Europe, you beauty! Tour d'horizon - an introduction

The common sense of citizenship that is supposed to characterize the inhabitants of Europe is repeatedly challenged by the resentment of countries against their neighbors.where, if not in literature, do difference and closeness manifest themselves so clearly that understanding becomes possible in conversation about them? When the creative passion of poets from different countries overcomes prejudices, the idea of common sense wins out.Nowhere is the experience of otherness, the experience of foreignness, more pronounced than in travelogues - the journey to neighboring countries often reveals differences that allow us to reflect on otherness.At the beginning of the literary excursions to our neighboring European countries are the essay Italienische Ausschweifungen (Italian Debauchery) by H.M. Enzensberger, which he published in a collection of travelogues entitled Ach Europa, and the journey of the Austrian Karl-Markus Gauss to the east of Slovakia, Die Hundeesser von Svinia (The Dog Eaters of Svinia). The expedition to European literary locations concludes with the reading of selected poems that revolve around common themes and illustrate the diversity and commonality of literary perspectives in Europe. The poems will be made available as a reader in collaboration with www.literaturferien.deLiteratur:H.M. Enzensberger: Ach Europa! Suhrkamp Taschenbuch;K.-M. Gauß: Die Hundeesser von Svinia. Paul Zsolnay Verlag

Course leader: Prof. Dr. Brittnacher, Hans Richard. Annegret Wolfram is an experienced course leader in the field of literature and philosophy. More at www.literaturferien.deHans As a professor of German studies, Richard Brittnacher has traveled to many countries as part of his academic field work, is an ardent European and an expert on literature from the 18th century to the present day, and is particularly interested in the intersection of literature and religion, in the representation of minorities and in popular variants of literature (crime novels, fantasy, etc.).