Urban Muße (otiose leisure) in the late 18th and early 19th century. Flânerie in German literature (D10 (R02))

• Subject Area: German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2017 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 197396619

Analysing urban Muße (otiose leisure) in German literature und journalism in the late 18th and early 19th century will add a new chapter to the history of flânerie. German travel reports and reports by newspaper correspondents from the metropolises London and Paris as well as Goethe’s observations of Rome, Venice, Naples, and Palermo will be analysed with regard to the way of life and behaviour of the cities’ respective residents at times without immediate temporal obligations, as well as the figures of the German observers themselves. The lingering glances of these observers reveal spaces of Muße as sites of reflection on alien habits and one’s own judgements.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1015: Muße (Leisure/Otium). Concepts, Spaces, Figures
• Applicant Institution: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• Project Head: Privatdozent Dr. Peter Philipp Riedl