Conference of the German Society for English Romanticism (GER): “Negotiations of Value in the Romantic Age” (25-28 September 2025)

The turn of the 19th century saw what several scholars consider to be a paradigmatic shift in the understanding of the concept of value. Whereas throughout much of the early modern age, notions of what counted as valuable still cohered in many ways in different discourses, the time around 1800 witnessed a speeding-up of disciplinary specialization and, with it, the gradual alienation from each other of different understandings of value. Most notably perhaps, at the same time as economic value became more and more dominant and the rise of liberal thinking stressed the specific value of the human (the ‘invention’ of human rights), several poets and philosophers insisted on the special status of aesthetic (and literary) value.

The conference brings together an international group of renowned scholars who will discuss various discursive perspectives on value in the Romantic Age. It is organized by the Chair of “English Studies: Literature” (Prof. Dr. Gerold Sedlmayr).

The event is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).

More information can be found here: https://www.ger25.fau.de/