Improvisation as Art, the first book in our new series “New Directions in German Studies”, has been insightfully and well-reviewed in the latest issue of the German Quarterly. An extract:
“Both students and scholars of 18th and early 19th-century German literature, as well as anyone interested in modern notions of art and improvisation will benefit highly from this erudite and clearly written study, which expands on Luhmann’s descriptive and avowedly value-free, sociological theory of art and makes it accessible to a wider audience. By including in the discussion also an opponent of systems theory, Jacques Derrida, who insisted on the ‘incalculability of the incalculable’ and on openness for the advent of ‘the other’ (19–29), Landgraf contributes to current debates on ideas of freedom and the role of art and/as improvisation in society, inviting our participation.” — German Quarterly (Winter 2012, reviewed by May Mergenthaler, The Ohio State University)
Other recently published titles in this series:
The German Picaro and Modernity by Bernhard Malkmus
Citation and Precedent by Thomas O. Beebee