Dealing with Illness and Health in German Literature of the 21st Century Juli Zeh’s Corpus Delicti: Ein Prozess and Thea Dorn’s Trost. Briefe an Max
Project no. 29646 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023
Summary
<p>This study examines the topics of illness and health in 21st-century German literature through Juli Zeh’s Corpus Delicti: Ein Prozess and Thea Dorn’s Trost. Briefe an Max. One of the key reasons for selecting this topic and these works is the contemporary relevance of health and illness both as literary themes and as critical and significant debates for society. Particularly, the fact that research related to COVID-19 and the pandemic remains a new and evolving field in literary studies highlights the necessity of this investigation as addressing a gap in the discipline. The study analyses these works by considering Foucault’s biopolitical approach. Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, which builds on Foucault’s concept of biopolitics and blends philosophical and juridical approaches to frame the spheres of political power within a historical context, is also used as a methodological lens in the analysis of the texts. Agamben’s critical views on the political and medical measures implemented worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic further inform the separate analyses of the two literary works. By utilizing discourse theory, another aim of this study is to draw attention to the influence of health and illness discourses in literature through examples from the two works. Based on the findings of the analysis, the study examines the reflections of Foucault’s understanding of power and authority in literature, as drawn from these two works addressing representations of health and illness in 21st-century German literature and concludes that these reflections resonate with the conditions of modern society during the COVID-19 era. During this period, characterized by the disruption of societal balances and the reconstruction of social order, Agamben’s critiques of states of exception and the emerging new order have found a significant place in reality.</p>