Prof. Dr. Winfried Menninghaus

Research Interests
- Philosophical, empirical (psychological) and evolutionary aesthetics
- classical rhetoric and poetics (Greek and Latin)
- literature and poetics from 1750 until present with a particular focus on German Romanticism
Vita
Academic education
1986 | Habilitation (Postdoctoral Thesis) |
1979 | Dr. phil. |
1976 | M. A. thesis |
1971–1979 | Student of Philosophy, German Language and Literature at the Universities of Marburg and Heidelberg, Germany |
1971 | High School Diploma |
Professional Experience | |
Since 01/2023 | Director emeritus of the Department of "Language and Literature" at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
04/2013–12/2022 | Director of the Department of "Language and Literature" at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
04/2014–04/2017 | Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
10/2007–07/2010 | Director of the interdisciplinary research cluster „Languages of Emotions“ at Freie Universität Berlin |
Since 2002 | Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences |
Since 1989 | Professor at the Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft of Freie Universität Berlin; 1991-1994, 1996-1999: Head of the Institute |
1985–1989 | Associate Professor at the Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft (Freie Universität Berlin) |
1979–1985 | Editor at Suhrkamp Publishing House, Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
Visiting positions | |
Fall 2009 | Visiting Professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris) |
Fall 2007 | Fellow at the Rice Humanities Center |
Fall 2004 | Visiting Professor at Princeton University |
1994–2001 | Academic years— Visiting Professorships at Yale University |
Spring 1992 | Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley |
Fall 1987 | Visiting Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Declined offers of full senior positions | |
2004 | Yale University (counter-offer to the Princeton offer) |
2004 | Princeton University (offer of an endowed university chair) |
1995 | Yale University |
1992 | University of Bonn |
Publications
Articles (in peer-reviewed journals)
Christensen, J. F., Bruhn, L., Schmidt, E.-M., Bahmanian, N., Yazdi, S. H. N., Farahi, F., Sancho-Escanero, L., & Menninghaus, W. (2023). A 5-emotions stimuli set for emotion perception research with full-body dance movements. Scientific Reports, 13(1), Article 8757. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-33656-4
Larrouy-Maestri, P., Kegel, V., Schlotz, W., van Rijn, P., Menninghaus, W., & Poeppel, D. (2023). Ironic twists of sentence meaning can be signaled by forward move of prosodic stress. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance Online Publication. doi:10.1037/xge0001377
Menninghaus, W. (2022). „Wo er vorbei dir glänzt“: Poetische Sprache und das Wechselspiel des Lieblichen mit dem Erhabenen in Hölderlins Ode „Heidelberg“. Poetica,53(3-4), 253-289. doi:10.30965/25890530-05301011
Schindler, I., Wagner, V., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Lay conceptions of “being moved” (“bewegt sein”) include a joyful and a sad type: Implications for theory and research. Plos One, 17(10), Article e0276808. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276808
Kentner, G., Franz, I., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Poetics of reduplicative word formation: evidence from a rating and recall experiment. Language and Cognition, 1-29. doi:10.1017/langcog.2021.27
Scharinger, M., Knoop, C. A., Wagner, V., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Neural processing of poems and songs is based on melodic properties. Neuroimage, 257, Article 119310. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119310
Scharinger, M., Wagner, V., Knoop, C. A., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Melody in poems and songs: Fundamental statistical properties predict aesthetic evaluation. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/aca0000465
Blohm, S., Versace, S., Methner, S., Wagner, V., Schlesewsky, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Reading Poetry and Prose: Eye Movements and Acoustic Evidence. Discourse Processes, 1-25. doi:10.1080/0163853X.2021.2015188.
Franz, I., Knoop, C. A., Kentner, G., Rothbart, S., Kegel, V., Vasilieva, J., Methner, S., Scharinger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). Prosodic Phrasing and Syllable Prominence in Spoken Prose. A Validated Coding Manual. OSF Preprints.doi:10.31219/osf.io/h4sd5
Thissen, B. A. K., Schlotz, W., Abel, C., Scharinger, M., Frieler, K., Merrill, J., Haider, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). At the Heart of Optimal Reading Experiences: Cardiovascular Activity and Flow Experiences in Fiction Reading. Reading Research Quarterly. 10.1002/rrq.448
Salgaro, M., Wagner, V., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). A good, a bad, and an evil character: Who renders a novel most enjoyable? Poetics, 87, Article 101550. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2021.101550
Knoop, C. A., Blohm, S., Kraxenberger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). How perfect are imperfect rhymes? Effects of phonological similarity and verse context on rhyme perception. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 15(3), 560–572. doi:10.1037/aca0000277
Fayn, K., Willemsen, S., Muralikrishnan, R., Castaño Manias, B., Menninghaus, W., & Schlotz, W. (2021). Full throttle: Demonstrating the speed, accuracy, and validity of a new method for continuous two-dimensional self-report and annotation. Behavior Research Methods, 53(3). doi:10.3758/s13428-021-01616-3
Beermann, U., Hosoya, G., Schindler, I., Scherer, K. R., Eid, M., Wagner, V., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Dimensions and Clusters of Aesthetic Emotions: A Semantic Profile Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 667173. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.667173
*Menninghaus, W., & *Wallot, S. (2021). What the eyes reveal about (reading) poetry. Poetics, 85, Article 101526. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2020.101526 *shared first authorship
Wagner, V., Scharinger, M., Knoop, C. A., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Effects of continuous self-reporting on aesthetic evaluation and emotional responses. Poetics, 85, Article 101497. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2020.101497
Wassiliwizky, E., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Why and How Should Cognitive Science Care about Aesthetics? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(6), 437–449. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2021.03.008
Kraxenberger, M., Knoop, C. A., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). Who reads contemporary erotic novels and why? Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 8, Article 96. doi:10.1057/s41599-021-00764-3
Sarkhosh, K., & Menninghaus, W. (2021). The Feel-Good Film: Genre Features and Emotional Rewards. Projections, 15(1), 55–77. doi:org/10.3167/proj.2021.150104
Menninghaus, W. (2021). Empirical aesthetics of language and literature : its strengths and weaknesses compared to the humanist scholarship of literature. Letteratura e Letterature, 15, 113–127. doi:10.19272/202109801008
Blohm, S., Schlesewsky, M., Menninghaus, W., & Scharinger, M. (2021). Text type attribution modulates pre-stimulus alpha power in sentence reading. Brain and Language, 214, Article e104894. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2020.104894
Tavano, A., Blohm, S., Knoop, C., Muralikrishnan, R., Scharinger, M., Wagner, V., et al. (2020). Neural harmonics reflect grammaticality. bioRxiv - The Preprint Server for Biology, Preprint. Retrieved from Neural harmonics reflect grammaticality | bioRxiv
Auracher, J., Menninghaus, W., & Scharinger, M. (2020). Sound Predicts Meaning: Cross-Modal Associations Between Formant Frequency and Emotional Tone in Stanzas. Cognitive Science,44(10), Article e12906. doi:10.1111/cogs.12906
Menninghaus, W., Schindler, I., Wagner, V., Wassiliwizky, E., Hanich, J., Jacobsen, T., et al. (2020). Aesthetic Emotions Are a Key Factor in Aesthetic Evaluation: Reply to Skov and Nadal (2020).Psychological Review, 127 (4), 650–654. doi:10.1037/rev0000213.
