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In his research, Linus is seeking to link different historical, theological, linguistic, legal and literary statements dealing with suicide. In his presentation, he focused on iconographical depictions of suicides in the Bible. Medieval theologians had to cope with these scriptural stories and came up with necessary interpretations to portray the permissiveness in these exceptional cases. Literary discourses in courtly and religious texts can provide alternatives and literature played a significant part in stimulating those negotiations. Examples taken from a variety of medieval German texts (Kaiserchronik, Eneasroman, Mysticism) offered insights into the book project Linus is currently undertaking, which will ultimately lead to establishing the concept of ‘poetics of suicide’ for Medieval German literature. One question among others will be whether – and to what extent – literary texts reflect their aesthetic potential as specifically poetic texts, and are thus able to transcend other discourses.
Photo: Angers, Bibliothèque municipale, Ms. 9, f. 62r.