Doing Classics. Theory and Practice in the Field of Balladry

The book aims at a better understanding of phenomena that are referred to as "classics" and, at the same time, at correcting inherited notions of what is or has to be considered classical. In contrast to historical and ideology-critical debates it introduces classic as a cultural practice. The main question is how and why some authors or works remain present over longer historical periods and shape a cultural field - in this case the field of balladry - so strongly that they are perceived as its "classics." Analyses of German-, Polish-, Yiddish-, and English-language ballads and its authors demonstrate that a classical status does not depend on the quality, but on socio-cultural demand constellations. The work presents an approach that does not repeatedly problematize "classics" as a controversial concept, but rather heuristically shapes it as a cultural phenomenon which is complementary to the canon.