Since the 1980s, the focus of cultural and social sciences internationally has increasingly turned to the topic of space. The geographer Edward Soja provided the intuitively understandable label for this development: the spatial turn. However, the question of what space is and how it can be studied has given rise to a whole landscape of specialist answers over the last 40 years.
The German workshop “Literature and Space” invites all interested parties to explore this landscape in the field of literary studies. We will focus in particular on the diversity of methods between close and distant reading, between qualitative and quantitative approaches, analog and computer-aided methods. What concepts of space are there in connection with literature? What can we learn about literature when we examine space in and around literature? Which approach brings which horizon of knowledge with it?
In the second workshop of our series, we will examine these questions from the perspective of ecocriticism. It can be seen as an area of research in which cultural and especially literary manifestations of the 'environment' and their historical transformation processes are examined. This focus, which includes everything physical, provides an obvious link to the topic of space and allows us to ask what possibilities of knowledge space offers from the perspective of ecocriticism and which computer-aided methods are suitable for such investigations.
We are delighted to welcome Jun-Prof. Dr. Mareike Schumacher (University of Stuttgart / University of Regensburg) and Dr. Katrin Dennerlein (University of Würzburg) on site. Both will enrich our deliberations with contributions to their research projects on this topic.
Participants are invited to bring their own texts: In addition to the theoretical discussion, there will be a practical hands-on part where Computational Literary Studies tools can be tried out.
The event is organized and sponsored by the research focus “Digital Hermeneutics” of the Department of Knowledge - Culture - Transformation of the Interdisciplinary Faculty of the University of Rostock and the Institute of German Studies at the University of Rostock. Fernanda Alvares Freire, Nils Kellner, Marc Lemke and Nico Förster are particularly involved in the organization.
Location
Central University Administration - Counseling room (first floor), Schwaansche Straße 2, 18055 Rostock and online via Zoom. Please register using the following online form: https://tinyurl.com/literatur-raum-II. After successful registration you will receive the access data for Zoom.
Contact: nils.kellneruni-rostockde