ICLA 2016 – Abstracts Group Session Panels Content

Transcription

ICLA 2016 – Abstracts Group Session Panels, July 17th, 2016
ICLA 2016 – Abstracts Group Session Panels
Content
Computational Comparative Literature. Corpus-based Methodologies ................................................. 5
16082 - Assia Djebar et la transgression des limites linguistiques, littéraires et culturelles .................. 7
16284 - Pictures for Everybody! Postcards and Literature/ Bilder für alle! Postkarten und Literatur . 11
16309 - Talking About Literature, Scientifically..................................................................................... 14
16377 - Sprache & Rache ...................................................................................................................... 16
16416 - Translational Literature - Theory, History, Perspectives .......................................................... 18
16445 - Langage scientifique, langage littéraire : quelles médiations ? ............................................... 24
16447 - PANEL Digital Humanities in Comparative Literature, World Literature(s), and Comparative
Cultural Studies ..................................................................................................................................... 26
16460 - Kolonialismus, Globalisierung(en) und (Neue) Weltliteratur ................................................... 31
16499 - Science et littérature : une question de langage? ................................................................... 40
16603 - Rhizomorphe Identität? Motivgeschichte und kulturelles Gedächtnis im europäischen
Kulturraum ............................................................................................................................................ 41
16609 - FROM EUROPE TO BRAZIL: THE CIRCULATION OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN THE
PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING WO ................................................................................................................ 43
16657 - Workshop: Productivity of plagiarism ...................................................................................... 49
16658 - Comparative Literature as a Transcultural Discipline .............................................................. 58
16661 - The Ineffability of Language and Mystic Utterances................................................................ 65
16679 - Langues et littératures de jeunesse ......................................................................................... 69
16680 - Mapping Multilingualism in 19th-Century European Literature:… .......................................... 74
16691 - Translation as Utopia/Dystopia ................................................................................................ 82
16692 - Secular Literary Texts and Sacred Exegesis .............................................................................. 84
16711 - The Chinese Scriptworld and World Literature ........................................................................ 86
17430 - Denkbilder der Übersetzung .................................................................................................... 90
16740 - Translation Within a Single Language ...................................................................................... 91
16791 - 'Autor', 'Text' und 'Leser' im Kontext. Komparatistik und Sozialwissenschaften..................... 94
16802 - (POST)IMPERIALE NARRATIVE IN DEN (ZENTRAL)EUROPÄISCHEN LITERATUREN DER
MODERNE .............................................................................................................................................. 98
16829 - Prismatic Translation .............................................................................................................. 104
16832 - Speaking About Small Literatures in Their Own Language .................................................... 111
16881 - New Perspectives on the Paragone ....................................................................................... 117
16929 - Languages of the Imaginary: interdisciplinary reflections ..................................................... 124
17052 - The Text as Being: Ontologies of Redemption and Repair ..................................................... 129
17093 - WORKSHOP: Begegnungsorte und -medien. Transfer, Medialität und Situativität jüdischer
Literatur ............................................................................................................................................... 135
17121 - One theme: different media .................................................................................................. 142
17126 - Dans quelle mesure l'effet de vie est-il la condition du langage de l'art ? ............................ 146
17218 - (Queer) Relationality: Gender and Queer Comparatists at Work Sponsored by the
Comparative Gender Studies Committee ........................................................................................... 149
17220 - ATELIERS : Aspekte der österreichisch-französischen Kulturbeziehungen / aspects des
relation ................................................................................................................................................ 157
17222 - Island Fictions and Metaphors in Contemporary Literature .................................................. 158
17228 - Indian Theatre, Ritual and Drama: Towards an Intercultural Understanding of the Dramatic
Mode ................................................................................................................................................... 166
17229 - The Rhetorics of the Anthropocene ....................................................................................... 173
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17234 - Language Policy and Literary Evolution ................................................................................. 179
17248 - Embracing the Other .............................................................................................................. 181
17252 - Hybridisierung literarischer Sprachen und Ausdrucksformen als Innovationsmodus ........... 189
17254 - Wer spricht im Gedicht? ........................................................................................................ 195
17255 - Comparing the arts: art as a universal language .................................................................... 197
17256 - France - Russie: Littératures croisées. Présences et représentations de la langue de l'autre199
17257 - Texts with No Words: Communication of Speechlessness .................................................... 206
17259 - World fantastic literature: multiple languages, multiple perspectives.................................. 213
17261 - Languages of Climate - Comparative Approaches to the Environment ................................. 218
17267 - Translingual entanglements - African francophonie and its "others".................................... 223
17268 - Stylistic Phenomena in Multilingual Literature since 1900 (Finno-Ugrian Studies/ Scandinavia
............................................................................................................................................................. 225
17277 - The Many Languages of Medieval Literature, 4 sessions....................................................... 230
17278 - Intermedialität: Konzeptionalisierungen und Methoden. ... ................................................. 235
17280 - Comparison and Intermediality: The Gesamtkunstwerk ....................................................... 238
17281 - The Languages of Theory ....................................................................................................... 247
17282 - Pratiques littéraires du plurilinguisme - mondes arabes ....................................................... 256
17283 - Poetics through time : the comparatist perspective.............................................................. 259
17284 - INTERFERENZEN: Dimensionen und Phänomene der Überlagerung in Literatur und Theorie
............................................................................................................................................................. 263
17285 - Towards a New World Literature ........................................................................................... 274
17286 - The Atlas Project .................................................................................................................... 281
17287 - Comparing Comparative Literatures: Models and Methods ................................................. 285
17288 - SOUTH ASIAN PATHWAYS : LANGUAGES, GENDER AND POLITICS ....................................... 288
17289 - Sprache und Liebe .................................................................................................................. 302
17290 - Quand le recours aux langues d'origine fait la différence ..................................................... 305
17292 - A challenge for Comparative Literature: … ............................................................................ 311
17294 - Lektüre und/als Theorie. Zwischen Metasprache und Artefakt............................................. 317
17295 - Original / Translation. The implied languages of imagined translations ............................... 325
17297 - The Serialization of Literature and the Arts: Comparative Approaches. ............................... 331
17299 - Modernism and Translation ................................................................................................... 335
17300 - Translation as a common language / La traduction comme langue commune ..................... 338
17301 - Bilingualism in world poetry: languages and cultural transfer .............................................. 342
17303 - Langages, voyages et migrances au féminin .......................................................................... 346
17304 - Old and New Concepts of Comparative Literature in the Globalized World ......................... 348
17305 - How can Comparative Literature and the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme
cooperate? .......................................................................................................................................... 354
17306 - The Many Languages of Communist Cultural Resistance in India ......................................... 355
17307 - Literature, Philosophy and Intellectual History: The Language of Interdisciplinary Research
............................................................................................................................................................. 359
17308 - Workshop: Die vielen "Sprachen" der Klassiker. Eine medienorientierte Perspektive ......... 364
17310 - Die Arena der Stimmen: Intermedialität, Intertextualität und Sprachenvielfalt in Literatur und
Film Lateinamerikas............................................................................................................................. 372
17311 - Brazil-language: toward a multipolar globalization in the field of culture ............................ 376
17312 - Languages of Dwelling, Solidarity and Community: A Comparative Semiotics of Urban and
Archit ................................................................................................................................................... 380
17313 - Leftism and Love: The Languages of Anna Lacis's Latvian Legacy.......................................... 381
17314 - Eastern European writers into "major" cultures between 1945 and 1989: .......................... 384
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17316 - Fremde Literaturen im Web 3.0? ........................................................................................... 385
17317 - When narratology does not travel well ................................................................................. 388
17318 - Comparative Literary Histories of Slavery: Group Session, Section E .................................... 393
17319 (Wissenschafts-)Sprachen an der Grenze: Phänomene der Überforderung im Wissen vom
Menschen um 1800 ............................................................................................................................. 396
17320 - Comparative Studies in Central European Context................................................................ 400
17322 - The Languages of Immersion ................................................................................................. 405
17324 - Cartographie européenne de l'écocritique ............................................................................ 408
17325 - Variety of texts and languages in Baltic region of early modernity ....................................... 414
17326 - Poetics of Code ....................................................................................................................... 415
17327 - Theory in Love ........................................................................................................................ 417
17328 - Cultural Anxiety as Creative Potency of Cosmopolitan Perspective in Comparative Literature
............................................................................................................................................................. 425
17329 - Die vielen Stimmen des Georg Lukács: .................................................................................. 428
17331 - IRANIAN COMPARATISM: Recent Challenges and Future Opportunities .............................. 429
17332 - The Metaphor and languages of the diseases, the healing and the medicine since 20th
century. ............................................................................................................................................... 431
17333 - Media, mediation, fiction. Medium as a language? ............................................................... 435
17334 - Das Werk Heimito von Doderers in Übersetzung - Probleme und Chancen ......................... 441
17335 - Unsettled Narratives: Graphic Novel and Comics Studies in the 21st Century ..................... 442
17336 - Engaging Publics In and Through Translation ........................................................................ 449
17337 - Emotion Metaphors and Literary Texts.................................................................................. 454
17338 - Affective language between action and passion ................................................................... 459
17339 - Do you speak digital? The Past, Present, and Future of Electronic Literatures ..................... 464
17340 - Disturbing Crossings: Untranslatability and the Languages of Crossing Borders .................. 464
17341 - Literature and the Language .................................................................................................. 466
17343 - Metaphor and the Conceptualization of Fictionality ............................................................. 473
17346 - Comparative Literature in India and the Many Languages of Indian Literature .................... 475
17347 - Kulturtransfer in fiktionalen Fernsehserien ........................................................................... 483
17353 - New Man, New Languages ..................................................................................................... 485
17354 - Der Süden als Metapher. Komparatistische Annäherungen an eine transkulturelle
Literaturwisse ...................................................................................................................................... 488
17358 - HISTOIRE LITTERAIRE ET CULTURELLE DES AVANT-GARDES. LES CIRCULATIONS
TRANSATLANTIQUES DANS ................................................................................................................. 499
17370 - Afriphone literature: the contribution of African language literature to a comparative liter 502
17400 - Sprache der Migration. Migration der Sprache. Transkulturelle Literatur im Zeitalter... ...... 502
17403 - The Teaching Function of Literature and its Aesthetic: ethical literary criticism................... 515
17408 - Die Sprachen der Biographie .................................................................................................. 522
17416 - The language of satire ............................................................................................................ 526
17417 - Transnational dynamics of global/local literature. A new idea of world literature? ............ 532
17429 - MUTENESS .............................................................................................................................. 536
17462 - Global Modernisms and Transvisual Studies ......................................................................... 538
17477 - A VIEW FROM THE SOUTH ..................................................................................................... 541
17495 - English language for "Universal Brotherhood"? Trans-national Networks, Appropriations and
C ........................................................................................................................................................... 546
16497 - Comparative Literature: Global Practice ................................................................................ 548
17503 - La « forme pure », « l’art absolu », la « littérarité » : utopie artistique ou essence de la ..... 552
17619 - Panel der Kommission der OEAW The North Atlantic Triangle ............................................. 559
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17691 - Cultural Memory: Humanistic and Neuroscientific Perspectives .......................................... 561
19247 - The State of Adaptation Studies Today .................................................................................. 565
19351 - Migrations/Notions/Translations: Concepts of Literature in European Context ................... 568
19438 - Historizing the Dream ............................................................................................................ 569
Author Index: ....................................................................................................................................... 576
4
Computational Comparative Literature. Corpus-based Methodologies
Date: Monday, July 25th
Room: Hs 48
Chair: Christine Ivanovic
Computational Comparative Literature. Corpus-based Methodologies
Ivanovic, Christine (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Austria)
This session will focus on corpus-based literary studies and examine these new modes and
methodological approaches of reading, analyzing, interpreting, translating and editing literary texts in
the context of large text corpora. The examples will demonstrate latest research efforts and research
results of corpus-based studies of literature, computational philology, digital editions, analytical text
encoding practices, and electronic text analysis applications.
9:00 AM - “THIS IS NOT WHAT I INTENDED.” The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus in English as
compared to its German Original “Ich habe es nicht gewollt.”
Biber, Hanno (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
“The Last Days of Mankind” by Karl Kraus starts with the voice of a newsboy shouting to sell a
newspaper and ends with the devastated planet. The drama which depicts the tragedy of the First
World War, which is also a tragedy to be observed in the language of its time, has a strangely poetic
epilogue called "The Last Night" that, after the planet Mars has discontinued its relation with the
earth and a rain of meteors has caused total extinction and silence, ends with God's voice uttering
the famous words of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, one of the dangerous "criminals on the
throne": “THIS IS NOT WHAT I INTENDED!”. New methods of digital literary studies can be used for
the analysis of this text from the time of the First World War and its translation into English which
came out this year. The language of “The Last Days of Mankind” and the translation of its German
texts into English can be used as exemplary objects of a scholarly investigation into the translation
process by making use of digital methods.
9:30 AM - Thomas Bernhard - Lost in Translation
Breiteneder, Evelyn (Austrian Academy of Sciences)
New methods of digital literary studies can be used for the analysis of the text “Wittgensteins Neffe”
by the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard and its translations into English as well as for the study of its
complex reception history. The narration that has a well known philosopher’s name in its title can be
used as an exemplary object of a scholarly investigation into the reception process making use of
digital methods . The language of “Wittgensteins Neffe” and the translations of the German text into
English as well as the relations, the patterns and the distribution of the transformation process from
one culture into another will be examined in this paper.
10:00 AM - Surface Reading. Digital Approaches to Yoko Tawada's multi-lingual corpus
Ivanovic, Christine (University of Vienna)
Yoko Tawada gehört zu der im Verlauf des 20. Jahrhunderts zunehmenden Zahl von AutorInnen, die
einen Sprachwechsel vollzogen haben und deren Werk mehrsprachig angelegt ist. Dies Problem wird
umso virulenter, wenn der Autor/die Autorin Paralleltexte schafft, die nur „quasi Dasselbe“ (U.Eco) in
zwei verschiedenen Sprachen zum Ausdruck bringen. Die Erfassung und Analyse dieser Werke stellt
manche der bisher in den Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften gängigen Zugangsweisen und
Klassifizierungskonventionen vor Schwierigkeiten und fordert neue Ansätze ihrer Erforschung. Im
Vortrag soll gezeigt werden, welche neuen Untersuchungs- und Darstellungsmöglichkeiten die digital
gestützte Texterfassung und Literaturanalyse in diesem Problemfeld anzubieten haben.
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11:00 AM - The Corpus of Parallel Texts in Contrastive Studies
Dobrovolskij, Dmitrij (Russian Academy of Sciences)
The aim of the present article is to attempt to determine the extent to which corpora of parallel texts
can serve as a useful instrument for solving problems of contrastive linguistics; i.e., for describing
specific features in the functioning of Russian forms compared with those of another language. The
study is based on empirical data taken from the Russian-English/English-Russian and RussianGerman/German-Russian parallel corpora of the Russian National Corpus. I focus on lexical
phenomena of these pairs of languages, particularly cross-linguistic equivalence connected with the
language-specific nature of certain lexemes. The analysis of lexical units that lack standard
equivalents in other languages indicates that parallel corpora can help identify both the non-trivial
semantic and discursive properties of such words and the character of their cross-linguistic functional
correspondences.
11:30 AM - Cultural Transfer from a Malaysian Perspective
Sharandin, Artem (Russian Academy of Sciences)
Kulturtransfer liegt an der Schnittstelle vieler Wissenschaften: Kulturanthropologie und Ethnologie
siedeln ihr Forschungsinteresse eher bei Übertragung und Aneignung von kulturellen Objekten und
Praktiken an, Literaturwissenschaft beschäftigt sich mit der Einflussfrage von literarischen Werken
einzelner Autoren auf die anderen Schriftsteller und natürlich auf den Leser selbst. Auch in der
Übersetzungswissenschaft kommt dem Kulturtransfer eine bedeutende Rolle zu, denn der bei der
Translation stattfindende Wechsel von einer sprachlichen Welt in die andere sprachliche Realität ist
nur dann möglich, wenn bestimmte systemhafte sprachliche Phänomene aufeinander abgestimmt
sind und wenn alle zielsprachlichen Lücken im Begriffssystem geschlossen sind.
Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird vor allem auf sprachliche Entitäten beim malaiischen
Translationsdiskurs eingegangen. An einigen Beispielen wird gezeigt, wo verbale und nonverbale
sprachlich sensitive Punkte bei malaiischer Kommunikation liegen.
12:00 PM - Constellations of Karl Kraus: A visualization of toponyms in "Die Fackel"
Barbaresi, Adrien (Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences)
"The Internet actually offers the ideal stage for literary criticism"
"das internet bietet eigentlich die ideale bühne für literaturkritik"
https://schreibschrift.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/web-2-0-und-literaturkritik/
Is there something like a German literary blogosphere? Creation and reception of literary works will
be examined in the light of a corpus-based analysis of blogs in German and of websites from Austria.
Selected examples will be discussed, and attempts to grasp the relevant community as well as most
salient topics will be described.
