Incommensurable? The comparative self in the premodern and modern eras (11th–19th century) (C02+)

• Subject Area: Medieval History ; German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2017 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317664947

The subproject is addressing a paradox in experiencing and representing subjectivity that transcends the ages: the indi-vidual is supposed to be unique and beyond comparison while simultaneously being constituted by the social framing of comparative acts. Autobiographies can be seen as a privileged form of this paradox that is explicitly based on and docu-mented by a diversity of historical and narrative practices of comparison. The subproject, situated at the crossroads of history and literary studies, works out narratives and strategies of comparing individuality in autobiographical texts from the eleventh to twelfth and the nineteenth century.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1288: Practices of comparisons: Ordering and changing the world
• Applicant Institution: Universität Bielefeld
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Franz-Josef Arlinghaus; Professor Dr. Walter Erhart