Wie anfangen? : Literarische Entwürfe des Beginnens (Lectiones Inaugurales)

The beginning never begun, the abortive introduction of a text, are some of the nightmares which can plague an author. Were he to conform to the mythical tradition of reiteration of what has already been said, his self-image as originator and creator would be called into question. Seen from the aspect of production and reception aesthetics, any attempt to establish and retain a beginning as original thought always proves to be a retroactive, belated effort. After all, we have always started off with the text. This book presents literary imaginings from 18th to 21st century, which reveal the beginning as an interminable movement of thought particular to modernism.