Literatur am Ende : Putting *Schöpfung* in *Erschöpfung*

Abstract

Exhausted resources, exhausted art, exhausted science? Signs of exhaustion have been manifesting themselves in a wide variety of discourses for several years, especially since the coronavirus pandemic. Many people feel overwhelmed by the neoliberal performance and competitive society or are angry due to persistent racist and sexist structures. Traditional forms and genres of literature seem outdated in the face of new media means of expression and humanities methods and canons are no longer up to date. The academic and artistic contributions collected here touch on literary, social, political and ecological phenomena of exhaustion. They examine Franz Kafka's prose as well as German-language discourse pop, the settlement community on Monte Verità, contemporary children's and youth literature, Lower Sorbian fairy tales and the poetics of nature writing. The volume thus offers a multifaceted panorama of literature of exhaustion from the 19th century to the present day.