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16082 - Assia Djebar et la transgression des limites linguistiques, littéraires et
culturelles
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd
Room: IoeG
Chair: Asholt, Wolfgang; Gauvin, Lise
2:00 PM - Écrire, dit-elle : le métadiscours sur l'écriture dans l'oeuvre de Djebar
Gauvin, Lise (Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada)
Dans l’oeuvre d’Assia Djebar, la réflexion sur l’écriture a donné lieu à un recueil de textes, Ces voix
qui m’assiègent, dans lesquels la narratrice revient sur son propre parcours et en explique les
enjeux. Mais déjà dans l’Amour, la fantasia, le métadiscours sur l’écriture était présent sous la forme
d’une prise en charge du récit par un personnage en situation d’écriture qui se dédouble à son tour
en plusieurs figures d’écrivains et qui sont autant d’instances concurrentielles. La compétence
littéraire est ainsi partagée entre ces instances, celles-ci servant de relais à une plus vaste
problématique de l'écriture, chaque figure d'écrivain devenant ainsi les maillons d'une chaîne
ininterrompue, comme les variantes inépuisables d'une histoire/Histoire à déchiffrer et comme une
frontière impossible à définir entre vérité et fiction. « L'écriture autobiographique, me confiait
Djebar, est forcément une écriture rétrospective où votre « je » n'est pas toujours le je, ou c'est un «
je-nous » ou c'est un « je » démultiplié. » J’examinerai ces figures d’écrivains dans ce qu’on peut
désigner comme des autofictions, L’amour la fantasia et Nulle part dans la maison du père, et dans
les romans Oran, langue morte et La disparition de la langue française.
2:30 PM - Écrire dans les plis du/de la/du soi(e) ou pour une éthique du nulle part
Fisher, Dominique (UNC, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA)
Nulle part dans la maison de mon père engage l’écriture dans un « tangage » entre autobiographie,
historiographie et fiction. Ce roman a été souvent lu par la critique dans la continuité de L’Amour et
la Fantasia et sous l’éclairage des dominations (post)coloniales et patriarcales. Or, ce roman soulève
des questions très complexes quant aux rapports entre sexe et genre, colonialité et écriture,
colonialité et dissidence, dans un cadre transnational et transculturel, avant, sous, et après la
colonisation. Je montrerai que les multiples références à la lecture, à l’écriture, au voile, que fait la
narratrice dans ce roman esquissent une éthique (au sens où Spinoza entend ce terme) dissidente du
nulle part, dans un cadre transculturel et transhistorique.
3:00 PM - Silences d'Assia Djebar
Kirsch, Fritz Peter (Institut für Romanistik, Austria)
Les thèmes du silence chez Assia Djebar sont inséparables des thèmes de la voix, au singulier comme
au pluriel. Pour changer la valeur de la parole féminine, marginalisée et déviée au cours de l'histoire
des pays islamiques, l'écrivaine doit recourir à l'écriture, donc passer par le silence du recueillement
créateur, où s'opèrent les transgressions nécessaires. Bien des analyses de l'oeuvre littéraire d'Assia
Djebar explorent ce jeu des voix et du silence. Parfois, on invoque le conflit des langues maghrébines,
pour mieux préciser l'impact du silence qui sous-tend, à des degrés divers, la présence du français, de
l'arabe et du berbère chez l'écrivaine. Il semble cependant que le rôle du silence chez Assia Djebar
est assez complexe pour inspirer d'autres recherches encore, notamment celles qui s'orientent vers
les thèmes de la condition humaine en tant que source de création poétique. Un survol des oeuvres
djébariennes peut faire naître l'idée que le silence concerne de près l'affrontement de l'Homme et du
Monde dans des contextes d'histoire à la fois divergents et semblables. Les romans et les nouvelles
de l'auteure orientent la lecture par des structures spatiales bien solides pour ne pas dire d'une
rigidité contraignante. La nappe pas toujours souterraine du silence dont les acteurs humains font
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l'expérience à des moments privilégiés est là pour ouvrir des perspectives pour ainsi dire cosmiques
en se combinant toutefois avec les thèmes du vide permettant à l'humain de faire sauter parfois, par
une réaction "gratuite" et peut-être funeste, l'ordre des choses et des conditions instaurées par
l'histoire.
4:00 PM - Assia Djebar, devant la douleur des autres
Lionnet, Françoise (Harvard Univ, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Lors de la remise du prix Neustadt, qui lui est attribué en 1996, Assia Djebar invoque le poète syrien
Adonis. Je la cite en anglais, car c’est la seule version publiée : “When I heard that I had been
awarded the Neustadt Prize, I received the news with both joy and sadness. ‘I am happy, I am
unhappy,’ I told Djelal Kadir over the telephone. ‘Happy for myself, unhappy for my country in the
present time.’ I was both unhappy and happy for all my friends and colleagues who had died, for all
those who had fallen: foreign priests, young women teachers and journalists, and the many
anonymous dead in Algeria today. Happy that they have come with me, for as I present myself today
before you, they are all around me; unhappy each time I speak of them, each time that I write of
their absence . . . . The Arab poet Adonis has written: ‘Joy has wings but no body / Sadness has a
body, but no wings!’ Unlike my poet friend, I would like to thank you by offering a response that
would have the wings - or the energy - of sadness, and that would give a body, a solidity, to the joy of
our encounter here today.” Djebar nous a quittés trop tôt pour avoir eu le temps de se prononcer sur
les transformations que vit le monde arabe, du printemps Tunisien aux révoltes en Syrie. Mais son
oeuvre a toujours fait corps avec “la douleur des autres” et je m’attacherai ici à montrer en quoi la
poésie et la prose poétique ainsi que les images qu’elles véhiculent sont pour elle un détour, une
révolution, dont les ailes nous ramènent toujours à la solidité du réel et de ses joies, à la densité du
corps souffrant et à la matérialité de la voix ou de la langue qui représente et fait voir et sentir la
douleur. Joie et tristesse sont des vecteurs de cohésion et de sociabilité par delà les divisions
linguistiques ou ethniques. C’est à travers les r/é/volutions du sentir et du voir qu’un nouveau ‘nous’
se constitue, et l’approche de Djebar nous oblige à repenser et ce que Susan Sontag (On the Pain of
Others) dénonce comme voyeurisme devant la violence et ce qu’Adonis fragmente inutilement en
reproduisant une très ancienne dichotomie du corps (triste) et de l’esprit (gai). Au final, c’est là la
transgression fondamentale de Djebar : renouer, relier, reconstruire ce qui fragmente et divise dans
et par la violence.
4:30 PM - Amour en fuite. Une connaissance d'un autre genre.
Calle-Gruber, Mireille (Université de Paris, Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3, France)
On proposera une lecture de /La Beauté de Joseph/ (Actes Sud, 1999) afin de considérer à l'oeuvre le
processus d'interprétation – au sens herméneutique des textes et au sens musical d'une partition d'Assia Djebar ; et d'analyser comment c'est l'orchestration de plusieurs récits, de langues et de
cultures différentes, chacun présentant une variation sur le motif de "Joseph et la femme de
Putiphar", qui donne naissance à une révélation de la parole critique. Reprenant alors l'interrogation
d'Augustin, selon quoi "la mémoire est comme l'estomac de l'esprit... Quand joie ou tristesse sont
confiées à la mémoire, elles peuvent, comme si elles passaient dans un estomac, s'y déposer, elles ne
peuvent pas y avoir de goût... Mais alors, pourquoi dans la bouche de la pensée ne sent-on pas ?", on
verra en quoi l'écriture d'Assia Djebar parvient, "dans la bouche de la pensée", à faire /sentir l/e goût
des mots des autres et, par eux, le goût de soi-femmes et la grâce de la connaissance d'aimer.
5:00 PM - Une esthétique "en marge": l'entre-les-langues d'Assia Djebar
Asholt, Wolfgang (HU Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
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Assia Djebar a donné au poèmes et aux essais de Ces voix qui m’assiègent (1999) le sous-titre : ... en
marge de ma francophonie. Cette marge envisage un lieu qui est d’abord caractérisé par un « entredeux-langues », mais aussi un « triangle linguistique », pour devenir dans certains romans celui d’un
« entre-les-langues », espace menacé et précaire, pas seulement pour les raison politiques et
idéologiques dans La disparition de la langue française (2003). L’analyse de l’œuvre hétérogène,
caractérisée par une multiplicité de « voix » va essayer de préciser le jeu et le rôle de(s) langues dans
« L’écriture de l’expatriation » qui caractérise l’œuvre entier de l’écrivaine, de La Soif (1957) jusqu’à
Nulle part dans la maison de mon père (2007). Mais elle va aussi poser la question s’il s’agit d’un lieu
d’écriture personnel et exceptionnel, un moment historique de l’entre-deux (colonialisme – postcolonialisme) ou du modèle d’avenir d’une « écriture-entre-les-langues ».
Date: Saturday, July 23rd
9:00 AM - Pour une personnalité maghrébine complexe. Le Livre des Pères inachevé d'Assia Djebar
Ruhe, Doris (Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald, Würzburg, Germany)
Le projet autobiographique d’Assia Djebar était conçu comme un quatuor. Elle n’a pas pu achever le
quatrième tome dont elle avait parlé à maintes reprises. Motivé par une série d’interviews
radiophoniques qu’Assia Djebar a données en 2006 à la journaliste Laure Adler, mon exposé se
focalisera sur le problème de l’inachèvement qui a occupé l’auteure moins comme une donnée
narratologique que comme sujet de réflexion qui ouvre des perspectives sur une société maghrébine
du futur. Elle la souhaite ouverte et plurielle, consciente, à travers ses auteurs et ses langues, des
ressources multiples dont elle pourrait profiter en renouant avec son ou plutôt ses héritages. En se
référant d’un côté à un personnage phare du monde romano-chrétien tel que saint Augustin, né à
Thagaste, l’actuel Souk Ahras algérien, et de l’autre à des auteurs andalous tel que Ibn Hazm, poète
et philosophe du 11e siècle, elle réclame l’intégration du Maghreb dans une civilisation
méditerranéenne au sens large. Dans son désir de combler le fossé qui s’est creusé dans sa propre
génération entre ce qu’on peut appeler les différentes cultures de l’Algérie, elle s’adresse dans un
deuxième temps à l’autre tout proche, à ses confrères pied-noir comme Jean Pélégri et surtout Albert
Camus. Dans l’inachèvement de son œuvre à elle, Assia Djebar rejoint l’auteur pied-noir le plus
célèbre qu’elle voudrait récupérer pour créer une personnalité maghrébine complexe.
9:30 AM - La Représentation des langues dans Nuits de Strasbourg Vers un espace interculturelle
Boukail, Amina (University of Jijel- General and compare literature -Annaba University, Constantine, Algeria)
Les textes d’Assia Dejbar présentent bien l’Algérie plurilingue à travers ses rapports complexes et
parfois paradoxaux. Ce n’est donc pas un hasard si les langues occupent une place importante dans
le roman Les Nuits de Strasbourg où celles-ci deviennent un espace d’interculturalité. Nous
analyserons les rapports entre ces langues et leur signification au niveau du contexte historique à
travers les axes suivants :
1-les langues face au conflit ou coexistence
2-La représentation du Moi face l'Autre
3-Les langues face à la mémoire, leur présent et leur futur.
10:00 AM - Les citations d'auteurs français comme mode de positionnement identitaire
SANSON, Hervé (RWTH-Aachen (Allemagne), Aachen, Germany)
Assia Djebar a élaboré une œuvre singulière pendant 40 ans, fruit d'un entrecroisement de traditions
culturelles hétérogènes, une tradition orale autochtone nourrie par la résistance à la conquête
française, et une tradition écrite occidentale acquise durant sa scolarité en Algérie coloniale puis en
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métropole. Son œuvre comporte un certain nombre de références à la littérature française ; nous
nous interrogerons sur la portée de ces citations et la valeur qu'elles revêtent dans le texte djebarien,
et plus spécifiquement sur ce qu'elles nous disent du positionnement identitaire de l'auteure.
11:00 AM - L'Intarissable conteuse: Assia, Schéhérazade, et le récit périlleux de la résistance
Hiddleston, Jane (University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom)
Dans plusieurs de ses textes, et surtout dans Ombre sultane, Assia Djebar fait référence aux Mille et
une nuits. D’ailleurs, il serait possible de comparer son propre projet de création littéraire à l’activité
de narration entreprise par Schéhérazade. Dans notre intervention, nous projetons ainsi d’analyser la
signifiance de cette comparaison et la production complexe du récit de la résistance féminine. D’un
côté, comme Schéhérazade, Assia Djebar assume le rôle de la conteuse en espérant libérer les
femmes de la loi patriarcale autoritaire par le biais de ses histoires, conçues pour changer les
attitudes et pour réclamer la justice. De l’autre, elle finit en même temps par révéler la fragilité de la
parole littéraire ainsi que le conflit entre femmes que peut engendrer le travail de la narration. La
lecture de Djebar à travers l’intertexte des Nuits sert à nous montrer donc le pouvoir de la narration,
son caractère provocateur, multiple et colorié, ainsi que les tensions qu’elle apporte dans son sillage.
11:30 AM - Relire Loin de Médine; l'écriture "ghobar " d'Assia Djebar, un message féminin,
contemporain, audacieux et "signé" d'une femme de lettres du Maghreb.
Bouchentouf-Siagh, Zohra (Institut für Romanistik, Wien, Austria)
L’écriture ghobar ("poussière" en arabe) est une forme de calligraphie arabe servant à signer et à
copier des corans miniatures. Au-delà du renvoi à la (calli-) graphie, le mot "écriture" dans le titre de
cette communication, entend tenter de mettre en évidence les procédés multiples d’imbrication des
textes que l’écrivaine élabore dans le roman. Ainsi, dans cette fiction, l’écrivaine-historienne
renverse audacieusement la tradition islamique des "rawis" (chroniqueurs chargés de rapporter faits
et dits de la geste du prophète Mohammed) en inventant des "rawiyates", personnages de
chroniqueuses, commettant de ce fait une transgression, non seulement par rapport à la tradition
historiographique arabo-musulmane essentiellement masculine, mais aussi par rapport à la doxa
toujours en place dans les pays musulmans, sur ce qui est considéré par certains comme sacré ou
intouchable. Cette lecture reposera sur certains éléments de grammaire des civilisations arabomaghrébine (Fernand Braudel) et une analyse poétique du texte.
12:00 PM - Enjeu narratif et identité double: l'émancipation par la plume dans Ombre Sultane
d'Assia Djebar
MALVAL, Wessal (Université François Rabelais de Tours, Tour, France)
D’une manière générale, la littérature maghrébine d'expression française est née dans l'urgence et la
nécessité de témoigner poétiquement de la situation d'inconfort politique et social, où vivaient les
pays du Maghreb sous la colonisation, et notamment en Tunisie, en Algérie et au Maroc. La diversité
de cette littérature sera renforcée après l’indépendance, impliquant la création des œuvres aussi
multiples que variées. Assia Djebar, faisant partie de ces algériennes ayant choisi la plume, va
marquer incontestablement la littérature algérienne d’expression française. Son écriture engagée
revendique une certaine transgression des tabous sociaux et religieux dans ce monde arabomusulman où la femme est menacée jusque dans sa liberté la plus individuelle,
C’est à cette réflexion que notre étude sur le roman d’Assia Djebar : Ombre Sultane, souhaite
contribuer en s’efforçant de tracer une voie dans la relation entre son engagement féministe et
identitaire et l’évolution d'écriture et de structure romanesque. Nous allons nous intéresser tout
particulièrement, à la rencontre d’une identité féminine avec l’Autre qui se traduit aussi bien dans le
travail de la langue française que dans l’engagement politique et social. L'enjeu du questionnement à
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l'œuvre est donc aussi, de montrer la perspective féministe qui se confond dans une vision intimiste
et biographique.
Par ailleurs, il ne serait pas anodin de s’attarder sur l’écriture du corps et de la sensualité féminine
qui guide la narration et détermine la structure de l’œuvre. Le corps qui est décrit dans le roman est
avant tout le corps du désir recherché dans la rencontre de la femme avec l’homme à travers la
sensualité et l’érotisme.Le roman porte aussi en exergue la libération de la femme arabo-musulmane
de la domination masculine et des contraintes que lui impose la tradition. L’engagement politique et
idéologique de l’écrivaine puise dans le combat quotidien de la femme algérienne afin de libérer sa
parole et exprimer sa souffrance. Son écriture représente une quête de la voix et de l’identité
féminine qui n’hésite pas à introduire l’oralité dans les textes littéraires. À cet égard, la plume est
pour elle, le moyen de témoigner d’une culture féminine qui existe dans l’ombre et qui s’inspire aussi
bien de l’Histoire algérienne que de ses souvenirs personnels.
16284 - Pictures for Everybody! Postcards and Literature/ Bilder für alle!
