ÌÇÐÄTV

Katharina Forster (PhD student, Department of German Studies, University of ÌÇÐÄTV)

The idea of ‘human emergence’ (Mikhail Bakhtin) constitutes a highly influential structural concept within the history of the novel and is emphatically expressed in the bildungsroman in the hero(ine)’s psychological growth and social integration. Dedicated to the intercultural bildungsroman, my project explores contemporary works of migrant and postcolonial literature which highlight the quest for self-discovery in times of mass migration and (post)colonialism, and present human development not only in temporal terms as personal and social transformations within societies but also spatially as intercultural processes.

Aspects of my research are the hero(ine)’s personal and sociocultural development, the genre’s original prerogative of educating the reader and the role of genre traditions. This last aspect (the focus of my presentation) will be explored on the basis of Alev Tekinay’s novel Der weinende Granatapfel, a highly allusive text which overtly engages with and evokes the bildungsroman of the Romantic period.

Hanna E. Schumacher (PhD student, Department of German Studies, University of ÌÇÐÄTV)

„Der Mensch, das große Ungedachte“ – Configurations of (Post)Humanity in contemporary German literature

 The presentation will focus on theoretical problems of my research, especially on the theory of posthumanism and how (or more precisely if) this theory is applicable on certain texts dealing with posthumanism.

Frederik Frank Sterkenburgh (PhD student, Department of German Studies, University of ÌÇÐÄTV)

Upon being proclaimed German emperor in 1871 William I faced the task of staging himself as sovereign of a country unified in three controversial wars and characterized by strong regional political identities, confessional loyalties and political division. By the time of his death in 1888, this staging was not without its success, as was demonstrated by the public’s interest in his funeral and the printed media unanimously hailing him as German emperor. How did this transformation come about? In my research I will use cultural approaches to political history, which underlines the interaction between political practices and Bedeutungsstrukturen, and draw on previously little used archival material to answer this question on the ‘monarchical interpretation of the nation’ (Jakob Vogel). Consequently, my current research project can provide new insights on the transformation of the role of the Hohenzollern monarchy and German national integration after 1871, as well as the political culture of the early German empire.

Seminars consist of two 20-minute presentations, with plenty of time for discussion. Today's speakers are:

Christabelle Peters (IAS/ÌÇÐÄTV Hispanic Studies)"Afrocentrism or Africentrism? Transnational Dimensionalities of Brazil's African Cultural Centres”   

Paulo de Medeiros (ÌÇÐÄTV English and Comparative Literary Studies)“Tabu and Fetich: The Discreet Seduction of Postimperial Nostalgia”

A seminar with Michael Sullivan (translator)

Italian Research Seminar

7 May 2014

H403

5pm

The seminar will include a brief presentation of Belli's critical fortune in England and Sullivan's work as a translator of Belli's poems. It will be followed by a conversation between Gabriele Scalessa (PhD candidate, ÌÇÐÄTV) and the author on his "translation philosophy".