The aesthetics and pragmatics of violence

Proceedings of the conference at Passau University, March 15-17, 2001. Edited by Michael Hensen and Annette Pankratz.

The articles in this volume provide a diachronic perspective on textual constructions of violence from the Renaissance to today focussing mainly but not only on british literature. The question arose how violence is being constructed in these texts, what forms violence can take and what functions it fulfils. The aesthetics of violence are determined by three interrelated factors: mimetics, context, and narrative. The pragmatics construct violence as legitimate or illegitimate, either cathartic and stabilising or immoral and dangerous. 272 Seiten, Leinen (Stutz Verlag 2001)