Series

The Freiburger Romanistische Arbeiten is the most important series of publications for Romance studies in Freiburg. It publishes projects funded by the Dr Jürgen and Irmgard Ulderup Foundation, including outstanding postgraduate dissertations. These research studies from the fields of linguistics, literary studies and cultural studies fulfil the series’ goal of publishing works based on both intermedia and interdisciplinary research, as well as those that address up-to-date, contemporary issues. Its volumes are mostly published in German, but also in French, Italian, Spanish and English.

This yearbook has been published since 1993 and is regarded as the most important institution in research into Hofmannsthal. On the one hand, it places the works of Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) in the aesthetic and socio-historical context of modern European culture. According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , its publication of previously unpublished correspondence is one of its particular merits. On the other hand, contributions from renowned experts in literature, the fine arts, philosophy, psychology, politics, and in dance and theatre at the turn of the century are also collected in this yearbook.

For an academic discipline like German studies to make its mark, global networking is essential, especially in a country such as Australia, which due to its geostrategical location does not allow for proliferent German studies research in the same way that Europe does. ‘Limbus—The Australian Yearbook of German Literary and Cultural Studies’ is intended to take this need into account. Its goal is to further promote Australian German studies to readers with some knowledge of this field and to provide a specifically Australian forum for international discussion on this subject area. Each annual issue focuses on a particular main topic decided on by the editors, and in no way ignores the ideas and opinions of Germanists living and working outside Australia. This periodical, which was first published in 2008, regularly publishes academic essays and reviews of new academic publications from the field of German literary and cultural studies. Its editors are assisted by an academic panel consisting of experts from around the world.

Anthologies and monographs are collected in our publishing house’s flagship series, which addresses current topics from the field of humanities, in particular based on interdisciplinary questions. Founded in 1988 by the distinguished Germanist Gerhard Neumann (1934–2017), this highly respected series has become irreplaceable in literature studies and cultural studies research.

The series entitled ‘Nordica’ offers up-to-date literary studies contributions to Scandinavian studies in the form of monographs and anthologies. Since it was founded in the year 2000, the series has established itself above all as a forum for discussion and the application of cultural and media studies approaches to new Scandinavian studies. ‘Nordica’ offers its readers the chance to follow recent developments in interdisciplinary theory and methods with innovative reading matter on literature, film and other media from northern Europe. Interdisciplinary networking, the relevance of literary studies in general for Scandinavian studies and the significance of Scandinavian cultural heritage for interdisciplinary literature studies are important in this respect. Accordingly, the series has already published studies on the definitive authors of Nordic literature such as Strindberg, Ibsen, Hamsun and Inger Christensen, on Scandinavian contemporary and youth literature, which is widely read internationally, and also on the relation between text and pictures, and literature and radio or jazz.

Monographs, anthologies and conference proceedings that address subjects from the fields of dance, theatre studies and musical theatre studies are published in the series entitled Scenae, which was founded in 2013. In view of the multifaceted variety of the performing arts and media, it examines issues from an interdisciplinary perspective and constantly bears in mind the fascinating interplay between theory and practice and between academic study and art.

While the ecclesial, theological and social history of modern Catholicism, which has developed since 1800, has been researched extensively, its manifestations with regard to literary and cultural history have tended to receive merely sparse attention and be regarded with extreme reservation. In this regard, the series entitled ‘Catholica’ breaks new ground, primarily in German-speaking research into this field. By being the first series to raise awareness of the broad spectrum of the image of literary Catholicism since 1800 in terms of literary aesthetics, historical assessment, cultural appraisal, the history of piety and intellectualism, and the intensive interdependence between and permeation of authors and milieus, plus their mutual distancing from each other, it shows that Catholic literature is also part of the plural modernity of the 19th and 20th centuries, which abounds with self-contradictions.

The series »Ethnomusicology in the 21st century«, which was established at Goethe University in Frankfurt in 2021, includes monographs, edited volumes and conference proceedings on the fields of ethnomusicology and the anthropology of music. In light of the increasing importance of digitalisation, political debates on postcolonial and post-migrant societies, and the global health and climate crises, this series explores their consequences for music-making, discussing current issues, research approaches and paradigms.