2020 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Aesthetic Perspectives of Travel-Essays in German Speaking Literature
| Project/Area Number |
19K00501
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Metropolitan University |
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Principal Investigator |
シュレンドルフ レオポルト 東京都立大学, 人文科学研究科, 准教授 (20773188)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
山本 浩司 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 教授 (80267442)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Topography / Spatial Turn / Heterotopia / Yugoslavia / Handke |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In 2020 I did intensive literature research. For this purpose, I examined the works of Peter Handke with regard to travel motifs. I paid special attention to the Yugoslavia topos before and after the outbreak of the civil wars on the Balkany (1991-2001). While Yugoslavia was presented as a place of longing and a utopian landscape until the 1980s, the Balkans appeared as a dystopian place from the early 1990s. The author finds himself in the role of the seeker for the truth hidden by the media. In order to contextualise these changed conditions of the Yugoslavian cultural topography, I have examined theoretical works on the representation of precarious places. In particular, I focused on the topic of "Topographical / Spatial Turn". Starting from Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia, which postulates the representation of social relationships through spaces, I have examined spatial theories by Vilem Flusser, Homi Bhaba and Gilles Deleuze. Research concerning German contemporary literature, such as Hartmut Boehme's "Topographien der Literatur" (2005) and Doris Bachmann-Medick's "Culture as Text" (1996), appeared to be particularly fruitful. I confronted this theoretical complex with the current state of Handke-research, in particular with studies of Thomas Deichmann, Bernhard Fetz, Fabjan Hafner, Hans Boehme, Klaus Kastberger and Martin Sexl.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Thanks to the good accessibility of the standard works online, research is proceeding better than expected despite the current Covid-19 crisis. However, participation in overseas events and research sat European libraries are still subject to travel restrictions.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
After the current travel restrictions have been relaxed, I will intensify my research at the Austrian National Library and the Vienna University Library. I would also like to collaborate with professors from the University of Vienna on site. Furthermore, I will invite two professors from China and, together with colleagues from two Japanese universities, organize a colloquium on the research topic.
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| Causes of Carryover |
International Travel ist not possible due to travel restrictions to prevent the spread of covid-19.
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