Textpraxis # 8

1.2014

In the current issue, Kai Werbeck addresses the ’68 movement, Hans-Joachim Jakob argues for the use of narratological toos in ›Human-Animal Studies‹ and Johanne Mohs looks at literary writing processes. The response article of Jeewon Kim takes up the debate on system-theoretical literary studies.

Literature and Society

KaiWerbeck

The West German Student Movement and Its Afterlife

The Ghosts of ’68 in Rolf Dieter Brinkmann’s »Westwärts 1 & 2: Gedichte«

Deeply dissatisfied with the student revolution and its ability to challenge Germany’s status quo, the avant-garde poet Rolf Dieter Brinkmann parted ways with the movement after a brief period of mutual sympathy and support. Leaving the political sphere of mass protest behind, he turned his sole attention to the aesthetic realm and sought to ›revive‹ literature after its proclaimed death. This article offers an in-depth re-reading of the titular poems of Brinkmann’s lyrical magnum opus, Westwärts 1 & 2. The article argues that the author rethought the streets as a place where interventions into mediated life could be waged during a post-revolutionary period characterized by political standstill. Reading Westwärts and Westwärts 2 reveals that Brinkmann’s texts vehemently warn against the incorporation of art into the spectacle of mass media and at the same time comment on the ›failure‹ of ’68.

Theories of Literary Study

Hans-JoachimJakob

Tiere im Text

Hundedarstellungen in der deutschsprachigen Literatur des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts im Spannungsfeld von ›Human-Animal Studies‹ und Erzählforschung

The enormous prosperity of ›Human-Animal Studies‹ in the last decade often led to a frustrated complaint about the unmanageability of a research area that involves many different branches of science. This paper draws on the long tradition of literary and cultural studies in the research of animal images in texts and visual media and advocates to use narratological tools for future investigations. The dog-narrative serves as an example for this argumentation and exemplary texts by Theodor Fontane, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka and Robert Walser are explored.

Literary Studies and Praxis

JohanneMohs

Fahrstuhlfahrten und Einstiegsschwierigkeiten

Erschließungstechniken in Georges Perecs »La Vie mode d’emploi«

This article follows a production-aesthetical approach and analyses difficulties at the beginning of literary writing processes and their resolution using spatial techniques and techniques that play with language. The poetics of OuLiPo (»Ouvroir de littérature potential«) serve as an example and in particular (the genesis of) Georges Perec's novel »La vie mode d'emploi«. It is shown how Perec inserts a blocked elevator ride as a metaphorical reference to his initial writer's block in the novel and how this reference can be understood as a comment to narrate complex space-time fabric in the social novel of the 20th century, in particular to Marcel Proust's »Search« can be understood.

Debate

Theories of Literary Study

JeewonKim

Literaturwissenschaft als Literatur/Wissenschaft

Die Asymmetrie zwischen den  Unterscheidungen Text/Kommunikation und Person/Funktion

This contribution again continues the debate surrounding system-theoretical literary studies that was begun in the first edition of Textpraxis. Jeewon Kim addresses the debate so far and presents a system-theoretical of the dual relationship between the communication context of science and the communication context of literature.

Editorial

The editorial team is pleased to present you with the eighth edition of Textpraxis. In the category, »Literature and Society«, Kai Werbeck connects his contribution thematically to our previous issue by dealing with the revolutionary space of the ’68 movement in the work of Rolf Dieter Brinkmann. In the section, »Theories of Literary Study«, Hans-Joachim Jakob addresses the complex research area of human-animal studies and pleads for the use of narratological tools for future studies. The article by Johanne Mohs opens up new perspectives in the section, »Literary Studies and Practice«. In her article, she discusses literary writing processes and analyzes a metaphorical reference to a writer’s block in a novel by Georges Perec.

Textpraxis continues to grow, and we are pleased to welcome five new members to the editorial team. Not only Ina Batzke, Katharina Fürholzer, and Janneke Schöne from the Graduate School Practices of Literature have contributed to the success of the current issue, but also Ana Ilic from the Böckler-Kolleg Literaturtheorie als Theorie der Gesellschaft, as well as Lena Hoffmann from the DFG-funded Graduate School Literarische Form. At the same time, we are sad to say goodbye to Gesche Gerdes and Innokentij Kreknin, and we would like to whole-heartedly thank them for their tireless efforts!

While our editorial team continues to grow and diversify both institutionally and internationally, we also managed to solicit funding for the further internationalization of the journal. We plan to present a completely bilingual (German/English) website when we publish the next issue; also, the dialogue between text producer and recipient will be possible in both languages in the near future.

The active exchange of ideas between scholars via Textpraxis remains successful and continues through the new response article, written by Jeewon Kim. Kim continues to navigate the on-going debate about systems theory, which has been unfolding on Textpraxis since the first issue. We invite you to continue to participate in the existing debates and also to open up new discussions. The next edition of Textpraxis will be published on 1 November 2014.

Finally, we would like to thank all of our contributors, particularly the reviewers for this issue, and we look forward to further collaborations. We wish our readers productive and engaging interactions with the texts.

Sincerely,
The Textpraxis editorial board

Imprint

Textpraxis # 8 (1.2014) has been published on May 1 2014.

Editorial Team:
Ina Batzke
Seth Berk
Nikolas Buck
Dominic Büker
Katharina Fürholzer
Nina Gawe
Lena Hoffmann
Ana Ilic
Japhet Johnstone
Christoph Pflaumbaum
Matthias Schaffrick
Janneke Schoene
Martin Stobbe
Kerstin Wilhelms

Reviewers:
PD Dr. Andreas Trojan (Munich)
PD Dr. Lydia Bauer (Potsdam)
Dr. Andreas Kramer (London)
Iuditha Balint (Mannheim)
Dr. Alexandra Böhm (Bamberg)

Cover image: Seth Berk

ISSN 2191-8236