This handbook gives an overview of systems theory in the field of literature, culture and media studies. The individual entries provide an introduction to the key concepts and problems in such a way that their added heuristic value becomes clear, without requiring a detailed understanding of the whole architecture of Luhmann’s theory for this purpose. The book tests these concepts and problems in exemplary applications and thus demonstrates how works of art, texts and media can be observed in concrete individual analyses from a systems-theoretical perspective.