“Poetics of Rhythm”: German Research Foundation (DFG) funds Reinhart Koselleck Project by Professor Achim Geisenhanslüke
“Poetics of Rhythm” – that is the title of a project currently in the starting blocks at Goethe University Frankfurt. The aim of Professor Achim Geisenhanslüke, Professor for Literary Theory and Comparative Literature, is to unfold the possibilities of a poetics of rhythm, which have not yet been fully exploited by literary studies, both systematically and historically. He combines the question of the fundamental significance of rhythm for the theory and practice of poetry (= poetics) with that of concrete manifestations of this phenomenon in poetry from modernity to the present day.
At the heart of the research work is rhythm in poetry. Is rhythm in poetry not simply meter? Not at all, says Achim Geisenhanslüke. Although rhythm also describes “form in motion” in poetic speech, it is far more encompassing than the concept of meter. Especially with regard to modern poetry, the potential offered by the concept of rhythm has so far hardly been studied. In his approach, Geisenhanslüke is above all continuing the work of Henri Meschonnic (1932-2009), the French poet, linguist and literary scholar who induced an upward revaluation of the concept of rhythm as part of a critical analysis of structuralist and post-structuralist literary theories.
Achim Geisenhanslüke’s project will approach the topic in three sub-studies: The first will focus on rhythm in the poems of Friedrich Hölderlin, the second will critically examine Foucault’s theory of discourse and Meschonnic’s theory of rhythm, while the third sub-study is dedicated to rhythm as “form in motion” in modern poetry up to the present day, from Annette von Droste-Hülshoff and Charles Baudelaire to Thomas Kling.
The financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) allows the freedom needed to pursue all these aspects. The project will receive €750,000 in increments spread over five years, which can be distributed flexibly for teaching replacements, recruiting staff, assistants, workshops and conferences.
The funding line, which has existed since 2008, is named after Reinhart Koselleck (1923-2006), one of the most important German historians of the 20th century, who is considered a co-founder of modern social history. Reinhart Koselleck Projects are awarded to “outstanding researchers with a proven scientific track record”. The prerequisites for approval are exceptionally innovative approaches or a higher degree of risk.
In the case of Achim Geisenhanslüke’s project, the risks lie in the attempt, within a comparative approach, to take rhythm, a concept that is as central to literary studies as it is underestimated, and use it to give poetics new impetus: No risk, no gain.
