Petra Spies (Princeton): In the Engine Room of Text Production: Theodor Fontane's List

A central, yet overlooked feature of Theodor Fontane’s (1819-1898) textual practices is his extensive use of lists in the creative process. Examining unpublished notebook materials and other archival sources, this talk will show how Fontane’s lists are at the heart of a recombinant poetics that enables two hallmarks of his literary writing, namely the development of ‘typical’ characters and the multiple readability of his texts.