New publication: Der Rezipient ist im Werk

(Kopie 5)

Susanne Friedrich, Monika E. Müller (eds.)
Der Rezipient ist im Werk. Differenzerfahrung und Adressatenbezug in Reisedarstellungen des 15.–18. Jahrhunderts.
Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2026
Volume 25 of the series: Gothaer Forschungen zur Frühen Neuzeit
ISBN: 9783515139045 
261 pages (hardcover)
59,00 EUR

People have been travelling for centuries. The reasons and circumstances changed, but travelling was often and widely reported. In this anthology, late medieval and early modern accounts of travelling are not examined from the perspective of the first observer or the described, as in previous research. Instead, it takes a media- and cultural-historical perspective to analyse how they were addressed and what they intended to convey.
The contributions reveal what was intended to be communicated to the recipients through text and image and what was believed to be expected of them. Authors and editors responded to the presumed preferences or expectations of future readers. In addition to the travellers themselves, we therefore also look at those who worked on the depictions – from proofreaders and commentators to engravers and publishers. This approach makes it possible to overcome traditional dichotomous and ideal-typical constructions and to better understand the complexity of the mediation of experiences of difference. Overall, this opens up a new approach to the important source genre of travel writing for many disciplines.

The editors
Susanne Friedrich is a qualified historian specialising in the history of the early modern period. She researches the history of European expansion, the history of knowledge and culture and the history of the Old Kingdom.

Monika E. Müller is head of the Collections and Preservation Department at the Gotha Research Library of the University of Erfurt. Her research foci are the history of books and knowledge in the pre-modern period and book illumination.