Dynamics of Power. The Impact of Courtly Elites on Forms of Domination in Medieval German Literature

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Elke Brüggen
• Subject Area: German Medieval Studies (Medieval German Literature)
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 470861802

The project aims to analyse the narration of dynamics of power in German literature of the 12th and 13th centuries, focusing on the literary representation of secular and ecclesiastical leadership groups and their prominent representatives, who become tangible while in the respective ruler‘s environment. The decisive social sphere is the court - be it as imperial, royal, or princely court - and processes of interaction and communication therefore built the focal point of the analysis. In the center of attention are questions of interests and claims of the female and male elites, of resources, potentials, and options of power that allow them to participate in rulership, and of political contexts, spheres, and situations in which dynamic shifts in the structure of power at court could occur. By adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, seeking to connect with recent fields and paradigms of scholarship in literary and cultural studies (interaction and communication, 'consensual rule' and 'coopetition', 'gender/intersectionality', dis/ability), linking these with the analysis of narrative techniques and strategies, and furthermore taking into account the concrete materiality and mediality of illuminated medieval manuscripts, the project addresses older questions on the subject of social and political ideas in medieval literature in a systematic and methodologically reflective way

• DFG Programme: Research Grants