Haider, T., Eger, S., Kim, E., Klinger, R., & Menninghaus, W. (2020). PO-EMO: Conceptualization, Annotation, and Modeling of Aesthetic Emotions in German and English Poetry. Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC), Marseille. arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.07723.
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Kegel, V., Knoop, C. A., & Schlotz, W. (2019). Beauty, elegance, grace, and sexiness compared. Plos One, 14(6), e0218728. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218728
Auracher, J., Scharinger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2019). Contiguity-based sound iconicity: The meaning of words resonates with phonetic properties of their immediate verbal contexts. Plos One, 14(5), Article e0216930. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0216930
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Wassiliwizky, E., Schindler, I., Hanich, J., Jacobsen, T., & Koelsch, S. (2019). What are aesthetic emotions? Psychological Review, 126(2), 171–195. doi:10.1037/rev0000135
Thissen, B. A. K., Menninghaus, W., & Schlotz, W. (2018). Measuring Optimal Reading Experiences: The Reading Flow Short Scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 2542. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02542
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Knoop, C. A., & Scharinger, M. (2018). Poetic speech melody: A crucial link between music and language. Plos One, 13(11), Article e0205980. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0205980
Blohm, S., Wagner, V., Schlesewsky, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2018). Sentence judgments and the grammar of poetry: Linking linguistic structure and poetic effect. Poetics, 69, 41–56. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2018.04.005
Kraxenberger, M., Menninghaus, W., Roth, A., & Scharinger, M. (2018). Prosody-Based Sound-Emotion Associations in Poetry. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1284. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01284
Wallot, S., & Menninghaus, W. (2018). Ambiguity effects of rhyme and meter. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition,44(12), 1947–1954. doi:10.1037/xlm0000557
Hoshi, H., & Menninghaus, W. (2018). The eye tracks the aesthetic appeal of sentences. Journal of Vision, 18(3), 1–22. doi:10.1167/18.3.19
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Hanich, J., Wassiliwizky, E., Jacobsen, T., & Koelsch, S. (2017). Authors’ Response: Negative emotions in art reception: Refining theoretical assumptions and adding variables to the Distancing-Embracing model. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, 44–51, Article e380. doi: doi:10.1017/S0140525X17001947
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Hanich, J., Wassiliwizky, E., Jacobsen, T., & Koelsch, S. (2017). The distancing-embracing model of the enjoyment of negative emotions in art reception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, Article e347. doi:10.1017/S0140525X17000309
Blohm, S., Menninghaus, W., & Schlesewsky, M. (2017). Sentence-level effects of literary genre: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 1887. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01887
Hosoya, G., Schindler, I., Beermann, U., Wagner, V., Menninghaus, W., Eid, M., & Scherer, K. (2017). Mapping the conceptual domain of aesthetic emotion terms: A pile-sort study. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 11(4), 457–473. doi:10.1037/aca0000123
Wassiliwizky, E., Koelsch, S., Wagner, V., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2017). The emotional power of poetry: Neural circuitry, psychophysiology and compositional principles. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 12(8), 1229–1240. doi:10.1093/scan/nsx069
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Wassiliwizky, E., Jacobsen, T., & Knoop, C. A. (2017). The emotional and aesthetic powers of parallelistic diction. Poetics, 63, 47–59. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2016.12.001
Hanich, J., & Mennighaus, W. (2017). Beyond Sadness: The multi-emotional trajectory of melodrama. Cinema Journal: The Journal of The Societey for Cinema & Media Studies 56(4), 76–101. doi:10.1353/cj.2017.0041
Schindler, I., Hosoya, G., Menninghaus, W., Beermann, U., Wagner, V., Eid, M., & Scherer, K. R. (2017). Measuring aesthetic emotions: A review of the literature and a new assessment tool. Plos One, 12(6), Article e0178899. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178899
Wassiliwizky, E., Jacobsen, T., Heinrich, J., Schneiderbauer, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2017). Tears falling on goosebumps: Co-occurrence of emotional lacrimation and emotional piloerection indicates a psychophysiological climax in emotional arousal. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 41. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00041
Kraxenberger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2017). Affinity for poetry and aesthetic appreciation of joyful and sad poems. Frontiers in Psychology,7, Article 2051. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02051
Kraxenberger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2016). Emotional effects of poetic phonology, word positioning and dominant stress peaks in poetry reading. Scientific Study of Literature, 6(2), 298–313. doi:10.1075/ssol.6.2.06kra
Kraxenberger, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2016). Mimological reveries? Disconfirming the hypothesis of phono-emotional Iconicity in poetry. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 1779. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01779
Sarkhosh, K., & Menninghaus, W. (2016). Enjoying trash films: Underlying features, viewing stances, and experiential response dimensions. Poetics, 57, 40–54. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2016.04.002
Knoop, C. A., Wagner, V., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2016). Mapping the aesthetic space of literature from "below". Poetics, 56, 35–49. doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2016.02.001
Obermeier, C., Kotz, S. A., Jessen, S., Raettig, T., von Koppenfels, M., & Menninghaus, W. (2016). Aesthetic appreciation of poetry correlates with ease of processing in event-related potentials. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 16(2), 362–373. doi:10.3758/s13415-015-0396-x
Wagner, V., Klein, J., Hanich, J., Shah, M., Menninghaus, W., & Jacobsen, T. (2016). Anger framed: A field study on emotion, pleasure, and art. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 10(2), 134–146. doi:10.1037/aca0000029
Wassiliwizky, E., Wagner, V., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2015). Art-elicited chills indicate states of being moved. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9(4), 405–416. doi:10.1037/aca0000023
Menninghaus, W., Bohrn, I. C., Knoop, C. A., Kotz, S. A., Schlotz, W., & Jacobs, A. M. (2015). Rhetorical features facilitate prosodic processing while handicapping ease of semantic comprehension. Cognition, 143(0), 48–60. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2015.05.026
Menninghaus, W., Wagner, V., Hanich, J., Wassiliwizky, E., Kuehnast, M., & Jacobsen, T. (2015). Towards a psychological construct of Being Moved. Plos One, 10(6), Article e0128451. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128451
Koelsch, S., Jacobs, A. M., Menninghaus, W., Liebal, K., Klann-Delius, G., von Scheve, C., & Gebauer, G. (2015). The quartet theory of human emotions: An integrative and neurofunctional model. Physics of Life Reviews, 13, 1–27. doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2015.03.001
Lehne, M., Engel, P., Rohrmeier, M., Menninghaus, W., Jacobs, A. M., & Koelsch, S. (2015). Reading a suspenseful literary text activates brain areas related to social cognition and predictive inference. Plos One, 10(5), Article e0124550. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124550
Kumschick, I. R., Beck, L., Eid, M., Witte, G., Klann-Delius, G., Heuser, I., Steinlein, R., & Menninghaus, W. (2014). Reading and feeling: The effects of a literature-based intervention designed to increase emotional competence in second and third graders. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 1448. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01448
Kuehnast, M., Wagner, V., Wassiliwizky, E., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2014). Being Moved: Linguistic representation and conceptual structure. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 1242. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01242 PDF
Prehn, K., Korn, C. W., Bajbouj, M., Klann-Delius, G., Menninghaus, W., Jacobs, A. M., & Heekeren, H. R. (2014). The neural correlates of emotion alignment in social interaction. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 435–443. doi:10.1093/scan/nsu066
Hanich, J., Wagner, V., Shah, M., Jacobsen, T., & Menninghaus, W. (2014). Why we like to watch sad films. The pleasure of being moved in aesthetic experiences. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(2), 130–143. doi:10.1037/a0035690
Wagner, V., Menninghaus, W., Hanich, J., & Jacobsen, T. (2014). Art schema effects on affective experience: The case of disgusting images. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts,8(2), 120–129. doi:10.1037/a0036126
Menninghaus, W., Bohrn, I. C., Altmann, U., Lubrich, O., & Jacobs, A. M. (2014). Sounds funny? Humor effects of phonological and prosodic figures of speech. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(1), 71–76. doi:10.1037/a0035309
Seehausen, M., Kazzer, Ph., Bajbouj, M., Heekeren, H. R., Jacobs, A. M., Klann-Delius, G., Menninghaus, W. & Prehn, K. (2014). Talking about social conflict in the MRI scanner: Neural correlates of being empathized with. NeuroImage, 84, 951–961. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.056
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Nackte Haut, Imagination und Geheimnis: Menschliche Schönheit in evolutionärer Perspektive. In L. Russo & S. Tedesco (Eds.), Sull’Emozione. Aesthetica Preprint Supplements,29, 67–77.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Walter Benjamin's variations of imagelessness. Critical Horizons,14, 407–428. doi:10.1179/1440991713Z.00000000016
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Música y retórica en la teoría di Darwin. Literatura: teoria, historica, critica, 15, 249–280. bdigital.pdf
Matejka, M., Kazzer, P., Seehausen, M., Bajbouj, M., Klann-Delius, G., Menninghaus, W., Jacobs, A. M., Heekeren, H. R. & Prehn, K. (2013). Talking about emotion: Prosody and skin conductance indicate emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 4. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00260
Obermeier, C., Menninghaus, W., von Koppenfels, M., Raettig T, Schmidt-Kassow, M., Otterbein, S. & Kotz, S. A. (2013). Aesthetic and emotional effects of meter and rhyme in poetry. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article 10, 1–10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00010
Bohrn, I. C., Altmann, U., Lubrich, O., Menninghaus, W., & Jacobs, A. M. (2013). When we like what we know – A parametric fMRI analysis of beauty and familiarity. Brain and Language, 124, 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2012.10.003
Altmann, U., Bohrn, I. C., Lubrich, O., Menninghaus, W. & Jacobs, A. M. (2012). Fact versus Fiction – How paratextual information shapes our reading processes. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(1), 22–29. doi:10.1093/scan/nss098
Altmann, U., Bohrn, I. C., Lubrich, O., Menninghaus, W. & Jacobs, A. M. (2012). The power of emotional valence – from cognitive to affective processes in reading. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience,6, Article 192. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00192
Bohrn, I. C., Altmann, U., Lubrich, O., Menninghaus, W., & Jacobs, A. M. (2012). Old proverbs in new skins – an fMRI study on defamiliarization. Frontiers in Psychology,3, Article 204. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00204
Schindler, I., Zink, V., Windrich, J. & Menninghaus, W. (2012). Admiration and Adoration: Their different ways of showing and shaping who we are. Cognition and Emotion, 26, 1–34. doi:10.1080/02699931.2012.698253
Menninghaus, W. & Hanich, J. (2012). Im Wechselbad der Gefühle. Die Emotionsvielfalt im filmischen Melodram – eine Mikroanalyse. Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft, 56, 175–201.
