Encompassing the medieval tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, the desert-island novels of the Enlightenment, as well as the works of James Fenimore Cooper, Eugène Sue, Karl May and Robert Louis Stevenson and the bestsellers penned by B.Traven and J.R.R. Tolkien and their successors, the adventure story has staunchly maintained its position as one of literature's most popular and enduring genres. Clearly, the form still serves to assuage deep-seated feelings of yearning in today's readers.
In this series of lectures, four of the most significant authors of contemporary German fiction consider the nature of the genre.
Perhaps there is nothing less adventurous than curling up beside the fire with a good book. – However, most dedicated readers probably picked the habit of reading from the adventure stories that they encountered in childhood. But if one later decides to become a professional author, one embarks on two adventure stories at once. The first concerns the challenges of a precarious existence, the second takes place in one's own head. Thomas Lehr, whose work has been widely praised, has always found a new form for each of his books, which have dealt with complex themes like 9/11 in September. Fata Morgana (2010) and the history of the 20th century in Schlafende Sonne ("The Sleeping Sun" 2017), both published by Hanser. The theme of his lecture deals with the adventure of writing.
Moderator: PD Dr. habil. Wolfram Ette, Institute of Comparative Literature, LMU.
Organization: This lecture series was organized by the DFG-funded Research Unit on "The Philology of the Adventure Story" at LMU's Institute of Comparative Literature, in collaboration with the Literaturhaus München.
Registration and costs
The lectures will be streamed. Tickets cost 5 euros (plus 2 euros service charge) and are available via Reservix. For further details, see the following website: Literaturhaus München. All lectures will be given in German.