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When medieval poets began to reflect on love, it was, from the beginning, a highly complex and problematic phenomenon, mostly determined by frustration, contradictions, and a lack of fulfilment. Highlighting particularly two major texts, one in Latin, the other in Middle High German, this paper brings to light the critically important element of discourse as part of the public performance of theoretical and practical reflections of love in the Middle Ages. Since courtly love thus has to be defined as a literary medium for courtly debates about its own identity, it makes perfect sense that we hardly ever hear about actual individual satisfaction and the realisation of erotic dreams. Instead, the overarching intention by medieval poets was to problematise the issue of love and to present its paradoxes, difficulties, and conflicts through the literary performance, not to present a maudlin, sentimental story with a simple happy end. As we realise here, the debate about proper attitudes towards the other gender, the analysis of values and virtues all contribute to the realisation of the discourse itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg brought about a profound paradigm shift, transforming both the late medieval book markets and the general reading culture. However, as with many paradigm shifts, we need to differentiate in this regard more than scholarship has acknowledged so far. First, many medieval narrative motives, topics and themes continued to be rather popular well into the seventeenth century, if not beyond. Second, manuscript culture did not simply disappear. Instead, as this article outlines, in many areas and especially among the upper social classes, luxury items in the form of manuscripts remained critically important. A closer analysis also indicates that many times practical knowledge (fencing, horse training, medicine, etc.) and personal observations were copied down by hand and thus passed on to the specific audiences without the printing press involved. The manuscript did not disappear at all; instead, it assumed a more specialized function in terms of knowledge, autobiographical reflections and social representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the issue of teaching online about the early modern German poet Hans Sachs. He mentions Sachs' importance in the study of German literature, the use of online literary resources to support classwork, and the obstacles presented by incomplete and untranslated works online.

The Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 2023, published by the Internationale Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, covers a wide range of topics related to the history of printing, book publishing, printers, and incunabula. The volume includes eleven articles and a review of recent research, with contributions in English, German, French, and Italian. Topics covered include the publications of Richard de Bury's Philobiblon, charges of blood libel and host desecration against Jews, the increase in paper products for book printers, illustrated books, German culinary recipes, and the identity of the author of a treatise on logic. The volume is well-regarded for its scholarly quality, but there are some issues with typos and mistakes in grammar and syntax. [Extracted from the article]

This article discusses the historical importance of Low German in the northern region of Germany. It explains that Low German was widely used in literary, legal, and religious works until the seventeenth century when High German replaced it. Today, Low German is primarily spoken in rural areas, with some traces in cities like Lüneburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Rostock. The article highlights various perspectives on the identity of the region and the significance of linguistic features in relation to political entities. It also explores specific examples of influential works in Low German, such as the Saxon Mirror and the epic Sassine. The article concludes by acknowledging the contributions of this volume to the study of Middle Low German history and literature. [Extracted from the article]

