Self-Reflection in Literature

Self-reflection is fundamental for human thinking on many levels. Philosophy has described the mind’s capacity to observe itself as a core element of human existence. Political and social sciences have shown how modern democracies depend on society’s ability to critically reflect on their own values and practices. And literature of all ages has proven self-reflexivity to be a crucial trait of cultural production.

This volume provides the first diachronic panorama of genres, forms, and functions of literary self-reflection and their connections with social, political and philosophical discourses from the 17th century to the present. Far beyond the usual focus on postmodernist opacity, these contributions present a rich tradition of critical transparency: Literary texts that show us what is behind and beyond them.

Dr. Florian Lippert (1978) is Associate Professor in European Languages and Cultures at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. He is the author of Selbstreferenz in Literatur und Wissenschaft (Fink 2013) and has published numerous articles and chapters on self-reflexivity in literature, arts, media and politics.
Dr. Marcel Schmid (1979) is Assistant Professor in Germanics at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Autopoiesis und Literatur (transcript 2016) and has co-edited a volume on the life reform movement: Die Literatur der Lebensreform (transcript 2016).