Menninghaus, W., Korten, L., Wißmann, F. & Stenger, J. (2011). Metrum, Rhythmus, Melodie. Der Maiabend von Johann Heinrich Voß und Fanny Hensel. Poetica, 43, 81–102.
Menninghaus, W. (2007). Der Preis der Schönheit. Nutzen und Lasten ihrer Verehrung. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte 18 (Supplement to the journal „Das Parlament“, April 2007), 33–38.
Menninghaus, W. (2006). Hölderlin’s Sapphic Mode: Revising the myth of the male pindaric seer. In Primerjalna knjizevnost29, 1–23.
Menninghaus, W. (2000). Le mouvement du rire chez Kant. Dix-huitième siècle,32, 265–277.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). Disgusting impotence and romanticism. European Romantic Review,10 (Special Issue1798 and Its Implications), 202–213.
Menninghaus, W. (1997). Ekel-Tabu und Omnipräsenz des ‚Ekel’ in der ästhetischen Theorie (1740-1790). Poetica,29, 405–431.
Menninghaus, W. (1996). Mitologia do caos no romantismo e na modernidade. Estudos Avançados, 27, 127–138.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). Meridian des Schmerzes. Zum Briefwechsel Paul Celan/ Nelly Sachs. Poetica,26, 169–179.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). La mitologia del caos nel romanticismo e nell’età moderna. Cultura Tedesca, 2, 7–18.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). Kant über ‚Unsinn’, ‚Lachen’ und ‚Laune.’ Deutsche Vierteljahresschrift für Philosophie und Geistesgeschichte, 68, 263–286.
Menninghaus, W. (1991). Walter Benjamins Diskurs der Destruktion. Studi germanici, 29, 293–312.
Menninghaus, W. (1991). Zwischen Überwältigung und Widerstand. Macht und Gewalt in Longins und Kants Theorien des Erhabenen. Poetica, 23, 1–19.
Menninghaus, W. (1991). Dichtung als Tanz – Zu Klopstocks Poetik der Wortbewegung. Comparatio. Revue Internationale de Littérature Comparée,2-3, 129–150.
Menninghaus, W. (1987). Zwischen Bandello und Shakespeare: Pierre Boaistuaus Romeo und Julia-Version. Poetica,19, 3–31.
Menninghaus, W. (1989). Die frühromantische Theorie von Zeichen und Metapher. The German Quarterly, 62, 48–58.
Monographs
Menninghaus, W. (2020). Darwin igo no bigaku: Geijutsu no kigen to kinou no fukugousei (= Japanese translation of Aesthetics after Darwin - The multiple origins and functions of the arts) (S. Ito, Trans.). Tokyo: Hosei University Press.
Menninghaus, W. (2019). Aesthetics after Darwin - The multiple origins and functions of the arts (A. Berlina, Trans.). Boston, Brookline: Academics Studies Press.
Menninghaus, W. (2018). Sei no nakaba: Hoeldelin shigaku ni matsuwaru shiron (=Japanese translation of Hälfte des Lebens: Versuch über Hölderlins Poetik, Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2005). Translated by Yoshikazu Takemine. Tokio: Getsuyousha Limited.
Menninghaus, W. (2016). Disgusto. Teoria e storia di una sensazione forte. A Cura di Serena Feloj. (= Italian translation of Ekel. Theorie und Geschichte einer starken Empfindung) Milano: Mimesis.
Menninghaus, W. (2014). A cosa serve l’arte? L’estetica dopo Darwin. Translated by Massimo Salgaro. Vol. 14, La musa Critica. Verona: Fiorini.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Saber de los umbrales. Buenos Aires: Editorial Biblos.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Bi no yakusoku (= Japanese translation of Das Versprechen der Schönheit). Tokyo: Gendaishichoshinsha.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). La promessa della bellezza (= Italian translation of Das Versprechen der Schönheit). Palermo: Aesthetica.
Menninghaus, W. (2011). Wozu Kunst? Ästhetik nach Darwin. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (2010). Hakike. Aru kyoretsu na kankaku no riron to rekishi (= Japanese translation of Ekel. Theorie und Geschichte einer starken Empfindung). Tokyo: Hosei University Press.
Menninghaus, W. (2009). Wstret. teoria i historia (= Polish translation of Ekel. Theorie und Geschichte einer starken Empfindung). Kraków: universitas.
Menninghaus, W. (2008). Kunst als „Beförderung des Lebens“. Perspektiven transzendentaler und evolutionärer Ästhetik. (Themen 89). München: Carl-Friedrich-von-Siemens-Stiftung.
Menninghaus, W. (2005). Hälfte des Lebens. Versuch über Hölderlins Poetik. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (2003). Disgust. Theory and History of a Strong Sensation. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Menninghaus, W. (2003). Das Versprechen der Schönheit. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (2000). Shikiigaku (= Japanese translation of Schwellenkunde). Tokyo: Gendai Shichosha.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). In Praise of Nonsense. Kant and Bluebeard. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). Ekel. Theorie und Geschichte einer starken Empfindung. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1995). Lob des Unsinns. Über Kant, Tieck und Blaubart. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1992). Mugen no nijuka (= Japanese translation of Unendliche Verdopplung). Tokyo: Hosei University Press.
