Conceptions of the future in Early New German Prose Romances

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Susanne Knaeble
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: from 2013 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 248790291

The consideration of the future to have an open outcome has always been imagined to be the achievement of the Modern period - research has been dominated a long time by this emphatic postulate and a closer look at pre-modern conceptions of the future was obscured. On the contrary the project will demonstrate within the analysis of Early New German Prose romances from the 15th and 16th centuries that these texts are dealing with the conception of an open future. Middle High German epics formulate conceptions of time, which are committed to genealogical and eschatological thinking. In these epics future is painted to be closed. Neither are their characters creating their own future in a modern meaning. But it is possible to identify a basic change in Early New German Prose Romances: the future in these texts is considered to be open. The study on narrative structures and narrative values of an open future will concentrate on this new understanding of the future. So far research was merely done on the social and cultural context of conceptions of time. Moreover this project will focus on functions of the organisation of time in literary narrations. Regarding this matter previous work has already shown a significant correlation: the characters create their own future by reflecting, planning, and calculating, and their motivations are closely connected to emotions. The detailed analysis of the Early New German Prose Romances will demonstrate that in these texts both reflections and emotions take part in the conception of the future.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants