Politics of the Pastoral
General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
Final Report Abstract
The network “Politics of Pastoral” has developed a model for describing the literary genre of pastoral (Idylle) using the theoretic category of literary device. In this framework, the idyll is not, as it is usually done, conceptualised in terms of stasis and closure, but rather in terms of its productivity and performativity: texts do not simply represent idyllic worlds, they bring them forth. This is reflected in pastorals themselves, for example by showing the inclusions and exclusions within their space, by making harmonious configurations recognisable as the result of a precarious balancing of differences or by displaying their own textual staging. The function of pastoral in a given cultural context can be explored through the use of such ‘idyllising’ devices. For example, procedures of inclusion and exclusion can be used both to stage a protected counter-space to existing power relations and to confirm power asymmetries in the exclusivity of the idyllic space. This is not limited to texts and pastoral configuration in other media. A concept of pastoral that is oriented on the category of device also enables the description of social spaces and concepts whose somehow ‘idyllic’ appearance can thus be analysed more precisely. This may concern garden designs and friendship networks of the Enlightenment as well as ecological discourses, national parks or narratives of national origin. In this respect, the network extended the analytical focus of the concept of pastoral to cultural studies. The respective use of idyllising devices, their socio-cultural connections and adaptations as well as the associated ‘politics’ of pastoral – i.e. its connection with political configurations and the constellation in which a text is placed as pastoral in relation to other texts and contexts – were discussed within the network by presenting case studies at workshops and conferences and displayed in a handbook for the use in studies and research. Both the publication of the conference results and the handbook will hopefully contribute not only to expanding specific research on pastoral, but also to taking pastoral studies out of the niche existence they seem to inherit from their subject, precisely by revising the prejudice of the irrelevant niche existence of pastoral. This is made possible not least by the development of a concept of pastoral that aims towards methodologically reflected analytical application and transfer and thus allows connections to other disciplines beyond the specific research on the literary genre of pastoral.
Publications
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Paradigmen des Idyllischen.
Jablonski, Nils & Nitzke, Solvejg (Eds.)
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Handbuch Idylle. J.B. Metzler.
Gerstner, Jan; Heller, Jakob C. & Schmitt, Christian (Eds.)