Menninghaus, W. (1987). Unendliche Verdopplung. Die frühromantische Grundlegung der Kunsttheorie im Begriff absoluter Selbstreflexion. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1986). Schwellenkunde. Walter Benjamins Passage des Mythos. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1982). Artistische Schrift. Studien zur Kompositionskunst Gottfried Kellers. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1980). Paul Celan – Magie der Form. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1980). Walter Benjamins Theorie der Sprachmagie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Further Articles and Book Chapters
Menninghaus, W. (2022). „Zu den schönsten vor Allen in der Schweiz“: Der erste Satz des Grünen Heinrich. In F. Berndt (Ed.), Kellers Medien: Formen – Genres – Institutionen (pp. 15-26). De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110698794-002
Wassiliwizky, E., & Menninghaus, W. (2022). The Power of Poetry. In A. Chatterjee, & E. R. Cardillo (Eds.), Brain, Beauty, and Art: Essays Bringing Neuroaesthetics into Focus (pp. 182-187). New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197513620.003.0036.
Menninghaus, W. (2020). Empirische Ästhetik der Sprache und Literatur- Was kann sie besser als die herkömmliche Literaturwissenschaft – und was nicht? In S. Yasuhiro, F. Jäger, & T. Jun (Eds.), Bilder als Denkformen - Bildwissenschaftliche Dialoge zwischen Japan und Deutschland (pp. 195-214). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110582406-017
Menninghaus, W., & Blohm, S. (2020). Empirical Aesthetics of Poetry. In M. Nadal & O. Vartanian (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Empirical Aesthetics (pp. 1-20). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198824350.013.33
Menninghaus, W. (2019). Empirische Ästhetik der Sprache und Literatur: Was kann sie besser als die herkömmliche Literaturwissenschaft – und was nicht? [Gengo to bungaku no keikenbigaku: Kyūrai no bungaku kenkyū yori umaku syori dekirukoto, sosite dekinaikoto ha nanika?] (S. Ito, Trans.). In Y. Sakamoto, J. Tanaka, & Y. Takemine (Eds.), Image Studies Today: From Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas to neurological Bildwissenschaft (pp. 433-454). Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
Kraxenberger, M., & Mennighaus, W. (2018). Mimologische Träumereien? Über ikonische Assoziationen von Klang und Gefühlswahrnehmung in Gedichten. In D. Scherf & A. Bertschi-Kaufmann (Eds.), Ästhetische Rezeptionsprozesse aus didaktischer Perspektive (pp. 72–88). Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Juventa.
Menninghaus, W. (2016). Caprices of fashion in culture and biology: Charles Darwin’s aesthetics of "ornament". In G. Matteucci & S. Marino (Eds.), Philosophical Perspectives on Fashion (pp. 137–150). London, New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
Menninghaus, W. (2016). Gengo to Bungaku no Keikenbigaku. Shi-Sou 1104, 137–154.
Menninghaus, W. (2014). Docta elegantia. In R. Schnell, P. Boden & J. Fetscher (Eds.), Vielfacher Blick. Eberhard Lämmert zum 90. Geburtstag. (pp. 85–89). Siegen: Universitätsverlag Siegen.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). La Teoria Darwiniana sulla musica e la retorica (M. Salgaro, Trans.). In L. Bartalesi & G. Consoli (Eds.), Rivista di estetica (Vol. 54, pp. 135–156). Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier.
Menninghaus, W. (2013). Darwin’s Theory of Music, Rhetoric and Poetry. In A. G. Danieli, A. Minelli & T. Pievani (Eds.), Stephen J. Gould: The Scientific Legacy (pp. 169–176). Milano: Springer Milan.
Koelsch, S., Jacobs, A. M., Mennighaus, W., Liebal, K., Klann-Delius, G., von Schweve, C., & Gebauer, G. (2013). Ein neurofunktionales Modell von Emotionen. In E. Schröger & S. Koelsch (Eds.), Enzyklopädie der Psychologie - Affektive und Kognitive Neurowissenschaft (Vol. 5, pp. 307–342). Göttingen, Bern, Toronto, Seattle: Hogrefe Verlag.
Menninghaus, W. (2012). 'Kitsch' als Organon historischer Erfahrung. Walter Benjamins Spurensuche im Feld des 'schlechten Geschmacks'. Neue Rundschau, 123, 17–42.
Menninghaus, W. (2011). Poetika Movere, poetika dvizheniya. O nekotoryh svyazyah estetiĉeskogo udovol’stviya i zhestokogo nasiliya. In C. Wulf & V. Savĉuk (Eds.), Ĉuvstvo, telo, dvizhenie (pp. 41-61). Moskau: Kanon-Plus.
Menninghaus, W. (2011). O modo sáfico de Hölderlin: Revendo o mito do vidente masculino em Pindaro. In B. C. Duarte (Eds.), Lógica poética. Friedrich Hölderlin (pp. 139–168). Lisboa: Vendaval.
Menninghaus, W. (2011). Durchschossen von Latenz: menschliche Schönheit in evolutionärer Perspektive. In H. U. Gumbrecht & F. Klinger (Eds.), Latenz. Blinde Passagiere in den Geisteswissenschaften (pp. 80–90). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck.
Menninghaus, W. (2010). Zur Evolution der Künste. In V. Gehardt & J. Nida-Rümelin (Eds.), Evolution in Natur und Kultur (pp. 205–222). Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
Menninghaus, W. (2010). Schlummernde Gefühle von Liebe und Krieg. Charles Darwins Theorie der Musik. Gegenworte. Wissenschaft trifft Kunst, 23, 34–38.
Menninghaus, W. (2010). Vier Vektoren der Schönheit: Sexualität, Technik, Sprache, Kunst. In K. P. Liessmann (Eds.), Vom Zauber des Schönen. Reiz, Begehren und Zerstörung (pp. 17–40). Wien: Zsolnay.
