Rückwärtsvorgänge. Retrogrades Erzählen in Literatur, Kunst und Wissenschaft
Sonderheft der Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie
[Reverse Affairs. Retrograde Narratives in Literature, Art, and Science]

Retrograde narratives are defined by their reversal of the temporal progression of an event. Thus, they are a special case of non-causal-coherent narrative. Here, the narrated world as a constellation of spatiotemporal elements falls to pieces. As a result, time ceases to be the mere inconspicuous background to the story.

Such inversions are frequently used in literature, art, and science, causing quite an upheaval by virtue of their ability to alter chronology. In the philosophy of history and the historical sciences, the retrograde narrative comes as a critical alternative to teleological trajectories. In literature, film, and the music video it indicates a mistrust in the established chronology, or rather the causal relationships of certain events, seeking to open spaces for rethinking such connections.

The contributions to this comparative and interdisciplinary special issue explore the poetological and epistemological conditions of the retrograde narrative and explore the exceptionality of inversion on the basis of specific case studies from literature, art, and science.

With contributions by Susanne Gödde, Charis Goer, Jeffrey A. Grossman, Herbert Kopp-Oberstebrink, Mona Körte, Sulgi Lie, Hannah Markus, Claas Morgenroth, Michael Niehaus, Ulrike Schneider, Susanne Strätling, Georg Toepfer, and Stefan Willer.