Motif and Theme Research in Literary Studies

The aim of the project was to revive the study of motifs and themes in literary studies (a field neglected since the 1950s) by examining its possibilities and challenges and further developing it methodologically and terminologically. A key assumption was that literary motifs and themes should not be understood merely as content and meaning but also as structured and structure-forming units. Another fundamental assumption was that interrelations with extra-literary cultural history, which influence the conception, transmission, and shaping of literary content in diverse ways, must be taken into account.

Between 1978 and 2001, 29 symposia were held, and eight volumes of results comprising a total of 83 contributions were published. Initially, the research focused on modern European and North American literature; later, it expanded to include analyses of classical antiquity and medieval literature as well as art-historical comparative studies. The research fields addressed specific genres and periods (such as late 19th-century narratives; Romantic nature poetry), ‘major’ motifs and themes (Lived Literature in Literature, Family Ties as Fate, The Fall of the Mighty), as well as literary-theoretical and conceptual-historical questions (genre innovation and motif structure, results and perspectives of motif and theme research in literary studies).

As a separate sub-project, an annotated motif, subject, and theme bibliography for European and North American literature was compiled under the name LiMoST (Literary Motifs, Subjects, and Themes) as an electronic bibliographie raisonnée. It is currently no longer available.