Postkarten und Literatur
Room: Seminarraum Geschichte 2
Chair: Sauer-Kretschmer, Simone
9:00 AM - Rilke und die Postkarte, Abstract
Hagemann, Alfred (-, Stuttgart, Germany)
Die ab ca. 1865 erscheinende Postkarte entwickelt sich bis 1900 zum favorisierten
Massenkommunikationsmittel. Rilke, Jahrgang 1875, wächst in diesem „Âge d’or“ der Postkarte auf
und entwickelt sich in ihm zum Dichter. Als junger Mann, 1898, verschickt er noch ganz
selbstverständlich Ansichtskarten, mit sorgfältiger Abstimmung der Bild- und Textseite. Im Prozess
der dichterischen Selbststilisierung entdeckt er zunächst das Tagebuch, dann den Brief als adäquates
Dokumentations- und Kommunikationsmedium für sich, was zu einer „Abneigung gegen Post- und
Ansichtskarten“ (Rilke) führt – zumindest auf programmatischer Ebene. Gleichwohl lassen sich
zahlreiche Belege bzw. explizite Hinweise und Aufforderungen finden, dass beiliegende
Ansichtskarten beachtet werden sollen. Ansichtskarten wachsen sich bei Rilke punktuell zu Briefen
aus, was auf der Meta-Ebene positiv thematisiert wird. Rilke imitiert mit Briefpassagen die
Darstellungs- und Beschreibungsfunktion von Ansichtskarten und erzeugt auf diese Weise, ganz ohne
Vorlage, eine „geschriebene Postkarte“ (Rilke). Der Dichter nutzt Bildpostkarten, ihre Perspektivik
und Bildarrangements zur räumlichen Beschreibung. In Paris, in der Entstehungsphase der "Neuen
Gedichte" (1902-1908), gerät Rilke mit den Tier-Sujets seiner Lyrik in ein Spannungsfeld zur
Postkartenindustrie (und Tiermalerei). Beobachtete Details, die in die Gedichte eingehen, können
durch zeitgenössische Ansichtskarten belegt werden. Die den Briefwechseln beigelegten
Ansichtskarten werden in den vorliegenden Editionen bisher häufig nur vermerkt, erst die neueren
dokumentieren die Bild- und Textseite vollständig. Auf die Literarizität von Rilkes Briefen und ihre
besondere Stellung im Werk sei abschließend nur kurz hingewiesen. Die skizzierten Beobachtungen
wurden im Kontext einer Forschungsarbeit (mit anderen Schwerpunkten) gemacht, genauere
Untersuchungen stehen noch aus.
9:30 AM - Post und Poesie: Gedichte auf Postkarten und Postkarten in Gedichten
Heimgartner, Stephanie (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany)
Post und Poesie: Gedichte auf Postkarten und Postkarten in Gedichten
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Die Kombination von Gedichten mit Postkarten drängt sich geradezu auf: Wo Lyrik auf Karten
gedruckt wird, verbinden sich zwei Genres, die formal zueinander passen und für viele Rezipienten
eher nostalgischen Wert haben. Eine Lyrikpostkarte signalisiert die Gesuchtheit und Preziosität
literarischer und persönlicher Kommunikation.
Weil in der Postkarte zusehends eher ein preisgünstiger Dekorationsgegenstand denn ein
Kommunikationsmittel gesehen und Lyrik eher als altmodische Gattung begriffen wird, wenden sich
Lyrikpostkarten an konservative und postmaterialistische Konsumenten. Die über den Buchhandel,
aber auch über den Geschenk- und Dekorationseinzelhandel angebotenen Postkartensets oder kalender mit Gedichten ergänzen und ornamentieren eine Besinnlichkeitskultur, in der die
angebotenen Lebensweisheiten an ein ephemeres Medium gebunden werden und daher wohl
vorübergehend erfreuen, aber nicht verpflichten.
Neben dieser spätmodernen Populärgattung existiert aber auch der umgekehrte Fall: Hier wird nicht
ein vorab verfasstes Gedicht ausgewählt, um mit einer Karte kombiniert zu werden, und so gleichsam
das Gedicht im Medium der Postkarte für neue Rezipienten zur Verfügung gestellt, sondern das
Medium Postkarte wird im Gedicht reflektiert. Dichter wie der manische Sammler von Postkarten
Paul Éluard oder der italienische Literaturwissenschaftler Edoardo Sanguineti haben das eigentlich
zur pragmatischen Mitteilung erdachte Medium in lyrischen Zyklen reflektiert; daneben gibt es
zahlreiche Einzelgedichte, z.B. von Margaret Atwood, James Schuyler oder Wallace Stevens, die auf
Postkarten rekurrieren.
Der Vortrag beleuchtet die verschiedenen Spielarten der Kombination von Post und Poesie, denen
eins gemeinsam ist: die Reflexion über die Medialität von Literatur und die Rezeptionsbedingungen
marginaler Genres.
11:00 AM - Lückenfüller. Comic-Postkarten um 1900 und die Ästhetik des Comic
Bachmann, Christian (Ch. A. Bachmann Verlag, Berlin, Germany)
Der nordamerikanische Zeitungscomic etabliert sich um 1900 als eigenständige Form graphischer
Narration vor dem Hintergrund und dem Einfluss europäischer Erzählformate aus, wie sie u.a.
Rodolphe Töpffer, Wilhelm Busch und Amédée de Noé seit der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts
entwickeln. Serielle Produktions- und Rezeptionsweisen gehören ebenso zu den medialen
Charakteristika des comic strips wie ein spezifisches Zeicheninventar und die Strukturierung der
Narration in Bildsequenzen – v.a. letzteres Merkmal wurde retrospektiv als
Unterscheidungskriterium von Comic und Cartoon gesetzt. Um 1900 produzieren jedoch diverse
Comicautoren, darunter Richard F. Outcault und Winsor McCay Postkarten mit Motiven ihrer comic
strips, so dass der Comic hier als Ein-Bild-Cartoon erscheint und die spätere Trennung zweifelhaft
wird. In diesem Zusammenhang ist besonders eine Reihe von Postkarten bemerkenswert, die 1906
als Beilage des American Journal veröffentlicht wurden. Sie zeigen Zeichnungen beliebter comic
strips, etwa Frederic B. Oppers "And Her Name was Maud", F.M. Howarths "Lulu and Leander" oder
Rudolph Dirks’ "Katzenjammer Kids". Um trotz der Karten-füllenden Einzelbilder eine sequentielle
Narration herstellen zu können, sind die Bilder mit "unsichtbarer Tinte" überdruckt, die bei Erhitzen
sichtbar wird. Diese als "novelty items" gedachten Karten nehmen einen besonderen Platz im Reigen
sequentieller Narration ein, insofern sie die räumliche Sequenz des Comics in eine zeitliche Sequenz
transformieren, ohne sich von der Statik der Bilder zu lösen. Der Vortrag geht der speziellen Ästhetik
dieser narrativen Postkarten im Kontext der zeitgenössischen Comics nach, auf die sie sich beziehen,
und wirft basierend darauf einen Blick auf die Beziehungen, die Comics später im 20. Jahrhundert zur
Postkarte aufnehmen (etwa bei Anke Feuchtenberger oder im Rahmen von Merchandising).
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11:30 AM - Nick Bantocks Postkarten-Trilogie "Griffin&Sabine" - zur Inszenierung eines literarischen
Texts mittels Intertextualität und Intermedialität
Klomfaß, Vanessa (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany)
In Nick Bantocks ›Griffin&Sabine‹-Trilogie wird das Kommunikationsmedium Postkarte nicht lediglich
in einen literarischen Text integriert, sondern es generiert – zusammen mit dem Medium Brief – das
literarische Werk. Der zu rezipierende ›Text‹ besteht demnach zum einen aus den (hand)schriftlich
fixierten Botschaften der Protagonisten, zum anderen – und hier wird der Fokus des Vortrags drauf
liegen – aus den zunächst irrelevant erscheinenden Informationen, die sich an den Rändern der
Karten anhäufen. In meinem Vortrag möchte ich zeigen, dass das Schreiben eines Datums, die Wahl
der Briefmarke oder des Postkartentitels keinesfalls beliebig oder gar bedeutungslos ist und dass das
visuelle Element ›Schriftbild‹ in gleicher Weise zur Text-Bild-Beziehung beiträgt wie die
Postkartenbilder. Bei dieser Untersuchung wird dem zentralen Konzeptionselement der
Intertextualität, das sich bis in den Paratext hineinzieht, besondere Aufmerksamkeit zukommen.
12:00 PM - Sebalds Postkarten - Sebald's postcards
Schmitz-Emans, Monika (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany)
Unter den reproduzierten Bildmaterialien in W.G. Sebalds Büchern finden sich auch diverse
Postkarten. Der Autor hat alte Photo-Postkarten (wie auch andere alte Photos) gesammelt, die in
seinem Nachlaß erhalten sind. Auf dieser Sammlung beruhen auch die Reproduktionen in den
Büchern. Teilweise dienten die Postkartenbilder aber auch als Motivvorlage für textinterne
Darstellungen; sie lassen sich dabei bestimmten (Leit-)Motivkreisen zuordnen. An ausgewählten
Beispielen der von Sebald als literarisches Material verwendeten Postkarten und ihren literarischen
Kontexten sollen Aspekte skizziert werden, unter denen die Postkarte zum literarischen
Reflexionsmodell wird – nicht nur, aber auch bei Sebald: (a) In ihrer Eigenschaft als photographische
Bilder lösen die Postkarten Reflexionen über den Wirklichkeitsbezug des literarischen Werks aus.
Trotz ihrer Einbettung in fiktionale Kontexte haben sie Teil an der Realismussuggestion
photographischer Aufnahmen; zudem sind sie oft verbunden mit spezifischen ‘Realitätseffekten’. (b)
In ihrer Eigenschaft als postalisch verschickte, aufgehobene Erinnerungsstücke stehen sie
metonymisch für die bei Sebald thematisch zentrale Thematik der Erinnerung. Auf deren Grenzen
und deren Scheitern verweist u.a. der Umstand, daß die ursprünglichen Sender ebenso wie die
Adressaten selbst inzwischen nicht mehr auszumachen sind. (c) In ihrer Eigenschaft als Medien der
postalischen Kommunikation zwischen Abwesenden unterstreichen sie die spezifische
Akzentuierung, unter der Sebald (und andere) sich mit Abwesenheit auseinandersetzen –
insbesondere mit der Zeitlichkeit und Vergänglichkeit nicht bloß des jeweils Erinnerten, sondern auch
der Erinnerungen selbst. (d) Die Postkarte ist zudem metynomisch mit dem Sammeln assoziiert und
verweist insofern auf den Bedingungszusammenhang zwischen Sammlung und Poiesis.
2:00 PM - Postkarten in Herta Müllers "Reisende auf einem Bein"
Marisescu, Tonia (Universität Duisburg Essen, Essen, Germany)
Postkarten sind im frühen Werk Herta Müllers sekundäre doch persistente Erscheinungen. Die
intradiegetische Inszenierung der Postkarten in Reisende auf einem Bein fügt sich in eine Vielfalt von
Strategien ein, welche die ständig transitorische Position der Protagonistin und ihre Fremdheit
andeuten. Der Raum artikuliert eine subjektive Art der „Wirklichkeits“- Wahrnehmung, die auch in
den Postkarten(texten) reflektiert wird. Der Zusammenhang zwischen der Postkarte und der
Mobilität bleibt in Reisende auf einem Bein noch erhalten, allerdings handelt es sich hier um die
defizitäre Mobilität der Hauptfigur, die sich auf einer Dauerreise befindet. Die Merkmale des
Mediums verlieren folglich ihre Gültigkeit, beispielsweise werden die Postkarten oft deren
phatischen Funktion entledigt. Nicht selten, nachdem sie geht und sieht, schreibt die Protagonistin
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Postkarten. Sie enthalten momentane Eindrücke, Erinnerungsbrüche, fungieren als
Mikrobekenntnisse, akutisieren das Verhältnis von Privatheit und Öffentlichkeit und setzen den Text
en abyme. In meinem Beitrag werde ich anhand der exemplarischen Textanalyse die Bedeutung der
Postkarte in Reisende auf einem Bein auf motivischer und poetologischer Ebene untersuchen sowie
die (möglichen) Beziehungen zu der ersten in Form von Karten veröffentlichten Collagensammlung
Müllers, Der Wächter nimmt seinen Kamm, herausarbeiten.
2:30 PM - Medien der Täuschung. Postkarten bei Vladimir Nabokov und Alice Munro
Sauer-Kretschmer, Simone (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Austria)
Der Brief ist ein Geheimnisträger, während sich die Postkarte offen zur Schau stellt. Dass diese kurze
These zur Mediendifferenz von Brief und Postkarte nicht nur provokativ, sondern auch falsch ist,
bestätigen ganze Serien subversiver Postkarten der Mail-Art Bewegung, bspw. aus der DDR, aber
auch aus Südamerika. Dennoch zielten die der Postkarte entgegengebrachten Zweifel, prominent
formuliert etwa von Jean Améry, genau in diese Richtung, wobei die Postkarte als Träger knapper
Textfragmente verstanden wurde. Doch gerade aus der formal vorgegebenen Kürze des
Postkartentextes, insbesondere im Zusammenspiel mit der Bildseite einer Karte, lässt sich auch
durchaus Rätselhaftes gestalten, nicht zuletzt in der Literatur. Wenn dann noch eine komplexe oder
ganz und gar undurchsichtige Beziehung zwischen Sender und Empfänger hinzukommt, wird es Zeit,
sich das Phänomen der Postkarte als Medium der Täuschung genauer anzuschauen. Konkret wird es
in meinem Vortrag um die Maskenspiele des Mediums Postkarte in Vladimir Nabokovs Roman „Die
Mutprobe“ (Orig. „Podvig“) und Alice Munros Kurzgeschichte „Postcards“ gehen.
16309 - Talking About Literature, Scientifically
Date: Tuesday, July 26th
Room: Hs 29
Chair: Sarkhosh, Keyvan; Knoop, Christine A.
2:00 PM - Einleitung
Knoop/Sarkhosh,
…
2:15 PM - Competing Knowledge or Parallel Worlds? A Meta-Analysis
Knoop, Christine A. (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany)
In 2011, the New York Times published an exchange between Alex Rosenberg, professor of
philosophy at Duke University, and William Egginton, chair of the Department of German and
Romance Languages and Literatures at Johns Hopkins University, which can be considered exemplary
of the divide between the sciences and literary studies today. The disagreement is no longer
between the sciences and literary studies as separate disciplines, but has moved within the
discipline, to be settled between the scientific and the traditional sides of literary studies itself. The
exchange was therefore based on the mutual understanding that the sciences and the humanities
have successfully merged into fields like neuroscientific literary studies, but the scholars disagreed on
whether such neuroscientific approaches should replace the more traditional ones in the production
of knowledge. Rosenberg argued that “neuroscience’s explanations and the traditional ones
compete; they cannot both be right.” Egginton, by contrast, pointed out the myriad questions in
literary studies which scientific approaches cannot sufficiently answer, thereby maintaining that the
research interests of the more scientific and the more traditional sides of the discipline are not, in
fact, comparable. This paper will offer a meta-analytic overview of a number of recent scientific and
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traditional research papers who share the same interests and questions regarding the study of
literature: at what results do they arrive? In what ways do their methods, language, and conclusions
differ from each other, and at what cost? To what extent is it really the ever popular neuroscience
which has added the most to scientific literary studies, as opposed to, for instance, experimental
psychology or formal logic? And is it, in the end, true that the approaches “cannot both be right”, as
Rosenberg claims, or is their creation of meaning really radically different, yet equally valuable, as
Egginton maintains?
2:30 PM - Logocentrism, Vision and the Supremacy of the Sciences?
Sarkhosh, Keyvan (Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt a.M., Germany)
“The Matter of Vision” is the title of a book the British filmmaker Peter Wyeth has published in early
2015. Controversial and untenable as many of his claims and conclusions may be, Wyeth’s initial
thesis is intriguing and takes us right into the heart of this conference, and this panel section in
particular, i.e., language and its significance in the context of the humanities and the sciences. Wyeth
takes his starting point form a critique of logocentrism, lamenting that our modes of reflection upon
cultural artefacts are born out of a tradition that “places a greatly exaggerated value on the Word” –
at the expense of vision. To him, vision is a much more powerful tool than language as it capable to
grasp and process larger amounts of information. Language, on the other hand, is simply an
insufficient translation of what vision provides to the mind. Therefore, it cannot be taken as “a
source of meaning” – unlike vision. This closely links vision to the sciences. The author not only
claims “that everything is capable of explanation in time through Science”, but also “that everything
has a solely physical explanation”. Leaving aside Wyeth’s dubious tendency of talking in absolutes,
the book offers a strong basis for discussing critical questions concerning the integration of literary
studies – or, broadly, the humanities – and the sciences such as the legitimacy of theories in the
humanities and their ability to be tested under experimental conditions, or the problem of scientific
reductionism. Moreover, turning to the place of vision in the sciences and in particular the notion of
visual evidence, one could address the role and the value of “graphs, maps and trees” (F. Moretti) in
(empirically infused) literary studies. This will eventually lead to a discussion whether and how the
sciences are able to contribute not only to a deeper quantitative but also qualitative understanding
of literature and the arts.
2:45 PM - Talking (non)-metaphorical
Goldmann, Luzia (Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany)
The study of metaphor may be regarded as one of the most popular examples of a topic that has
attracted the mutual interest of classical disciplines of the humanities as well as of empirical
disciplines such as cognitive linguistics, communication sciences and neurosciences. The latter seem
to question fundamental positions of philosophy and literary studies such as the deconstructivist
claim that language is irreducibly metaphorical and seem to substitute it instead by rather positivist
definitions and clear procedures of their identification, survey and interpretation. As a result, the
entity discussed (metaphor) seems to have changed completely along with perspectives under which
it is focused on and the influences of the cognitive turn seem to be undeniable on a terminological as
well as on a conceptual level. A closer look to the different approaches reveals a rather
differentiated set of definitions of metaphor and points of interest on both sides and various
approaches to their investigation. Cognitive Metaphor Theory does not only draw back on older
concepts of metaphor but takes up classical procedures of the humanities as basis for their own
methods. Taking that into account, I want to suggest a perspective that regards the different
methods and procedures of the disciplines rather as in a continuum based on different levels of
‘empiricism’ than in binary oppositions in order to identify possible zones of overlapping interest and
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common procedures. From that perspective I would like to point out aspects of the debate that seem
to encourage a further engagement of literary studies with theories and results of the different
empirical disciplines e.g. the increasing possibility for systematic precision. At the same time I would
like to highlight where the shortcomings of the latter seem to ask for an intensified contribution from
the classical humanities to their perspectives and research questions.
