World Literature from the Clay Tablet to the Internet
Harvard University’s Martin Puchner speaks with Eckart Goebel, of Universität Tübingen, about the history of writing.
Stories are much more than entertainment—they shape our world. They have inspired the rise and fall of empires and nations, sparked our understandings of basic political and philosophical concepts, and given rise to religious beliefs. In this talk, Martin Puchner, author of the bestseller The Written World (just released in German as Die Macht der Schrift. Wie Literatur die Geschichte der Menschheit formte), will discuss how literature has influenced the course of history with Eckart Goebel, a professor of German and comparative literature at Universität Tübingen. Their discussion will focus on the intersection of storytelling and writing technologies, including the inventions of paper, parchment, print, and the internet. Along the way, they’ll investigate the four stages of literature, beginning with foundational epics and the proverbs of master teachers such as Buddha and Socrates and extending up to the rise of story collections and modern world literature.
In cooperation with the Evangelisches Bildungszentrum Hospitalhof Stuttgart and the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum Stuttgart. Generously supported by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, and Berhold Leibinger Stiftung GmbH
Meet the speaker
Martin Puchner is the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, where he also serves as the founding director of the Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research. Puchner completed his BA at the Universität Konstanz; MA at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at UC Irvine; and…
