Are questions about German literature on-topic?

Question

With German literature I mean

• Literaturepochen/-strömungen (transl. please, "Does this piece pertain to Romantisicm?")

• German authors (e.g. their style of writing)

• Searching for texts (e.g. "I am looking for a text which best represents Schiller's use of...", "Is there a Sonnet about death?")

This list does not represent a definition of German literature. To me, discussing the finer points of German language simply implies the above.

Answer 1

As suggested by Wrzlprmft in the chat room, I am posting an answer to see if we can reach a consensus on this question.

I would consider the following types of literature-related questions as off-topic:

• Does work X belong to epoch Y (e.g. Romanticism)? Answers to such questions would normally be based on the date, content and writing style of the work rather than on purely linguistic aspects. By writing style, I here refer to linguistic aspects that go beyond phrase-level or sentence-level aspects.
• Do the works of author X belong to German literature? This means that the question Are the works of Kafka considered German literature? would be off-topic in spite of its 16 upvotes. This question is specifically about "sociopolitical distinction[s]" and the definition of "German literature". Making this question on-topic would require renaming the site to "German Language and Literature Stack Exchange".
• Where can I find the text of work X?
• Did author X really write poem Y?
• When did author X write/publish work Y?
• In German literature, is there a work similar to X in [English/French/Spanish/Chinese/...] literature. Example: What's the “The Anatomy of Melancholy” of German literature?, which as put on hold on 23.12.2018.
• Is literary genre X a subset of literary genre Y? For example, Is a Krimi a subset of a Roman?. Genre definitions are literary questions, not linguistic questions.
• Recommendations for works of literature. For example, Simple but interesting German literature. This question was preserved for historical reasons, stating that '"big list" questions are not generally allowed on German Language and Usage and will be closed per the FAQ.'

Of course, linguistic questions encountered in works of literature are on-topic. For example,

• What does the word X in work Y mean? For example, What does the verb “halten” with a dative object mean? It doesn't really matter whether you encountered a certain linguistic feature on the radio, on the Internet, in a newspaper or in a work of fiction.
• What linguistic resource can help me read/understand work X / the works of author Y / works from epoch Z? For example, Welches Wörterbuch kann mir helfen, damit ich Goethes “Faust” verstehe? (This type of question is OK from the point of view of distinguishing linguistic questions from purely literary ones. However, this type of question risks being read as a recommendation question, and the question What to do with our book recommendation questions? does not have an answer at the time of writing.)
• What is the difference in meaning between word X and word Y in work Z / epoch Z / ...? For example, Bedeutung und Unterschied zwischen “Läuterung” und “Verklärung” im poetischen Realismus.

What I have tried to do here is define a dividing line between on "German" in a linguistic sense (on-topic) versus "German" in a non-linguistic sense (e.g. history of literature, sociopolitical questions) when questions somehow involve literature. Questions about lexical and grammatical issues found in works of literature are on-topic.

---

This is a first attempt to define a borderline between linguistic questions and (non-linguistic) literary questions. Please comment if the distinction is not sufficiently clear. And feel free to add another answer that defines a different borderline. Consensus on questions like this can only be reached through a community effort.