Accidental Portents
A concept by Dr Maha El Hissy, curator of the project
In music theory, a song composition containing multiple iterations of the same melody is called a canon. The leader sings and provides the tune; other voices then repeat the melody at staggered intervals. Regardless of whether these other voices sing the exact same melody or a variation, participating in a canon always means acknowledging one’s dependency on a single origin or source.
In literature, the canon represents an idealized corpus of texts assembled according to the aesthetic principles of allegedly timeless, authoritative, universal references. Which works we regard as classics is anything but a neutral assessment. Canons, instead, are a reflection of the power structures that determine which authors are venerated as cult figures and which works come to be regarded as exemplary. Their iconic status is meant to outlive ongoing transformations in sociopolitical discourse.
Of course, establishing a standardized canon also demands the exclusion of certain authors and texts, just as it requires the exclusion of certain readers. Only those who have studied the canonical works of these white (mostly dead) male authors are admitted to certain reading communities and allowed to participate in their discussions. When it comes to the reception of a work of art, other opinions are conceived of as peripheral; they are simply not included. But of course, readers are no more homogenous than writers.
For a long time, research- and cultural institutions abroad have adopted the German canon in the form of reading lists in libraries or teaching curricula. And it’s worth noting that this event series will also be curated for the international cultural institute that represents German language and literature abroad—an institute which, not coincidentally, bears the name of an almost two-century-long dead poet.
But the year 2020 represented a turning point of sorts. Canon critique is nothing new—neither in the literary scene nor in literary scholarship. Nevertheless, the racist murders in Hanau, the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, and the global Black Lives Matter protests ushered in a pushback against hegemonial structures that has reverberated in curricula, as well as in the publishing and culture industries. In English-speaking Europe and North America, a largely student-led movement leveraged a critique of the canon to launch a broader case for decolonizing educational material. In Germany, Jeannette Oholi called for scholars “to disrupt literary history” by reading Black German literature as part of Germany’s literary tradition. In 2021, an international group of creatives and scholars criticized the lack of a single non-white author in the list of nominees for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in an open letter, providing concrete ideas and suggestions for a literary scene the letter described as #AllzuWeiss [all too white].
Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] is located at the intersection of scholarship and culture production: theory, analysis, and artistic practice. The event series does not intend to provide a critical counterpoint to the canon through a targeted selection of alternate authors, speakers, or subjects—a sort of “anticanon.” Instead, the series’ readings, lectures, and other interventions will illuminate the multiplicity of texts, forms, aesthetics, discourses, conceptual ideas, and topoi which have developed outside the hegemonial practices of canonization. The series’ German title is intentionally polysemic: As “accidentals,” Vorzeichen appear at the beginning or within a musical composition (♯ and ♭) to mark changes in frequency—signifying transitions within the notation system and the introduction of a new or different key. Correspondingly, the series’ ensemble of texts and voices should provide an impulse to disrupt the fantasy of any single closed or uniform body of literature.
This series also seeks to practice canon critique through its focus on reading as a means for revealing and dismantling power structures. In doing so, the emphasis shifts not only onto whom or what we read, but also how we do so. Reading practices that center empathy, engagement, activism, and solidarity are also expressions of one’s own politics. Critiques of power emerge when one asks the question: For whom was this text not written? Elaine Castillo describes how “unexpected readers”—such as those existing outside the demarcations of the dominant society and subject to racialization—may read texts against the grain, and in doing so, expose their underlying power dynamics.
The four authors of The Ferrante Letters demonstrate how literary criticism as a collective, collaborative act can lead to new insights and the acknowledgment of new literary genres. Through shared reception and by writing cooperatively about Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, these authors identify the potential for a feminist literary critique. Although they remain a personal, private literary form, the letters also provide a public message by example: the creation of a “we” that is both intimate and open. A “we” capable of surviving dissonance and the difference of opinion; a “we” indeed defined through this divergence.
As (public) readers during times of censorship and restrictions, authors create new spaces for texts. At the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, Eva Menasse, Deborah Feldman, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus, Julia Franck, and Dana Vowinckel read aloud from Adania Shibli’s novel Minor Detail which had been slated to receive the LiBeratur Prize. Bookstores, as well, have recognized collaborative readings as gestures of solidarity, offering, for example, a participatory, multilingual Community Reading from the Palestinian author’s work.
Only a comparative reading strategy placing literature and the writing process in conversation with other explicit and implicit references can elicit a reader positionality capable of critically examining power dynamics. Edward Said describes such an analytical process—involving multiple, conflicting perspectives and acknowledging the simultaneity of (hi)stories beyond the prevailing seats of power—as “contrapuntal reading.”
Although contemporary literature represents the primary focus of this series, a glance back into the past also illuminates historical continuities. Writings from marginalized perspectives at times appear removed from history. Yet out-of-print or unpublished works remain significant to our cultural development, even if they belong to an invisible archive.
This events series will encompass three complimentary formats. Book clubs have long provided literature enthusiasts with the opportunity to participate in free, regular, shared reading experiences. Building on this tradition, Vorzeichen will invite eight authors over the course of the year to “International Online Book Club: Meet the Author” events where readers can participate in a mediated discussion with the authors. These readings and conversations will be moderated by the series’ curator, Dr. Maha El Hissy.
Six further events will highlight the intersection of scholarship with the literary scene: A range of speakers including academics, publishers, and translators will engage with an expert audience of their peers. These engagements are intended to provide perspective: examining the exclusion of authors and texts from the public realm or discussing current work against the canonization process or market and publishing concerns. Each meeting will take place in cooperation with an academic institute.
