Strange Cases

Résumé

For a theory of marginality, the "case" represents a category that is as pertinent as it is strange. Rules can be applied to particular cases, from particular cases one can arrive at rules, and what is more, rules are supposed to be confirmed by exceptions. In my lecture I would like to discuss these casuistic difficulties with regard to literary hermeneutics, referring to some strange case histories in literature (Kleist, Poe, Stevenson, Charms).