Clemens Wurzinger

Clemens Wurzinger studied Classics (Latin and Greek) and History at the University of Graz (2014-2021). He is currently writing his doctoral thesis on the first book of the Augustan poet Albius Tibullus as part of the International Graduate School (IGS) ‘Resonant Self-World Relations in Ancient and Modern Socio-Religious Practices’ (University of Graz/MWK Erfurt). His research interests are the application of modern literary theories to ancient texts (Performativity, Emotion Studies and Reader-response Criticism) and Greek and Roman Elegy (Early Greek Elegy and Roman Love Elegy).

How Literature Touches Us. Of immersion and transformation in Tibullus (Working title)

Literature, film, theater and other forms of entertainment are central components of our cultural and social life. In particular, this can be said of literature, since texts, in whatever form, have played a central role in (almost) all societies of the world. Literature is always of special interest when it brings recipients ‘into the text’, when we can particularly relate to characters of the narrative or poem and thus ‘live through’ the world and the experiences and world relations of the subjects within the text ourselves. This is exactly what I want to deal with in my project, using the example of the the Augustan author of Roman love elegies, Albius Tibullus, and explaining this phenomenon through the theory of resonance.
Within the framework of the theory of resonance, determined by its four characteristics (affectation, emotion, transformation, and unavailability), the question of how literature in general, but specifically the Augustan author of Roman love elegies, Albius Tibull, makes an 'offer of transformation' and subsequently an 'offer of resonance' to the recipients of the time will be explored through the application of other central literary theories (performativity, emotion studies, reader-response criticism).

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