09/21 - 12/21: University of Bergen, Bergen
01/22 - 06/22: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
grundtner@ifk.ac.at
Dressed in Animal Skin. The relationship between human and animals on the basis of material culture in Middle High German literature
Animal skin like fur and pelt is used quite frequently in the courtly literature of the German Middle Ages: Pelt embellished coats are given as presents, fur lined blankets cover the protagonists and even the shields are decorated with pelt. How can the closeness of animal material to human body be seen as an expression of similarity of human and animal?
On the basis of Wolfram’s of Eschenbach Œuvre I explore the animal material in medieval courtly literature and link it with a wider human-animal-discourse. Then, pelt can be a sign of social position, origin, bravery as well as an erotic innuendo. The topic of my dissertation project is to discover these multiple and complex usages of animal material in medieval texts.
Nora Grundtner studied German literature, textile crafts and psychology & philosophy in Salzburg and Falmouth (UK). Since 2018 she works as a research fellow at the department of Medieval German Language and Literature in Salzburg. She is a member of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Medieval Ages and Early Modern Periode, as well as of the doctorate programme Interdisciplinary exploration of historical cultures. Her main research focus is on the material culture of medieval literature. She explores the complex relationship between human and object, which can be expressed through the mentioning, the usage and the communication in the text.
„Als er bedacte die swarzen lîch, dô wart er einem rîter gelîch. Ein Erzählen mit und über Kleidung in Hartmanns von Aue Iwein“, in: Erzählende Dinge. Funktionen von Objekten für Narrative in Mittelalter und Frühneuzeit. MEMO – Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture Online, Heft 8 (2020), (im Erscheinen); „Tierische Häute und menschliche Träger. Eine Analyse narrativer Entwürfe in Wolframs Œuvre“, in: Brünner Beiträge zur Germanistik und Nordistik, Supplementum, Heft 33 (2019), S. 147–161.
Dicht behaarte Frauenkörper werden in der mittelhochdeutschen Literatur als abschreckend und abstoßend beschrieben. Mit kostbaren Pelzen sind hingegen höfische Damen bekleidet. Der Vortrag zeichnet ein Bild haariger Häute, das in Bezug auf Frauenkörper zwischen den Extremen von Höfischheit und Wildheit angesiedelt ist.