Europaische Grundungsmythen im Dialog der Literaturen

The dialogue of literary traditions produces complex constellations of assimilation and reformulation, refutation and innovation. Given the current challenges of cultural affiliations and of social identities, the knowledge of the addressed correlations, especially of founding myths, comes to be one of the central concerns of the European Literatures. These founding narratives have attracted the special attention of Michael Bernsen, who has been doing considerable research on the processes of literary canonization in the European literatures, on the Myth of Egypt, on Petrarchism, and in the field of important founding myths stemming from the Middle Ages to Romanticism and Modernity. The 39 contributions of international outstanding scholars attest the productive reception of the achievements of this researcher’s career.