Call for articles for the book: "Towards a Theory of Mediterranean Literature" Editors: Angela Fabris, Albert Göschl, Steffen Schneider
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but if you look at the numerous publications on the subject, it is striking that the concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods used in these are very disparate. Sometimes research focuses more on representations of the Mediterranean – landscape, history, cities – and sometimes more on the origins of authors or
their cultural affiliations to the Mediterranean. Sometimes it is more a matter of overarching themes that are of current interest beyond the Mediterranean – migration, questions of inter- and transculturality, post-colonialism – and sometimes very specific aspects such as the Crusades or Mediterranean cities. Of course, we appreciate this fascinating diversity of important questions and topics; nevertheless, we believe that reflections on the foundations of this diverse research are essential to give a clear profile to Mediterranean literary studies. It is our conviction that this profile should be based upon the specific conditions and characteristics of (fictional) literature.
Particularly promising to us seems to be the access via the basic – perhaps least controversial – concept of the Mediterranean as a closely interwoven network of relationships between locallylimited communities. Ever since the emergence of the modern concept of the Mediterranean, the … READ MORE