The team of the professorship of German Literature with a focus on the Middle Ages and General Literary Studies researches historical text cultures with the broader goal of making visible perspectives of literary and cultural history of long duration that enable answers to fundamental questions of literary studies. We are therefore committed to a literary studies that methodically reflects on its subjects and develops new approaches to texts rich in tradition. This is combined with the claim to theoretically reflect more precisely what analyses and interpretations open up or close off.
Particular attention is paid to the theory and methodology of medieval literary and cultural studies as well as digital philology. The focus is on comparative literary studies and the historicization of narratology and cultural theory. Research is conducted on literary myth reception and knowledge transformations, cultural logics of agonality and literary dispute communication. In addition, the professorship is involved in current research initiatives on serious gaming and cultural studies infrastructure research. Special concerns in the area of teaching include incorporating digital methods and offering medievalist perspectives on the didactics of teacher education.