The increase in technical languages across various disciplines in recent decades is closely linked to the heightened integration of specialized terms into everyday language. These terms are not only used in their original professional contexts but are also incorporated into other contexts to explain matters that are not directly related to the field in which they are typically employed. This study focuses on the use of music-specific terminology in a figurative sense in press articles. The data is sourced from the corpus of the Leibniz Institute for the German Language in Mannheim (DeReKo). The research investigates the non-specialist contexts in which music-specific terms are used and the reasons behind their usage. Particular attention is given to terms that describe tempo, dynamics, and playing techniques. It is evident that the explanation of non-specialist matters can only be successful if the readers are familiar with the meaning of the specialized term. The study examines whether the use of music-specific terms in journalistic texts outside their professional context can lead to comprehension difficulties.
This paper presents a case study closely linked to my dissertation, examining editorial corrections made in various versions of a specific song preserved across multiple manuscripts. The analysis focuses on three key areas: the alteration of the speaker's gender by substituting masculine names with feminine terms, deliberate modifications to content, and corrections of grammatical and spelling errors. A central aim is therefore to determine whether these changes reflect intentional content interventions or result from transcriptional or spelling inaccuracies. Particular attention is given to how these interventions affect the portrayal of the lady, including instances where she was replaced by a male figure or entirely omitted from the text. Concerning spelling errors, the paper focuses on the differences between the words "wunden" and "wunder," as well as the inconsistencies in transcribing the words "cranc," "tranc," and "dranc."
Junge Amerikanische Lyrik (1961) stands as a key document of American-German literary relations during the Cold War. Edited by Gregory Corso and Walter Höllerer, the anthology was not only an early attempt to introduce the poetry of the emerging American counter-culture to German-speaking readers, but also a catalyst for the transatlantic canonization of Beat poetry and the emergence of German-language pop literature. This article reconstructs the anthology's genesis based on correspondence between Corso, Allen Ginsberg, and Höllerer, showing how the project developed from the interplay of divergent interests: Corso and especially Ginsberg pursued a vision of an international poetics, while Höllerer acted as a literary broker furthering West Germany's cultural integration into the West. At the center of this analysis is Corso's poem Bomb, which exemplifies the political and aesthetic tensions within the anthology. The article reveals how Junge Amerikanische Lyrik emerged from the chance encounter of two very different actors and became a significant contribution to literary Cold War modernism.
This paper argues that Sharon Dodua Otoo's novel Adas Raum (2021) employs multiperspectivism as a postcolonial narrative strategy to explore colonial history, identity, and power structures by amplifying marginalized voices. This way, the novel challenges hegemonic (hi-)storytelling, especially the dominance of colonial discourse in German-language post-/neocolonial literature. Through a combination of autodiegetic, heterodiegetic, and non-human narrators, the novel interweaves polyphonic storytelling with metafictional reflection on the opportunities and limitations of these narrative perspectives. By situating Adas Raum within both postcolonial studies and narratological frameworks, this analysis highlights the significance of postcolonial narratology in reimagining historical representation through literary voice.
This introduction explores the intricate interplay of connectedness and vulnerability as central themes in literature, focusing on their representation in identity and crisis narratives. Against the backdrop of ecological and societal challenges – such as the climate crisis, globalization, and identity politics – the essay examines how literary texts serve as a reflective space for negotiating fragile connections and the tensions between self and other. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks, including network theory and the sociology of loss, the text highlights literature's capacity to mediate between historical and contemporary contexts, producing hybrid, fragmented, and polyphonic narratives that challenge and redefine boundaries. These reflections were further enriched through a transnational collaboration between the University of Regensburg, the Masaryk University Brno, and the Fritz Hüser Institute for Literature and Culture of the Working World in Dortmund, fostering an exchange of perspectives on concepts such as network theory and connectedness.
