Zwischen Geschichtswissenschaft, Volkskunde und ‚Philologie‘. Zur Protosoziologie der mittelhochdeutschen Literatur (1895–1930)

Abstract According to widespread prejudice, it was only about 1900 that the influence of society on literature became an important scholarly issue. On the contrary, it will be demonstrated that, since the beginnings of its literary history, the literature of the Middle Ages has been discussed within its social context. At the same time, it will be shown in this article that between 1895 and 1930 some exceptional figures, in particular, Paul Kluckhohn and Edward Schröder, though representing the intellectual atmosphere of their time, nonetheless contributed to the development of a method of correlating medieval society and literature that until today remains of more than historical interest.