The Allure of the Riddle. Aesthetics, Epistemology, Politics and Ethics of a Modern Figure of Thought

The scientific network aims to conduct fundamental research into the riddle as a modern figure of reflection in
interdisciplinary collaboration. This project revises the literary theory that the riddle disappeared with the aesthetic and social upheavals of the 19th century and opens up a new field of research: With a focus on expertise in literary studies, but also drawing on necessary competencies from the fields of philosophy, media studies, history, and sociology, the group pursues a historical-systematic exploration of the riddle as a threshold figure that mediates between aesthetic, epistemological, political, and ethical fundamental questions of modernity.