Lists are such a simple and ubiquitous form in our everyday lives that we
do not think twice about their form. At the same time, lists abound in literary texts,
where they considerably impact our reading experience. In order to come to terms
with the special form of the list, and the many functions it can fulfil across both
literary and non-literary contexts, the concept of affordance offers a useful startingpoint.
›Affordance‹ refers to those aspects of an object or form that it is capable of
– its potential functions and uses. Applied to the list, the concept allows us to grasp
the list’s unique formal status: it is remarkably stable over time and yet profoundly
sensitive to historical and social contexts as well as adaptable to both practical and
literary contexts.

EB00000002852K

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• Die Affordanzen der Liste