CFP 2011: German

French and Francophone: “Transposing the Arts”

LGBTQ: “Queer Space(s) in the German-Speaking World”

Collecting in German Literature and Culture: This panel explores how objects acquire meaning by collocation. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) theories of collecting; collecting and the “archival impulse” (Hal Foster)/the cultural record; private vs. public collecting; the pathology of collecting; the collector’s item as commodity; the politics of collection strengths and collection gaps; the institutionalization of collections; and the physicality of memory. Please send 1-2 page abstracts to Regine_Heberlein@alumni.brown.edu and cagle@lycoming.edu.
Cultural and Political Dislocation and Reorientation in United Germany: This session will explore the sense of rupture or loss of identities, and the struggle to establish new identities after major historical and cultural upheavals following the fall of the Wall. Papers might address diverse experiences of social and intellectual dislocation, new approaches toward reorientation and integration, political and intellectual discourses, as well as the broad cultural spectrum of fiction and autobiography, film and essayistic writing. Send abstract to Barbara Mabee, Oakland University, mabee@oakland.edu
Eighteenth-Century Hierarchies: During the eighteenth century, established hierarchies, not only of social rank, but also of gender and literary genre, were called into question. At the same time, there is a tendency in literature of this period to reinstate these sorts of hierarchies. The panel will explore how various hierarchies are both maintained and dismantled in German literature of the eighteenth century. Please send 250-word abstracts to Eleanor ter Horst at eterhorst@clarion.edu.
Fatih Akin and his Films: Fatik Akin, the new Fassbinder of the German film, has directed numerous films that won national and international awards. What is special about his films? What issues do his films deal with? How can his films be used in German classes at various levels? This panel seeks papers that deal with any aspect of Fatih Akin’s most recent films. Please send a one-page abstract and a brief biographical statement to: Ingrid Zeller, Northwestern University; izeller@northwestern.edu
German Romanticism and the Revolution in Science: This panel seeks papers on German Romantic literary works and the revolution in science. Romanticism is usually viewed in opposition to the Enlightenment and the ideal of scientific objectivity, yet this rebellion occurred in tandem with the scientific and philosophical revolutions of the 19th century and their focus on a new science of living things where organism was seen as prior to mechanism. Please submit 250-500 word abstracts on scientific inventions, discoveries, debates to Christa Spreizer at christine.spreizer@qc.cuny.edu.
Herta Müller: Perspectives on the Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature (Roundtable): This roundtable seeks papers on a variety of perspectives on, critical approaches to and thematic inquiries into the work of Herta Müller. Topics include but are not limited to modernist aesthetics and poetic innovation; texts and contexts; public reception; public persona; methodological approaches; the canon and Balkanization; relation to former-GDR dissident authors; critical scholarship; reading Müller alongside other authors; memory and trauma; autobiography and fiction. Send 300-500 word abstracts to Maria Grewe at msg52@caa.columbia.edu.
Hybrid Identities: Second Generation Immigrants (Austria, Germany, Switzerland): How do second generation immigrant authors process their own socialization and their heritage culture and language in narratives? What constitutes a hybrid identity in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland? How are their narratives different from main-stream texts and do these texts influence the literary discourse in the respective country? Send abstracts to Margrit Zinggeler at mzinggele@emich.edu.
Images of Eastern Europe in Recent German Literature and Film: This panel seeks papers on the representation of Eastern Europe in recent German literature and film. How have Eastern Europe and the East-West relationship been reevaluated as a result of unification, expansion of the European Union,globalization, and the events of 9/11? How has the new generation of writers and filmmakers overcome stereotypes and misrepresentations associated with Poland, Russia, and other Eastern European countries? Please send 250-word abstracts to Petra Fachinger, Queen’s University, petra.fachinger@queensu.ca.
Magic and Mechanics – Trends in Recent German Young Adult Fiction: This panel strives to examine dominating trends in recent German young adult fiction. Apart from sparkling vampires and diaries of wimpy kids, what are the stimulating topics and genres that engage German-speaking teenage readers? Possible topics: the re-imagining of literary classics; the intersection of YA fiction and comics; thematic innovations entering ‘mainstream’ novels (steampunk, queerness, intersections of videogames and YA novels).Please submit 250-500 word abstracts to Stefanie Kullick at stefanie.kullick@queensu.ca