Menninghaus, W. (2010). Biologie nach der Mode. Charles Darwins Ornament-Ästhetik. In E. P. Fischer & K. Wiegandt (Eds.), Evolution und Kultur des Menschen (pp. 220–243). Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer.
Menninghaus, W. (2009). On the 'Vital Significance' of Kitsch: Walter Benjamin's Politics of 'Bad Taste'. In A. Benjamin & C. Rice (Eds.), Walter Benjamin and the Architecture of Modernity (pp. 39–57). Melbourne: re.press.
Menninghaus, W. (2009) „Ein Gefühl der Beförderung des Lebens“. Kants Reformulierung des Topos lebhafter Vorstellung. In A. Avanessian, W. Menninghaus & J. Völker (Eds.), Vita aesthetica. Szenarien ästhetischer Lebendigkeit (pp. 77–94). Zürich/ Berlin: diaphanes.
Menninghaus, W. (2008) 'Kitsch' como 'organon' de experiencia histórica. Las indagaciones des Walter Benjamin en el campo del 'mal gusto'. In D. Finkelde, E. Webels, T. de la Garza Camino & F. Mancera (Eds.), Topografías de la modernidad. El pensamiento de Walter Benjamin (pp. 33–59). Mexico City: Universidas Nacional Autónoma de México/ Universidad Iberoamericana/ Goethe-Institut Mexiko.
Menninghaus, W. (2007). Raum-Chiffren der frühromantischen Philosophie. In I. Mülder-Bach/ & G. Neumann (Eds.), Räume der Romantik (pp. 13–25). Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.
Menninghaus, W. (2007). Hölderlin und Sappho. In E. Futscher, S. Neuner, W. Pichler & R. Ubl (Eds.), Was aus dem Bild fällt. Figuren des Details in Kunst und Literatur (pp. 141–164). München: Fink.
Menninghaus, W. (2007). Schönheit – Leben – Tod. Zur Evolution von Aussehenspräferenzen. In C. Gutwald & R. Zons (Eds.), Die Macht der Schönheit (pp. 35–48). München: Fink.
Menninghaus, W. (2006). Der Verschollene oder die Trajektorie männlicher Unschuld im Felde ‚widerlicher’ weiblicher Praktiken. In C. Liebrand (Ed.), Franz Kafka. Neue Wege der Forschungg (pp. 209–221). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Menninghaus, W. (2006). Mathematik und Dichtung. Bemerkungen aus Anlaß von Jochen Brünings Circular. In Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Ed.), Debatte 4: Mathematisierung der Natur. Streitgespräch in den Wissenschaftlichen Sitzungen der Versammlungen der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften am 10. Dezember 2004 und am 27. Mai 2005 (pp. 117–120). Berlin: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Menninghaus, W. (2006). Hölderlin’s Sapphic Mode: Revising the myth of the male pindaric seer. In E. Sun, E. Peretz & U. Baer (Eds.), The Claims of Literature. A Shoshana Felma Reader (pp. 275–292). New York: Fordham.
Menninghaus, W. (2005). Vom enzyklopädischen Prinzip romantischer Poesie. In W. Wiethölter, F. Berndt & S. Kammer (Eds.), Vom Weltbuch bis zum World Wide Web – Enzyklopädische Literaturen (pp. 149–163). Heidelberg: Winter.
Menninghaus, W. (2005). Kafkas Klartext. In M. Vöhler & B. Seidensticker (Eds.), Mythenkorrekturen. Zu einer paradoxalen Form der Mythenrezeption (pp. 297–316). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Menninghaus, W. (2003). Geist, Sein, Reflexion und Leben: Hölderlins Darstellungstheorie. In T. Roberg (Ed.), Friedrich Hölderlin. Neue Wege der Forschung (pp. 49–66). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Menninghaus, W. (2002). Flamme zwischen Nichts und Etwas – Die Seele in den frühromantischen Fragmenten. In D. Kamper & C. Wulf (Eds.), Logik und Leidenschaft. Erträge Historischer Anthropologie (pp. 306–314). Berlin: Reimer.
Menninghaus, W. (2002). Walter Benjamin’s exposition of the romantic theory of reflection. In B. Hansen & A. Benjamin (Eds.), Walter Benjamin and Romanticism (pp. 19–50). New York/ London: continuum.
Menninghaus, W. (2002). Ekel: Vom negativen Definitionsmodell zum ‚Ding an sich’. In R. Stockhammer (Ed.), Grenzwerte des Ästhetischen (pp. 44–57). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (2001). Siegel, Name und Zeit. Zu Paul Celans Gedicht Mit Brief und Uhr. In R. Brandt (Ed.), Meisterwerke der Literatur. Von Homer bis Musil (pp. 352–380). Reclam: Leipzig.
Menninghaus, W. (2001). Ekel. In K. Barck (Ed.), Ästhetische Grundbegriffe. Historisches Wörterbuch in sieben Bänden. 2000-2005, vol. 2. (pp. 142–177). Stuttgart: Metzler.
Menninghaus, W. (2001). Mezdu podcineniem i soprotivleniem: Sila i nasilie v teorijach vozvysennogo Longina i Kanta. In C. Sramm & D. Uffelmann (Eds.), Nemeckoe filosofskoe literaturovedenie nasich dnej. Antologija (pp. 268–290). Sankt Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Sankt-Petersburgskogo universiteta.
Menninghaus, W. (2000). „Wir lernen den Ekel um.“ (Nietzsche) – Grundlinien einer historischen Philosophie des modernen Ekels. In ZDF-Nachtstudio (Ed.), Große Gefühle. Bausteine menschlichen Verhaltens (pp. 247–264), Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (2000). Walter Benjamins Diskurs der Destruktion. In H. R. Brittnacher & F. Stoermer (Eds.), Der schöne Schein der Kunst und seine Schatten (pp. 242–254). Bielefeld: Aisthesis.
Menninghaus, W. (2000). ‚Czernowitz/ Bukowina’ als Topos deutsch-jüdischer Geschichte und Literatur. In P. Buhrmann (Ed.), Zur Lyrik Paul Celans (= Text und Kontext. Zeitschrift für germanistische Literaturforschung in Skandinavien, vol. 44) (pp. 9–30). Kopenhagen/ München: Fink.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). Kafkas thanatographisches ‚Genießen’ und Walter Benjamins Roman-Poetik. In W. Menninghaus & K. R. Scherpe (Eds.), Literaturwissenschaft und politische Kultur. Eberhard Lämmert zum 75. Geburtstag (pp. 117–125). Stuttgart/ Weimar: Metzler.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). Hummingbirds, Shells, Picture-Frames: Kant’s ‚Free Beauties’ and the Romantic Arabesque. In M. Helfer (Ed.) Rereading Romanticism(= Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik, vol. 47) (pp. 27–46). Amsterdam/ Atlanta, GA.: Editions Rodopi.
Menninghaus, W. (1999). Czernowitz/ Bukowina’ als Topos deutsch-jüdischer Geschichte und Literatur. Merkur. Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken 600 (Special Issue Lyrik. Über Lyrik), 345–357.
Menninghaus, W. (1996). Lärm und Schweigen. Religion, Kunst und das Zeitalter des Computers. Merkur.Deutsche Zeitschrift für europäisches Denken, 567, 469–479.
Menninghaus, W. (1995). Walter Benjamin’s variations of imagelessness. In T. Bahti & M. S. Fries (Eds.), Jewish Writers, German Literature. The Uneasy Examples of Nelly Sachs and Walter Benjamin (pp. 155–173). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). L’an-expressif: Les métamorphoses de l’absence d’image chez Walter Benjamin. In I. Scheuermann & K. Scheuermann (Eds.), Pour Walter Benjamin. Documents, essais et un projet (pp. 174–187). Bonn: AsKI.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). Darstellung. Zur Emergenz eines neuen Paradigmas bei Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. In C. H. Nibbrig (Ed.), Was heißt Darstellen? (pp. 205–226). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (1994). Normalisierung des Chaos und Chaotisierung des Normalen. Wirtschaft & Wissenschaft, 2, 16–19.
Menninghaus, W. (1993). Walter Benjamin’s variations of imagelessness. In I. Scheuermann & K. Scheuermann (Eds.), For Walter Benjamin. Documentation. Essays and a Sketch (pp. 166–179). Bonn: AsKI.
Menninghaus, W. (1992). Das Ausdruckslose: Walter Benjamins Kritik des Schönen durch das Erhabene. In U. Steiner (Ed.), Walter Benjamin 1892–1940 (pp. 33–76). Bern: Peter Lang Verlag.
Menninghaus, W. (1992). Lo inexpresivo: las variaciones de la ausencia de imagen en Walter Benjamin. In I. Scheuermann & K. Scheuermann (Eds.), Para Walter Benjamin. Documentos, Ensayos y un Projecto (pp. 174–187). Bonn: Inter Nationes. (Reprinted 1993 in G. Massuh & S. Fehrmann (Eds.), Sobre Walter Benjamin. Vanguardias, historia, estética y literatura. Una visión latinoamericana (pp. 37–56). Buenos Aires: Alianza Editorial/ Goethe-Institut.)
Menninghaus, W. (1991). Siegel, Name und Zeit. Zu Paul Celans Gedicht Mit Brief und Uhr. In H. Speier (Ed.), Celan-Jahrbuch 4 (pp. 7–26). Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
Menninghaus, W. (1990). Geschichte und Eigensinn. Zu Hermeneutik-Kritik und Poetik Alexander Kluges. In H. Eggert, U. Profitlich & K. R. Scherpe (Eds.), Geschichte als Literatur. Formen und Grenzen der Repräsentation von Vergangenheit (pp. 258–272). Stuttgart: Metzler.
Menninghaus, W. (1989). Klopstocks Poetik der schnellen ‚Bewegung’. In W. Menninghaus (Ed.), F. G. Klopstock: Gedanken über die Natur der Poesie (pp. 259–361). Frankfurt am Main: Insel.
Menninghaus, W. (1988). Walter Benjamin’s theory of myth. In G. Smith (Ed.), On Walter Benjamin: Critical Essays and Recollections (pp. 292–325). Cambridge/ Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press.
Menninghaus, W. (1988). „Flamme zwischen Nichts und Etwas“ – Die Seele in den frühromantischen Fragmenten. In D. Kamper & C. Wulf (Eds.), Die erloschene Seele. Disziplin, Geschichte, Kunst, Mythos (Reihe Historische Anthropologie, vol. 1) (pp. 289–299). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Menninghaus, W. (1988). Zum Problem des Zitats bei Celan und in der Celan-Philologie. In W. Hamacher & W. Menninghaus (Eds.), Paul Celan (pp. 170–190). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1988.
Menninghaus, W. (1987). Wissen oder Nicht-Wissen. Überlegungen zum Problem des Zitats bei Celan und in der Celan-Philologie. In C. Shoham & B. Witte (Eds.), Datum und Zitat bei Paul Celan. Frankfurt am Main/Bern/Las Vegas: Peter Lang Verlag.
Menninghaus, W. (1986). Science des seuils. La théorie du mythe chez Walter Benjamin. In H. Wismann (Ed.), Walter Benjamin et Paris (pp. 529–557). Paris: Cerf.
Menninghaus, W. (1983). Kant, Hegel und Marx in Lukács’ Theorie der Verdinglichung. Destruktion eines neomarxistischen ‚Klassikers’. In N. W. Bolz & W. Hübener (Eds.), Spiegel und Gleichnis. Festschrift für Jacob Taubes (pp. 318–330). Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann.
Menninghaus, W. (1981). Henrik Pontoppidans Lykke-Per. (Nachwort) In Henrik Pontoppidan:Hans im Glück (pp. 817–874). Frankfurt am Main: Insel.
