Reform as Text Strategy. Studies on the Literary Oeuvre of Johannes Meyer O.P.

• Applicant: Dr. Christian Seebald
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 245744381

The goal of this research project is a comprehensive exploration of the German and Latin writings of the Dominican Observant and chronicler Johannes Meyer (1422/23-1485). The chosen approach of study is based on aspects of text typology and function, narratology and of the history of discourse. Five historically transmitted groups of texts, which represent and comprise nearly the complete monastic writings of Johannes Meyer, shall be examined within the framework of a monograph. The research aims to classify this significant oeuvre not only from the perspective of cultural history and of the history of the Dominican order, but most notably in view of its position in the context of the theology of piety (or Frömmigkeitstheologie, as the term was introduced by Berndt Hamm) of the late Middle Ages as well as with respect to its original contribution to the German literature of the 15th century. Hence the largely neglected text corpus is given the deserved attention of a scholarly discussion on religious literature of the 15th century, with additional incentive and emphasis to the understanding of the relationship of Reform and Reformation. From the standpoint of an authors oeuvre at the junction of central and especially literary modes of discourse of his time (Dominican Order and Reform; History/Theology of Piety; Historiography; Hagiography; Reception of Mysticism; Authorship; Retextualization; Encyclopedic Literature), Meyers texts furthermore open the possibility to exemplarily analyse and describe these diverse and occasionally interdependent discursive fields and practices. This study will be supplemented with an edition of two texts of moderate length (Papst- and Kaiserchronik Predigerordens), to which the scholarly literary analysis explicitly refers, but which to date have not been available in a printed edition. The edition will not only advance the text-critical exploration of Meyers German oeuvre, but will also be a pilot project for a new critical edition of the Buch der Reformacio Predigerordens, which is to be pursued in a subsequent project outside of the scope of this application.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants