Aristocratism. Historical and Literary Semantics of "Nobility" from Cultural Criticism around 1900 to National Socialism (1890-1945)

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Eckart Conze; Professor Dr. Jochen Strobel
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History ; German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2013 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 241860929

The words "nobility" and "aristocracy" do not only refer to specific social groups, but, approaching the 20th century and against the background of the historical nobility's vanishing influence, new concepts of "nobility" and of the "aristocratic" emerged in various discursive contexts. Bringing together historians and literary scholars, the project is dedicated to analyzing this expanding semantics and its significance. The project is located at the intersection of three research interests relevant for both fields: (1) an extension and a new turn of the research on the 19th and 20th centuries nobility; (2) an interdisciplinary proving of a historical and literary semantics in an important field; and, by this token, (3) an analytical approach to a concept of modernity also encompassing notions of "different modernities" ("Andere Moderne") or "anti-modernity" (Antimoderne).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants