Female Writers in the Varnhagen Collection – Letters, Works, Relations

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jörg Paulus
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies ; German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426659774

The Varnhagen collection which is preserved in the Jagiellonian Library in Kraków is a collection of letters, literary manuscripts, journals, notes etc. covering the literary, cultural and political life of Europe from the end of the 18th century until the mid-19th century. Alongside well-known names like Bettine von Arnim or Rahel Varnhagen there are less known or forgotten women authors to be rediscovered in this collection. Usually, they are not included in the canon of current literary studies but they gained recognition among their contemporaries and played an important role in the literary life. The manuscripts written by some of them will be the subject of this project which is aimed at philological description, representation and analysis of the selected corpus of letters, including the exploration of materials and letters related to those documents. The basis of the study is a manuscript body of about 2,400 sheets, most of them letters, written by eight selected authors: Charlotte von Ahlefeldt, Helmina von Chézy, Amalia von Imhoff, Amalia Schoppe, Fanny Tarnow, Karoline von Woltmann, Caroline de la Motte Fouqué and Amalia von Voigt. Apart from the epistolary relations, they were interconnected by varied activities in the literary field, and can be seen as mediators between cultures (e.g. between Germany, France, Poland). The selected body of manuscripts is to be examined with all its references within the epistolary, cultural, scientific and social networks of that time. Furthermore, the project will examine the wider context of this corpus within the Varnhagen collection as well as its interconnections with other relevant collections. The manuscripts will be evaluated with regard to publications of the above named authors and presented as (1) a printed volume (annotated edition of selected letters) and (2) a digital edition (all letters) on a digital platform providing (3) additional biographical and bibliographical information, links to digital representations of publications of the selected authors and to corresponding digital projects. Such an attempt has not yet been undertaken with regard to the Varnhagen collection, and will open new perspectives for further academic research, both in the field of studies on social aspects of literature (including cultural and literary emancipation of women, functioning of the literary field) and poetological studies (development of concepts of work and authorship), as well as in the field of edition philology. The results will be additionally assembled in a volume of articles (4). The combination of the printed and digital edition together with exploring the specific aspects concerning the clearly defined section of the Varnhagen collection can be seen as a pilot project which may open a new stage in the process of archival and academic work on this collection, especially within the bilateral cooperation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Poland
• Partner Organisation: Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN)
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Frank Simon-Ritz
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Jadwiga Kita-Huber