Zur Tropologie des Pferdes in der Literatur des 19. und 20. Jhs.

The 'Animal Studies', which emerged from cultural studies at the end of the 20th century and whose direction is closely related to the concept of 'Humanities', have now also arrived in literary studies. They operate at the intersection of a motif-historical and symbolic research tradition on one hand, and a tropology rooted in posthumanism on the other. The latter is crucial for assigning the 'Animal Studies' a functional place within literary studies. The present work builds on these considerations and specifically engages with the horse as a literary trope. The focus on the 19th and 20th centuries corresponds with the historical transformation in the human-horse relationship. This is reflected both aesthetically and in a general understanding in contemporary literature, as evidenced by various text examples.