3:00 PM - Writing - and publishing - about literature, scientifically
Schoof, Kerstin (Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Questions of different vocabularies drawn upon in the humanities and the sciences also include and
extend to questions of different cultures of publishing. „Talking about literature, scientifically“
consequently raises issues concerning „writing about literature, scientifically“. Monographs vs
journal articles or the different speed of research results becoming outdated are only two aspects of
a rather complex subject. Where and how to publish research taking a different route from the ones
established in traditional science or literary studies journals? Publishing in one of the two traditions
exceeds vocabulary and style: different formats, structures, ways of constructing an argument are
required by the respective journals. Are journals actually changing to accommodate the new “hybrid”
research, or do researchers find themselves in need to somehow adapt to the existing structures?
How do different approaches to Open Access, publication fees, print and online publications etc.
come into play? The talk aims to consider the field of publishing about literature from a research
librarian’s perspective, drawing upon experience gathered in the domain of empirical aesthetics.
16377 - Sprache & Rache
Date: Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th
Room: Übungsraum Germanistik 3
Chair: Prade-Weiss, Juliane
2:00 PM - Introduction
Prade, Juliane (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Institut für AVL)
…
2:20 PM - Kantische Imaginationen: Verrat, Rache und Rechtfertigung in Kleists "Michael Kohlhaas"
Wasihun, Betiel (University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom)
Kleists intensive Auseinandersetzung mit der Kantischen Philosophie ist bekannt. Seine Novelle
Michael Kohlhaas ist in vielerlei Hinsicht eine Ausgeburt der berühmten Kant-Krise, die der
Schriftsteller erlitt. Gleich zu Beginn wird Kleists Titelheld als „rechtschaffenster“ und „entsetzlichster
Mensch seiner Zeit“ beschrieben (MK). Die Verkopplung von Gegensätzen wie Rechtschaffenheit vs.
Entsetzlichkeit und Rechtsgefühl vs. Verbrechen zeugt von einer „gebrechlichen Einrichtung der
Welt“ (MK), die den ganzen Text konstituiert. Gleichzeitig bilden diese Oppositionen aber die
ethische Prämisse des Texts; Recht und Rache entpuppen sich als zwei Seiten derselben Medaille –
und zwar ganz im Sinne René Girards, der in La Violence et le sacré behauptet, dass Recht und Rache
sich nicht unbedingt ausschließen müssen. In diesem Vortrag möchte ich darlegen, dass Michael
Kohlhaas – Kleists exemplarischer Text über das Phänomen der Rache – nicht nur auf Kants
Erkenntniskritik beruht, sondern auch eine praktische Umsetzung von Kants Paragraphen 83 aus
seiner Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht zu sein scheint. Dort heißt es, dass die
“Rechtsbegierde” in “Hass aus erlittenem Unrecht“ – d.h. der „Rachbegierde“ – wurzelt. Auch wenn
Kleists Kenntnis dieses Kantischen Texts nicht dokumentiert ist, ist die Analogie schwer von der Hand
zu weisen, denn auch im Michael Kohlhaas erscheinen Hass und Rachezug des verratenen
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Pferdehändlers als Folgen eines „erlittenen Unrechts“. Im Namen der Gerechtigkeit begeht der
rechtschaffene Kohlhaas ein Verbrechen nach dem anderen und scheint damit seinen eigenen
Rechtsbegriff fortwährend zu verraten. In einer detaillierten Textanalyse soll gezeigt werden, wie
dieser komplexe Konnex von Verrat, Rache und Recht(fertigung) in Kleists Novelle sprachlich
manifestiert wird.
2:40 PM - Die Rache roher Texte. Dingaufstand in Märchen der Brüder Grimm
Koerte, Mona (Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
In den Kinder- und Hausmärchen der Brüder Grimm treten die Dinge den Menschen als ein Böses
und Fremdes entgegen und marodieren durch deren Hütten und Herbergen. Als Lum-pen---gesindel
ziehen sie eine Spur der Verwüstung hinter sich her oder begehen wie im Mär-chen Herr Korbes
einen Mord. Dabei trägt ihr Eindringen in die Sphäre des Häus-lichen deut-liche Züge eines
Rache-akts. Mit der Frage nach dem Verhältnis von Vergeltung und Verkettung akzentuiert der
Vortrag die narrative und poetologische Dimension der Märchen in ihrer Urfassung aus dem Jahr
1810. Dabei wird deutlich, dass der die Erstfas-sun-gen charakte-ri-s-ierende Deutungs-spielraum
zwischen Rache und Eskalation, Intention und Fügung die spezifische F(r)aktur der Grimmʼschen
Märchen-philologie tangiert: Denn im Ge-gen-zug zur euro-päischen Märchentradition eines
Giambattista Basile oder Charles Perrault erhalten hier Text-lücke und Bruchstück einen Eigenwert
als Symptom der Ablösung einer oralen Über-lieferung durch das sog. Buchmärchen – in der
Einbehaltung von Sinn offenbart sich ihr ‚rachsüchtigesʼ Moment.
3:00 PM - Herders Rache
Albrecht, Tim (Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin, Bonn, Germany)
Die edlere Rache, so Herder in seinem gleichnamigen Gedicht, ist das Schweigen. Ausgehend von
dieser Gedankenfigur untersucht der Vortrag Figurationen der Rache in Herders Werk, vor allem im
Licht des Verhältnisses von Sprache, Kultur und Rache.
11:00 AM - Despite Language: Adalbert Stifter's Revenge Fantasies
Weitzman, Erica (Northwestern University, Evanston, USA)
This paper proposes to examine the relationship between Sprache and Rache in Adalbert Stifter’s
short story “Turmalin.” Stifter’s story is premised on a renounced act of revenge: on finding out that
his wife has cuckolded him with the actor Dall, the victim – known in the story only as the “Rentherr”
or the “ Pförtner ” – turns from his initial (traditional) thoughts of revenge to instead withdraw
himself from human society. And yet in the Rentherr’s withdrawal a displaced or substitute – and
thus all the more trenchant – revenge is effected, in the form of the physical and mental stunting of
the Rentherr’s young daughter. This stunting is above all one of language, as the girl emerges from
her enforced isolation to join the pantheon of Stifter’s wild children and Kaspar Hauser stand-ins. The
Rentherr’s captivity of his daughter is thus not only a proxy revenge on his wife and on the cruelty of
the world, but also and especially a revenge on language itself in its relation to both reason and law,
in the context, moreover, of the presumed difference between spoken and written language. This
paper will argue that both “Turmalin” in specific and Stifter’s writing in general is at once haunted by
and ineluctably drawn to the possibility of taking revenge on language itself, as at once the epitome
of cognitive order and its own ever-present threat of disintegration and betrayal.
11:30 AM - Language Comes Back to Roost - Werner Schwab's Constructive Revenge
Klenner, Jens (Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, USA)
“die rache / der sprache / ist das gedicht” Language, so Ernst Jandl, takes vengeance by speaking
otherwise, by alienating trusted references, and hence by generating differences. Put differently, the
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retaliation of language rests in its ability to unsettle bourgeois norms and expectations through shifts
in meaning and designation. Or once more, language comes back to roost through changes in form.
In this paper, I argue for a constructive nature of revenge in the prose of Werner Schwab. The
aggressive nature of revenge often covers its creative and generative aspects. The alleged destructive
characteristics of revenge divert from its drastic, yet constructive, structural, even poetic,
transformative nature. Werner Schwab’s poetic project is decidedly anti-humanistic and destructive
in form. In the company of Thomas Bernhard and Elfriede Jelinek, Schwab systematically transgresses
the discursive boundaries of the human, of what he calls the “menschenschaftliche” in his Abfall,
Bergland, Cäsar. (73) “aber wir, die autorenschaft, wollen nichts spielen, als ein erstlinigen
menschenhaß, nichts wollen als gemeine menschenkenntnis, nichts lieben als beabsichtigte
menschenanerliebung, nichts bedeuten als monumentale menschenbedeutungslosigkeit, ABfall,
blutStau, MATERIALERMÜDUNG.” (89) To sever and to recombine are two fundamental operations
of Schwab’s generations of linguistic forms. And the material of his recombinations is of human
origin—it is man himself. Man’s materiality, however, is not a substance but a process. Schwab is
interested in the transformative processes of human material: death and decay, the vengeful
destruction of bourgeois existence becomes a creative instrument to analyze socio-political relations.
Just as a poem renders language strange, Schwab’s linguistic deformations continually undermine
the boundaries between the self and the other.
12:00 PM - Inscriptio der Gewalt: Rache als Logik des Terrors
Heinrich, Tobias (University of Oxford, London, United Kingdom)
Jean Baudrillard hebt in seiner Reaktion auf die Attentate des 11. Septembers die Natur des
Terrorismus als symbolischen Tausch hervor. Es geht dabei, so Baudrillard, um die Widerherstellung
eines archaischen Gleichgewichts zwischen Gut und Böse, für das die abendländische Philosophie der
Aufklärung keine Begriffe mehr zur Verfügung stellt. Als Rechtfertigungsgrund wird dabei das
Narrativ der Rache ins Feld geführt – als affektiv besetzter Gerechtigkeitssinn eines vor- bzw.
außerjuridischen Diskurses. Im Rahmen dieses Vortrags sollen Interviews, Selbstaussagen und
Bekennerschreiben des RAF-Mitbegründers Andreas Baader und des deutschen IS-Protagonisten
Christian Emde auf die inhärente Sprachlogik der Rache und deren Verarbeitung von Gewalt-,
Männlichkeits- und Autonomiekonstruktionen hin analysiert werden. Als Hintergrundfolie fungiert
Heinrich von Kleists Michael Kohlhaas und die sprachliche Domestizierung seines Fehdefeldzugs in
der narrativen Ausgestaltung des Textes. Rache als Versprachlichung der Gewalt wird somit als
Vehikel der Diskursivierung deutlich und zeigt, wie sich Terror erst in seiner sprachlichen Verfasstheit
als solcher konstituiert.
16416 - Translational Literature - Theory, History, Perspectives
Room: Hs 48
Chair: Ivanovic, Christine; Hassan, Wail
9:00 AM - Translation and Ideology
Salih, Hamza (Mohammed 5 University, Rabat, Marocco)
No longer viewed as a mere replacement of linguistic codes from one language to another,
translation has increasingly been considered, especially with the advent of the cultural turn in the
late 70's, in relation to the broader external context in which it takes place. According to scholars in
the field, the translation process is determined by the political, economic and cultural values which
exert external pressures on the translator. Correspondingly, a growing body of research which
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addresses the relationship between translation as an act of re-writing the original text and ideology
has already been established. In fact, After the domination of the empirically-oriented linguistic
approaches in translation studies, the relationship between translation and ideology has been
foregrounded in recent research, particularly with Venuti, Simpson and Schaffner, to draw attention
to the fact that the translation process is not a mere text-to-text linguistic transfer, but, on the
contrary, takes place in the midst of economic, political, cultural and religious variables, which some
scholars subsume under the category ideology. In my paper, I will address the issue of how ideology
comes into play in the translational process, what strategies does the translator adopt to foreground
or circumvent ideological constraints. Along with this, I will touch upon the notions of censorship,
manipulation, subversion and domestication which I deem are of relevance to my topic.
9:30 AM - The Impact of Ideology on Translation Based on Fairclough's Approach
Shahsavar, Zahra (Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran)
Language and translation are two of the most challenging areas of ideological influence. Various
approaches have been used to investigate the impact of ideology on translation. This study tries to
investigate if Fairclough’s (1989) approach is a good framework to investigate the relationship
between translators’ lexical choices and ideology. The corpus of the study consists of the novel “A
Tale of Two Cities” written by Charles Dickens (1859) along with its two Persian translations
produced by two Iranian translators. One of them was rendered by Ebrahimi (1980), and the other
one was produced by Younesi (1999). Thirty chapters out of 45 chapters were selected randomly
from the source book. The researcher applied Fairclough’s (1989) approach to analyze the
relationship between translators’ lexical choices and ideology. A significant difference between the
two translated versions and the source book indicates that Fairclough’s approach is a good
framework to analyze the relationship between translators’ lexical choices and ideology. The results
can help not only translators to analyze their translation but also translation students to improve
their translation skill. The implications of the findings and further research are also discussed.
10:00 AM - Textual Self-Translation of Dialect in the Bukhala' of Jahiz
Blankinship, Kevin (The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA)
“A language is a dialect with an army and navy.” This quip, often attributed to sociolinguist Max
Weinreich, illustrates both the arbitrary distinction between language and dialect, and the close
connection between language and power. These two points bear on the writings of medieval Arab
polymath Jahiz (d. 869 AD), especially his classic work Kitab al-bukhala' (The Book of Misers), a
humorous meditation on thrift as a vice. Therein readers encounter satiric portrayal of the culture,
religion, and language of 9th-century Iraq, including Arabic slang of the medieval underworld criminal
society known as Banu Sasan. Regarding the point about the closeness of language and dialect, Jahiz
treats the non-standard criminal argot of Banu Sasan as if it were a foreign language. In two scenes
from the Bukhala', he places Arabic slang in the mouths of two professional beggars, then follows
with glossaries of their jargon inserted directly into the text. The presence of these glossaries
anticipates reader confusion at the jargon, requiring translation of criminal argot for readers not in
the know. The text translates itself, mediating between Arabic slang as a foreign language and
readers unfamiliar with that language. But reader confusion is exactly why Jahiz includes Arabic
thieving slang plus glossaries. Speaking to the link between language and power, the text’s selftranslation and the reader estrangement it provokes signals the alterity, or otherness, associated
with the Banu Sasan and their marginal sociocultural status within 9th century Arab society.
Medieval Arabic underworld jargon like that of the Bukhala' served as one of several markers of this
alterity, along with non-Arab cultural heritage and questionable professions like thieves, quack
doctors, and magicians. In this way, the Bukhala' is a very early example in Arabic literature of cross19
pollination between “high” and “low” social classes, since Jahiz — a canonized author of elite literary
status — includes underworld culture as a such a prominent element of his text.
11:00 AM - The Possibility/Impossibility of Translating Alice in Wonderland into Arabic
el kholy, nadia (cairo university, cairo, Egypt)
This paper deals with the difficulties of translating Alice in Wonderland into Arabic. The text contains
parodies, puns (especially homophones), wordplay, verbal humour, “speaking” names, , as well as
other elements of Carroll’s creative style which appear almost on every page and result in
paradoxically comic effects, making this book a real challenge for translators. In addition to the
story’s varied and distinctive use of style, special tone of voice, clear intertextuality and the clever
interplay between fiction and reality. In Wonderland, all kinds of phonological, morphological, lexical
and grammatical “mistakes” or language tricks occur, and virtually everything is confused or
(mis)taken for something else. The clever and witty implementation of pungent satires, cunning
puzzles, nonsensical riddles, all contribute to the creation of an extremely challenging text to
translate. My main concern when translating Alice was to see how much of all this ingenious play
with words will/will not be lost in translation. I used my own intuition to catch the true meaning and
intended message, lying at different levels behind the overall structure of the source text and tried to
put them adequately into Arabic with the intention of not losing the entire flavour of Carroll’s play on
words and at the same time maintaining a kind of domestication in the target language that will not
alienate the child/adult reader from the text. I have endeavoured to retain in the Arabic translation
as much as possible from this rich and unrivalled manipulation of language following a domestication
strategy which inevitably entailed losses but also retained meaning.
11:30 AM - Translating Traditions: Eristic Imitations of Petrarch and Hafez
Morrell-Yntema, Sarah (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA)
Comparatists have not yet fully explored the similarities between European and Persian traditions of
imitation for several reasons. Persian was the literary language for most of Asia during the early
modern period, while the same period in Europe witnessed the proliferation of vernacular
literatures. Because Persian had been a literary language for several centuries, its own tradition had
already undergone canonization just as Europe’s vernacular literatures were emerging. However, the
similarities underlying the two literary polysystems can serve to illuminate phenomena within both.
This paper examines the similarities of imitative and translational practices surrounding the legacies
of Petrarch in England and France and Hafez in the Persianate world in order to outline a
comparative approach able to integrate extra- and intra-lingual translations into a larger literary
trend of eristic imitation. The cases of Petrarch and Hafez are both ones in which the model poet’s
work becomes the basis for original poetic composition spanning centuries. In the sixteenth century,
the literatures of both Western Europe and the Persianate regions of Asia grapple with their literary
legacies through imitations of these two poets. European imitations took the form of both
translations and adaptations. In Persianate regions, imitation took the form of “response poems,” in
which the imitative poet adopts the meter and rhyme of his model and replies to the original through
a manipulation of the original poem’s themes and conceits. Both of these bodies of works can be
considered translational texts in that they rely on a recognition of the model (foreign) text for full
appreciation. By combining translation theory with the critical lens applied to the Persian response
poem, this paper attempts to reconcile the two bodies of imitative and translational literature for a
new understanding of imitation, translation, and differentiation.
