Critical edition, translation and commentary of Heinrich Wittenwiler's late medieval novel 'Der Ring' (The Ring).

The 'Ring' of Heinrich Wittenwiler is seen as a main work and roman à clef of the late medieval period (U. Wehrli). It represents the crisis in society, politics and mentality of the late medieval Europe, reflected by grotesque pictures and metaphors of violence, of war and destruction of prevalent opinions and tendencies. This is very important to be able to reconstruct the breaks and crisis of the self-image in the 15th century. The calling into question of antiquated world views and mentalities in the 'Ring' is expressed by a literary work of art that is incomparable both from contemporary view and from far beyond the late middle ages. The translation will be trying to transfer Wittenwiler's pleasure for metaphors and speaking symbols, catachresis, sense-distortion and grotesqueries into mordern German language, maintaining the linguistic and stylistic paradoxies of the original script. An additional extended and detailed commentary will help to understand the contradictory dimensions of the text and its meaning.