Modern German Literary Studies and Literary Cultures

The designation "Literary Cultures" emphasises the cultural-scientific character of the literary studies practised in the Lüneburg Cultural Studies subject ensemble. Like the traditionally oriented institutes of literary studies, the core of literary studies is first and foremost devoted to literary works: their aesthetics, the circumstances of their production, their history and the readings they have provoked.

Literary cultures, however, extend beyond the individual literary work in at least two ways. Firstly, from an intracultural point of view, in that different cultures of production and reception within a society are examined, some of which exist quite independently of each other; secondly, from an intercultural point of view, in that the processes of cultural exchange taking place on a global scale are addressed in relation to literature.

Literary studies oriented towards cultural studies is committed to interdisciplinarity. Although it still has its mainstay in the traditional philologies and their theories, its research and teaching is transdisciplinary and genuinely cultural studies-oriented. Topics that can only be meaningfully dealt with in an interdisciplinary context are therefore of particular relevance to it. Such cross-sectional topics include: Interculturality, mediality, cultural memory, gender and violence relations. In addition to humanities subjects such as history, philosophy, media and art history as well as the other philologies, the Literary Cultures in Lüneburg therefore also work together with social science-oriented subjects.

The "Literary Cultures" in Lüneburg do not intend to offer a full-fledged programme in literary studies. However, students can choose to focus on this area in all phases of their studies and, in particular, write their Bachelor's and Master's theses as well as their doctoral dissertations here.

In the Leuphana Bachelor in the Major "Cultural Studies", the focus is set by choosing the specialisation "Literary Cultures". The offer can be supplemented by literary studies-oriented seminars from the integration area and from the complementary studies. In the Master's programmes, please choose the corresponding modules. This could be followed by a doctorate with a focus on literary studies.