Gute Geschichte/n: Literarische Selbsterfindungen und die Geschichte der Literatur des Mittelalters

Abstract

This contribution is a plea for the substitution of the grand narratives of literary history by small ‘good (hi)stories.’ These ‘good (hi)stories’ must be based on a detailed reconstruction of the literary realities: on the testimony of the work itself, on its transmission, on the description of the social networks in which the works circulated and which they addressed. An integrated view of these ‘good (hi)stories’ can help develop a dynamically changing picture of a possible literary history of the Middle Ages which must be negotiated further in the scholarly discussion. Two examples will demonstrate this model: Otfried’s Evangelienbuch and the paraphrase of the Song of Songs by Williram of Ebersberg.