Zusammenfassung: Dieser Aufsatz bietet eine erste tiefergehende Interpretation einer der besten Novellen des baltisch‐deutschen Autors Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964), der noch bis in die siebziger Jahre hinein hohes Ansehen genoss, der aber anschließend geradezu systematisch aus vielerlei, vor allem aber politischen Gründen aus der Öffentlichkeit verdrängt wurde. Literaturwissenschaftliches Arbeiten muss sich aber davor hüten, subjektiv‐ideologische Kriterien zu verfolgen oder sich einem kanonischen Denken zu verschreiben. Die Tatsache selbst, dass Bergengruen sozusagen über Nacht jedenfalls im germanistischen Kontext zu einer Person non grata wurde, verdient der kritischen Analyse insbesondere im Licht seiner vielleicht aussagekräftigsten aber weitgehend unbekannten Novelle „Der Strom". Wie die Untersuchung erhellt, griff Bergengruen hier auf eine alte, bis ins Mittelalter zurückreichende literarische Tradition zurück, gestaltete aber den Stoff für seine eigenen Zwecke neuartig um: auf der einen Seite können wir feststellen, dass Bergengruen zu den wichtigsten Vertreterm des Medievalism im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert gehörte, auf der anderen lässt sich nachweisen, dass der doch sehr begabte Autor zu Unrecht in den Schatten gerückt wurde, obwohl er doch sehr eindrucksvoll mittels mittelalterlicher Motive tiefgründig über die Bedeutung des Lebens reflektierte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is highly fashionable today to project either a very negative or a very positive image of the Middle Ages. The invention of the printing press has hence often been associated with a radical change in literature, religion, politics, and generally the public media. Indeed, we can observe an imminent paradigm shift, ultimately leading, above all, to the Protestant Reformation, which would not have been possible without the printing press. However, technological revolutions do not necessarily transform the Zeitgeist or the history of mentality, the general value systems, and hence the fundamental concepts of literature. Although many medieval romances and heroic epics were soon eclipsed by new types of prose novels, for instance, printed and sold on the early modern book markets, in many other cases the medieval narratives, such as the various versions of the Melusine novel and the jest narratives of Till Eulenspiegel, experienced an astounding afterlife and renewed interests through the printed versions, and this far into the seventeenth century. This article does not intend to diminish the huge impact of the printing press on late medieval culture, but wants to qualify further and discriminate more in detail what really changed and what remained the same within the history of literature. Both the narratives discussed here and their accompanying woodcuts demonstrate a smooth continuation of late medieval topics well into the early modern period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many scholars in the medical and psychological profession offer specific suggestions about how to handle stress and to overcome its negative impact, very few have ever considered philosophical reflections as a critical tool for this problem. One of the greatest moments of stress would certainly be when an individual has to face his/her death penalty and subsequent execution, especially if s/he feels innocent. Already ca. 1.500 years ago, the late antique philosopher Boethius (d. ca. 524) had to answer for himself how to cope with this situation, being imprisoned and waiting for his last terrible moment. When he composed his treatise, The Consolation of Philosophy, he created one of the most influential philosophical reflections on life's burning issues. This treatise continues to offer fundamental insights into how to come to terms with the conflicts and stresses of human existence, and it is discussed here as a profoundly philosophical answer to stress in universal terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

However, Drucker does not linger on the Middle Ages too much and turns her attention mostly to those scholars who pondered the issue of the alphabet since the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Many times, a reviewer faces a fairly easy task because the study under investigation presents a straightforward, focused point and develops this through a variety of lenses. Johanna Drucker: Inventing the Alphabet: The Origins of Letters from Antiquity to the Present: University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA, 2022, 380 pp., numerous b/w ill. and figures, Hardcover, ISBN 978-0226815817. [Extracted from the article]

The volume itself is an impressive example of bibliophile publications; the era of book printing is certainly not over, although it is changing rapidly, as this yearbook also indicates. Falk Eisermann offers a bibliography of recent publications concerning recent research on incunabula, and Ralf de Jong discusses the new print font, the Comma Base by Martin Majoor. Every second year, a new print font is used, and the present volume has appeared in the Comma Base font developed by Martin Majoor. [Extracted from the article]

We always face a certain danger when we investigate cultural-historical situations or conditions. Our chronicles and other documents tend to emphasize dramatic, if not tragic cases that color our understanding in rather dark light. This also applies to the relationship between Jews and Christians during the late Middle Ages, which has been discussed already from many different perspectives. Less consulted have been late German medieval verse narratives (verse-couplets, or mæren), where we encounter a number of times quite remarkable frameworks which situate the Jews in a much more mundane, ordinary context. As much as the poets endeavored, of course, to present the possibility of converting Jews to Christianity, as much they thereby also reveal a variety of different relationships characterized by a surprising degree of normalcy, free from the usual anti-Judaic hostility. We gain additional support for our approach by way of including two prose novellas by Boccaccio in his Decameron (ca. 1350). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite renewed efforts to establish world literature, most of the presently available theoretical models do not provide solid concepts as to the meaning and relevance of this approach. After a critical review of recent publications, this article analyzes a unique and most revealing case, the reception of medieval Persian literature (Sa'dī) through translations into European languages beginning in the seventeenth century, primarily by the German diplomat, traveler, librarian, philologist, and linguist Adam Olearius. Here we can observe what truly constitutes world literature, with Sa'dī serving as a major literary inspiration for early modern reflections on virtues and vices, relevant also for Western audiences. He was not a Christian, but the poet's truly noble ideals were to have a deep impression on his future readers in East and West, especially since the early modern age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that scholarship begun to explore the meaning of global history, apparently an attractive catchword that allows modern scholars to investigate a past world where many of the evils of modern society, including racism, xenophobia, ignorance, parochialism, sexism, and other "isms" did not yet exist, or at least not to the same degree as in modern times.

