Textpraxis # 17

2.2019

In this issue, Doris Pichler argues for a praxeological concept of ‘text’. Carolin Müller discusses the link between mobility and identity in two novels by Abbas Khider. Jana Maria Weiß explains the mechanics of literary scandals by focusing on their affective dimension.

Theories of Literary Study

DorisPichler

Der literaturwissenschaftliche Textbegriff als interdisziplinärer Transferbegriff

The paper departs from interdisciplinary research fields such as »Law and Literature« and »Literature and Economics« consisting of disciplines which are all – to a certain extent – text-based disciplines and looks for an interdisciplinarily transferable concept of text which is inspired by literary theory. In a first step the concept of text is analysed in its multi- and interdisciplinarity. In a second step the special conditions and characteristics of a literary theoretical concept of text is elaborated upon, which is then – in the last part – applied to a non-literary (namely economic) text.

Literature and Society

CarolinMüller

Discussing Mobility in Liminal Spaces and Border Zones:

An Analysis of Abbas Khider's »Der falsche Inder« (2008) and »Brief in die Auberginenrepublik« (2013)

This paper focuses on the strategies revealed in narratives of mobile subjects to understand the significance and difficulties of writing social life in in-between places. Using Victor Turner’s conceptions of »liminality« and »communitas«, I provide a comparative reading of Abbas Khider’s Der falsche Inder (2008) and Briefe in die Auberginenrepublik (2013) to trace how different forms of movement can function as indicators for the destabilization of identities and dislocation of a sense of belonging, but also open up opportunities to recognize agency. I discuss the ambiguities of the conditions of contemporary borderlands which Khider’s protagonists inhabit and utilize.

Literary Studies and Praxis

Jana MariaWeiß

Ein Gedicht im Kreuzfeuer der Gefühle

Zur affektiven Dimension der Debatte um Eugen Gomringers Konstellation »avenidas«

In the summer of 2017, a local controversy about Eugen Gomringer’s poem avenidas at the Berlin Alice Salomon Hochschule expanded to become a nationwide debate about sexism and artistic freedom. Students demanded that the poem has to be removed from the University’s façade, arguing that it represents patriarchal artistic traditions and that the text triggers memories of sexual assault. The University’s decision to meet the students’ demand provoked a large public response. This article explores the affective dimension of the heated debate around Gomringer’s poem, asking which forms of emotional rhetoric characterized the discussion of the case in the press and how talking about emotions contributed to the discursive construction of oppositional groups.

Editorial

In issue #17 of Textpraxis. Digital Journal for Philology, Doris Pichler argues for a praxeological concept of ‘text’. While this concept is based on a definition that derives from literary studies, Pichler emphasizes its multidisciplinary shape. Including debates about the scholarly fields of Law and Literature and Economics and Literature, Pichler concludes her paper by analyzing a text by Joseph A. Schumpeter, a scholar in economics, and thereby illustrates the potential of a primarily interdisciplinary notion of ‘text’. Carolin Müller analyzes Abbas Khider's novels Der falsche Inder (2008) and Briefe in die Auberginenrepublik (2013). Drawing on Victor Turner’s concepts of „liminality“ and „communitas“, Müller discusses mobility in these novels as a means to establish or destruct social identities. Jana Maria Weiß focuses on the affective dimensions of literary scandals. Referring to the outrage that followed the display of Eugen Gomringers poem avenidas in Berlin as an example, Weiß highlights how emotionally charged rhetoric fuels and influences the emergence of discursive groups.

Many thanks go to our external reviewers Kristen Dickinson from Michigan, Ann Arbor, Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf from Münster, and Clemens Knobloch from Siegen for providing constructive criticism to our authors. Many thanks for your time and efforts!

We hope that you will enjoy reading this issue of Textpraxis and, as always, encourage you to submit response articles or provide comments to the newly published articles.

Your Textpraxis Editorial Team

Imprint

Textpraxis #17 (2.2019) was published on November 1, 2019.

Editorial Team:

Sona Arasteh-Roodsary
Christina Becher
Aaron Carpenter
Akshay Chavan
Lea Espinoza Garrido
Thomas Kater
Laura Reiling

Reviewers:

Kristin Dickinson, PhD (Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Prof. Dr. Clemens Knobloch (Siegen)
Prof. Dr. Martina Wagner-Egelhaaf (Münster)

Cover: Lea Espinoza Garrido