‘Nationalism-with-a-big-N’ in German Historical Fiction of the Long 19th-Century: The genre of historical fiction is contradictory in nature—it is fiction grounded in fact, a product of both accuracy and illusion. This panel examines depictions of the nation in German historical novels of the long 19th-century. Welcome are abstracts that address the National in nineteenth-century German historical fiction and analyses of nationalism from the center (metropole) looking at the periphery (colonies or margins), from the periphery toward the center, and the state within the state. Diane Liu, Brown University, dliu22@gmail.com.
Rafik Schami - The Poet and Storyteller: Rafik Schami is the most well known, mostly read and studied of all writers and storytellers with a migration background living in Germany. His literary and non-literary works have been seen as a bridge between the “Morgenland” and the “Abendland,” as a contribution to „cross-cultural exchange and multicultural dialogue.“ Invited are papers that deal with any aspect of Schami’s literary works, especially his most recent works. Please send a one-page abstract to: Mohamed Esa, McDaniel College, mesa@mcdaniel.edu
Rap Music’s Sophisticated Dialogues with Society: This panel expands on the theme of dialogues within rap music to consider dialogues that rappers have had with members of dominant communities. How does the quality and nature of the dialogue work to elevate rap lyrics to the script of a viable debate partner? At what point does the language of the two groups converge when seeking to place the blame for social problems? Please submit a 200-500 word abstract to Lynn Marie Kutch at kutch@kutztown.edu.
Reading German Girls: This panel invites proposals that locate girlhood studies in a German Studies context. Particularly of interest are studies of how girl identity is constructed in and through literature and reading. Possible topics include girls’ reading circles, Backfischbücher, reading habits and concerns about “Lesewut,” online communities, and education. Also welcome are intersectional analyses and comparative approaches. Please send 300 word abstracts to Maureen Gallagher, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, mogallag@german.umass.edu.
Suddenness (Plötzlichkeit) and Literature: This panel examines the possibilities and limitations of suddenness as a concept in literary analysis and interpretation. It invites contributions on literary works and theories of time in literature or philosophy that bring the concept of suddenness into dialog with existing literary “time” theory (Weinrich, Bakhtin, Genette), “time” philosophy (Bergson, Husserl, Heidegger), and literary texts in narrative, drama, and poetry. Send 300-word abstracts in German or English to Thomas Herold (therold@fas.harvard.edu) by September 15, 2010.
Towards a Continuum of Language, Culture, Literature in Undergraduate German: The panel is interested in papers dealing with the integration of lower- and upper-level courses of college German programs. If German language and culture must be regarded as core competencies of a profession largely revolving around literary studies, is the language acquisition process treated with the programmatic respect it deserves? Program descriptions and experiences that give evidence of addressing the cultural and literary aspects are welcome. Abstracts to: Elke Nicolai, Hunter College, CUNY enicolai@hunter.cuny.edu
Transnational Genres in 18th Century German Literature: The 18th century German literary landscape is marked by increased cultural transfer via travel and translation. This panel seeks to explore the influence and/or impact of this transnational tendency on such genres as the bürgerliches Trauerspiel, the weinerliches Rührstück (comédie larmoyante), the Briefroman, Reiseliteratur and others, including poetry. Who are the agents pushing this transnational process, how important are gender considerations in this context? How does this process manifest in genre-specific terms? (weigerta@georgetown.edu)
Ventures into the Unknown: Literary and Cinematic Representation of City Spaces: We are seeking for a broad range of interpretations of the city in literature, cinema, and theory: Spatial theories by Michel de Certeau, M. Foucault, Marc Augé, H. Lefebvre, etc. Theoretical writings on city spaces by W. Benjamin, S. Kracauer, G. Simmel, etc. Literary texts relating to the city as memory, identity, as a literary genre, and as a utopia/dystopia(Kafka, W.G. Sebald, Leo Spitzer, T. Bernhard, Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, etc.). Send abstracts to: katrin_springer22@yahoo; ssivkoff@rci.rutgers.edu
Writing Surveillance: Transcultural Perspectives: The panel seeks to expand the current focus on GDR and post-unification narratives of Stasi surveillance to narratives from other socialist and post-socialist states. How do cultural and political circumstances allow for different surveillance discourses? How does a transcultural approach enhance our understanding of the problem, both as a universal phenomenon and in the GDR context? The panel welcomes contributions on the problem of surveillance and its legacy in German or other literatures. English or German abstracts: john.heath@univie.ac.at

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