RTG 2190: The Literary and Epistemic History of Small Forms

Small forms are no newcomers among textual types and genres, but have nonetheless assumed novel importance in the effort to cope with and exploit developments in media-technological mobility and networking. The organisation of cultural memory has become increasingly difficult at the same time that attentional resources are ever more scarce. The impact of this development on the management of observation, the accumulation of ideas, the dissemination of knowledge, and the guidance and control of learning processes cannot be understood without investigating the routines and practices of representation that, in manifold ways, format the production and mediation of knowledge. The explosion of the attainable knowledge, as well as the concomitant diffusion of attention and the relentless acceleration of the rate at which new discoveries must be recorded, demand new efficiency and creativity in the use of limited time and space. Outlines, abstracts, notes, protocols, previews, essays, articles, etc. have thus become indispensable in the practice of research and education as well as in media and the arts. However, just as the evolution and genesis of these forms have so far only been selectively investigated, their contribution to the formation of modern information societies demands further research.This graduate program will advance the analysis of small forms by exploring their literary and epistemic history in the long historical arc extending from antiquity to the present day. With its systematic focus on literature, science and popular culture, the program seeks, firstly, to determine which small forms emerge within each of these domains with their specific writerly and representational procedures. The chief goal is to examine how these forms control, reflect, criticize and (mediaspecifically) channel processes of communication. Secondly, the program will analyse the development and circulation of small forms in exchanges between different domains.Both in research and supervision, the program is set up for historical and disciplinary breadth. It offers an ideal framework for training doctoral researchers at the highest methodological levels and international standards. Our qualification procedures ensure the feasibility of the program by combining multiple methods of supervision – including seminars, colloquia and retreats – as well as course offerings that support career professionalization.