Early Modern German Literature 1620-1720. A Lexicon of Literary Authors (VL 17)

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Stefanie Arend; Professor Dr. Bernhard Jahn; Professor Dr. Jörg Robert; Professor Dr. Robert Seidel; Professor Dr. Johann Anselm Steiger; Professor Dr. Stefan Tilg; Professor Dr. Friedrich Vollhardt
• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: since 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 288267337

The project gives authoritative accounts of the literature written from the Thirty Years' War to the early Enlightenment, focusing on historical persons and authors. It follows the Verfasserlexikon Frühe Neuzeit in Deutschland in structure, method and general aims. Volume I is completed, volume II will be published at the beginning of the second funding period, volumes III to V will be prepared for printing within this period. All Volumes will be published in print and electronically in the Verfasserdatenbank online (VDBO) by De Gruyter. All articles will be electronically accessible free of charge 24 months after publishing; furthermore, the Zentrum für nachhaltiges Forschungsdatenmanagement at Hamburg University will store a digital version in XML format according to open access regulations.With about 750 articles on relevant authors of the time as well as various indexes, the VL17 will provide a comprehensive assessment of literary forms, historical and social dynamics as well as intellectual debates. All the articles are written by specialists on the basis of the available sources. They contain a concise biography, a compact analysis of the author's works and their contexts, a detailed documentation of his or her published and unpublished works, and a full bibliography of the relevant secondary literature. The VL17 is decisively interdisciplinary, bringing together experts of German Literature, Theatre Studies, Classics, Theology and the History of Knowledge and Science. While focusing mainly on literature, it does not neglect literature's characteristically early-modern links with pragmatic forms, topics and discourses. In addition to literary authors in a strict sense (e.g. Opitz, Fleming, Gryphius), therefore, influential intellectual figures such as Kircher, Pufendorf and Leibniz will also be included for their outstanding cultural significance. With this inclusive approach, the VL17 crosses conventional borders between epochs and disciplines and offers a nuanced view of early modern literature and culture. The beginning of the time frame is marked by the start of the Thirty Years' War and Opitz's 'Buch von der deutschen Poeterey' (1624). The end is characterized by profound changes on the social (functional differentiation of society), intellectual (rationalism) and the rhetorical plane (repudiation of baroque rhetoric in favour of 'doctrine classique'). As for literary history, the long 17th century here defined sits between the classicisms of Opitz and Gottsched. The VL17 will conclude the lexicographic coverage of premodern literature started with the 'Verfasserlexikon Deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters'.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants