Die Textualität der Kultur. Gegenstände, Methoden, Probleme der kultur- und literaturwissenschaftlichen Forschung

Im Zuge des sogenannten "cultural turn", der die traditionellen Geisteswissenschaften als Kulturwissenschaften neu bestimmte, sah sich auch die Literaturwissenschaft mit ganz neuen Ansprüchen konfrontiert: Statt sich wie bisher mit literarischen Werken oder Texten des täglichen Gebrauchs zu befassen, sollte sie plötzlich mittels interdisziplinärer Ansätze kulturelle Phänomene aller Art wie Rituale, politische Machtstrukturen oder gesellschaftliche Konstellationen analysieren und erklären. Eine Möglichkeit, das Verhältnis von Text und kulturellem Kontext zu denken, bildet die Vorstellung der Textualität der Kultur, die von Stephen Greenblatt, Louis Montrose und anderen Vertretern des New Historicism unter Bezugnahme auf den Kulturbegriff des Ethnologen Clifford Geertz entwickelt wurde. Geertz versteht Kultur als ein „Netzwerk von bedeutungstragenden Verknüpfungen“ (Geertz 1973), dem ein semiotischer, also ein textueller Charakter eigen ist. Dieses analytische Modell eröffnet die Möglichkeit eines bruchlosen Übergangs zwischen dem Text und dem ihn umgebenden Kontext – eines Übergangs, der in beide Richtungen funktioniert und zudem als "dynamisch" vorgestellt wird: Nicht nur wird der Text als Produkt kultureller Einflüsse angesehen und in einen bereits existierenden Kontext eingeordnet, auch dieser Kontext selbst ist als Zeichengewebe charakterisiert durch seine latenten Bedeutungspotentialen, die erst in der entsprechenden Lektüre aktualisiert und damit realisiert werden. Diese Auffassung von der Textualität der Kultur und der Kulturalität von Texten bildet die gemeinsame methodische Annahme der im vorliegenden Tagungsband versammelten Beiträge.After the "cultural turn" of the 1990s redefined the traditional humanities under the label “Cultural Studies”, literary studies were confronted with new challenges. Suddenly, instead of concentrating mainly on literary works or texts fromeveryday life, they were expected to analyse and explain cultural phenomena such as rituals, structures of power or social constellations, using interdisciplinary methods. One possibility for conceptualizing the relationship between text and context is the notion of the "textuality of culture". This idea was coined by Stephen Greenblatt, Louis Montrose, and other scholars of "the New Historicism," referring to a concept of culture first developed by the ethnologist Clifford Geertz. To Geertz, culture is a “web of significance” of a semiotic and textual nature (Geertz 1973). Assuming a dynamic rather than a static relationship, this analytical model allows for fluent interactions between text and context: No longer is a text just considered to be a product of cultural influences set within a given context. Instead, this context, being a web of signs, was understood to be itself "textual", creating unfulfilled potentials of meaning. Only by being ‘read’ and actualized, are these cultural meanings solidified andthus made real. These notions of the "culturality of texts" and the "textuality of culture" constitute the common methodological assumptions of all the articles assembled in this volume

Association of Brain Atrophy with Disease Progression Independent of Relapse Activity in Patients with Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Importance: The mechanisms driving neurodegeneration and brain atrophy in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) are not completely understood. Objective: To determine whether disability progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) in patients with RMS is associated with accelerated brain tissue loss. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this observational, longitudinal cohort study with median (IQR) follow-up of 3.2 years (2.0-4.9), data were acquired from January 2012 to September 2019 in a consortium of tertiary university and nonuniversity referral hospitals. Patients were included if they had regular clinical follow-up and at least 2 brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans suitable for volumetric analysis. Data were analyzed between January 2020 and March 2021. Exposures: According to the clinical evolution during the entire observation, patients were classified as those presenting (1) relapse activity only, (2) PIRA episodes only, (3) mixed activity, or (4) clinical stability. Main Outcomes and Measures: Mean difference in annual percentage change (MD-APC) in brain volume/cortical thickness between groups, calculated after propensity score matching. Brain atrophy rates, and their association with the variables of interest, were explored with linear mixed-effect models. Results: Included were 1904 brain MRI scans from 516 patients with RMS (67.4% female; mean [SD] age, 41.4 [11.1] years; median [IQR] Expanded Disability Status Scale score, 2.0 [1.5-3.0]). Scans with insufficient quality were excluded (n = 19). Radiological inflammatory activity was associated with increased atrophy rates in several brain compartments, while an increased annualized relapse rate was linked to accelerated deep gray matter (GM) volume loss. When compared with clinically stable patients, patients with PIRA had an increased rate of brain volume loss (MD-APC, -0.36; 95% CI, -0.60 to -0.12; P =.02), mainly driven by GM loss in the cerebral cortex. Patients who were relapsing presented increased whole brain atrophy (MD-APC, -0.18; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.02; P =.04) with respect to clinically stable patients, with accelerated GM loss in both cerebral cortex and deep GM. No differences in brain atrophy rates were measured between patients with PIRA and those presenting relapse activity. Conclusions and Relevance: Our study shows that patients with RMS and PIRA exhibit accelerated brain atrophy, especially in the cerebral cortex. These results point to the need to recognize the insidious manifestations of PIRA in clinical practice and to further evaluate treatment strategies for patients with PIRA in clinical trials.

Association of Brain Atrophy With Disease Progression Independent of Relapse Activity in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis.

Importance The mechanisms driving neurodegeneration and brain atrophy in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) are not completely understood. Objective To determine whether disability progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) in patients with RMS is associated with accelerated brain tissue loss. Design, Setting, and Participants In this observational, longitudinal cohort study with median (IQR) follow-up of 3.2 years (2.0-4.9), data were acquired from January 2012 to September 2019 in a consortium of tertiary university and nonuniversity referral hospitals. Patients were included if they had regular clinical follow-up and at least 2 brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans suitable for volumetric analysis. Data were analyzed between January 2020 and March 2021. Exposures According to the clinical evolution during the entire observation, patients were classified as those presenting (1) relapse activity only, (2) PIRA episodes only, (3) mixed activity, or (4) clinical stability. Main Outcomes and Measures Mean difference in annual percentage change (MD-APC) in brain volume/cortical thickness between groups, calculated after propensity score matching. Brain atrophy rates, and their association with the variables of interest, were explored with linear mixed-effect models. Results Included were 1904 brain MRI scans from 516 patients with RMS (67.4% female; mean [SD] age, 41.4 [11.1] years; median [IQR] Expanded Disability Status Scale score, 2.0 [1.5-3.0]). Scans with insufficient quality were excluded (n = 19). Radiological inflammatory activity was associated with increased atrophy rates in several brain compartments, while an increased annualized relapse rate was linked to accelerated deep gray matter (GM) volume loss. When compared with clinically stable patients, patients with PIRA had an increased rate of brain volume loss (MD-APC, -0.36; 95% CI, -0.60 to -0.12; P = .02), mainly driven by GM loss in the cerebral cortex. Patients who were relapsing presented increased whole brain atrophy (MD-APC, -0.18; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.02; P = .04) with respect to clinically stable patients, with accelerated GM loss in both cerebral cortex and deep GM. No differences in brain atrophy rates were measured between patients with PIRA and those presenting relapse activity. Conclusions and Relevance Our study shows that patients with RMS and PIRA exhibit accelerated brain atrophy, especially in the cerebral cortex. These results point to the need to recognize the insidious manifestations of PIRA in clinical practice and to further evaluate treatment strategies for patients with PIRA in clinical trials