Pagenstecher ceaselessly scrutinizes Poe’s body of work for signs of the author’s alleged sexual perversion. In my opinion, this understanding of the novel is rather one-sided. In the first part of my presentation, I will demonstrate that, on the plot level, Bottom’s Dream simultaneously marks a return to the poetics of Schmidt’s earliest prose writings, which are heavily influenced by early 1800s’ “Schauerliteratur,” specifically by E.T.A. Hoffmann and Edgar Allan Poe. Thus, by drawing on the fantastic and Gothic elements of Poe’s works, the text effectively counters the psychoanalytical “Entromantisierung” (Thomas Körber) it puts forth on a discursive level. In the second part of my presentation, I argue that this “Gothic turn” in Bottom’s Dream eventually paves the way for the non-mimetic poetics of Schmidt’s final novels, especially for the fantastic spaces in his final book, 'Evening Edged in Gold' (1975/1980) --- My apologies for the incomplete footnotes. A note for Schmidt readers: This was written before the typeset version of 'Zettel's Traum' and its English translation by John E. Woods.

"The Politics of Pop" Graduate Student Conference, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2-4 March, 2001

A very early presentation from a graduate student conference at the University of Minnesota. I ap... more A very early presentation from a graduate student conference at the University of Minnesota. I apologize for the mediocre quality, but as I no longer have the file itself, I had to go with the scan of a photocopy. Also, in spite of the English title, which I had to give in advance, I ended up writing the paper in German.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2023. - Part 7 of a lecture series on the history of Wes... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 23, 2023. - Part 7 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - In our final lecture, we will talk about two topics – German Comics and the state of Comics in our present time, the digital age. Germany has an interesting Comics culture. On the one hand, the market is dominated by strong outside influences from the United States, its Francophone neighbors and, more recently, from Japan. On the other, there has always been a homegrown Comics industry, which we will trace from the days before World War II through the Cold War until the present. There will be a special focus on the separate development of the medium in East and West Germany, and on one recent graphic novel, “Endzeit” by Olivia Vieweg. The second part will deal with recent technological developments and their impact on the production and distribution of Comics as well as on recent changes in reading habits. Note: For copyright reasons, images are not embedded in the text. Instead, links to external sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 16, 2023. - Part 6 of a lecture series on the history of Wes... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 16, 2023. - Part 6 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - This section deals with the advent of the graphic novel, a segment of the Comics market that has continually gained in importance in the Western Comics market since the 1970s. The term was first coined by Comic fanzine author Richard Kyle and then first gained traction in the American Comics scene; we will look at a preliminary definition of the term by American critic Isaac Cates. We will then look at a number of prominent examples from North America and Europe “A Contract with God”, the sophisticated book that popularized the term; “Maus”, which was the first Comic to win America’s most prestigious literary award; “Persepolis”, the first-hand account of a woman growing up under a repressive Iranian government; “Fun Home”, a Lesbian artist’s exploration of her relationship with her gay father; and two adaptations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s seminal German drama “Faust”. After going over these examples, we will eventually return to our definition of what a graphic novel is and check its validity. Note: For copyright reasons, this text does not provide illustrations. Instead, links to online sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2023. - Part 5 of a lecture series on the history of West... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2023. - Part 5 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - Today, we will be discussing the most important European Comics tradition, that of France and its neighbor Belgium. We will look at the Belgian Hergé as the founding artist of the Franco-Belgian Comics tradition (also called “bande dessinée” or BD for short), his character Tintin and the invention of the influential “ligne claire” style, followed by André Franquin and his work with the characters Spirou and Gaston. Around 1960, France became a more influential player with the introduction of the magazine Pilote and the new series Astérix, which subse-quently evolved into a modern “national epic” for France. We will then trace the emergence of more adult Comics and magazines in the 1960s and 70s, the return to more traditional styles in the 1980s and 90s. To conclude this section, we will discuss the situation of the bande dessinée today. In the second part of today’s lecture, we will discuss the role of color according to Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”. Note: For copyright reasons, this text does not provide illustrations. Instead, links to online sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 2, 2023. - Part 4 of a lecture series on the history of West... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, May 2, 2023. - Part 4 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - In this lecture, we will discuss the history of the American Comic book from the 1930s to the present. This includes the advent of the first Comic books in the 1930s, the invention of the superhero genre, but also the tem-porary downfall Comics took in the Fifties, when critics like psychologist Fredric Wertham accused the medium of giving children and adolescents wrong ideas about life and inciting them to sex and violence – a process that was answered with underground Comix from 1960s counterculture, which capitalized just on these “forbidden” things. We will then see how the superhero genre recovered in the 1960s, namely with the work of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, how the Comics trade changed from newsstands to Comic book stores, and how new superhero artists paved the way for the triumph of the graphic novel. The second part of the lecture will then cover two chapters from Scott McCloud’s book – the relationship between words and images and his model of artistic creation, which he calls “The Six Steps.” Note: For copyright reasons, images are not embedded in the text. Instead, links to external sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2023. - Part 3 of a lecture series on the history of W... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2023. - Part 3 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - This week, we will discuss the invention of the modern Comic strip, which took place in the United States during the 1890s. We will discuss the innovations in technology and media formats that enabled the early Comics boom and introduce a number of leading artists and their creations, including Richard Felton Outcault, Rudolph Dirks, Lyonel Feininger, Winsor McCay, and George Herriman. After that, we briefly look at the development of the Comic strip format after the 1930s. Finally, we speak about Scott McCloud's discussion of the use of time and linework in Comics. Note: For copyright reasons, images are not embedded in the text. Instead, links to external sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 2023. - Part 2 of a lecture series on the history of W... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 2023. - Part 2 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. - The main part of this lecture deals with the origins and predecessors of Western Comics, from 16th century political and religious broadsheets to prominent examples from the 18th and 19th centuries, including William Hogarth and the Victorian character Ally Sloper (Britain), the picture books of Rodolphe Töpffer (Switzerland), and German artist Wilhelm Busch. We will also discuss the impact of the Western invention of the printing press in the 1400s. In the second part of the lecture, we will talk about chapter 3 from Scott McCloud’s book Understanding Comics, covering transitions between panels. Note: For copyright rea-sons, images are not embedded in the text. Instead, links to external sources are provided.

Lecture Series: The History of Western Comics, 2023

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 11, 2023. - Part 1 of a lecture series on the history of W... more Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, April 11, 2023. - Part 1 of a lecture series on the history of Western Comics. In this first lecture, we talk about the general nature of Comics and try to provide a definition of the medium and its basic elements, such as panels, speech balloons, and move-ment lines. We will also discuss the special relationship between words and images as well as what Comics have in common with other pictorial media. Note: For copyright reasons, im-ages are not embedded in the text. Instead, links to external sources are provided.