GSA 2023 Seminar: Goethe as Theoretical Touchstone | Montréal, Kanada (03.03.2023)
We invite abstract proposals for the seminar "Goethe as Theoretical Touchstone," which will take place October 5-8, 2023, at the 47th Annual German Studies Association Conference in Montréal, Canada.
ABSTRACT: Although Goethe’s influence on individual writers has long been studied, there is as yet no systematic examination of the range of theoretical models that draw on, adapt, and transform Goethean conceptions across the 19th and 20th centuries. The plasticity of Goethe’s thought—its potential for productive transformation in the hands of later authors—remains under-appreciated. To be sure, Goethe’s importance for modern thought is distinguished by its unorthodox nature: no single discipline or school counts as the inheritor of Goethe’s thought. Goethe’s impact can be detected, rather, across a remarkably heterogeneous range of thinkers, from his own lifetime up to the present day. This seminar will focus on individual case studies – e.g., Arendt, Agnes Arber, Blumenberg, Cassirer, Freud, Hadot, Lipps, Portmann – in order to draw out the transformative power of reception and thus to identify the sources of Goethe’s abiding theoretical fecundity. Contributions on individuals, groups, even disciplines are welcome.
FORMAT: Seminar participants will collectively curate a selection of 8-10 primary texts that illuminate the salience of Goethean thought for later theoretical architectures (~100 pages of reading). Each participant will prepare a 1-page (un-pre-circulated) introduction profiling the main themes and questions raised by one of the readings and guide the discussion.
To apply, please submit an abstract describing the nature of your contribution (up to 500 words) and a short biography (up to 300 words) directly through the GSA website. The deadline is Friday, March 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PST. Please note that participants must be members of the GSA for 2023; you can join or renew your membership here.
Please let the conveners know if you have any questions by contacting dcarranza@fas.harvard.edu:
Daniel Carranza, Harvard University
Joel Lande, Princeton University
David E. Wellbery, University of Chicago