The book contains studies in the exchange relationship between literary and academic discourse, with an emphasis on the period from approx. 1750 to approx. 1830. The authors dealt with include F. A. Wolf, J. G. Herder, F. Schlegel, Achim v. Arnim, the Brothers Grimm and Goethe. The focal point is the question of how literature reacts to becoming the object of academic study itself. In this debate, the main point at issue is the function of literature as a central medium for the creation of tradition. Here the debate also links on with the present-day academic discussion on the philological rollback in literary studies.