From individual to archetype: Occasional texts and the performance of scholarly identity in early modern Germany

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Abstract

The archetypal image of the university academic became increasingly well defined in the early modern period. This chapter examines the image of the scholar as it emerged in German universities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It explains the imprint left by this archetype on the lives of individuals, as represented and experienced. Although devoted to the representation of individuals or small groups, occasional forms helped to forge generic ideals and models of academic identity. The chapter addresses the formulation of academic identity in occasional literature. It explores how the various stages in an ideal scholarly life, from cradle to grave, were presented in this literary corpus. In doing so it addresses the manner in which representational archetypes came to dominate the lives of university men, real and imagined. The chapter shows some typical and illustrative examples of academic biography in order to explore how scholarly pedigree was revealed in the depiction of early life.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationScholarly Self-Fashioning and Community in the Early Modern University
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages79-102
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)9781317059202
ISBN (Print)9781409437970
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2016

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