Über Zeugen
Szenarien von Zeugenschaft und ihre Akteure
[Convincing Witnesses: Scenarios of Witnessing and their Actors]

The witness plays a central role in establishing the truth as well as in the context of the negotiation and administration of knowledge and understanding. At the same time, a knowledge generated by means of witnessing has always held a contested status. A witness always needs to be accredited by their recipient or recipients in order to be recognized as valid.

The essays in this book discuss different types and forms of testimonial knowledge. They bring together cultural-historical and systematic perspectives and examine the ways in which ethical, political, social, artistic, and religious elements intertwine. The book focuses primarily on practices and scenarios of witnessing since the question of the testimony’s credibility and the option of establishing testimonial knowledge is determined in their constellations and dynamics.