12:00 PM - In(constant) Translation: Metafiction, Translatability, Trespasses in Slow Man and Jacobo
el Mutante
Falcon, Adan (San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA)
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In Slow Man by JM Coetzee and Jacobo el Mutante by Mario Bellatín, both novels recreate a
mimetic mode of translation in their texts in a digressive narrative their protagonists must come to
terms with. In Slow Man , Paul Rayment, a French expatriate living in Australia, experiences an
extreme difficulty understanding and translating his own experience when the suspected author of a
book he's in disrupts his life after losing his leg. As for Jacobo el Mutante , Jacobo, an ersatz rabbi
and owner of a roadside tavern, undergoes an age and gender transformation at the hand of his
author during a baptism in which the translator of the text tries to understand the religious
motivation of the decision. Both protagonists experience a form of trespassing by their respective
authors in order to arrive at a form of knowledge through displacement in narrative and time. Under
the gaze of translation, however, each work fails to arrive at an understanding of their situation. The
fragmented language and trajectory of their narratives creates a dilemma in the ethical stance of the
authority each author has in the limits and boundaries necessary to recreate a linear narrative. The
transitory and fragmented spaces in which these character occupy, however, creates a presence for
the interactions between authors and characters (and to a further extent author and reader) to
negotiate their being and becoming as either trespasses or invitations for other forms of narrative
and time. The question this project attempts to bring forth in comparing these two novels and their
metafictional spaces is whether the surprises and translations of those surprises between the author
and character, and author and reader, create a hospitable space for new forms against, what
Benjamin would consider, the “homogenous and empty time” of a linear narrative towards progress
and knowledge.
9:00 AM - Issues of Nationalism, Identity and Translation: The Theory and Practice of Krishna Kanta
Handiqui (1898-1982) as a Comparatist and Translator
Nath, Sanjeev (Gauhati University, Guwahati, India)
Krishna Kanta Handiqui’s internationally acclaimed work of translation, critical exegesis, and
scholarship involving the comparative method, as evident in his translation of a tenth-century
Sanskrit epic in Naiṣadhacarita of Śriharṣa (1934), of a tenth-century Jaina text in Somadeva’s
Yaśastilaka: Aspects of Jainism, Indian Thought and Culture (1949) and of a fifth-century Prakrit epic
in Pravaraseana’s Setubandha (1976) is characterized by minute attention to details concerning
correct meaning. However, in 1920, many years before he started producing his own scholarly
translations, and while pursuing his postgraduation course on Modern History at Oxford, Handiqui
had taken part in a debate on translation in an Assamese literary journal, and had forcefully argued
for un-scholarly, free translations from European languages, particularly English, into Assamese, his
mother tongue. The apparent contradiction between his advice to prospective Assamese translators
and his own practice as a translator later cannot be explained merely as a change of opinion with
time, or as different perspectives on translation from and into English. In fact, the two differing
attitudes concerning translation, language and meaning are associated with ideas of nationalism and
identity. Through an exploration of his theory and practice of translation, I hope to bring to the fore
issues of nationalism and identity that had received special emphasis in India through the thought
and action of individuals like Handiqui who ushered in a new climate of nationalistic feelings
coloured not by a rejection of European or colonial culture, but an acceptance of what was perceived
as beneficial for one’s language and culture.
9:30 AM - Historiography of Translation Practices in India with Specific References to Rajbansis
SENGUPTA, PRAGYA (University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India)
In relation to our understanding of translation in India, a severely endangered language like Rajbansi
needs to be taken care of in terms of both language documentation and translation. This paper
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attempts to see how translation of Rajbansi folk narratives becomes an act of re-reading the
history/s of mainstream and marginalised communities. In case of folk-lores and mythic narratives,
the discourse comprises of both real and imaginary events, but as Hayden White proclaims that there
is no obligation to keep these two orders of events distinct from each other. When meaning is shifted
from one social space to another by narrative means, the reality also makes a shift. Therefore the
former reality tends to come to a close. Thus when we are trying to formulate a historiography of
translation practices in India, the contribution of folk-languages cannot be neglected . In terms of
linguistic as well as cultural historiography, the involvement of Rajbansi cannot be ignored because in
their narratives we can find the traces of ancient practices popular among the natives of north
Bengal and Assam. For example, the term for Thursday in Rajbansi is ‘bisti’, which can be related to
the word ‘Brihaspati’ in both Bengali and Assamese. The word for cooking is termed as ‘Aandha’,
which is closer to ‘Randha’ in Bengali while the term for wearing is ‘Pinda’ which is closer to ‘Pindha’
in Assamese. The festivals like ‘Noya Khoya’ are closely related to the ‘Nobanno’ in Bengal. The
fertility cults, the harvest festivals, the tree worships, the absence of idol worships etc in Rajbansi
community delivers us a picture of different Bengal or different Assam, which is relatively non-Aryan.
Unless the symbols represented through their cultural practices is involved within the boundaries of
translation historiography, a large part of knowledge documentation will be ignored.
10:00 AM - Translating Legal Petitions in Colonial India: The Andaman Connection
Rath, Akshaya (National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, India)
In this paper, with archival resources and semi-biographical narratives, I intend to explore juridical
petitions and native speeches pertaining to the political prisoners incarcerated in the Cellular Jail in
the Penal Settlement of the Andaman Islands. The first category include Gopal Chandra De, the
eldest brother of Bidhu Bhusan De (1914) and Yamunabai, wife of V.D. Savarkar (1921) and the
second include ‘Proposed Prosecution in respect of speeches delivered in Calcutta’ (1937) by Indian
women for repatriation of political prisoners. Both the categories of texts address complex issues of
translation which I intend to explore in this paper. First, the native tongues found a splendid political
move in juridical literature. Second, the eventuality of native expressions provides a serious
transgression of native ideology. And third, in translating the alternative tongues to juridical tongue
does the Administration negotiate in the formation of a convict society. In short, this paper will read
juridical petitions and translated repatriation speeches to argue in favour of an alternative site of
postcolonial translation.
11:00 AM - Archetypos and Typos in Celan's Conception of the Image
Koch, Julian (Queen Mary, University of London, Luedenscheid, Austria)
My paper seeks to approach translation and its implied unilateral dependence on the original from a
different angle by scrutinising how Paul Celan retraces the trajectory of a similar dualism, that of
archetypos and typos, and renegotiates its philosophical premises in his conception of the image. The
image as typos in Greek and Judaeo-Christian philosophies is contingent on its archetypos which
prefigures the image yet, paradoxically, cannot itself be visually captured. Thus, the dualism of
archetypos and typosplays out entirely on the visual body of the image, whose very visuality itself
embodies the discrepancy from its archetypos. As such, the image's simulating its archetypos implies
a creative act through which this discrepancy is marked. This creative potential motivates the trope
of the image in Celan through which he reflects on the poetic and creative endeavour that is
nonetheless underscored by a destructive momentum, since inscribed upon the image is not the
archetypos but its difference to the archetypos.Thus, the image's creative-destructive force reflects
and sustains the entire development of the poem 'Tenebrae' when, in the concluding stanzas, God
seems to transubstantiate in his image formed in a trough of blood. The embodiment of God as
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visual image places the supposed divine archetypos in a subsequent position to its inherently
deficient typos, an effective uncreation of both facing the perpetrations of the Holocaust.
Paradoxically, the poetic word still persists through this questioning of religious belief and the
expressive capacity of poetry itself. In 'Wortaufschüttung', this conception of the image is echoed
and radicalised as the image only ever appears duplicitous. Yet, such scepticism of the archetypos
seems to entail the possibility for poetic renewal that also resonates in 'Halbzerfressener' where the
typos outgrows, trans-lates beyond its dependence on its archetypos in what seems to be a cautious
revaluation of the power of poetry.
11:30 AM - The image of the child across the works of Wolfgang Borchert and William Faulkner
Bubar, Mallory (Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA)
This paper looks at the writing styles of German Trümmerliteratur author, Wolfgang Borchert, and
Mississippi native, William Faulkner through a translation task. Although both could be considered
world literature with their easily relatable themes, Borchert has not been as widely translated
throughout the world as Faulkner. In this paper Borchert’s short story, “Nachts schlafen die Ratten
doch,” with the theme of the divided child will be translated from German into English. In addition to
this, portions of Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” will then be translated from English into
German in an attempt to show a similarity between themes. Both stories provide the reader with the
perspective of a child and it’s struggle between loyalty to family and doing the right thing. Borchert’s
child is placed in the ruins of post World War II Hamburg and Faulkner’s child in the poverty-stricken
share cropping society of Mississippi. The goal for this translation task is to capture these elements of
an inner struggle of a child while still maintaining the distinct stylistic methods of both Faulkner and
Borchert. Both authors make use of the literary tools and structures that their languages have to
offer. Maintaining the imagery and overall message of the stories in the translations is essential but is
often difficult due to the different constructions across the languages. Nevertheless, the translations
are necessary because of the child imagery and its relevance across different cultures.
12:00 PM - Language and Political Crisis at the Fin-de-Siècle: Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Ein Brief
Jicinska, Veronika (Jan Evangelista Purkyne University, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic)
The paper shows the so-called language crisis experienced in Austrian thought at the end of the
nineteenth century from the perspective of a theory of translation and tries to trace tropes of
translation in literary texts from that period. My point of departure is that this crisis was caused by a
loss of confidence in sovereign power. As the guarantor of Austrian socio-political meaning, the
disappearance of an easily identifiable institutional structure and a clearly recognizable, powerful
sovereign undermined language at its core: the ability to express accurately a speaker’s intentions.
This, coupled with the rise of nationalist minority movements with their own claims to linguistic
hegemony, gave rise to an understanding of language as inherently arbitrary and in a constant state
of translation. Seeking a stable, universal language as a surrogate to monarchical sovereignty,
Austrian intellectuals posited the primacy of the body as a communicative organ over and above the
failed linguistic utterance. Verbal language became the irredeemable translation of bodily intention
that was thought to be only now for the first time apprehended in its unmediated (untranslated)
state. In the paper, I will concentrate on Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s turn away from writing verse,
announced in his poetic anti-manifesto Ein Brief (1903). Contrary to the prevalent scholarly opinions,
this turn was due not to a loss of faith in poetry, but instead to the belief that the world had become
poeticized to such an extent that it was no longer possible to say where poetry ended and
bureaucracy began. The Brief extols a new poetic language of the body in energetic motion as the
proper mode for authentic communicative signification as the translation of the body. These
reflections are bound to Hofmannsthal’s political writings and speeches, in which he calls for a
23
vigorous renewal of symbolic, embodied sovereign authority and the abandonment of political
metaphor or, said differently, the political translation. From this point of view, translation becomes
an epistemological horizon against which one can measure the extent to which nation and culture
are arbitrary assemblages given the weight of objective fact by transnational linguistic practices.
16445 - Langage scientifique, langage littéraire : quelles médiations ?
Room: Hs 26
Chair: Dahan-Gaida, Laurence
2:00 PM - Le diagramme entre écriture littéraire et écriture savante
Dahan-Gaida, Laurence (université de franche-comté, Besançon, France)
L’objectif de cette communication est de proposer des éléments de réflexion sur le diagramme en
tant que procédure cognitive commune à l’écriture scientifique et à l’écriture littéraire. Dans Les
enjeux du mobile, Gilles Châtelet a établi un parallèle entre diagrammes et métaphores créatrices. Si
le diagramme peut, d’après lui, être considéré « comme le véhicule idéal de la pensée quand elle
forge de nouvelles intuitions, c’est parce qu’il est un langage non-verbal évitant ainsi d’importer
uneontologie obsolète »1. Tirant tout son dynamisme d’une « co-pénétration de l’image et du calcul
», il représente un effort pour « visualiser » le calcul et parvenir plus vite au résultat2. En cela, il peut
être rapproché de la métaphore qui, elle aussi, contient un moment iconique, dans lequel Paul
Ricoeur voit précisément le site des significations naissantes. Avec le diagramme, l’image devient
l’élément dans lequel la pensée se déploie et construit son objet. Répondant à une démarche
constructive et dynamique, le diagramme ne vient pas illustrer une idée qui serait déjà là mais il
incarne le mouvement à travers lequel une idée se cherche et finit par se formaliser dans une figure.
Le diagramme, c’est l’idée émergente rendue visible, une « image de la pensée » en train de se faire.
Ne pourrait-on dès lors l’envisager comme un « régime de pensée »3 susceptible de s’investir aussi
bien dans l’écriture littéraire que dans l’écriture savante : à la fois calcul et figure, acte de
l’imagination et instrument d’intelligibilité, le diagramme est en effet comparable à la figure
(rhétorique) qui se construit sur deux ordres – verbal et iconique – et confond ainsi la connaissance
et l’art en un système commun.
1 Alexis de Saint-Ours, « Les sourires de l’être », TLE n°22/2004, p. 29-53. p. 47.
2 Gilles Châtelet, « Les mondes possibles », ENS Séminaire 1997. Cité par Alexis de Saint-Ours, ibid,
p. 32.
3 Noëlle Batt, « L’expérience diagrammatique : un nouveau régime de pensée », p. 5.
2:20 PM - La corruption poétique du langage scientifique. Sur Livre des poisons d'Antonio
Gamoneda
Gamoneda, Amelia (Universidad de Salamanca - Spain, Salamanca, Spain)
Sous le titre Livre des poisons. Corruption et fable du sixième livre de Pédacius Dioscoride et Andrés
Laguna, sur les poisons mortifères et les bêtes sauvages qui crachent le venin , du poète espagnol
Antonio Gamoneda, une polyphonie de voix se fait entendre : celles, juxtaposées ou superposées, de
Dioscoride, Laguna, Mattioli et même (en traduction française) celles d’Antoine Du Pinet et de Jean
Des Moulins. Le travail de ce livre de création agit sur la matière et le discours scientifique de deux
façons : en reconnaissant l’érosion poétique que le temps produit sur le langage scientifique et en
ajoutant une nouvelle couche de création sur une science pas tout à fait dégagée du mythe. La
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poésie tient donc ici de la « géologisation » du langage. Quels glissements y reconnaître entre science
et poésie ? Quelle densité et quelle compacité sont celles du langage poétique composé du
scientifique? Comment ce langage scientifique ancien devient le langage d’un poète actuel ? De la «
géologisation » qui dépend du temps découle une corruption du langage, de sorte que ce langage à
vocation de désignation précise scintille de métaphores. Dans cet humus formé d’un langage
scientifique qui s’est longtemps exercé à nommer le corps et l’organique, une corruption du sens
s’est produite : le langage se corrompt poétiquement dans la fréquentation de la chair. Le langage
devient ainsi lui-même nature vivante, assume un processus naturel de dégradation de sa matière. La
poésie est ici le résultat d’une « biologisation » du langage. Que la fable du titre pousse dans cet
humus ne saurait plus étonner le lecteur.
2:40 PM - Le pont de Poincaré : de la topologie comme traduction.
González, Francisco (Universidad de Oviedo Spain, Oviedo, Spain)
Les métaphores que l’on emploie habituellement dans les différentes études portant sur les rapports
entre la science et la littérature révèlent l’existence d’un déséquilibre bien manifeste. Synergie,
osmose, symbiose, vases communicants : toutes ces images dont on se sert habituellement dans ce
genre de travaux pour mettre en évidence une telle liaison proviennent de façon significative du
domaine scientifique et rendent ainsi visible à leur insu l’asymétrie entre ces deux champs du savoir.
La troisième culture que réclamait de ses vœux Snow n’est point devenue un espace d’échange
d’idées authentique, mais plutôt une voie intermédiaire que les savants ont su emprunter pour
populariser leurs découvertes scientifiques. Aussi, sans doute afin de sauver un dénivellement
épistémologique indéniable, le pont jeté entre les sciences et les lettres –autre lieu commun–
s’avère-t-il beaucoup plus difficile à parcourir en partant du rivage des lettres, et la littérature et les
arts sembleraient être condamnées à envisager la science comme un immense placard d’où l’on
prendrait de belles métaphores. Il s’agit ici de savoir s’il est improbable que les hommes de science
tirent quelque profit pour leur discipline de la lecture d’un poème ou d’un roman. Les idées
artistiques, par exemple, de Galilée –sa méfiance envers les anamorphoses et les allégories– jouent
en ce sens un rôle décisif pour comprendre le singulier silence qu’il porta sur le modèle elliptique des
orbites de Kepler. Mais c’est à Henri Poincaré que l’on consacrera surtout ces réflexions, car cet
éminent savant, épris depuis sa jeunesse de poésie et de théâtre, ne manqua pas de revendiquer la
lecture d’œuvres littéraires et la pratique de la traduction pour la formation des jeunes
mathématiciens, d’autant plus que dans ses essais mais aussi dans ses propres découvertes,
notamment en topologie, le thème et la version occupent une place centrale.
3:00 PM - Gebrochene Gestalten und gebrochene Gestaltung : Wissen vom Wahnsinn in der
Literatur des späten Goethe und bei Büchner
Haberl, Hildegard (Université de Caen Normandie, Caen, France)
Einerseits ist der Roman Die Wahlverwandtschaften von Goethe sehr streng durchkomponiert,
andererseits wird diese Komposition ständig gebrochen (durch die Einfügung von Fragmenten,
Briefstellen, Aphorismen etc.). Außerdem wirft das Ende des Romans interessante
gattungstheoretische Fragen auf, wobei hier die Figur der Ottilie eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Die
Darstellung ihrer Krankheit und ihres Todes sowie die Darstellung anderer psychisch kranker Figuren
im Spätwerk Goethes soll im Spiegel der Psychiatriegeschichte analysiert werden.
