What is Funzel?

 

A Funzel can be considered a dim light. Weak, but persistent enough to give light to a lonely philosopher writing through gloomy nights. Cheap enough to equip harbour taverns and pubs on scruffy crossroads, sufficiently reliable to assist swamp barges on nautical adventures and to shine on broken easels in an artist’s atelier. A Funzel is a nearly extinguishing torch. A miserable lantern. A quivering flame.

If a Funzel were to die out, one would be standing in the dark. And have philosophers, seafarers, travellers, artists and thinkers not always been dependent on their specific Funzels? They cared about not letting the flame diminish. They cherished the spirit just as Hegel did (and probably much more). They knew if they did not give all their energy to upholding the fire, ideas and illumination would soon perish.

So do we. In the circle of our small dim light, we try to catch a glimpse at the big questions outside of the ivory towers. Philosophy is an inclusive project. It depends on collaboration, exchange and debate. It covers questions of daily life, of art, of literature and physics. It is not the exclusive domain of specialists. It belongs to all those who think and feel.

Is there something you’re passionate about? You’ve always wanted to write down all your thoughts about Locke? You’re longing to finally publish all those book critiques gathering dust on your shelf? You’ve still got a theatre review somewhere in your desk drawer? Then DIE FUNZEL is the right place for you. Here notions meet their audience. Our aim is to bring philosophy back into the wider context of the humanities. Because ideas and arguments are important. And it does not matter whether they come from lecturers, postgrads or freshers.

So, our platform is made for an interdisciplinary community that values thought. In the tradition of the satirical Viennese magazine DIE FACKEL we want to highlight what current philosophical students listen to, what they like, what they think and what they speak about. If you too are yearning for enlightening surroundings, then join our illustrious circle and broaden the range of the chattering FUNZEL. Have a look at our articles in English!

 

You want to become a part of Funzel? This is how we work:

Our editorial team is organised in a rather flexible manner. We do not have a fixed group that one needs to become a member of. Rather, there is a community of writers who know or may not know each other. People in this community write and discuss texts and ideas together or by themselves. Eventually, the final result will get published and shared on the Funzel platform, in print or online. Texts can be written in German as well as in English.

Some college towns such as Munich or Freiburg have a set group of authors. They know each other and meet on a regular basis. Other writers live in other towns or countries and take part in the discussions from abroad. The community allows for certain people to have an assigned post, to develop their own project or to work with other people to realize new ideas. Thus, there are people that organise our Summer schools, people who work on our print editions, that are in charge of our website, our social media, that organize our release parties or that look over and edit submissions.

The texts produced by our community can be published either in our print editions or online. For these two options there are two different ways for the editing process to play out. A text that was published in the print edition can also be published online and texts published online can also be selected to be printed. When a text is being written or sent in, it should nonetheless be made clear if it is intended for our next print edition or for the blog.

The print editions are published biannually and have a pre-decided theme. Print editions have different sections. The names of these sections – “Lighthouse” / “Spotlights”, etc – indicate different genres such as columns, essays or literary prose. Each section is curated by an editor who edits and assesses the texts and selects those which fit well into the theme of the biannual edition.

Texts that are meant for the blog can be published any time. The online editing board tries to publish an article per week. Articles would often appear online first and get printed when the theme of the print-edition allows for it. Reversely, every print edition contains some articles which get exclusively showcased online before or after the print.

 

Submit some articles! This is how we review them:

Any submitted text will go through a peer review process. This isn’t necessarily a double-blind- test since our editors sometimes know the writers personally, but on principle we try to go through any text at least twice: Firstly, the person in charge of the section will look at it. Secondly, the person in charge of the blog or the print edition has to approve it. Most of our section editors are chosen by the person who is in charge of the print publication, but the detailed responsibilities can depend on the theme of the text or the theme of the print edition. Blog submissions will mostly be reviewed by whoever is assigned the task.

The formal focus of our editing process is unconstrained as to whether the text will be published on paper or online. We always try to follow our publication guidelines to decide whether a text will be published or not. It is important to note that our print editions take the selection and harmonising of the overall body of the magazine into account.

Another important feature of the review process is our commitment not only to the improvement of grammar and syntax, but also of the philosophical argument behind it. This means that our editors will make notes on the content of the text and question arguments or statements made.This is not to discard any uncommon view, instead we want to sharpen what is at the core of the text as much as possible in order to allow for a critical reading and discussion. Hereby we act in accordance with the principle of charity. We believe that a text should be taken seriously by taking its words straightforwardly, discussing it seriously and by challenging it. Our editors try to make use of this kind of critical reading to improve the texts read. The content editing is also meant to help any freshmen who are still unsure about their writing in order to come out with a readable and philosophically interesting text, since any content editing will start a philosophical discourse between the author and the editor, leading to a more eased way of writing. We believe that having the opportunity to read and discuss your philosophical texts with fellow students at the end of an intensive editing session is a success in itself and an important part of studying.

 

You’re interested?

Send your text to redaktion@diefunzel.com! You find more information about our submission criteria and our format requirements summarized in our publication guidelines, which you can download here. You still have a question or other queries? Get in touch!