Every moment represents eternity Goethe s words poignantly capture the nuances and special complexity of the term moment. It can refer to such varied notions as ecstasy, empty presence, and epiphany. This volume examines the semantic richness of the moment using paradigmatic examples from Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian poetry from their beginnings to the modern era."

The studies show the extent to which love poems/songs by well-known medieval authors display links with supra-individual discourse conventions of the age in which they materialized. Central reference is made to Old Occitan troubadour songs of the 12th and early 13th centuries and Old Italian texts from the 13th and 14th centuries (notably by Giacomo di Lentini, Dante, and Petrarch). The comparison traces the gradual emergence of a lyrical 'I' reflecting the knowledge of the age and thus in a position to inquire into its own role. At all points in this development, poetry is seen to engage vigorously with the central epistemes of the dominant discourse forms, notably theology and philosophy.

Im 20. Jahrhundert werden verstarkt abstrakte literarische Texte erzeugt, die als semiotische Angebote komponiert sind. Die Generierung der semantischen Dimension des Textes wird dabei in unterschiedlichem Masse an den Leser delegiert, und zwar im Sinne nicht abschliessbarer, auf semiotischen Strukturen basierender Interpretationsprozesse oder der Generierung von literarischen Texten, die der Autor dem Leser in Form von potenziellen Texten oder Textangeboten bereitgestellt hat. Dieser Band verfolgt das Ziel, den literarischen Text im 20. Jahrhundert als Herausforderung und zugleich als Provokation zur Sinnproduktion fur den Leser zu erfassen und an mustergultigen Fallstudien aus dem gesamten Bereich der Romania und dem gesamten Bereich der Literatur zu erlautern.

19th century French literature is notable for the effects of the contemporary fashion for orientalism. This fashion was greatly encouraged by Napoleon's expedition to Egypt, which inspired many scholars and artists to make as complete a record as they could of the natural and cultural features of that country, both in pictorial and verbal form. A large number of authors were fascinated by the exoticism of the Orient. Their literary treatment of the subject frequently spawned an engagement with contemporaneous erosive tendencies in their own culture.