Hospitality and Trust in God. Medieval Semantics and Practices of Trust
Final Report Abstract
Considering the dwindling trust in democratic and political institutions, the project examined medieval and early modern practices and semantics of trust from a historical, media and literary studies perspective. Dealing with the assumption, coined by SIMMEL and still frequently varied today, that trust in institutions only emerges in the modern age, while in the pre-modern age trust in persons, stabilized by trust in God, dominates, the project examined two sub-areas of medieval and early modern literature with a historical-semantic approach on the one hand and a praxeological approach on the other. The first project area examined the semantics and performativity of trust in God in mystical texts of the Middle Ages (Mechthild of Magdeburg, Johannes Tauler). The second project area was dedicated to early modern single-leaf broadsheets (16th–17th century), which thematize and reflect on trust and mistrust in various areas such as economics, law, politics, religion and information media. Based on these source areas, the project was able to achieve the following results: Firstly, we were able to demonstrate interdependencies between religious (vertical) and social (horizontal) practices of trust. In the field of Christian mysticism, it is by no means the case that a strong trust in God leads to more mistrust of one's fellow human beings. It became evident, that Christian mystical trust in God is based on reciprocity, performativity and unpredictability and is thus structurally similar to many secular practices – which in turn could be demonstrated on the basis of semantics and secular comparisons and analogies in the religious texts. Secondly, we were able to use this complex reflection of trust practices in the religious sphere to analyze social trust practices in more detail. Thirdly, the historical semantics of getriuwen/getriuwunge and later trûwen/vertrûwen could be examined in more detail for the first time. Fourthly, we were able to show how, even in pre-modern societies, trust in individuals is intertwined with trust in procedures and media.
Publications
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Risiko und âventiure. Die Faszination für das ungesicherte Wagnis im historischen Wandel. Kulturen des Risikos im Mittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit, 13-32. De Gruyter.
Reichlin, Susanne
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Behältnis für Miniaturbücher, in: Philippe CORDEZ / Julia SAVIELLO (Hg.): Fünfzig Objekte in Buchform. Vom Reliquiar zur Laptoptasche. Emsdetten / Berlin 2020, S. 68– 71. ISBN: 9783942810463.
Kaske, Romana
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Joint-Kiste, in: Philippe CORDEZ / Julia SAVIELLO (Hg.): Fünfzig Objekte in Buchform. Vom Reliquiar zur Laptoptasche. Emsdetten / Berlin 2020, S. 184–187. ISBN: 9783942810463.
Kaske, Romana
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Kredit- und Vertrauenspraktiken im Fortunatus. Abhandlungen zur Medien- und Kulturwissenschaft, 45-67. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Reichlin, Susanne
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Eine Welt voller Geld. Wahnhaftes Begehren, leere Versprechungen und produktive Imaginationen in Flugblättern des 17. Jahrhunderts. Wahn, Witz und Wirklichkeit, 125-148. Brill | Fink.
Reichlin, Susanne
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Plötzlicher Untergang. Naturkatastrophen, 267-297. Brill | Fink.
Reichlin, Susanne
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Die Zeitlichkeit des Geldwerts in Flugblättern um 1620, in: Medialität. Historische Perspektiven 27 (2023b), S. 3–15.
Reichlin, Susanne
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Objects and Organisms. De Gruyter.
Beaucamp, Ella; Kaske, Romana & Moser, Thomas (Eds.)
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Seismographen der Krise. Franz Steiner Verlag.
Fuschlberger, Pia; Kaske, Romana & Reichlin, Susanne (Eds.)
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„Attenzione Pickpocket!“ Vigilante Appelle in Italien, Japan und der Frühen Neuzeit. Ein interdisziplinärer Dialog, in: Vigilanzkulturen, 12.12.2023.
Fuschlberger, Pia & Paul Kramer
