The Object of Study in the Humanities

Rather than trying to carry out a synthesis of the heterogeneous fields covered by the Humanities, the aim of this book is to explore the grounding and orientation of the Humanities. Like Ts'ui Pên's labyrinth in Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The Garden of Forking Paths", the Humanities forms a vast network of diverging, converging and parallel lines. The reader may follow any number of itineraries when reading through the contributions, but at least one common concern of the articles in the present volume is the self-reflection of the human sciences. Whether expressed as a social or an epistemological task, it is ultimately the question of the self-understanding of the Humanities that is raised. In spite of the diversity of the themes treated, a claim of discourse unity emerges through the articles collected here. In this way, the coherence of working with and discussing the notion of the Humanities is reflected.