"Small literatures" usually emerge in ethnic, religious and linguistic marginalised areas. At the international conference "Specifics and Typology of 'small' Literatures" on 8 and 9 June, literary scholars will address this topic.
The specifics of small Slavic (Belarus, Ukraine, Croatia) and Dutch literatures as well as literature from Australia and South Africa will be at the centre of the conference. What they have in common is a relatively small linguistic area and special features in their literary-historical development.
The conference is organised by the Institutes of Slavic Studies (Prof. Dr. Gun-Britt Kohler) and Dutch Studies (Prof. Dr. Ralf Grüttemeier). The conference is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
"The comparative study of 'small literatures' not only makes it possible to grasp the specifics of less or barely known literatures, it also makes it possible to trace the general development processes of literature," says Oldenburg Slavic Studies Professor Gun-Britt Kohler. The aim of the conference is to decisively refine the typology of 'small literatures'.