Konferenz - Enumeration, Epistemology, Etcetera: Lists and List-Making in Literature and Culture

This international conference aims to examine the literary, cultural and epistemological potential of enumerative forms as well as their significance in diverse historical contexts. Our speakers will engage with practices of enumeration and the cultural, social and epistemic functions and contexts of list-making across the centuries. In particular, we focus on the interdisciplinary exchange between (1) narratology and conceptions of the list as a literary form of representation, (2) epistemological and history-of-science approaches to the processes, the potentials and the limits of list-making and (3) socio-cultural examinations of the list as an instrument of social power.

These spheres of interest open up three thematic areas: Under the label of literary lists we consider the textual manifestation of list-making across literary genres, in particular the reciprocal dynamics between the form of the list and its embeddedness, adaptation and function in diverse generic and historical formats. With a focus on epistemologies we widen the scope to take into account the various roles lists and related forms can play in contexts of storing, recording and passing on implicit and explicit knowledge. The third area will be dedicated to lists in (contemporary) cultural contexts: here, we aim to cover the list as a cultural tool that attracts attention, evaluates, organizes and reduces information and, eventually, creates trends.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

• Prof. Ottmar Ette (Potsdam)
• Prof. Ulrike Vedder (Berlin)

The workshop is organized by

JunProf. Dr. Evan von Contzen
eva.voncontzen@frias.uni-freiburg.de

The Research Project "Lists in Literature and Culture: Towards a Listology" (LISTLIT) is funded by a Starting Grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC).