Reading the Unread

The question ‘What to read?’ sounds like freedom of choice in the face of a huge range of options. However, those seeking guidance and assistance in making a decision often rely on the opinion of others. The underlying selection processes are not always transparent. What we end up reading is influenced by practices that involve players on the book market, libraries and archives, schools and universities – but we as readers also influence these processes. The exhibition shows some examples of how this works: it questions what is taught and read in schools, what is collected and how it is sorted, which works have already been published and which (still) remain out of print.

The lists of ‘important’ books that have been compiled throughout the centuries do not reflect the diversity that characterises the world and literature. This exhibition therefore focuses on texts that have been forgotten or excluded from the canon; voices that need to be heard (again); literature that is worth discovering. It invites visitors to encounter literature that is absent from the usual lists and can only be found on very few shelves. For example, it showcases little-known treasures that are housed in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin but are rarely displayed and are not included in the narrative of literary history. These include texts by women writers in the Middle Ages, by female Romantics writing under pseudonyms, and Black German literature. Inspiration can be found in the collaboratively compiled “Lückenliste” by the #breiterkanon network, which is also presented here. In short videos, those involved in the project give reasons for their literary recommendations and talk about why these works should be rediscovered.

Neither the “Lückenliste” nor the exhibition can provide a final answer to the question ‘What to read?’. They are incomplete and have gaps themselves – they have room to grow: What is missing? What texts do you now feel like reading?