J.W.L. Gleim: Social Media in the Eighteenth Century

The research project addresses the multimedial epistolary practices of the poet, literary patron, and secretary of the cathedral chapter in Halberstadt, Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, in the context of the eighteenth centurys European letter culture. On the topics of Mediality, Sociality, and Performativity, this project will identify the discursive practices through which Gleim and his correspondents constituted themselves as part of an epistolary network. It will be demonstrated how, in the age of distance communication and mediated presence, the subject becomes an effect of reciprocal construction processes. In parallel with an emphatic concept of the subject -- reflected, for instance, in the monological form of the autobiography -- the Enlightenments culture of letter writing developed a conception of subjectivity which, analogous to present-day digital network communications, rests on collective recognition rather than the principle of individual autonomy. The objective is to work towards a subject theory of social media whose heuristic claims go beyond the eighteenth century and contribute to current discussion on the networked self in the digital sphere. The project will address mediality in Gleims correspondence not only from a theoretical, but also from a practical perspective. In addition to the mediological analysis (which will be published as an individual monograph), a digital edition of selected letters to and from Gleim will be undertaken. This first online edition of letters by Gleim will serve to disseminate the projects findings by means of both direct access to its sources and through forms of representation and visualization alternative to the standard text-based monograph. At the same time, the digital edition will allow users to analyze letters through automated processes so that this aspect of the project also feeds back to its mediological study. The project will have two host institutions outside of Austria: Electronic Enlightenment at the University of Oxfords Bodleian Library and the University Halle-Wittenberg. The return phase will be hosted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities. Furthermore, the project will be conducted in close collaboration with the Gleimhaus/Museum of German Enlightenment in Halberstadt, the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg and the ERC research project Ego Media at Kings College London. These institutions expertise in the field of Enlightenment Studies as well as in the theory and practice of digital editions and in interdisciplinary Media Studies reflects this projects claim to understand Digital Humanities not only as the application of digital technologies on subjects from the humanities, but also to explore historical as well as current uses of media by the means of the humanities.