
The ZfL
The ZfL is a humanities institute for literary research in interdisciplinary contexts that draws from a cultural studies framework. Its methods also engage with the structural transformations within historical-hermeneutic subject areas that have taken place in recent decades. In contrast to the study of literature at universities, predominantly organized by nationality, the ZfL fosters a broad concept of literature, but also uses interdisciplinary tools to fundamentally question the etiology of various literary concepts, their potential for the future, and the relationship between literature and other arts or cultural practices. This is done in the three program area History of Theory, World Literature, Knowledge of Life, and in the key projects.
News

New episode of “Bücher im Gespräch”: Pola Groß and Claude Haas on style in contemporary literature and literary studies

New in the audio collection: Patrick Eiden-Offe and Rüdiger Dannemann talk about “History and Class Consciousness”
Research
History of Theory
analyzes the genealogy of theory and develops innovative forms of historicizing it.
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disusses the global interrelations of literature and its potential to shape the world.
read moreKnowledge of Life
investigates the knowlege of life in historical and interdisciplinary respects.
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