THE TASK OF THE MATURE PHILOLOGIST: THE METHOD OF ANSATZPUNKT IN AUERBACH

: The study explores the theoretical and political postulates of the article “Philologie der Weltliteratur”(1952) through the notions of figure, historical perspectivism and kairos. Auerbach suggests the point of departure as aphilological approach, which is an antidote to the tendencies of homogenization, globalization and standardization. Theconcept of Ansatzpunkt is characterized by: concreteness and synthesis, but it also has a dynamic aspect, namely the potentialfor centrifugal radiation. Auerbach’s aesthetic historicism could be understood through the prism of relativism, sensitivity andthe materiality of language, i.e. through style. His approach is based on a historical change fulfilled in the plurality of stylisticusage, and therefore the voice of the literary text should be grasped and heard. Auerbach emphasizes that the concept ofcontemporary education has no longer the sense of historicity. He notes, by the perspective of the diversity of his academicexperience, including his university years in Istanbul and the USA, that a whole generation of literary scholars, who appearedon the academic scene between the two world wars, vanished and they could hardly be substituted. For those scholars, theknowledge of Greek and Latin and reading the Bible is part of their basic skills, which they have acquired in their secondaryeducation. However, such skills are no longer self-evident for younger scholars. So, the point of departure is an instrument forsynthesis, which can provide the historical sense – the possibility to give life to the past events. The task of the maturephilologist is to reconsider the Weltliteratur from the perspective of such starting points as Auerbach did in “Mimesis”.