"Literarische Kuesse": Literary Kiss Constellations from the Middle Ages to the Present

"You kiss by the book", says Juliet to Romeo in Shakespeare's tragedy. What is the relationship between kisses and books? We will explore this controversial and delicate subject and discuss striking examples from the German Middle Ages to the present.
Comparing literary kisses of crucial importance and throwing light on their historical difference we will scrutinize the sublime phenomenon of kisses to gain insight into the literary and cultural history of gender, focussing first on medieval and baroque literary kisses, followed by examples from 1800 up to contemporary writing.

A reader will be provided