Was kann beispielsweise die Spannung zwischen klarer, geordneter, geschlossener und komponierter
narrativer Form versus formaler Offenheit und narrativen Brüchen bedeuten, wenn Autoren sich für
die Medizingeschichte interessieren (in unserem Fall u.a. Johann Christian Reils „Rhapsodieen über
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die Anwendung der psychischen Curmethode auf Geisteszerrüttung“, 1803), das Wissen darüber in
den Text einfließen lassen und dieses problematisieren?
Inwieweit kann Goethes Darstellung gebrochener Figuren (und nicht nur des Werther!) als Modell für
Büchners Lenz gesehen werden, der die Darstellung „des Lebens der Geringsten“ noch radikaler
gestaltet?
16447 - PANEL Digital Humanities in Comparative Literature, World Literature(s),
and Comparative Cultural Studies
Date: Friday, July 22nd
Room: Hs 45
Chair: Totosy de Zepetnek, Steven; Graciela Boruszko
9:00 AM - Multilingual Digital Humanities and Translation
Menon, Nirmala (Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indore, India)
This paper will look at the borders of languages and disciplines and re-imagine Digital Humanities for
a multilingual Asian context from the point of publishing and translations.
Both Digital Humanities and Publishing will have to be radically re-conceptualized in multiple
languages for its success. I believe that Postcolonial DH should consciously facilitate projects in
multiple postcolonial languages so as to preempt any canonical/linguistic hierarchy of languages.
There is exciting potential to be able to do just that with the aid of technology that facilitates
ventures such as publishing and translating with a lot more ease than ever before. The said tools are
still nascent and often unsophisticated (especially the ones for translations) but that is precisely the
challenging space of critical evaluation that calls for the Humanities in Digital Humanities. In other
words, it is not about simply re-engineering computing excellence but a conscious attempt at reimagining postcolonial publishing paradigms. This paper examines the critical work being done in
various language literatures in India and its non-representation in postcolonial and other theoretical
frameworks. My pilot project (with my PhD students) tries to build a database that indexes
scholarship from three different languages. Once the database is launched, it will provide an access
for scholars who want to do literary research, specifically comparative research, a platform to know
about these works. I argue that a Digital Humanities project that provides a platform for
conversations between these various critical works in literature will enrich and deepen our
understanding of postcolonial conditions beyond the Anglophone writings. This digital database: 1)
compels visibility and conversation between scholars of these different languages and 2) enable
translations between the languages and into English of academic publishing in various languages.
This will require a two step strategy: 1) Develop a comprehensive collaborative project that will
provide the infrastructure for a multilingual digital project and 2) expand the project to include
translations from and between the various discourses. I expect it will cross the borders of liminality
across languages. This is just a beginning of that long term project of enabling conversations across
multiple languages.
9:30 AM - Applying Taxonomical Order to a Digitally Translational Database
Bahrevar, Majid (Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic)
Literature in Samuel Coleridge's words, works as an “intermedium.” So as to meet an efficient
communicative research today, it calls for systematic digitally-made databases for documents of
world literature. A taxonomical model of comparative cultural studies has been revised and
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suggested by Steven Totosy de Zepetnek (2002) in which the production and post-production
procedures of a translational text were categorized.
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweblibrary/ccstranslationstudies Here as a subject of debating on
translational circulations enjoyed in world languages, literatures, and cultures, "The Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam" has been chosen which followed by some digital guides to, examples are Omariana,
the digital news bulletin of the Dutch Omar Khayyám Society
http://www.omarkhayyamnederland.com/omariana/index.html or web archive designed by Bob
Forrest in UK, http://www.bobforrestweb.co.uk/The_Rubaiyat/index_of_the_rubaiyat_archive.htm
besides traditional bibliographies by A. G. Potter and others. The field necessitates to be
systematically digitalized in order to be a global informational socialism, but approaching by a
taxonomical category-based, here at work failed to get an integrated accessibility, facing a
categorical shortfall in Totosy's alphabetical order as well. The bibliographies, references, and
archives made for translations of the Rubaiyat did not cover the global texts and contexts, while
Totosy's detailed factors of each category needs to be tested and implemented especially at its third
and fourth process of cultural production, i.e. reception, and post-production by observing the real
translational and meta-textual reverberations of a single text.
Key-words: Comparative Cultural Studies, Interdisciplinary, S. Totosy, Digital Humanities, Taxonomy,
Rubaiyat.
10:00 AM - Transformative digital intermedia studies. Using computer based conceptual modelling
to study media differences
Eide, Øyvind (Universität Passau, Passau, Germany)
The proposed paper will introduce transformative digital intermedia studies, which is an area of
research located at the cross section between digital humanities and intermedia studies. This will be
done by presenting critical stepwise formalisation, a method for studying media expressions through
the process of rewriting them into new expressions in another medium.
The rewritings are done though computer based conceptual models of readings of the source
expressions. The aim of producing the target media products is not to create new media products as
such, as in modelling for production, but rather to study the process, as in modelling for
understanding. Thus, the main goal of such studies is what is lost in the process of critical stepwise
formalisation rather than the end products created by it.
The method will be linked to the current understanding of modelling in digital humanities that
connect modelling to traditions not only from computer science and the natural sciences but also to
the long traditions of modelling and abstraction in the humanities. This is done by using a semiotic
framework to understand the complex relationship between model and modelled object.
The strength of this approach is the explicitness in which media expressions can be studied at a
detailed level, giving a solid basis on which to evaluate specific expressions in relationship to the
media they represent. A potential weakness of the method which is common to much research in
digital humanities will be raised in the paper as well: the limited level to which one reaches results of
significance to the development of thinking in the non-digital humanities.
Transformative digital intermedia studies will be exemplified through research linked to spatial
understanding expressed in texts, where the critical stepwise formalisation process is used to see
what happens when the textual spatial understanding is translated into the map medium.
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11:00 AM - The Literary Encyclopedia as a model of digital scholarly publishing for the new posthumanist age
Sandru, Cristina (The Literary Encyclopedia, Bristol, United Kingdom)
The Literary Encyclopedia was founded in 1998 with the aim of providing a reliable scholarly online
reference work for English-language readers, primarily in the higher education humanities. At the
time, ‘going digital’ was still in its infancy, especially in literary and cultural studies, and often
frowned upon or dismissed among respectable academic circles in the humanities. Much has
changed since, to such an extent that it is now virtually impossible to find a major academic publisher
without a strong online component. Yet what distinguished the Literary Encyclopedia from its very
inception was the fact that it was built with the online user in mind (so emphasizing ease of access
and functionality of content), and organized its data in easy to update and cross-linking tables of
information. Because this architecture has been constantly improved over 15 years, it is easy to use,
flexible and robust.
What distinguishes the LE from similar reference projects are 3 things:
1. An emphasis on making its digital platform responsive to the needs and limitations of today’s
readership.
2. A preoccupation with covering all writing of value produced throughout the world, in an age and
environment in which world& comparative literature, especially in the English-speaking academic
context, face an increasing threat of irrelevance. We seek to offer accessible critical content, written
in English, on writing and cultures on which such reference information is not readily accessible.
3. A belief that authors, editors and translators should be properly rewarded for the time, energy and
knowledge they put in. This is an inverse trend to the increasing corporatization of knowledge, and
the effective control of scholarly publishing by a handful of major corporations. Instead, what we
propose is a co-ownership model which renders our project effectively a not-for-profit one: all
revenues in excess of running and development costs are distributed as royalties to contributing
members.
11:30 PM - Mobility, transparency, and permanence of the object "word" in scholarship in digital
humanities
boruszko, graciela (Pepperdine University, Simi valley, USA)
Does “the word of the author” and the “words of the author” conspire in the digital text? Does the
digital publication behave as an adjuvant or as a hindrance so that the author arrives to mean what
he or she says and assigns a meaning to everything the writer says? How does the digital word
achieve social relevance to a student body that manifests less interest in the study of literature and
cultures?
This article will analyze how the digital word engages in the pedagogical and scholarly journey. What
is the role of the digital word in the theoretical realm as well as in the practice of that pedagogy? Is
the digital word distant from the printed word? How do either word relate to a globalized pedagogy?
Is the digital word the best instrument to insert scholarship beyond borders? How is the digital word
relating students, faculty, researchers and the general public in a fast paced world thriving to
consume the posts on the wide world web?
The millennial generations are trained by our society to engage and consume what pertains to social
relevance, so how do they interact with scholarship published in digital humanities? Can scholarship
remain true to the deepest thoughts and achieve social relevance within the digital humanities? How
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successful is digital humanities to bridge practice, pedagogy and research conceived in the globalized
theater of the wide web?
The digital word has to answer to these challenging scenarios and once again succeed to convey the
pondering of academia to new generations that have been trained to dig into the wide web to find
the answers to their personal quests.
2:00 PM - Combining quantitative and qualitative methods to visualize, measure and analyze the
corpus of Alexander von Humboldt.
Bärtschi, Sarah (Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
From 1788 to 1859 the explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt published about 750 articles
and essays in over 150 periodicals. These texts are written in different genres and for different target
groups. And they are multilingual and multidisciplinary. In my talk, I discuss the combination of
quantitative and qualitaitve methods in order to visualize and describe the complexity and
heterogeneity of this corpus. In switching between distant and close reading I try to answer research
questions as follows: How can we measure Humboldts rhetorical strategies, his writing style, and his
use of specific vocabulary? How can we determine the discussed disciplines in each article and give
an overview of Humboldt’s inter-, multi- and transdisciplinarity? How can we visualize the involved
translation work and differences in text versions? By several examples, I show how I prepared the
corpus to enable these quantitative analyses and discuss the challenges in working with historical
corpora and ancient spelling.
2:30 PM - A Study on Ba Jin in Chinese Electronic Media
Wang, Miaomiao (North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China)
A Study of Ba Jin (李尧棠) in Chinese Electronic Media
Ba Jin (Li Yaotang, 1904-2005) is known as one of the six most influential writers in modern Chinese
literature (the others are LuXun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Lao She, and Cao Yu). According to the data
collection of the webpage about Ba Jin in Chinese, the paper gives an outline of the core concerns in
Chinese Electronic Media. It discusses what is happening about Ba on the Chinese Internet in China,
including the developments on the introductions to Ba; the autobiographies of Ba; the works of Ba,
which takes Turbulent current trilogy as the example; politics, especially on anarchism and populism;
and images of the female, etc. Besides, it also discusses how the criticism and reception of Ba online
in Chinese are different from those in the US-America. The paper analyzes the hidden reasons, most
of which are owing to the specific historical and theoretical values, expecting to provide important
points of reference for a global understanding and appreciation of Ba’s works, and contribute to the
study of Ba in and abroad.
3:00 PM - Remediating Travel Writing: A Cross-Cultural Approach to Western and Chinese Travel
Books and Blogs
Calzati, Stefano (University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom)
Being a genre that is paradigmatically based on the encounter between self and other, travel writing
constitutes a privileged object of study for a cross-cultural analysis. Here, such analysis is extended to
the digital realm, by advancing a comparison between a number of contemporary travel books and
blogs about China. Firstly, western-authored travel writings, written either in English, French, or
Italian, are compared. The main argument is that there are no sensible differences – neither online,
nor in print – among these texts, as for what is recounted, despite the fact that travellers come from
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different contexts. To change, however, are the kinds of knowledge that the book and the blog, as
medial formats, promote: in print travelogues the encounter is represented as a gradual discovery,
while travel blogs manifest an objectification of the account, which implies a commodification of the
experience. This means that, while the genre is transcultural in content, it undergoes a radical
reworking of its form and embedded knowledge depending on the medium. In the second part, the
same analysis concerns Chinese-authored travel books and blogs. Findings point to a widespread
homogeneity – in content, form, and kind of knowledge – among Chinese and western travel blogs.
On the contrary, printed Chinese travel writings differ from western ones, in terms of formal features
and the conception itself of the genre. This suggests a degree of incommensurability proper to
printed travelogues – but not digital ones – when the comparison transcends western literary
borders.
4:00 PM - Comparative Literature and Digital Humanities- The Possibilities of Interrelationships
Bhowmik, Ranjamrittika (Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India)
If the history of Comparative Literature is traced one would be reminded of Goethe’s
famous dialogue with Eckermann in which he declares the last days of National Literature and the
emergence of Weltliteratur.Tagore’s idea of Vishwasahitya was founded on the belief that the
‘literatures’ of the world can be studied in the most humane, collaborative and deterritorial manner.
Charles Mills Gayley and Hugo Meltzl had both argued in favour of collaborative work as the most
effective way for comparative literature to combine the depth and breadth of its study. Hutcheson
Macauley Posnett had stressed that “comparative study should be a scientific enterprise focused on
broad literary and social movements rather than on a Romantic-style appreciation for the
outpourings of individual genius.” Gayley wanted to build a massive database of analysis from which
the laws of genre and literary evolution could be governed. This dream of a “new science of
literature” was essentially interdisciplinary in nature and this vast and comprehensive endeavour
would require a scientific collaboration in a “society of comparative literature.”
This paper will try to argue that, Digital Humanities is such a world “society”, which
enables collaboration and building up of a massive database in proportions unimagined
before.Processes like data-mining,quantitative text analysis, data visualization, digital archiving etc
not only make the process of preserving, producing, disseminating and circulation of knowledge
easier but also act as catalysts to enable better qualitative analysis of literary, cultural, sociological
and political works creating an infinite network of communication and interaction. In the digital age,
a system of hypertexts can be modified at any time and has many centres from where meaning
originates. This is a paradigm shift in literary history, the history of publishing and cultural
interaction. It is no more a linear relationship between the text and the reader but a participatory
framework where one is allowed to contribute criticize, modify content. If we as students of
Comparative Literature create such multimedia platforms, and exploit the medium of Digital
Humanities to create inter-media and multimedia representations of literary, historical, political,
religious and socio-cultural works, it will only help researchers to go ahead with their research on a
specific topic and reduce the perils of unavailability or lack of access to certain rare materials.
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4:30 PM - Neoliberalism, World Literature, and the Promise of Digital Publishing
Di Leo, Jeffrey R. (University of Houston-Victoria, Houston, USA)
Jeffrey R. Di Leo discusses the potential of digital publishing for supporting world literature--the
backbone of the humanities and comparative literature. It is both a critique of the neoliberal global
publishing industry and a call for more writers to embrace avenues outside of it opened up by new
digital publishing technologies. Di Leo’s exploration of digital publishing in support of the notion of
world literature is in part inspired by the case of Dalkey Archive Press author, Svetlana Alexievitch,
the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. At the time of the award, the press (which is on the
campus of the University of Houston-Victoria) only had one hard copy of her masterwork, Voices
from Chernobyl, in their inventory, but used digital publishing to meet world demand for the book in
a matter of hours.
5:00 PM - Digital Humanities, Data Science, and the Study of Literature
Tötösy de Zepetnek, Steven , Other / Andere
In his presentation Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek discusses the historical background of electronic data
(theory and application) and the current landscape of scholarship and practices of data science
including the relevance of "big data" in and for the study of literature. Starting in the 1980s,
theoretical and applied frameworks such as Bibliologie and the Empirical Study of Literature, the
relevance and importance of data obtained electronically has been put on the landscape of new
scholarship in theory, application, teaching, and research practices. Facilitated by computer networks
and the internet and thus the availability of "big data," by the late 1990s to current applicabilities and
the relevance of electronic data evolve(d) to significant advances in order to research and analyze
literary texts empirically both quantitatively and qualitatively. It is in this context that Tötösy de
Zepetnek discusses the current landscape of scholarship as to how data science facilitates new
insights about various aspects of and in the study of literature. Data science applied in the study of
literature confirms already established paradigms and analyses arrived at in traditional scholarship
while others alter and revise established paradigms and change the study of literature in research,
teaching, and publishing.
16460 - Kolonialismus, Globalisierung(en) und (Neue) Weltliteratur
Room: Hs 26
Chair: Sturm-Trigonakis, Elke
9:00 AM - Herausforderungen postkolonialer Studien im einundzwanzigsten Jahrhundert
Albrecht, Monika (Universität Vechta, Vechta, Germany)
Die traditionellen postkolonialen Studien gehen von der Relevanz postkolonialer Theorien für das
Verständnis der gegenwärtigen Welt aus. Ihre Aufmerksamkeit gilt jedoch den europäischkapitalistischen Imperien und ihren kolonialen Opfern, ein großer Teil der Welt kommt in diesem
vermeintlich weltumspannenden Ansatz gar nicht vor. Das Fehlen zweier kolonialer Machtzentren
fällt dabei besonders ins Auge: Einmal hat die Nähe zu kapitalismuskritischen und marxistisch
orientierten Diskursen den postkolonialen Ansatz auf dem linken Auge blind gemacht, so dass die
russische und sowjetische koloniale Expansion und die postkolonialen Nachfolgestaaten des
sowjetische Imperiums die längste Zeit nicht in den Blick gerieten. Zum anderen wird der Nahe
Osten, speziell das Osmanische Reich des 19. Jahrhunderts, von vielen trotz seiner durchaus
bekannten imperialen Aggression bis heute meist nur als Opfer der anderen globalen Mächte
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wahrgenommen. Aus postkolonialer Sicht gilt dieser 'klassische Raum' von Edward Saids
"Orientalismus" ohnehin als nicht kritisierbar.
