HISTORY OF LATIN LITERATURE IN TYROL AFTER 1669

The project researches the historical development of Latin literature in Tyrol from 1669 (founding of the University of Innsbruck) until today and follows the project P-15280, which delivered the first history of Latin literature in Tyrol from the beginnings to 1669. This logical follow-up completes and rounds up the account of this literature. Additionally, it helps us understand the specific phenomena of Neo-Latin literature, which, in order to be fully appreciated, must be observed over a long period of time. All parts of the historic County of Tyrol are taken in consideration (North, East and South Tyrol and the Trentino). The project deals not only with belles lettres but also with all kinds of pragmatic and scientific writings in Latin language. Texts are taken in consideration, if their authors come from Tyrol, worked there or accepted the decisive impulses for their literary activity form Tyrol. Methodically, the project grounds on three postulates, well-tried in the forerunner project. The research object requires: a) the application of the concept of territorial literary history instead of the increasingly antiquated concept of national literatures, thus doing justice to the role of Latin as the common language (especially language of education) in German-speaking and Italian-speaking part of historical Tyrol; b) the use of a very broad concept of literature, not guided by the modern notion of belles lettres. This enables us to overview the entirety of the Latin writings in Tyrol, ranging from pragmatic and scientific writings to artistic prose and poetry; c) the consideration of the literature in context and in mutual exchange with its cultural, historical and ideological surroundings. The results of the research shall be published as a book (ca. 600 pages). The joint outcome of this project and the forerunner project P-15280 will be the first history of the whole Latin literature in Tyrol.

This project and in its predecessor project collected and examined in detail for the first time the Middle Latin and Neolatin Literature of any historic territory in its entirety. The systematic search for Latin writings from the territory of the old princely county of Tyrol (Tyrol, South Tyrol and Trentino) has turned up more than 7000 largely unknown texts from ca. 2000 authors and numerous anonymi. The results of both the projects are in the two-volume History of the Latin Literature in Tirol. Its publication is scheduled for 2010.