Institut für deutsche Literatur

Vortrag Prof. Dr. Elke Siegel (Cornell) *Displacing the Terms of Engagement. Lyric Poetry and Society, Again*

Zum Vortrag: "In this talk, I am tracing some recent discussions among writers, especially lyric poets, about the relationship between literature/poetry and society or literature and politics. I am especially interested in how the question of the tension between politics and the demand for aesthetic autonomy, against the backdrop of Adorno’s formulations, might be asked differently - i.e., how the terms we use to try and tackle this question might be displaced in order to ask the question differently, ask a different question, or think “otherhow" (to quote Rachel Blau DuPlessis). The talk therefore explores recent critical engagements with the subjective in poetry and art (Clover, Ngai, Kornbluh) and juxtaposes these with readings of selected interventions by Barbara Köhler and Uljana Wolf but focusing mainly on Monika Rinck."