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32 pages ; The paper analyzes recent German headscarf legislation in the context of early twenty-first-century religious turns, that is, on the one hand constructions of "Islam/ism" as the newly dominant figure of cultural difference on the political stage, and on the other hand the renewed prominence of Christianity in public discourse. Against the background of current academic work on and in political theology, I analyze the "post-secular" concepts of collective identity developed under the sign of the headscarf by associating them with two different theoretical models. Berlin's headscarf legislation can be compared to the French "Law on Laicity," which has been criticized as a vehicle of hidden political theologies in Carl Schmitt's sense: the Republic performs its sovereignty through the ways it manages religious exceptions. The openly asymmetrical headscarf bans passed in a number of other German states, however, do not just make "exceptions" for Christianity; rather, they privilege "Christian tradition" as the foundation of the "secular" German state. Critically relating this rhetoric to the ways in which Jean-Luc Nancy and Slavoj Zizek conceptualize the (presumably inescapable) destabilization of secular democracy through the forces of heteronomy and tradition, the paper pleas for replacing such uses of political theology in both politics and theory.

This article argues that the abundance of Greek figures and scenarios in Kittler's recent work points to a shift in his oeuvre, which, however, does not represent a radical break with his 'hardware studies'. At the turn of the 21st century, Kittler champions an emphatic notion of culture as a necessary supplement to science and technology. This conceptual marriage mediates grand historical narratives of cultural identity. Specifically, Kittler's texts provide us with narratives of Greek origin which serve to re-capture collective identities in the age of globalization. On the explicit level, this identity is predominantly European, but the search has national components as well. With his turn to culture, the organizing trope of 19th-century German nationalism, Kittler has also embraced the legacy of German philhellenism, which articulated national identities through the theme of 'elective affinity'. Kittler's Greece occupies the very structural place it had in 19th-century German philhellenism: It stands in for both the foundation of European civilization and its virtual better self, a realm of sensual culture untainted by modern capitalism and Empire. Most of the figures inhabiting this realm are familiar from 19th-century discourse as well, but these discursive loops are fueled by contemporary feedback. Kittler's Greek narratives have developed out of postwar academic discourses and connect to other post-unification Greek fantasies.

Die Autorin befragt das Hauptwerk des Göttinger Professors für Philosophie, Grellmann, auf welche Weise Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts die frühneuzeitlichen Stereotypen über "Zigeuner" durch den Einfluß der Aufklärung modernisiert wurden. Aus wirkungsgeschichtlicher Perspektive gilt Grellmann als der Begründer moderner "Zigeunerforschung". Die Verfasserin sieht Grellmanns Buch "Die Zigeuner" als Resultat eines komplexen Gefüges aus wissenschaftlichen, philosophischen und politisch-sozialen Problemformulierungen und Lösungsvorschlägen an, die an bestimmten Kriterien im vorliegenden Aufsatz diskutiert werden. Im einzelnen sind dies (1) "Die Zigeuner" als Beitrag zur Frühgeschichte des Rassismus; (2) Kontinuitäten in Grellmanns Werk gegenüber dem frühneuzeitlichen "Zigeunerdiskurs"; (3) Die Propagierung einer neuen Duldungspolitik durch den Staat gegenüber den "Zigeunern"; (4) Völkerkundliche Aspekte: Beschreibung von Sitten, Lebensart und Eigenschaften der "Zigeuner"; (5) "Zigeuner im bürgerlichen Moraldiskurs; (6) "Zigeuner" und Zivilisation; (7) Die Herkunft der Zigeuner als Zivilisierungshindernis; (8) Der Ursprung der Zigeuner als Abkömmlinge der untersten Kaste der indischen Gesellschaft. (ICC)

How many "bodies" does a queen have? What is the significance of multiple "bodies"? How has the gendered body been constructed and perceived within the context of the European courts during the course of the past five centuries? These are some of the questions addressed in this anthology, a contribution to the ongoing debate provoked by Ernst H. Kantorowicz in his seminal work from 1957, The King's Two Bodies. On the basis of both textual self-presentations and visual representations a gradual transformation of the queen appears: A sacred/providential figure in medieval and early modern period, an ideal bourgeois wife during the late-18th and 19th Centuries, and a star-like (re-) presentation of royalty during the past century. Twentieth-century mass media has produced the celebrity and film star queens personified by the contested and enigmatic Nefertiti of ancient Egypt, the mysterious Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria, Grace Kelly as Queen of both Hollywood and Monaco and Romy Schneider as the invented Empress

What makes up a public, what governs dominant discourses, and in which ways can counterpublics can be created through narrative? This edited collection brings together essays on affect and narrative theory with a focus on the topics of gender and sexuality. It explores the power of narrative in literature, film, art, performance, and mass media, the construction of subjectivities of gender and sexuality, and the role of affect in times of crisis. By combining theoretical, literary, and analytical texts, the contributors offer methodological impulses and reflect on the possibilities and limitations of affect theory in cultural studies