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In recent decades the field of "intermediality - literature and other arts" has become a major focus of comparative literature. A multitude of texts was published, in which the interaction between the arts is traced back to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's treatise "Laokoon oder über die Grenzen der Mahlerey und Poesie" (Laocoon or beyond the limits of Painting and Poetry, 1766). This lecture will start with a chronological overview of some important theoretical basic-texts on intermedial research. This overview ranges from Oscar Walzels programmatic text "Wechselseitige Erhellung der Künste" (Reciprocal illumination of the Arts, 1917) and basic texts by Michail Bachtin and Julia Kristeva, to the studies of Jens Schröter, Monika Schmitz-Emans, Irina O. Rajewsky and Werner Wolf, which dominate the present discussion. In the second part of the course the students and the lecturer will read and discuss some texts on the intermedial "subcategories" Literature and Visual Arts, Literature and Film, Literature and Photography, Literature and Music, etc.

How can we define the term "intermediality"? Aage A. Hansen-Löve, who used the terminus in his study "Intermedialität und Intertextualität" (Intermediality and Intertextuality 1983) for the first time in a scientific context, defined intermedial phenomena as "the common occurrence of heterogeneous forms of art in the context of an integrated media (theater, opera, film, performance etc.)". Irina O. Rajewsky, however, called intermedial phenomena "media border-crossing phenomena that involve at least two conventionally as distinct perceived media". Intermediality is thus a phenomenon of border crossing (from one medium to another), a mixture between so far separated media-forms and a phenomenon of hybridization. The term "Intermedialität" (Intermediality) occurred a true success in German literature and cultural studies during the 1980s and 1990s. Hence the new medium of film joined the "classical" art forms, literature, visual art, music, opera and dance at the beginning of the 20th Century, new examination criteria had to be developed. An even greater revolution in intermedial research started with the rapid rise of digital media in the 1980s. As part of the course some of the most important theoretical texts of intermedial research will be presented and discussed.

In each unit some essential basic positions will be presented by the lecturer. This will take about an hour of each 90-minute unit. In the remaining 30 minutes, one of the most important basic texts will be discussed with the students.

To complete the course, a written exam has to be passed at the end of the semester.

1.    Degner, Uta / Wolf, Norbert Christian (Hg.): Der neue Wettstreit der Künste. Legitimation und Dominanz im Zeichen der Intermedialität. Bielefeld: transcript 2010.

2.    Helbig, Jörg: Intermedialität. Theorie und Praxis eines interdisziplinären Forschungsgebietes. Frankfurt a. M.: Turnshare 2009.

3.    Paech, Joachim / Schröter, Jens (Hg.): Intermedialität – analog / digital. Theorien – Methoden – Analysen. München: Fink 2008.

4.    Rajewsky, Irina O.: Intermedialität. Tübingen / Basel: Francke 2002. (UTB für Wissenschaft, Uni-Taschenbücher 2261).

5.    Wolf, Werner: Intermedialität: ein weites Feld und eine Herausforderung für die Literaturwissenschaft. In: Foltinek, Herbert und Leitgeb, Christoph (Hg.): Literaturwissenschaft. intermedial – interdisziplinär. Wien: Verl. d. österr. Akademie d. Wissenschaften 2002, S. 163-193.