EXC 2020:  Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective

• Subject Area: Literary Studies ; Ancient Cultures ; History ; Art History, Music, Theatre and Media Studies ; Social and Cultural Anthropology, Non-European Cultures, Jewish Studies and Religious Studies
• Term: since 2019
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 390608380

The Cluster of Excellence "Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective" aims to create a new theoretical and methodological take on literature in a global perspective that moves beyond the categories of nation and period and conceives of literature instead as a transcultural and transtemporal phenomenon in deep time. Based on the insight that literature is a fundamentally performative and intermedial phenomenon, a form of social action taking place in complex networks of human and non-human actors, the Cluster will study how literature becomes global through its temporal entanglements. Introducing the notion of 'temporal communities', the Cluster will investigate the ways in which literature reaches out through space and time and establishes extensive transtemporal networks in which the notion of literature itself is constantly re-constituted as it interacts with other arts and media. The Cluster is situated within a vibrant network of international academic partners and local collaborators including universities and libraries as well as literary and artistic institutions and museums, and it combines an international fellowship programme with a dynamic and flexible platform for projects involving early career researchers, established scholars and international fellows from all career stages.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Participating Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung
• Spokespersons: Professorin Dr. Anne Eusterschulte, since 12/2023; Professor Dr. Andrew James Johnston; Professorin Dr. Anita Traninger, until 12/2023
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Jürgen Brokoff; Professor Dr. Sebastian Conrad; Professorin Dr. Susanne K. Frank; Professor Dr. Michael Gamper; Professorin Dr. Eva Geulen; Professorin Dr. Karin Gludovatz; Professorin Dr. Beatrice Gründler; Professorin Dr. Ulla Haselstein; Professor Dr. Bernhard Huss; Professor Dr. Hermann Kappelhoff; Professor Dr. Frank Kelleter; Professorin Dr. Susanne Klengel; Professorin Dr. Doris Kolesch; Professor Dr. Klaus Krüger; Professor Dr. Christian Meyer; Professorin Dr. Jutta Müller-Tamm; Professorin Dr. Claudia Olk; Professor Dr. Miltos Pechlivanos; Professor Dr. Bernd Roling; Professorin Dr. Ulrike Schneider; Professorin Dr. Gyburg Uhlmann; Professor Dr. Matthias Warstat