Literatur & Exzess

The edited volume »Literature & Excess« brings together selected contributions from the 14th Comparative Literature Student Conference (Free University of Berlin, May 2024) and explores the aesthetic, theoretical, and socio-cultural dimensions of excess. Starting from the premise that excess is inherent to literature, the volume examines how it manifests in literary forms, poetics, and practices of production and reception. Across periods and media, the contributions analyze excess as a dynamic interplay between norm and transgression, shaping processes of meaning and enabling reflections on identity, theory, and cultural orders. Excess thus emerges not only as a recurring motif but as a productive principle of aesthetic critique and social negotiation.