A Literary Atlas of Europe – Towards a Geography of Fiction
Summary
Where is literature set? This supposedly simple question uncovers an area of research so far only established in its rudiments: literary geography. Each literary work takes place somewhere, along a scale of localisation that ranges from the completely imaginary to the realistically rendered, highly recognisable and easily placed.
A literary atlas maps these settings in novels, novellas, tales, ballads, dramas. In this way the specific geography of literature becomes visible: Where and when do which landscapes and cities emerge on the literary map of Europe, and when are they submerged again in meaninglessness, or when have they exhausted their literary potential? Are there geographic areas which are entirely undocumented in literature? How densely settled by fictional works is a particular space? A huge range of thematic maps can be generated automatically (maps of the fictional space of a certain epoch, a certain author, a certain genre etc.).
This interactive mapping project makes visible the multiple relationships between real and imaginary geographies, and tries to adequately represent the spaces of fiction. Hence literary geographical methods form the basis of an entirely new, spatially structured, cartographically supported literary history - a literary atlas of Europe.
Kick off
01.10.2006 – 24.10.2013
Researchers
Lead: Hurni, Lorenz. Piatti, Barbara.
Internal: Weber, Anne-Kathrin. Bär, Hans-Rudolf.
External: Braun, Thomas Martin. Cartwright, William. Detering, Heinrich. Frolíková, Marie. Markvartová, Eva. Tvrdik, Milan.
Funding source
Foundations
Partners
- RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
- Seminar für deutsche Philologie, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany.
- Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Web
externe Seitewww.literaturatlas.eu