It has long been accepted that fairy tales somehow trace their roots in pre‐modern culture and folklore. But we are rather unclear about what would constitute the historical dimension in those tales. Leaving psychological or gender‐oriented methodologies aside, this article takes a fresh look at the fairy tales by the Grimms and examines critically to what extent they contain more or less authentic material connecting them specifically with the Middle Ages and our understanding of that age today. There are many elements in the tales predicated on medieval culture and social‐political conditions, such as kingship, castles, princesses and princes, knights, etc. But then there are also many mysterious and magical creatures and objects that have appealed to audiences young and old, whether they are direct borrowings from the pre‐modern world or not. Some of those, along with many motifs, were obviously directly borrowed from medieval literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the dramatic, if not traumatic, experiences in life has always been enslavement and imprisonment, that is, the loss of personal freedom, and this for many different reasons. Curiously, medieval literature does not seem to address this topic extensively, at least at first sight, and research has paid rather little attention to this issue. A close analysis, however, demonstrates quickly that the theme of imprisonment was of significant concern throughout the Middle Ages, probably because the loss of individual freedom happened more often than not and could also affect members of the nobility. There were many cases of imprisonment as a result of criminal activities, sometimes also committed by knights or noble ladies. Worst, however, was the experience of those who were taken as captives after a battle and then were enslaved. This article provides a first framework for the study of this large topic in pre-modern literature and so-called ego-documents and then focuses on a most dramatic example, the report by the long-term slave Johannes Schiltberger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A literary criticism is presented for the book Antonius von Pforr and Buch der Beispiele der Alten Weisen is presented for the book by Albrecht Classen. It presents study wants to introduce a significant German author/ translator from the late fifteenth century whose work promises to shed more light on emerging global connections through literary channels in the premodern age.

The world of book publishing is currently undergoing a major paradigm shift, but this was already fully under way in the 1990s. In the German novel Abstieg vom Zauberberg, published in 1997 by an anonymous author under the pseudonym Jens Walther, we are given an excellent insider view of the concrete situation within literary publishing houses and how they operate behind the scene and in public to secure the best possible titles and to fend off manuscripts that appear to be trivial literature. The author proves to be highly educated in the history of German and western literature at large and also demonstrates great expertise regarding book fairs, book reviews, and book prizes, framing all this by a somewhat twisted love story involving a young author, Anna Becker, and two men, first the young Johannes Rieger, then his father Helmut Rieger, both representing the fictional publishing house Engsfeld. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though we tend to assume that the concept of a sophisticated and complex city belongs to one of the constitutive factors of the modern age (maybe since ca. 1600), we can recognise an entire discourse on the dream city beginning already in the late twelfth century and continuing throughout the centuries, as illustrated by the cases of Herzog Ernst, Konrad von Würzburg's Partonopier und Meliur, and The Travels by Marco Polo. When Italo Calvino predicated his famous Invisible Cities on Marco Polo's account, he might not have been aware of the broad and deep literary tradition. This article identifies the crucial components of this discourse and builds distinct bridges between the Middle Ages and modernity. As the analysis will demonstrate, the dream city was not simply a well-fortified town, but a relatively expansive city with many luxuries and pleasures for the inhabitants, at least within literary imaginations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents discussion of the discipline and methodology of 16th-century German historical scholarship and research as of 2009 and reflects on possible changes which could occur within the field in the following 40 years. Details are particularly given noting the beginnings of a paradigm shift in literary studies outside of the traditional dialectic of the Protestant-Catholic conflict. Several changing elements in literary scholarship are highlighted, such as the examination of popular music, and travel literature. Predictions are offered suggesting the field will broaden to include a wider diversity of themes.

Previous scholarship has not considered the continued interest in the philosophical teachings by Boethius (d. 525) by early modern thinkers and poets. This article traces the continued flood of translations and editions of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae in Germany far into the seventeenth century and then unearths links between his philosophy and the sonnets by Andreas Gryphius and the epigrams by Johann Scheffler (Angelus Silesius). At first sight, we might not even recognize Boethian ideas in their poems, but the close analysis of images and concepts formulated in these German Baroque texts demonstrate strong similarities. Considering that Boethius was one of the important school authors even in the seventeenth century, it does not surprise us to discover direct echoes of his ideas in these literary reflections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literary history can easily and quickly pass over important writers, or leave them behind because times and tastes change, or because individual poets or playwrights no longer fit into a certain cultural and political framework. This is the case with the Austrian writer Karl Heinrich Waggerl (1897-1973), who was very well known during his later years and was admired far and wide for his insightful, humorous, and meditative short stories, calendar narratives, aphorisms, and novels. Today, however, he no longer has any presence in the relevant literary histories. This article analyzes some of the central motifs in Waggerl's work and highlights timeless aspects that would justify a reorientation toward his texts. To some extent, he could be called an ecocritic avant la lettre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the alleged influence of the literary works of Tunisian rabbi Nissim ben Jacob ben Nissim ibn Shahīn, also known as Rav Nissim Gaon on literature from medieval German writers including Rudolf von Ems and Heinrich Kaufringer, authors of the romance "Der guote Gerhart" and the mære "Der Einsiedler und der Engel", respectively. Similarities are identified in the tales' narrative frameworks and their religious, ethical, and philosophical messages.

The author focuses on the use of memory as cultural identity of German literary historians. Topics include how memory can maintain the connections between the present and the past, the important role of memory in shaping the future of individuals and literary history, and how literary historians can achieve their goal of connecting individual text with historical events.

The debate about the relevance of the marriage theme in the late Middle Ages has been ongoing for a long time. We are still collecting data to establish a solid paradigm for future discussions about this topic. The current article examines two highly popular prose novels, Thüring von Ringoltingen's Melusine (1456) and the anonymous Fortunatus (1509) where the married life of the protagonist gains much more traction in the narrative development than in previous courtly romances. Most importantly, both authors place significant emphasis on the role of the family and portray their characters as situated in the network of smaller social units consisting of parents and children only. We can thus recognize the meaningfulness of the new genre of the prose novel ( Volksbuch) in the public discourse about family and kinship during the late Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a rather unusual mære, Der Ritter und die Nüsse, this article discusses the universal and often rather enigmatic function of the hazelnut in medieval literature. We can find examples in the lais by Marie de France, in the German verse narratives, the so-called mæren, in the mystical texts by Julian of Norwich, and in the late medieval folk song poetry. From there the motif of the hazelnut experienced a wide-ranging reception far into the nineteenth, perhaps even to the twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The art of letter writing certainly increased in importance in the eighteenth century and gained in literary respect as well. But from a pragmatic and communicative perspective, correspondence proved to be one of the critical tools in establishing a transnational, if not global community. Heretofore mostly ignored in this respect, the Jesuit Order emerged as a global player, sending missionaries to virtually all parts of the known world to spread the Gospel, to teach, and to convert. Most missionaries stayed in close contact with their superiors by means of letters, so this article begins with a close study of the huge letter collection compiled by Joseph Stöcklein, who translated letters from all over the world into German. The true purpose of this article, however, is the analysis of the large collection of letters composed by the Swiss Jesuit missionary Philipp Segesser, who closely communicated with his family back in Lucerne throughout his life, especially when he lived in Sonora (today northern Mexico and southern Arizona). These letters allow us to gain a good understanding of his personality, his emotional and intellectual growth, his relationship with the Jesuit Order at large, his family, and also of the condition of Jesuit efforts to convert the native population. His mostly completely intact corpus of letters provides an extraordinary opportunity to gain insight into personal perspectives regarding a global organization, the Jesuits, its relationship with the royal house of Spain, the condition in colonial Mexico, and the interaction between Europeans and native Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of irony in medieval and early modern German literature including the poem "Nibelungenlied," the verse narrative "Mauritius von Craûn" and the dialogue poem "Ackermann" by Johannes von Tepl. It explores irony as a universal strategy in human communication. It notes that ironic strategies in the literature surface at critical junctures and the use of irony allows the poets to integrate a perspective toward the interior of their protagonists.

The article offers the author's insights on poet Heinrich Kaufringer whose works are classified under the verse narratives genre. The author says that Kaufringer, a 15th century author, has represented the genre for the German-speaking world. He says that the poet's works have been powerful masterpieces in literature that should be given significant attention for their heavy themes and messages.

