Dissertation Thesis

The monograph analyzes Friedrich Hölderlin‘s Empedokles, Hyperion, and Germanien as well as Martin Heidegger’s readings of Hölderlin. The author applies the interaction-theoretical approach of ‘systemic relational analysis of literary interaction’ which allows for reconstructing the structures of narcissistic transference relationships both on the internal level of the characters’ interaction and on the external level of the texts’ narrative interaction with the targeted readers.

The over-arching interest of this analysis is to develop a methodological approach which enables us to study the complex interactional dynamics in which individuals and societies work-through experiences and occurrences of violence by way of aesthetic interaction. It needs to be investigated more closely both by text analysis and empirical reader research how literary and media interaction and the teaching of literature and fictional media narratives may contribute to these mental and aesthetic processes of working-through.