Menninghaus, W. (1980). Walter Benjamins romantische Idee des Kunstwerks und seiner Kritik. Poetica12, 421–442.
Menninghaus, W. (1979). Überlegungen zur historischen Morphologie einiger trivialer Literaturphänomene. Kaspar. Zeitschrift über den Umgang mit Literatur, 2, 20–32.
Menninghaus, W. (1978). Anti Christ. Paul Celans zitierende Revision christlicher Kirchenlieder. Kaspar. Zeitschrift über den Umgang mit Literatur,1, 13–23.
Edited Books
Menninghaus, W., Avanessian, A. & Völker, J. (Eds.). (2009). Vita aesthetica. Szenarien ästhetischer Lebendigkeit. Zürich/ Berlin: diaphanes.
Menninghaus, W., Janssen, S. & Windrich, J. (Eds.). (2009) Einar Schleef: Tagebuch 1981-1998. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W., Janssen, S. & Windrich, J. (Eds.). (2007). Einar Schleef: Tagebuch 1977-1980. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W., Janssen, S. & Windrich, J. (Eds.). (2006). Einar Schleef: Tagebuch 1964-1976. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W., Janssen, S. & Windrich, J. (Eds.). (2004). Einar Schleef: Tagebuch 1953-1963. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. & Scherpe, K. R. (Eds.). (1999). Literaturwissenschaft und politische Kultur. Eberhard Lämmert zum 75. Geburtstag. Stuttgart/ Weimar: Metzler.
Menninghaus, W. (Ed.). (1998). Angelus Novus: Perspectives on Walter Benjamin. (Special Issue Critical Inquiry 25, 2). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Menninghaus, W., Assmann, A., Assmann, J. & Hartwich, W. (Eds.). (1996). Jacob Taubes:Vom Kult zur Kultur. Bausteine zu einer Kritik der historischen Vernunft. München: Fink.
Menninghaus, W. (Ed.). (1989). Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock:Gedanken über die Natur der Poesie. Dichtungstheoretische Schriften. Frankfurt am Main: Insel.
Menninghaus, W. & Hamacher, W. (Eds.). (1988). Paul Celan. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Menninghaus, W. (Ed.). (1983). Friedrich Schlegel:Theorie der Weiblichkeit. Frankfurt am Main: Insel.
Menninghaus, W. (Ed.). (1981). Henrik Pontoppidan:Hans im Glück. Frankfurt am Main: Insel
Awards and Grants
2012 | "Premio Internazionale di Estetica" (awarded by the Società italiana di Estetica) |
2002 | Elected as full active member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) |
Projects
- Elegance
This project focuses on the cognitive and affective implications of elegance, the range of phenomena that have the potential to be elegant, and the aesthetic and phenomenological qualia of (experiencing) elegance. Moreover, it investigates ...
- Defining "aesthetic emotions"
The projects is devoted to reviewing the philosophical and psychological research on "aesthetic emotions". Its objective is to cover the topic in a major theoretical review paper and to develop a multi-dimensional model of "aesthetic ...
- Developing an "Aesthetic Emotions Scale" (AESTHEMOS)
A theoretical construct of "Aesthetic Emotions" is useful for empirical research only to the extent that methods for measuring actually felt aesthetic emotions are developed. The project undertakes this effort: it develops highly nuanced ...
- Iconic relations of sound and emotional meaning in poetry
Are there affective sounds in poetry that differ between joyful and sad poems? Or, in other words, is there a connection between sound and meaning in poetry – a phenomenon often referred to today by the term "phonological iconicity"? What ...
- Syntax and effects of prosody in Kleist’s prose style
The project is devoted to analyzing distinctive patterns of prosodic grouping and implementing caesuras in Heinrich von Kleist’s narratives. It tests the hypothesis that Kleist’s syntax as well as his use of punctuation promotes his art of ...
- Behavioral, physiological and neural substrates of parallelistic diction
In a series of studies we investigate the behavioral and physiological effects as well as the neural substrates of the numerous features of parallelistic diction (such as alliteration, meter, anaphora, and many others), as used in poetry, proverbs, ...
- Poetic Licenses
This project investigates the processing effects of linguistic deviations in poetry and, specifically, their contribution to aesthetic evaluation. Formal and semantic/conceptual detours from normal language use seem to typify poetry to such an extent ...
- Prose Rhythm
Latin rhetoric considered the artistic treatment of linguistic rhythm as a potent rhetorical feature not only of verse, but also of literary, philosophical and oratorical prose. However, it failed to push the analysis of prose rhythm beyond ...
- Lyrical speech melody
Since antiquity, poets have been likened to singers. The Romantic understanding of poetry has further reinforced the analogies between music and poetry. Our project investigates the extent to which this analogy can be pushed beyond meter and rhyme to ...
- Neuronal Processing of Metaphorical Movement
This study uses EEG to examine the neuronal processing of verbs which reference physical movement in metaphorical and literal contexts. Rhetorical theory suggests that a language rich in imagery supports an especially lively cognitive and affective ...
- Does reading of poetic and literary language recruit/involve distinct eye movement patterns?
This research project investigates the processing of aesthetically relevant features of language during reading of poetry and literary narratives. The aim of the project is to use analyses of eye movement records to investigate the cognitive, ...
- Horripilation
Several studies have shown that emotional goosebumps are tightly related to episodes of being moved/touched. But what about other emotions? A wide-spread language use associates emotional goosebumps with experiencing horror (horripilation); ...
- Shivers down the spine in poetry and music
The wise reader reads the book of genius not with his heart, not so much with his brain, but with his spine. ...
- Getting to grips with erotic bestsellers
Novels with explicit depictions of sexual acts and thoughts have been popular for a long time. In recent years, large digital fan communities have evolved that communicate about the reading of erotic bestsellers. This boom gives rise to the ...
Contact
Prof. Dr. Winfried Menninghaus
Director emeritus