Prof. Dr. Annette Gerok-Reiter holds the chair for German literature of the Middle Ages in a European context at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. She is the spokesperson for the CRC 1391 Different Aesthetics and heads the projects “Semantics of the Aesthetic in German-language Literature of the Middle Ages” and “The schoene schîn in mysticism” as well as the project on Science Communication.
Relationship /
field of work /
interests
In what context do you work on questions of aesthetics/art?
Annette Gerok-Reiter: In the area of my subject “Older German Literature”, especially withinthe CRC 1391 Different Aesthetics.
What interests you most?
AGR: How is it that a handful of words, a poem, a piece of music, a picture speak to us, move us, challenge us?
Do you have a ‘favourite work’? And why that work in particular?
AGR: Heinrich von Morungen: In such a high floating wonder / my heart never rests in joy... The rhythm is magical! The metaphors are simply breathtaking in the liberal interweaving of discourse on religion and eroticism!
Art /
Concept of art /
Understanding of art
What makes art?
AGR: Materiality + design = design of meaning
How does art ‘work’?
AGR: Art ‘works’ when it has an effect. It has an effect the more precisely autological and heterological dimensions work together.
What does art achieve?
AGR: As Paul Klee says: “Art does not reproduce what is visible, but makes it visible.” This is the key, even for pre-modern aesthetic practices.
Society /
Relevance /
Scholarship
What role does aesthetics/art play in our society?
AGR: A big one. But that is usually not noticed much.
What role should aesthetics/art play in our society?
AGR: A big one. And this should be noticed and considered.
What role should scholarship play in this context?
AGR: One that illuminates. Scholarship that deals with the arts should clarify what functions the arts take on in society and what they can achieve in doing so.