ALBUM. ORANIZING FORM OF NARATIVE COHERENCY

The twenty-two contributions in this transnational and interdisciplinary volume delve into the material, symbolic and aesthetic dimensions of the album format using approaches from the fields of cultural studies, literary studies and media studies. This Independent Publication (Selbständige Publikation) unites perspectives from English studies, American studies, German studies, Romance studies, Slavic studies, archive studies, film studies, history, art history, musicology and philosophy to explore this culturally significant `networking` medium. The starting point for all of the contributions in the publication is the album format, which, with its inscriptions and non-verbal semantics, can integrate, represent and symbolically reproduce all forms of media and culture. The volume`s main interest is the interconnectedness: The album has the innate ability to unify the most diverse subject areas. Representation, mobility, migration and memory, multiculturalism and the formation of communities, materiality and the culture of things, the discourse of friendship, family history, generational narratives, and transmedia experimentation in remolding genres and art forms all have a place in the album, as it can transform anything into one coherent aesthetic system. The album`s potential diversity can be found in the following points represented in the Independent Publication in question: 1. Transformations of the Album. The first section is dedicated to the productive exploration of the album`s characteristic strategies of multimedia narration in literature, art and film. The qualities associated with the idea of the album cause attention to be directed towards its materiality, deictic function and organizing principles. 2. Migrating Memory - Portable Museum - Counter-Archive. The concept of the album as a counter-archive is explored in the second section by questioning the possibility of memory and remembrance during times of cultural crisis. It is not by coincidence that the album takes on the function of a portable archive in the context of catastrophes involving dispossession and forced displacement. 3. Album Amicorum - Social Cohesion - Networks. In addition to having aesthetic value and a memorial function, the album also facilitates the cohesion of groups over great distances through its distinct narrative process. This medium of inscription addresses many and offers a broad spectrum of formats to a variety of inscribers. The third section of the book is therefore dedicated to exploring the historical changes and cultural influences of the album as a medium that establishes and perpetuates groups and networks. 4. Interpretations: Albums and Album-esque Processes in Philosophy and the Arts. The plurality of media formats that can be aesthetically integrated into a single album requires specific strategies of reception and visualization. Such strategies are introduced here using prominent examples and unusual formats, such as a walk-in wallpaper album. This volume is prefaced by an essay written by Alexander von Reiswitz, a photographer and successful initiator of international art projects. The fabricated family albums of his Family Constellation Project highlight the constellative principle of the album.