Die Glaubwürdigkeit und intellektuelle Relevanz des Postkolonialismus wird künftig nicht zuletzt
davon abhängen, ob und inwiefern er sich den Herausforderungen eines tatsächlich globalen
Ansatzes stellt. Was jedoch beim Einbezug bislang vernachlässigter (post)kolonialer Situationen mit
konzeptuellen und politischen Vorannahmen der traditionellen postcolonial studies geschieht – wenn
etwa die 'koloniale Logik' in anderen Kontexten anderen Gesetzen gehorcht und 'koloniale
Mentalitäten' andere Auswirkungen als die bislang vertrauten zeigen –, ist gegenwärtig noch nicht
absehbar. Der Vortrag geht diesen und anderen Fragen nach, diskutiert Konsequenzen eines in
diesem Sinne erweiterten Verständnisses von Postkolonialität und macht Vorschläge für
Neukonzeptionen.
9:30 AM - (Literary) Theory from the South
Helgesson, Stefan (Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden)
In their book, Theory from the South , John and Jean Comaroff claim that the North is evolving
towards Africa, with fiscal meltdown, precarity and state privatization reflecting developments which
the “Global South” has experienced for much longer. The time has come, in other words, for the
North to learn a lesson or two from theSouth. As the Warwick Research Collective (WReC) argue in
their recent book Combined and Uneven Development, however, this is hardly anything new: within
the evolving capitalist world-system, its unevenness has always been most keenly evident in the
peripheries of the system. The critic – in the WReC mould– who reads fiction for its encoding of the
unevenness of the world-system,will therefore find some of the strongest and oldest instances of
“world-literature” emerging from colonised and formerly colonised regions of the world: Multatuli’s
Java, Machado de Assis’s Brazil, Olive Schreiner’s Cape colony. Taking this a critical point of
departure, the present paper will look at some twentieth-century instances of how literature has
been theorised and studied in the South. The assumption here is that, on closer inspection, earlier
phases of literary study in the South produce implicit (and sometimes explicit) theories of world
literature that prefigure contemporary debates. To show this, the paper draws on a Brazilian and
South African archive, looking specifically at how critics have negotiated the dialectic of the local and
the cosmopolitan, and the national and international, under conditions of (post)coloniality in the
1960s and 1970s.
10:00 AM - Hybride, Nomaden, Verpflanzte: problematische Narrative des Selbst in der
"afropoliten" Literatur
Unterschiedlich motivierte Migrationsbewegungen haben in ihrem Ausmaß, ihrer Dynamik und ihrer
Reichweite seit dem letzten Weltkrieg rapide zugenommen (Han 2005); dies führt zu einer
Vervielfachung kultureller Kontakte und interkulturell wirksamer Diskurse. Wo Kulturen, Individuen
oder Texte mehrerer, manchmal auch undefinierbarer Herkünfte in Kontakt kommen, benötigt auch
die Literaturwissenschaft nicht nur ein verlässliches, sondern, wie die zahlreichen Vorschläge in
diesem Feld vor allem in den letzten 20 Jahren zeigen, auch ein flexibles begriffliches
Instrumentarium abseits des nationalliterarischen Paradigmas. Literarische Werke spiegeln solche
massiv zunehmenden Kulturkontakte und globalen Diskurse in tendenzieller Mehrsprachigkeit, in der
Hybridität von Gattungen und dem Rückgriff auf fakturielle Merkmale unterschiedlichster
Provenienz. Nicht zuletzt verarbeiten sie zeitgenössische Erfahrungen fragmentierter Subjektivität in
der Formung ihrer Protagonisten. Die Kritik am Ungenügen des breit diskutierten postkolonialen
Paradigmas, das Menschen innerhalb und außerhalb der Literatur in erster Linie an ihrem
Herkommen aus einer kolonialen Geschichte der Unterdrückung und Nötigung (als „Opfer“, „Täter“
32
und Mischform) beschreibt, wird dabei immer lauter. Flexiblere Beschreibungsparameter für eine
„neue Weltliteratur“ können auf neuere Ansätze wie die Nomadic Theory von Rosi Braidotti
(1994/2011) oder die Greffologie von Ottmar Ette und Uwe Wirth (Nach der Hybridität, 2014)
zurückgreifen. Diese Ansätze werden in meinem Beitrag an neueren Romane von afrikanischen
Emigranten erprobt, die Prozesse problematischer Subjektkonstitution bei ihren Protagonisten
darstellen.
11:00 AM - Zwischen Ver- und Entortung. Der dritte Raum in der Post-DDR-Literatur
Nagelschmidt, Ilse (University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany)
Meine Freunde im Osten verstehe ich nicht mehr [...] Nirgendwo bin ich angekommen. Nirgendwo
war ich zuhaus. Das stelle ich fest ohne Trauer. Was also hole ich her, wenn ich bleibe was sollte
bleiben, wo es jetzt ist.1 Noch weit über zwanzig Jahre nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung gibt
es in der germanistischen Literaturwissenschaft in keiner Weise eine Einheitlichkeit in der
Begriffsbestimmung zu der nach 1989 in Ostdeutschland geschriebenen Literatur. Termini wie
Wendeliteratur, Regionalliteratur, ostdeutsche Literatur und Post- DDR-Literatur bestimmen die
Aussagen. Dabei ist auffallend, dass in literaturwissenschaftlichen Abhandlungen der postkoloniale
Diskurs über Jahre weitestgehend ausgeblendet bzw. sofort wieder in Frage gestellt wird (Wolfgang
Emmerich). In der Aufnahme postkolonialer Verfahren ist es das Ziel des Beitrages, den dritten Raum
in der Post- DDR-Literatur zu bestimmen und die vom amerikanischen Kulturwissenschaftler und
Philosophen Homi K. Bhabha geprägten ‚Gegengeschichten' in ihrer Bedeutung zu erschließen, da sie
kritische Perspektiven auf Einheit und Vielheit einer Nation sowie deren Postulat einer stabilen,
teleologisch und hegemonial informierten Geschichtspolitik artikulieren können. Im Vortrag sollen
Texte von Wolfgang Hilbig, Angela Krauß und Christa Wolf im Hinblick auf das subversive Potenzial
untersucht werden, um so die von Bhabha eingeforderte "Zeitlichkeit der Repräsentation, die sich
ohne zentrierte Logik zwischen kulturellen Formationen und sozialen Prozessen bewegt"2, den
‚Historismus' der von der Gleichwertigkeit von Idee und Ereignis ausgeht und "gewöhnlich ein Volk,
eine Nation oder eine nationale Kultur als eine empirisch soziologische Kategorie oder eine
ganzheitliche kulturelle Größe bezeichnet"3, entgegenzusetzen.
1 Drawert, Kurt: Ortswechsel. In: ndl 41 (1993), 7, 24.
2 Bhabha, Homi K.: DissemiNation, Zeit, narrative Geschichte und die Ränder der modernen Nation.
In: Homi K. Bhabha: Die Verortung der Kultur. Tübingen 2011, 210-211.
3 Ebenda, 209.
11:30 AM - Bosnien als Dritter Raum in den Texten Dzevad Karahasans
Vojvoda, Gabriela (Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany)
„Ich komme aus der Dritten Welt“ sagt Dževad Karahasan, eine der wichtigsten literarischen
Stimmen aus Bosnien. Die Trefflichkeit und Doppeldeutigkeit der Aussage wird bei der Betrachtung
insbesondere seiner nach den jugoslavischen Zerfallskriegen entstandenen Texte, deutlich.
Jugoslavien gehörte nach dem 1948 erfolgten Bruch zwischen Tito und Stalin der Bewegung der
Blockfreien und somit per definitionem der so genannten Dritten Welt an, die sich über die Erste
Welt des westlichen Kapitalismus und die Zweite Welt der kommunistischen Ostblock-Staaten
definierte. Einen kulturwissenschaftlichen Zugang zum Dritten Raum bietet die postkoloniale Theorie.
Der Begriff „Dritte Welt“ assoziiert neben Krieg und Armut nämlich noch ein anderes: Kolonialismus.
Verschiedene Kulturen, Religionen und Ideologien haben in Bosnien bei über Jahrhunderte
andauernder – nicht immer friedlichen – Koexistenz der monotheistischen Religionsgemeinschaften
(Christentum, Islam, Judentum), ihre Spuren hinterlassen. Homi Bhabhas (1994) in der postkolonialen
Theorie entwickeltes Konzept des Dritten Raums (Third space) bzw. des „Zwischen“-Raums (in33
between) lässt sich auch auf kulturelle Gegenwart Bosniens übertragen. Bosnien, geprägt durch
Fremdherrschaft im Osmanischen Reich und in der Habsburger Monarchie, erweist sich aus dieser
Perspektive als „Kolonie“ verschiedener Kulturen und Religionen. Obgleich die postkoloniale Theorie
im Allgemeinen und die postkoloniale Narratologie im Besonderen in Folge der weltweiten
Kolonisierung durch die europäischen bzw. „westlichen“ Kolonialreiche und mit Blick auf die Spuren,
die sie in den einstigen Kolonien in Afrika, Asien und Südamerika hinterlassen haben, entwickelt
wurde, ist es sinnvoll, auch die – europäische – Literatur Bosniens aus der Perspektive der
postkolonialen Erzähltheorie zu betrachten. Mit der Kolonisierung Bosniens durch das Osmanische
Reich, später durch die Habsburger Monarchie, durch die Zugehörigkeit Bosniens zu den
Königreichen sowie zum sozialistischen Jugoslavien und nicht zuletzt durch die jugoslavischen
Zerfallskriege hat(ben) die kulturelle(n) Identität(en) der Menschen in Bosnien unterschiedliche
Herrschaftssysteme durchlaufen, die ihren Widerhall in der Literatur finden.
Entgegen den seit den 1990ern anhaltenden Nationalisierungstendenzen in den Nachfolgestaaten
Jugoslaviens handeln Karahasans Texte kulturelle Identitätsentwürfe jenseits nationaler
Zuschreibungen aus. Der Vortrag konzentriert sich auf die Implementierung dieses (anderen) Raumund Identitätsdiskurses in die narrativen Strategien. Begegnungsraum und Verhandlungsinstanz für
die Interaktion kultureller Gemeinsamkeiten und Differenzen ist stets Bosnien, das in Form eines
facettenreichen Dritten Raums in Erscheinung tritt, in dem die Dichotomien von entweder oder
zugunsten einer kulturellen Vielstimmigkeit ausgehebelt werden.
Gabriela Vojvoda hat in Saarbrücken studiert und wurde 2013 an der Martin-Luther-Universität
Halle-Wittenberg im Bereich der Südslavistik promoviert. Zurzeit ist sie wissenschaftliche
Mitarbeiterin an der Universität des Saarlandes und koordiniert die Europa-Gastprofessur.
12:00 PM - Postkoloniale Ökokritik in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur am Beispiel von Hermann
Schulz' Tanganjika-Romanen
Kanjo, Judita (University of Education Ludwigsburg, Karlsruhe, Germany)
Postkoloniale Tendenzen sind nicht nur in der Allgemeinliteratur, sondern auch in der Kinder- und
Jugendliteratur mit Erkenntnisgewinn zu verfolgen. Eine neue Dimension eröffnen theoretische
Ansätze, die die postkoloniale mit einer ökokritischen Perspektive verknüpfen. Auf diese Weise wird
eine Verbindung zwischen sozialen und Umweltfaktoren hergestellt, wobei sowohl der
Anthropozentrismus des Postkolonialen als auch die universalistischen westlichen
Ökologievorstellungen eine Ergänzung erfahren. Der postcolonial ecocriticism ermöglicht neue
Lesarten der hier exemplarisch ausgewählten Romane Hermann Schulz‘, die beide geschichtlich und
topographisch auf dem Gebiet des britisch beherrschten Tanganjika zu verorten sind. Die Texte
zeigen zwei unterschiedliche Gesichter dieses historischen Raumes: Der Jugendroman Auf dem
Strom schildert die Auseinandersetzung eines deutschen Missionars mit der afrikanischen Wildnis,
indem er mit dem mächtigen und tückischen Fluss um das Leben seiner Tochter ringt. Eine
anfängliche Animalisierung und Ablehnung einheimischer Heilkunst weicht der Anerkennung der
Naturnähe und des Wissens der Afrikaner, ohne diese idealistisch zu verklären. Der europäischmaskulin geprägten Vernunftzentrierung wird nicht zufällig die Heilkraft einheimischer Frauen
entgegengesetzt. Der Kinderroman Wenn dich ein Löwe nach der Uhrzeit fragt konstituiert dagegen
urbane Räume, indem die Geschichte einer interkulturellen Familie in den Mittelpunkt rückt, die
bereits in Auf dem Strom eine Nebenrolle spielte. Eisenbahn, Autos und Lkws bestimmen das
Stadtbild, die traditionelle afrikanische Fauna musste bereits der Besiedlung weichen. Die Natur wird
durch Bergbau und monokulturelle Landwirtschaft ausgebeutet – der Verbreitung westlicher
Agrarkenntnisse dient sogar eine landwirtschaftliche Versuchsstation. Die ursprüngliche Kraft der
Natur scheint allerdings im Erinnerungsbild eines Vulkanausbruchs auf, welches mit seinem
34
eindrucksvollen „kirschroten Lapilliregen“ auch nach dem Tod des geliebten Vaters familiäre Nähe
stiftet.
9:00 AM - Literary Mappings of Colonial and Postcolonial Cities: A study of Genre Crossings in
contemporary fictions from Germany and India.
sabharwal, jyoti (Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, Delhi, India)
This paper relates to the fictional representation of the city in a comparative frame-work, cutting
across genres of the short story, novel, travelogue and autobiography to engage with issues
pertinent to this conference. The intent is not to compare texts on the basis of authors or genres. I
base my comparative framework on a premise in comparative studies where historical or sociological
phenomena are used as connectors within texts.The basis of the comparison is the modern
metropolis as a trope in the narrative space of some representative fictional texts across regions and
languages.1If all contemporary literature is city literature 2it is worthwhile to analyse how the city
impacted the narrative of some representative fictions from Germany and India.
Through the readings of these contemporary fictions from German, Urdu, Hindi and English it is
hypothesized that the emergence of the modern city as a literary trope led to a creative impulse to
break and recreate the structures of the chosen genre by authors,to frequently create a hybridity of
genres.Over the past thirty years, researchers working across a range of disciplines have
revolutionized the way we think of genres,challenging the idea that genres are simple categorizations
of texts and offering instead an understanding of genre that connects texts to social actions and an
understanding of when,why and where to use genres;and how a genre relates to other genres.3
Within this reference-framework the comparisons here will not be undertaken on the basis of
binaries of similarity and difference but what Gayatri Spivak sets out as the programme of
comparativism in her essay, Rethinking Comparativism, of creating equivalence through giving lesser
read languages in the world credence by shifting focus to erstwhile colonised countries and creating
an epistemology of gender and subaltern perspectives.
1 Angelika Corbineau-Hoffmann: Komparatiskit. Eric Schmidt Vlg, Berlin 2005. S.96-97
2 Imagined Cities: Urban Experience and the Language of the Novel, and: Writing the City: Urban
David Spurr: Visions and Literary Modernism . James joyce quarterly review. Volume 44, Number 2,
Winter 2007 pp. 370-376 | 10.1353/jjq.2007.0046
3 Anis S. Bawarshi and Mary Jo Reiff: An Introduction to History, Theory, Research, and Pedagogy,
Parlor Press, West Lafayette, Indiana 2010.P.2
9:30 AM - Istanbul und Mexiko Stadt
Nissler, Paul (Stanford University, Stanford - Kalifornien, USA)
In my proposed workshop contribution, I would be interested in considering some broader terms and
then applying these to a group of (mostly) literary examples. I would like to consider cultural
anthropology and historical economics, such as in David Graeber’s Debt. The first 5,000 years, the
political in Vijay Prashad’s The Darker Nations (with backdrop of Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth,
a.o.), and the philosophical in Josef Estermann’s Si el Sur fuera el Norte, and linguistic and literary in
Martin Lienhardt’s La Voz y su Huella.
35
In developing cultural anthropological, historic-economical, political, philosophical, linguistic and
literary considerations, I would like to apply certain parameters to presentations of two spaces,
namely that of Istanbul and Mexico City (and their broader nuances).
East and West, Asia and Europe, crossroad lands at crossroad moments; here, in many respects,
Istanbul could be seen embracing this dynamic. I would like to include considerations from Deniz
Utlu’s Die Ungehaltenen, or Fatih Akin’s films (Auf der anderen Seite, Gegen die Wand), and Yasar
Kemal’s Auch die Vögel sind fort, Geeert Mak’s Die Brücke von Istanbul and O. Pamuk’s Istanbul,
(fleetingly) Abbas Khider´s Der falsche Inder, (background) Nazim Hikmet´s Die Romantiker and
(through extension) Kurban Said’s Ali und Nino.
At this point I would like to expand the discussion by including considerations of the space of Mexico
City. East and West, Europe and the Americas, North and South, the Europe/US and Mexico/Latin
America find a nuanced center in presentations of Mexico City. Here I would like to consider writings
from and of Alexander von Humboldt, works from Octavio Paz, R. Bolaños, L. Esquivel, and newer
considerations, for example in films, such as Iñaritu’s Amores Perros or from Chicana literature, such
as Richard Rodriguez´s “India” (Days of Obligation), (a. o.). Further examples of the broader nuance
coming from the ‘South’ can be found in many works, both older and newer, such as in Rainer Simon,
Eduardo Galeano, Gioconda Belli, and Jose Maria Arguedas (a.o.).
10:00 AM - PROPOSING PLURALITY AS A "LANGUAGE" OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
Chanda, Ipshita (Dept. of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India)
Presenting cases from contemporary literatures written in different languages located in the
‘globalised’ ‘postcolonial’ plural culture of the Asian subcontinent, the paper begins from the
assumption that literary culture is produced through the dialogue between the literary and the social
systems,which includes the contact between literatures in different languages . These readings are
used to suggest that the plural culture in which the texts are located can be more profitably
addressed through the idea of interliterariness which is at the base of the comparative method.
