Questions of genres as well as their possible definitions taxonomies and functions have been
discussed since antiquity. Even though categories of genre today are far from being fixed they
have for decades been upheld without question. The goal of this volume is to problematize
traditional definitions of poetic genres and to situate them in a broader socio-cultural
historical and theoretical context. The contributions encompass numerous methodological
approaches (including hermeneutics poststructuralism reception theory cultural studies
gender studies) periods (Romanticism Modernism Postmodernism) genres (elegy sonnet visual
poetry performance poetry hip hop) as well as languages and national literatures. From this
interdisciplinary and multi-methodological perspective genres periods languages and
literatures are put into fruitful dialogue new perspectives are discovered and suggestions
for further research are provided.
