Volume 27 of the Goethe Yearbook introduces an array of formats to pursue research on Goethe, his age, and his contemporaries; and to encourage new modes of collaboration. A range of articles by established and emerging authors contributes to the rich and growing archive of scholarship on German eighteenth-century studies, with focal points on Goethe, Karl Philipp Moritz, and Rahel Levin Varnhagen.
In addition, several articles reconsider topics such as Goethe’s personal library and cultural heritage, Goethean anthropology, and the intellectual hub of Weimar. This volume launches the first Forum, a section comprised of invited contributions on an important topic of debate in the profession. For the debut, we asked colleagues engaged in Digital Humanities research to consider the canon in comparison to “the great unread” (Margaret Cohen): a vast expanse of non-canonical texts.
We are also pleased to publish a newly discovered text by August von Kotzebue, with an introduction and annotated transcription by a widely respected historian. Finally, we draw attention to robust, ongoing scholarship that will be one of the projects championed by the Goethe Society for years to come. We are delighted to include two sample entries from the prodigious work in progress, the Goethe-Lexicon of Philosophical Concepts, edited by Clark Muenzer and John H. Smith. Bryan Klausmeyer serves as digital editor. The customary book review section rounds out the volume. We have begun receiving submissions for volume 28 and invite colleagues to share ideas about potential Forum topics and special sections.
Note that the Goethe Yearbook is a double-blind, peer-reviewed publication, widely indexed, and published with DOIs. All manuscripts should be prepared in Microsoft Word, and in accordance with the Yearbook’s style sheet and anonymized for review. Manuscript submissions should be no longer than 8,500 words.
Patricia Anne Simpson, University of Nebraska
Birgit Tautz, Bowdoin College