LEUKOS · Soul and writing, language and painting. Elements of comparison in Philip Melanchthon's and Giordano Bruno's notions of the soul and of language

With the proposed project, I will compare Philip Melanchthon’s and Giordano Bruno’s philosophy of language and doctrine of the soul to clarify (1) the reception of Melanchthon’s works on rhetoric, dialectic, and psychology in Bruno’s works published or composed during his stay in Wittenberg (1586-1588), and (2) Bruno’s reconsideration of his opinion about the Lutheran Reform during his stay in Germany. These two aspects of the research question will be investigated through a textual analysis of Melanchthon’s and Bruno’s works, and in a historical reconstruction of the social and intellectual environments which Bruno joined during his stay in Wittenberg. This project, informed by the approaches of gender studies, will profit from engaging with the role of women in shaping Bruno’s experience of the Reformation. From an historical perspective this will be achieved through a focus on how the reformed women in Wittenberg contributed to the production and dissemination of knowledge, and from the perspective of textual analysis through paying special attention to the gendered dimension of the notion of soul in Bruno’s works. The Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) is the perfect choice of host institution for this project. UCPH boasts a unique interdisciplinary research environment comprised of renowned researchers, whose expertise will be a great help in realizing the objectives of LEUKOS: namely expertise in Reformation history including studies of the leading Reformers, history of rhetoric, university history, Renaissance philosophy, gender studies, and Giordano Bruno. The required literary sources are readily available for scholars at UCPH via The Royal Danish Library. The training for the fellow has been planned to enhance (1) my profile as an interdisciplinary scholar (philosophy and theology), and (2) as project manager at a cultural institution, (3) opening career paths for me also in the Nordic countries.