My research focuses on the German-language literature of the Middle Ages in its social and cultural-historical context. In an interdisciplinary collaboration, I am currently investigating, firstly, anxiety as a cause and effect of exchange processes between society and the environment, and secondly, the ancient and medieval roots of the perception and appreciation of the garden as an instrument toward the achievement and enjoyment of a ‘good life’.

Keywords: Literary medieval studies, social and cultural history of literature, ecocriticism, anxiety culture