Times of Scarcity –
Early Modern Literature under the Impressions of the ›Little Ice Age‹

Long and harsh winters, spring frosts, hail and rainfall at harvest time: the climatic conditions of the ‚Little Ice Age' meant that life in the early modern period was constantly threatened by experiences of scarcity. Rising prices, widespread pauperisation and the resulting deterioration of health conditions meant that the living circumstances of poorer sections of society were directly and indirectly affected by environmental conditions. Under the title Times of Scarcity – Early Modern Literature under the Impressions of the ›Little Ice Age‹, the conference of the Emmy Noether junior research group „Die Spuren der ‚Kleinen Eiszeit‘ in der Literatur der frühen Neuzeit (1570–1780)“ addresses the question of how early modern literature responded to precarious environmental conditions and the resulting socio-economic hardships, what place depictions of scarcity occupied within the literature of that period, and whether this was accompanied by a specific ‚aesthetics of scarcity'.