Sepp über Sepp

“I have never been a passionate reader, no matter how often, eagerly, and persistently I have claimed to be.” With this unusual admission, literary scholar Hans-Ulrich Gumbrecht begins his unusual autobiography Sepp. Mein Leben auf Halbdistanz (Berlin: Suhrkamp 2026).

Eva Geulen (ZfL) and Stephan Schlak (Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte) present the book in conversation with the author.

In cooperation with the Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte (Journal of the History of Ideas).

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht is a German-American literary scholar and cultural theorist. His work is situated at the intersection of literary studies, philosophy, and cultural history. He is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, where he was the Albert Guérard Professor in Literature, is distinguished professor of Romance literatures at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Bonn. He is the author of numerous monographs and regularly contributes essays to newspapers and magazines.

Eva Geulen is a literary scholar and the director of the Leibniz Center for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL).

Stephan Schlak is the editor-in-chief of the Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte (Journal of the History of Ideas).

Fig. above: Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht at the ZfL Annual Conference 2011, © Amélie Losier