The Literary and Epistemic History of Small Forms

HumanitiesLanguages and literature

The graduate program will advance the analysis of small forms by exploring their literary and epistemic history in broad historical scope from antiquity to the present. With its systematic focus on literature, science and popular culture, the program seeks to determine what small forms emerge within each domain with its particular writerly and representational procedures, examining how these forms serve to control, reflect, criticize and channel processes of communication.

Focus

The research training group’s goal is to clarify the functions and achievements of these forms in epistemic, school, educational, journalistic, and literary contexts of praxis. It is guided by the claim that small forms are actively engaged in the acquisition of knowledge, the transmission of experiences, and the steering of curiosity, as well as themselves formed by the corresponding procedures and involved media.The program will analyze small forms by exploring their literary and epistemic history in broad historical scope from antiquity to the present.

In research and supervision, the program is set up for historical and disciplinary breadth and offers an ideal training for doctoral students at the highest methodological levels and international standards. Our qualification procedures guarantee the feasibility of the program by combining methods of supervision – including seminars, colloquia, retreats and a writing workshop – with course offerings relevant to professional careers.

Contact Information
Chair: Prof. Dr. Joseph Vogl
Coordinator: Dr. Nils C. Ritter
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Institut für deutsche Literatur
Research Training Group 2190 „The Literary and Epistemic History of Small Forms“
Unter den Linden 6
10099 Berlin


Telephone: +49 30 20939739
E-mail: gk-kleineformen@hu-berlin.de
Web: http://www.kleine-formen.de
Deadlines: spring 2020
Places: 13 doctoral students; 1 postdoctoral fellow, 1 mercator fellow
Scholarships: none