Zwischen Kanon und Unterhaltung/ Between Canon and Entertainment

The essays in this volume explore the ways in which the dichotomy between "highbrow" and "lowbrow" literature manifests itself. When Goethe's Faust appears as an action figure in Japanese manga or Grimms' fairytales are turned into films, cultural and media boundaries are inevitably, often strikingly, crossed. However, how does this adaptation into a different medium and/or a different cultural context affect the way the work in question is viewed? In not a few cases the difference between canonicity and entertainment is blurred, resulting in a variety of hybrid forms.