The notion of “life” has become a focal point of study and dispute in diverse fields, from political theory to ethics, and from animal studies to aesthetics. Gailus’ work engages these contemporary debates by way of an historical detour. It explores the rich discourse of life in German literature, philosophy and politics from the a late 18th to the mid-20th century, analyzing, in particular, its sustained attention to questions of form and formation. Part historical study, part philosophical essay, the work seeks to develop a vocabulary that helps us articulate the many lives—biological and biographical, political and psychical, aesthetic and ethical—that we live and are.

Andreas Gailus is associate professor, Germanic languages and literatures, and a 2015-16 fellow at the Institute for the Humanities.