Topics in German Literature: Radical Trans-: Drifts, Rifts and Shifts in Literature and the Arts

What does it mean to think trans- not as a marker of identity or political stance, but as an impulse toward crossing and altering form(s)? This course is an introduction to a generative principle of literature and art, expressed metaphorically by the prefix trans- (“across, beyond”). How does trans- operate in poetic language and other forms of art resisting stability to bring about “the new“? Trans- points to processes and mutations, as suggested by its iterations. While “transgression” peaked in theory around 2000, “translingualism” is still flourishing. We will engage with the potential of trans- from “translation“ to “corecore“. Seminar discussions in English.