The article addresses the history of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam dating back from the Middle Ages as it shares a common ground in the all word religions. It focuses on the aspects of tolerance, openness to otherness, and acceptance among human beings regardless of identity, culture, and religion . It explores the poetical works of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Giovanni Boccaccio over the literary discourse on the meaning of human life that has been argued by critics.

The question of what constitutes the literary canon continues to vex us. This article highlights some representative cases from the Middle Ages, the Baroque, the age of the Enlightenment, and the twentieth century. The focus rests on the recently rediscovered seventeenth-century poet and composer Erasmus Widmann, whose works deserve to be included in the canon, or at least into our literary history, if that does not represent the canon already. As this article indicates, the quest for what makes up really 'good' or important literature continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early medieval drama (in Latin) surprisingly focused very much on the theme of sexuality, as best illustrated by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim (10th century). She was most eager to compete with the Roman dramatist Terence and to create new Christian plays that were, on the one hand, basically determined by the theatrical strategies of Terence, and yet followed, on the other, early medieval Christian values as developed by the Church Fathers and desert hermits. Although Hrotsvit pursued strongly religious values throughout her works, she also revealed a keen interest in theatricality per se, irrespective of the religious paradigm characteristic of the Middle Ages. At the same time this tenth-century convent author demonstrated an incredible skill in exploring and utilizing a wide range of sexual themes in her plays and religious narratives. She consistently demonstrated a unique ability in creating theatrical works that aimed both for the basic entertainment of a convent audience and also for a fundamental clerical education that did not ignore the world of sexuality as a dangerous yet unavoidable aspect of human existence. 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent discussions on living space and practiced space in medieval and early-modern cultures provide good theoretical concepts for a better understanding of some of the late-medieval German travelogues to the Holy Land, such as Arnold von Harff's report from 1496 to 1498. Von Harff approached space differently in his descriptions of Cairo versus Jerusalem—an Islamic versus a Christian city—the religious orientation limited the urban space in the Christian world to a rigid time-space continuum, whereas Islamic cities offered considerable freedom for the Christian spectator to elaborate on new concepts of urban space determined primarily by political, mercantile, and social criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the distinction between sex and gender with the use of the late-medieval German verse narrative. In the Middle Paleolithic cultures, gender roles have been influenced by the social conditions and norms. However, the late-medieval German verse narrative shows that the gender roles change simultaneously with the social and economic conditions.

The article provides information on the significance of translation in German studies. It presents the insights of Albrecht Classen from the University of Arizona on the importance of translation in studying Medieval German literature. Classen notes that any translated text can never substitute the beauty and individuality of the original language. Moreover, it features the views of Ann Marie Rasmussen of Duke University which points out that every translation sacrifices the aspects of the original work of art's complexity. In addition, Guy Stern of Wayne State University discusses his experience of translating the short stories of German writer Susanna Piontek.

In the late Middle Ages poets increasingly voiced severe criticism of the social conditions of their time; they especially targeted the world of the courts and aristocracy at large. One of the most outspoken representatives of this criticism was the fourteenth-century Austrian poet Heinrich der Teichner, heretofore fairly little studied and even less known among the reading public today. He certainly relied on the traditional topos of court criticism that can be traced back at least to the twelfth and eleventh centuries, but his comments about the courts and the nobility are extremely biting and explicit. This article identifies some of the key passages in Teichner’s voluminous poetic oeuvre in which he offers poignant social, moral, and political commentary about the shortcomings of his time. Teichner can be counted among the leading voices of his time particularly because of his unabashed and outspoken discussion of fundamental shortcomings among the upper level of late medieval society. 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As recent cultural-historical studies have demonstrated, a careful analysis of food preparation and consumption can reveal much about a specific culture or society. Moreover, as this paper argues, a focus on a protagonist's attitude toward and reflection of foodstuff and meals can shed important light on his/her intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development. To test this thesis, this paper investigates how Parzival in Wolfram von Eschenbach's eponymous romance operates with food, how he performs in courtly society during banquets, and how his growing education and maturation is demonstrated through his changing behavior with regard to food at large. We can draw the significant conclusion that the growth of this hero is powerfully reflected through his relationship with food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]