• Project Responsible: Till Dembeck 
• Research Associate: Tomás Espino Barrera
• Official time span: 04/2018-11/2020 (project ongoing without dedicated funding)

The project aims at initiating a re-description of German literary history in terms of linguistic diversity and cultural openness. It mainly builds upon recent scholarship in the theory and history of multilingual literature, and, more specifically, upon works that describe the historical semantics of mono- and multilingualism as it unfolds in German literature at around 1800. We draw special attention to the discursive and metaphorical strategies used to propel or devaluate multilingualism by authors such as Goethe, Jean Paul, Heine, Schleiermacher or the Grimms. Thus, the project contributes to a better understanding of the cultural and historical foundations as well as the constraints and blind spots of contemporary discussions about multilingualism and literature.