Ludwig v. Ficker as a Cultural Transmitter

The project should produce a study of the person Ludwig von Ficker (1880-1967) with the main focus laid on his work as agent for cultural, especially literary, transfer. As mediator for authors, as organizer for cultural events and as critic and supporter for literary arts Ficker played a significant role in the cultural life in Tyrol and Austria in the first half of the 20th century. It is time that this his role should be re-examined in the light of the comprehensive ensemble of documents surrounding him and his activities as available in digital form. The expected outcomes consist of the following: commentaries on texts and letters, an internet publication of Ficker`s correspondence and a monograph. If one wants to analyze interconnections and transfers between literary studies, philosophy and study of religion/world views Ficker is an ideal subject of research. Though Ficker is mainly known for his editing activity on the journal Der Brenner, we should not neglect that within the domain of culture he also worked as publisher (Brenner-Verlag) and as organizer of public readings (Brenner-Abende). Furthermore, after the discontinuation of Brenner, he continued to sponsor authors and acted as member of a jury and as editing advisor. Ficker`s activities as a cultural mediator coincide with a crucial period in the development of modern Austrian and European letters. Therefore the social and political environment from fin de siècle until the Ficker`s death in 1967 will be central to the commentaries. Furthermore, the socio-political environment will form the background against which Ficker`s achievements will be presented. Taking an institution, Der Brenner, and the individuals who shaped it as a starting point, the analysis should make implicit social and cultural discourses and interdependencies visible; and by doing so we should gain new insights into well-known phenomena in Austrian and European cultural and literary history (e.g. on modernism in the literature). The primary source consists of two large corpora: Ficker`s most important output, the journal Der Brenner (1910- 1954), and the bulk of Ficker`s correspondence (ca. 1909-1967). The correspondence will be transcribed, digitalized, and made publicly available through an internet publication. Through the transcription/digitalization and commentaries of contributions to Brenner (including offerings rejected by Ficker) and of selected letters from and to Ficker, his activity as cultural mediator should be described in a more differentiating way than other depictions up to now have done. Lastly, the findings and results of the analysis will be published in monographic form as well.

In its basic conception, the scientific project "Ludwig von Ficker as a cultural transmitter" aimed at two main objectives: On the one hand, its purpose was to publish selected letters from the extensive correspondence digitally online as an annotated edition. On the other hand, a monograph on the basis of current literary and cultural methods was submitted, focusing on Ludwig von Fickers influence on cultural politics in the first half of the 20th century. Apart from his work as the editor of the cultural criticism magazine "Der Brenner" (19101954), which was mainly recognized as a local phenomenon, it was intended to picture Ficker as an important figure of cultural heritage in Austria.The emphasis of some project goals (mainly concerning the digital edition) was shifted to a substantial extension of sources, far beyond Fickers correspondence with the contributors whose works were published in the "Brenner". While continuously gaining more knowledge in this field of research the complex and wide-ranging relations between the correspondents were revealed, and therefore initially planned quantitative restrictions could not be maintained any more. Thus, the extension was necessary to achieve the project goals as well as to illustrate the decisions Ludwig von Ficker made during his work as cultural transmitter. The increased workload (e.g. the project leader had to collate 10,000 transcripts) paid off be- cause of the projects close connection to the Brenner-Archive: the process of extensive digitalisation (transcription, collation and annotation) has made Fickers literary estate available for long-term archiving (which means a benefit for the archives) as well as for digital data harvesting.The study of Fickers work as a cultural transmitter, which is theoretically founded on dis- course analysis (Michel Foucault) and field theory (Pierre Bourdieu), shows the need to re- vise certain previous research results. The project team held numerous lectures/presentations and published papers e.g. on literary themes and motifs (apocalypse and utopia), on dynamics of group formation, on institutionalisation processes and on the significance of Avantgarde. The results showed that the traditional view on the "Brenner" needs revision and that a distinct interpretation is necessary. Due to its diversity of content, the sources that were prepared for the edition offer plenty of material and opportunities for future cultural studies.