Teilprojekt "Grenzen kultureller Begegnungen in Ostasien und Westeuropa"

In this subproject under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ralf Hertel, cultural encounters between Western Europe and East Asia are investigated. The project is primarily concerned with the limits of cultural exchange and the failure of encounters. In disciplinary terms, it is mainly anchored in English, Romance, Sinology, Japanese and Korean Studies; at the same time, however, it draws on expertise from other areas such as political science. Possible fields of investigation include literary strategies used by European travellers to describe their failures in East Asia, as well as Japanese plays about early contacts with European explorers and missionaries.