The analysis demonstrates that different fictional worlds, characters, and plots in Keller's literary output allegorize the problems that specific print and paper formats pose to literary ideals of literature as an art form and to ideals of creative authorship. As Allegories of Format shows, attending to format allows for false antitheses inherited from the nineteenth century to be dismantled—between high and trivial literature, between the singular artwork and mass media products, and between creative literary works and the supposedly uncreative writing practices of office work.
This book is available as an Open Access volume thanks to funding from the University of Bern/Universität Bern.
The analysis demonstrates that different fictional worlds, characters, and plots in Keller's literary output allegorize the problems that specific print and paper formats pose to literary ideals of literature as an art form and to ideals of creative authorship. As Allegories of Format shows, attending to format allows for false antitheses inherited from the nineteenth century to be dismantled—between high and trivial literature, between the singular artwork and mass media products, and between creative literary works and the supposedly uncreative writing practices of office work.
This book is available as an Open Access volume thanks to funding from the University of Bern/Universität Bern.

Allegories of Format: A Media History of Gottfried Keller's Unlikely Oeuvre
354
Allegories of Format: A Media History of Gottfried Keller's Unlikely Oeuvre
354Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781501784040 |
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Publisher: | Cornell University Press |
Publication date: | 12/15/2025 |
Series: | Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought |
Pages: | 354 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d) |
Age Range: | 18 Years |