Widerspruch als konstitutives Element der Wissensvermittlung in literarischen Texten des späten 16. Jahrhunderts

In the second half of the sixteenth century, the transfer of knowledge is a conflict situation: on the one hand, there is a generalised thirst for knowledge but, on the other, a fear of the circulation of new ideas on the part of both the secular and religious authorities. This was especially the case with regard to information related to the areas of medicine, astronomy, and alchemy-magic which was banned or censored. This paper argues that many authors relied on a Poetics of Contradiction in order to be able to transmit this information. Despite apparently opposing statements or thanks to their apparent opposition, they transmitted a meaningful message and allowed attentive, elitist readers to partake of and acquire significant knowledge. The examples considered here mostly come from Fischart’s Geschichtklitterung, Rollenhagen’s Froschmeuseler, and the anonymous Wagnerbuch.