Auf Herz und Nerven. Zur Literaturgeschichte der Ohnmacht
On heart and nerves. Toward a literary history of fainting

Summary/Abstract: The article explores the potential of a medically-oriented philology that forges a transdisciplinary connection between literature and medicine within the framework of medical humanities. It specifically examines the aesthetic dimensions and narrative encoding of medical knowledge in fictional texts, which in turn contribute to its medial dissemination and circulation, thereby exerting a sustainable impact on culture and society. The aim is to position literature not as a contradiction to the natural sciences, but as a medium with complementary aesthetic expertise for life knowledge (Ottmar Ette). The phenomenon of fainting serves as the focal point, with the article analyzing its etymological and conceptual evolution, as well as its medical history from a diachronic perspective. It further investigates the pathological significance of fainting in medieval and 20th/21st-century literature, by conducting a close reading of the protagonists’ fainting episodes in Ulrich von Zatzikhoven’ s Lanzelet and Brigitte Kronauer’ s Das Taschentuch. This approach underscores fainting as a remarkable motif in literary history, extending its significance beyond its acknowledged importance in the context of the Enlightenment and the 18th century.

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