Precarious Appearance. Aesthetic Negotiations in Medieval Mystical Texts (C03)

• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature) ; Protestant Theology
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 405662736

By focusing on body and object-related forms of divine appearance in medieval mystical texts, the project will address a basic question of Christian aesthetics, which will also programmatically unlock the potential of a ‘different’ aesthetics: How much ‘materialization’ is needed or tolerated when it comes to divine appearance and its medial representation? In the second funding phase, this question will be pursued jointly by Theology and Medieval German Studies. Comparing Latin and German texts, the project will conduct exemplary analyses of Das fließende Licht der Gottheit and Lux divinitatis, ascribed to Mechthild of Magdeburg, as well as Exercitia spiritualia and Legatus divinae pietatis by Gertrud of Helfta, and German texts attesting to their reception.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1391: Different Aesthetics
• International Connection: USA
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Annette Gerok-Reiter; Professor Dr. Volker Leppin, until 6/2023; Professorin Dr. Saskia Wendel