The concept of Lebenswelt ("Lifeworld"), developed in particular by Edmund Husserl and further researched by phenomenologists such as Alfred Schütz or Jürgen Habermas, is still intensively discussed and applied in the social sciences today (e.g. Zelić 2008; Dahlberg/Dahlberg 2020; Dreher 2021). While Rudolph Vierhaus first attempted to define the term for the historical sciences in his 1995 essay "Die Rekonstruktion historischer Lebenswelten", the concept was later requestioned in a conference organised by Falk Bretschneider, Christophe Duhamelle, Patrice Veit and Michael Werner in 2008.1 In classical studies, such attempts have been lacking until today (cf. Froehlich 2023). Nevertheless, "Lebenswelt" is a term that we encounter frequently in the literature of ancient studies and is almost used in an inflationary manner. In this context, the term "Lebenswelt" takes on various semantics and functions. On the one hand, it is used as a synonym for the daily life, traditions or patterns of action (e.g. Piepenbrink 2003; Egetenmeyr 2022); on the other hand, it is consumed as a non-defined abstract notion (e.g. Lafer/Strobel 2015).
The aim of our international conference taking place from the 13th to the 15th of March 2024 at the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald is to provide a clearer cultural scientific definition of the concept of "Lebenswelt" in order to make it operational for research in Ancient Studies. Following the example of Habermas, who strived for a sociologically substantial concept of "Lebenswelt" and elaborated it in his theory of "Communicative Action" (Habermas 1981), we would like to follow a similar path by applying a culturally and historically substantial concept of lifeworld. In order to encourage discussion, we decided to focus on a time frame from the time of Augustus to late antiquity.
The following questions will be at the centre of the conference:
- What do we mean by the concept of "Lebenswelt"/”Lifeworld”?
- How can we make the concept applicable to classical studies?
- What are the particular challenges of reconstructing ancient lifeworlds compared to other epochs? What approaches are possible?
- Which ancient lifeworlds can we grasp concretely? Which source materials allow us to access ancient people's lifeworlds?
- Which forms of representation are particularly suitable for representing and exchanging about ancient lifeworlds?
- How can we explore and represent the lifeworlds of marginalised groups in antiquity (e.g. women, slaves, children)?
- What possibilities does the "Lebenswelt"-concept offer for scholarly communication and for a transfer of academic results to a broader public?
Proposals for papers on the theoretical question of the conference, papers on a possible methodology and papers on concrete examples of lifeworlds are welcome in form of a short abstract (250 words max.) until the 5th of September. The results will be published in an edited volume.
PD Dr. Susanne Froehlich and JProf. Dr. Veronika Egetenmeyr
Studies cited in the CfP:
Dahlberg, Helena / Dahlberg, Karin, Open and Reflective Lifeworld Research: A third way, in: Qualitative Inquiry 26.5 (2020), 458–464.
Dreher, Jochen (Eds.), Mathesis universalis – Die Aktuelle Relevanz der „Strukturen der Lebenswelt“, Wiesbaden 2021.
Egetenmeyr, Veronika, Die Konstruktion der ,Anderen‘: Barbarenbilder in den Briefen des Sidonius Apollinaris, Philippika - Altertumswissenschaftliche Abhandlungen Bd. 165, Wiesbaden 2022.
Froehlich, Susanne, Geschichte schreiben als "dichte Beschreibung": Der jüngere Plinius und seine Sklaven, in: Klio 105.2 (2023), in Druckvorbereitung.
Habermas, Jürgen, Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns, 2 Vol., Frankfurt 1981.
Husserl, Edmund, Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die transzendentale Phänomenologie. Mit einer Einleitung und Registern herausgegeben von Elisabeth Ströker, Hamburg 2012.
Lafer, Renate/Strobel, Karl (Eds.), Antike Lebenswelten. Althistorische und Papyrologische Studien, Berlin/Boston 2015.
Piepenbrink, Karin (Ed.), Philosophie und Lebenswelt in der Antike, Darmstadt 2023.
Schütz, Alfred / Luckmann, Thomas, Strukturen der Lebenswelt, Frankfurt 1979.
Vierhaus, Rudolph, Die Rekonstruktion historischer Lebenswelten. Probleme moderner Kulturgeschichtsschreibung, Göttingen 1994.
Zelić, Tomislav, On the Phenomenology of the Life-World, in: Synthesis Philosophica 23.2 (2008), 413–426.