Finally, an Open Call will invite critics to recommend and discuss literature for book reviews on Instagram. Social media provides alternate platforms for reading and talking about literature in which chats, comments, or other informal exchange facilitate new and different interpretations and engagements with a text.
In literature, the canon represents an idealized corpus of texts assembled according to the aesthetic principles of allegedly timeless, authoritative, universal references. Which works we regard as classics is anything but a neutral assessment. Canons, instead, are a reflection of the power structures that determine which authors are venerated as cult figures and which works come to be regarded as exemplary. Their iconic status is meant to outlive ongoing transformations in sociopolitical discourse.
Of course, establishing a standardized canon also demands the exclusion of certain authors and texts, just as it requires the exclusion of certain readers. Only those who have studied the canonical works of these white (mostly dead) male authors are admitted to certain reading communities and allowed to participate in their discussions. When it comes to the reception of a work of art, other opinions are conceived of as peripheral; they are simply not included. But of course, readers are no more homogenous than writers.
For a long time, research- and cultural institutions abroad have adopted the German canon in the form of reading lists in libraries or teaching curricula. And it’s worth noting that this event series will also be curated for the international cultural institute that represents German language and literature abroad—an institute which, not coincidentally, bears the name of an almost two-century-long dead poet.
But the year 2020 represented a turning point of sorts. Canon critique is nothing new—neither in the literary scene nor in literary scholarship. Nevertheless, the racist murders in Hanau, the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer, and the global Black Lives Matter protests ushered in a pushback against hegemonial structures that has reverberated in curricula, as well as in the publishing and culture industries. In English-speaking Europe and North America, a largely student-led movement leveraged a critique of the canon to launch a broader case for decolonizing educational material. In Germany, Jeannette Oholi called for scholars “to disrupt literary history” by reading Black German literature as part of Germany’s literary tradition. In 2021, an international group of creatives and scholars criticized the lack of a single non-white author in the list of nominees for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in an open letter, providing concrete ideas and suggestions for a literary scene the letter described as #AllzuWeiss [all too white].
Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] is located at the intersection of scholarship and culture production: theory, analysis, and artistic practice. The event series does not intend to provide a critical counterpoint to the canon through a targeted selection of alternate authors, speakers, or subjects—a sort of “anticanon.” Instead, the series’ readings, lectures, and other interventions will illuminate the multiplicity of texts, forms, aesthetics, discourses, conceptual ideas, and topoi which have developed outside the hegemonial practices of canonization. The series’ German title is intentionally polysemic: As “accidentals,” Vorzeichen appear at the beginning or within a musical composition (♯ and ♭) to mark changes in frequency—signifying transitions within the notation system and the introduction of a new or different key. Correspondingly, the series’ ensemble of texts and voices should provide an impulse to disrupt the fantasy of any single closed or uniform body of literature.
This series also seeks to practice canon critique through its focus on reading as a means for revealing and dismantling power structures. In doing so, the emphasis shifts not only onto whom or what we read, but also how we do so. Reading practices that center empathy, engagement, activism, and solidarity are also expressions of one’s own politics. Critiques of power emerge when one asks the question: For whom was this text not written? Elaine Castillo describes how “unexpected readers”—such as those existing outside the demarcations of the dominant society and subject to racialization—may read texts against the grain, and in doing so, expose their underlying power dynamics.
The four authors of The Ferrante Letters demonstrate how literary criticism as a collective, collaborative act can lead to new insights and the acknowledgment of new literary genres. Through shared reception and by writing cooperatively about Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, these authors identify the potential for a feminist literary critique. Although they remain a personal, private literary form, the letters also provide a public message by example: the creation of a “we” that is both intimate and open. A “we” capable of surviving dissonance and the difference of opinion; a “we” indeed defined through this divergence.
As (public) readers during times of censorship and restrictions, authors create new spaces for texts. At the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair, Eva Menasse, Deborah Feldman, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus, Julia Franck, and Dana Vowinckel read aloud from Adania Shibli’s novel Minor Detail which had been slated to receive the LiBeratur Prize. Bookstores, as well, have recognized collaborative readings as gestures of solidarity, offering, for example, a participatory, multilingual Community Reading from the Palestinian author’s work.
Only a comparative reading strategy placing literature and the writing process in conversation with other explicit and implicit references can elicit a reader positionality capable of critically examining power dynamics. Edward Said describes such an analytical process—involving multiple, conflicting perspectives and acknowledging the simultaneity of (hi)stories beyond the prevailing seats of power—as “contrapuntal reading.”
Although contemporary literature represents the primary focus of this series, a glance back into the past also illuminates historical continuities. Writings from marginalized perspectives at times appear removed from history. Yet out-of-print or unpublished works remain significant to our cultural development, even if they belong to an invisible archive.
This events series will encompass three complimentary formats. Book clubs have long provided literature enthusiasts with the opportunity to participate in free, regular, shared reading experiences. Building on this tradition, Vorzeichen will invite eight authors over the course of the year to “International Online Book Club: Meet the Author” events where readers can participate in a mediated discussion with the authors. These readings and conversations will be moderated by the series’ curator, Dr. Maha El Hissy.
Six further events will highlight the intersection of scholarship with the literary scene: A range of speakers including academics, publishers, and translators will engage with an expert audience of their peers. These engagements are intended to provide perspective: examining the exclusion of authors and texts from the public realm or discussing current work against the canonization process or market and publishing concerns. Each meeting will take place in cooperation with an academic institute.
Finally, an Open Call will invite critics to recommend and discuss literature for book reviews on Instagram. Social media provides alternate platforms for reading and talking about literature in which chats, comments, or other informal exchange facilitate new and different interpretations and engagements with a text.