Despite – or due to - their writing and reception in the globalised postcolonial world, the concepts
of ‘location’, ‘contact’ and ‘hospitality’ deployed by this method help us to approach the texts
through the language-literary systems they inhabit, rather than through epistemic formations
predicated upon historical periods. Plurality is a result of pre-colonial contact, characteristic of the
milieu into which the coloniser brought his ‘culture’. Plurality, ironically, is also the sacrificial offering
to homogenised institutionalised ‘difference’ that is characteristic of globalisation.It stands, thus, in
an ambiguous relationship to colonialism/'post'colonialism and/or globalisation. Through readings
of literary works from different Indian languages, this paper argues that despite the dilation marked
by the proposal for this workshop, the critical categories of colonialism/postcolonialism and
globalisation, do not answer the needs of literary scholarship in plural literary cultures. Extending the
scope of the method to include texts written in European languages by authors from once-colonised
African societies, this paper proposes to consider plurality conceptually and methodologically as an
oft cited but rarely learnt language in the conversation of comparative literature.
11:00 AM - Regionales Agieren - globales Reagieren. Aktuelle Kriminalromane und die "Neue
Weltliteratur"
Neubauer-Petzoldt, Ruth (Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institut für Neuere deutsche Literaturgeschichte, Eckental,
Germany)
Die Kriminalliteratur befasst sich mit den großen ‚Ungerechtigkeiten‘ und Verletzungen der
(gesellschaftlichen) Ordnung, die im Verlauf des Erzählens wieder hergestellt werden soll, wenn am
Schluss der Täter überführt, das Verbrechen gesühnt sein soll. Wie aber geht die aktuelle
36
Kriminalliteratur mit der zunehmenden Internationalisierung der Schauplätze und den global
agierenden Tätern, mit der Komplexität dieser oft postkolonialen Zusammenhänge um? Mein Beitrag
möchte sich in Anlehnung an die Neue Weltliteratur als „systemische Reorganisation des fiktiven
Raumes“, so Elke Sturm-Trigonakis, und in Verbindung mit einer genrespezifischen Analyse der
Räume mit aktuellen Beispielen der Kriminalliteratur befassen: z.B.: John Grishams Thriller Gray
Mountain (2014), Arne Dahls Serie um das internationale Europol- Ermittlerteam, das die Todsünden
Gier (2011), Zorn (2012), Neid (2013) und Hass (2014) im Titel thematisiert, sowie dem RegionalKrimi Einkehr von Tommie Goerz (2014). Diese beziehen sich u.a. auf aktuelle Ereignisse der
Weltpolitik - von terroristischen Anschlägen islamistischer Gruppen bis zu die Umwelt zerstörenden
internationalen Unternehmen. Dabei wird der regionalen Verortung und lokal verwurzelten Typen
mit hohem Identifikationspotential für den Leser eine globale Verantwortung und ethische
Perspektivierung gegenübergestellt, wie dies auch der Ecocriticism beschreibt. Die fiktiven Räume im
Kriminalroman orientieren sich an genrespezifischen Erzählmustern, etwa der Idylle oder typischen
Verortungen des ‚Bösen‘, die jedoch in neue globale Zusammenhänge gestellt werden, so dass der
Rezipient mit einer international agierenden Vielfalt an Tätern, Opfern und Ermittlern von
unterschiedlicher kultureller Herkunft konfrontiert wird. Auf mehreren Ebenen soll daher die
narratologische Inszenierung dieser kriminalistischen ‚Weltliteratur‘ analysiert werden,– mit kurzen
Exkursen zu paradigmatischen Kriminalromanen, die für Subgenres wie den Ökokrimi, den
Regionalkrimi etc. prägend sind.
11:30 AM - Kolonialgeschichte(n) und Transkulturalität im Spannungsfeld von Globalem und
Lokalem am Beispiel angloindischer und deutschsprachiger historischer Romane des 21. Jahrhunderts
Hinzmann, Maria (Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany)
Sogenannte ‚historische Romane‘ haben derzeit in vielen Sprachen Konjunktur und bilden dabei
insgesamt ein heterogenes Feld. Der Beitrag setzt sich mit einem Teilbereich dieser Menge
auseinander, nämlich gegenwärtigen Romanen, die sich in der Schnittmenge der Systeme
‚historischer Roman‘, ‚Neue Weltliteratur‘ und ‚postkoloniale Literatur‘ verorten lassen, insofern sie
(1.) Gattungsmerkmale des historischen Romans aufweisen, (2.) den historischen Roman in der
Verhandlung und Reflexion von Globalisierungsprozessen in einem transkulturellen Paradigma und
zugleich im Spannungsfeld von Globalem und Lokalem (vgl. Sturm-Trigonakis) situieren, (3.)
Kolonialgeschichte(n) verhandeln, neu perspektivieren und sich in das Diskursfeld des
Postkolonialismus einschreiben (vgl. Honold).
Vor diesem Hintergrund relativiert sich die vermeintlich ausschließliche Aktualität von
transkulturellen Reise- und Migrationsbewegungen ebenso wie die eines gegenwärtigen ‚Zeitalters
der Globalisierung‘. Der Beitrag argumentiert, dass die in der Schnittmenge liegenden Texte
Phänomene der Gegenwart (als einer ‚dritten Globalisierung‘) über die Auseinandersetzung mit der
‚ersten‘ und ‚zweiten Globalisierung‘ verhandeln und reflektieren (vgl. Pinheiro/Ueckmann) und
dabei nicht zuletzt das Verhältnis von Globalem und Lokalem als relationale, einander
durchdringende Phänomene (vgl. Robertson) ausloten. In der Absicht, von der Schnittmenge
ausstrahlend, auch Aufschluss über Spezifika der Systeme und ihr Verhältnis zueinander zu
gewinnen, werden angloindische und deutschsprachige Romane des 21. Jahrhunderts exemplarisch
untersucht (Amitav Ghosh: Sea of Poppies; Christof Hamann: Usambara; Lukas Hartmann: Bis ans
Ende der Meere; Salman Rushdie: The Enchantress of Florence).
12:00 PM - Postkoloniales Er-Schreiben des Kolonialen: Ilija Trojanows "Der Weltensammler" (2006)
Alex Campus Roman "Eine Frage der Zeit" (2007)
Mayer, Michael (Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany)
37
Sind die Handlungen der Romane „Der Weltensammler” (2006) von Ilija Trojanow und „Eine Frage
der Zeit“(2007) von Alexander Campus in die Kolonialzeit verlegt, entfalten die Texte doch
postkoloniale Perspektiven auf die europäischen Kolonien. In „Der Weltensammler“ setzt sich die
Figur Richard Francis Burton, die an der gleichnamigen historischen Person orientiert ist, intensiv mit
der jeweils anderen, kolonisierten Kultur auseinander. Der Weg führt Burton von Indien bis Ostafrika.
Dieses Einlassen Burtons auf das Fremde wird durch andere Figuren vermittelt. Dadurch erzeugt der
Roman vielfältige Perspektiven auf die außereuropäischen Länder. Der Roman „Eine Frage der Zeit“
macht eine deutsche Kolonie in Afrika während des Ersten Weltkriegs zum Schauplatz. Dabei werden
stets kulturelle Eigenschaften der deutschen Figuren verhandelt. Ein „koloniales Begehren“ (Homi K.
Bhabba: Remembering Fanon, 1986) ist diesen nicht zu attestieren, fragt der Roman selbst nach den
Möglichkeiten der ästhetische Darstellung des Fremden.
Beide Romane loten diese Möglichkeiten der Darstellung literarisch aus, indem verschiedene
Perspektiven und Stimmen in Erscheinung treten. Somit setzen sie im Sinne eines postkolonialen
Erzählens die eigene Erzählstimme und Perspektive nicht mehr absolut. Das Postkoloniale hat sich in
beiden Romanen zur narrativen Strategie entwickelt, um das Koloniale literarisch neu zu verhandeln.
Der postkoloniale Blick nach Paul Michael Lützeler (1998, 2005) soll für die Analyse herangezogen
werden. Bringt dieser Ansatz einige Probleme mit sich, so möchte der Vortrag für einen
postkolonialen Fokus plädieren, der Multiperspektivität als sein wichtigstes Element entwickelt.
Dieser Ansatz soll an den Werken diskutiert werden, um herauszufinden, ob diese Texte eine
„Weltliteratur des Kolonialen“ bereits ad absurdum führen.
2:00 PM - The Other Europe: The Revolution of the Other
Li, Xingbo (Norwich University, Northfield, VT, USA)
The proposed paper will address Andre Malraux’s two revolutionary novels set in China, The
Conquerors (1928) and Man’s Fate (1933), the first two French novels of the proletarian revolution of
the twentieth century. I will argue that the evocation of China as a world of madness and terror in
Malraux’s fictions is a projection of the anxieties of the French bourgeoisie in a specific time period of
history. The revolution of the Other is a myth. The shape the myth takes, and therefore the character
of the revolution itself, depends not so much on facts and discoveries as on the psychological and
symbolic needs and attitudes of the civilized white man who creates the myth.
Despite his efforts to write a history of the Chinese revolution and to justify himself as an anticolonialist writer, Malraux cannot transcend his own historical background and extract himself from
the colonizing mind-set. In Malraux’s novels, Chinese culture is abstracted and alienated from the
social present and made into a timeless attribute of peoples. Abstraction is the starting point of
cultural imperialism as hegemonic ideology. There are no attempts to develop an account of the
world which treats the native perspective as primary. The coolies are left to the white people’s
guidance, the writer’s among them.
2:30 PM - Ondjaki's classmates read Honwana: towards a trans-colonial theory
Lukaszyk, Ewa (University of Warsaw, Kraków, Poland)
The adjective 'trans-colonial' may refer to any form of collaboration of transfer of ideas occurring
between (ex-)colonies. In parallel, it may refer, in a broader sense, to the process of Verwindung,
symbolical “healing” of the colonial wound and closing its post-colonial renegotiation in order to
initiate a new stage of cultural development. Nós chorámos pelo cão tinhoso, the short story by the
Angolan author Ondjaki (born in 1977), in clear intertextual relation to the classical text by Luis
Bernardo Honwana, Nós matámos o cão tinhoso (1964), marks such a passage from post-colonial to
trans-colonial. The classical text showed the symbolical oppression exerted in the framework of the
38
colonial school; the narration by Ondjaki shows the post-colonial school in which the former text is
read. The main aim of trans-colonial studies is to study the conditions of such an ultimate healing, in
which the colonial/postcolonial period in history may be definitively closed, together with its mental
consequences such as a specific “postcolonial state of mind”, that may be understood as a
victimization syndrome and a cultural void. There is no simple return to a pre-colonial state of
culture. The only way is to create a new cultural heritage based on a process of Verwindung of the
post-colonial state of mind. In the short story by Ondjaki, the classmates complete a cycle of
mourning, liberating themselves from the image of the mangy dog, that first had been killed in name
of the imposed colonial ideals (“hygiene”), and then “spoken-through” in the post-colonial literature.
Ultimately, the children mourn the death of a text, not of the dog, hopefully opening a new stage in
the development of their culture. Significantly, they break through their local condition, not only
reading Mozambican text in Angola, but also, arguably, reading it as a part of world literature, not as
a part of the Portuguese/Lusophone (post-)imperial horizon.
3:00 PM - Title: The protesting action for overcomig the absurd times through the reception of
German literature in Korea
Chin, Sang BUm (Kolonialismus, Globalisierung und Weltliteratur, Jeonju, South Korea)
German literature was transmitted into Korea through Japan, in which lots of works on german
literature were translated in Japanese under the colonial period of Japan. At that time it was mode
that most of korean intelligent young people went to Japan to study foreign lanuages and literatures
They had hard times for overcomig such dark difficulties under colonial era to read most of works on
German literature translated into Japanese easily, which has simiiar structure of Korean language.
Although Korean young intelligents confronted with the dark colonial situation, they accepted
German literature such as Goethe, Schiller, Heine and expressionistic writers positivly not only to
escape from strong surppessed society, but also to reform such conservative society of korea at that
times . Especially young writer Kim, Woo-jin could find a way to overcome the troubles of the times
in German Expressionism. Though expressionistic drama " Shipwreck" he tried to reform the
conservative way of thinking that korean old generation had. I will examine how Kim, Woo Jin
showed us the father and son conflicts existing between old and young generation just like
Hasenclever "Der Sohn". On the other hand from the 1970s until the late 1980s South Korea was
fallen in the absurd political situation. At that time the freedom of expression and the human rights
were suppressed by political military dictatorship, Lots of korean young writers had to expierence the
hard time with torture, after their going to prison. they could help protesting against such political
absurd situations through writing. I will consider how over mentioned Korean writers accepted and
transformed Kafka literature in their works as the escaping way in despairing situation which could
be not communicated with each other. This paper aims to analyze in which social absurd conditions
the over mentioned Korean writers should accept German expressionim and Kafka Literature in
following poetical works: Kim, Seung Hi's "horror movie", Kim, Goang Gyu's poems just like "dreams
and sleep," "Requiem", "ghost", "court", Kim, Jing Yon,s poety " To Kafka" ,, Lee ,Sonbok's poety
"withering son". On the other hand, Kim, I will investigate how the elements of Kafka Literature are
expressed in the following novels: Young-hyun's novel "insects" , Gu, Hyo-So's 'the night reading
Kafka' and Choi, Su Cheol's "life of cicada"
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16499 - Science et littérature : une question de langage?
Room: Hs 26
Chair: Weber, Anne-Gaëlle
4:00 PM - L'utopie entre expérience de la polyglossie et projet de langue philosophique au XVIIe
siècle : modèle scientifique et dérives fantastiques
CORREARD, Nicolas (Université de Nantes, Nantes, France)
Les projets de langues artificielles du XVIIe siècle, tout particulièrement l'Essay towards a Real
Character and a Philosophical Language de John Wilkins (1668), ont stimulé l'imagination des
utopistes, notamment Veiras, Foigny et Swift. Or, leur réaction va de l’émulation à la franche satire,
en passant par la parodie. Le corpus utopique manifeste ainsi l'attraction et la résistance envers le
modèle scientifique de réforme des langues au XVIIe siècle, aspirant à éliminer la littérarité des
langues naturelles, effet de leur imperfection : l'utopiste feint d'abolir la polysémie, qu'il manie
pourtant inévitablement par la démiurgie onomastique, le détour métaphorique et l'ironie.
4:30 PM - Vues d'esprit et dérèglements de l'imagination : le style comme critère de validation du
savoir
Vuillemin, Nathalie (Université de Neuchâtel, Baulmes, Switzerland)
« Ça ne m'etonne point que vous ayez trouvé un bien mauvais style et une imagination quelquefois
dereglée dans l'ouvrage de Turpin mais sans vouloir defendre a la rigueur ses idées je crois
cependant que lorsqu'on les depouille de la forme trop hypothetique qu'il leur a donnée il y a de la
realité dans plusieurs et qu'elles meritent d'etre meditées ; Quant aux idées allemandes sur les
metamorphoses ce sont des metaphores plus ou moins ingénieuses et qui peuvent aussi faire naitre
des idées des recherches ; je n'en avois aucune connoissance quand j'ai publié la théorie elementaire
et je suis charmé d'avoir été dans cette ignorance. » Cet extrait d'une lettre du botaniste genevois De
Candolle à l'un des membres du Muséum de Paris est significative de la manière dont, dans la
première moitié du XIXe siècle, la question du style de l'écriture scientifique commence à faire l'objet
de débats aussi bien publics que privés parmi les naturalistes. Certes, l'interrogation sur les qualités
d'une « bonne » langue scientifique émerge dès les travaux de Bacon. Mais la lettre de Candolle cible
ici un problème beaucoup plus précis : peut-on encore, en 1822, distinguer les idées du style dans
lesquelles elles s'expriment ? Un terme inacceptable dans une optique purement scientifique peut-il
devenir une métaphore porteuse de nouveaux objets de recherche ? Enfin, l'espace de l'image
linguistique favorise-t-il la rencontre de certaines visions élaborées sur la base de principe théoriques
différents, incommunicables peut-être ? Ces questionnements ne sont pas rares dans les
correspondantes savantes de l'époque. Ils témoignent d'une préoccupation d'ordre épistémique,
mais également de la complexité des processus de reconnaissance et de validation du savoir entre
pairs. Sur la base de cas particulier – celui de Turpin, notamment, dont le statut de savant était
contesté à cause, précisément, du caractère trop esthétisant de ses travaux –, on examinera
comment l'usage de la métaphore, les libertés stylistiques, l'image heuristique sont thématisés et
quelles sont les conditions de leur validation par une communauté. On se basera sur un corpus de
textes aussi bien publiés que manuscrits, émanant notamment des correspondances conservées au
MNHN.
5:00 PM - "Parodies et satires des langages savants au XIXe siècle"
Weber, Anne-Gaëlle (Université d'Artois, Arras, France)
Au XIX e siècle se développent, dans la lignée de Butler, les satires des langages savants. Aux
tentatives des savants pour définir un langage qui leur soit propre, répondent les écrivains qui non
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seulement raillent l'obscurité des langages spécialisés mais revendiquent aussi l'usage commun des
mots ou des noms savants. Nous observerons dans cette intervention l'émergence en Europe de
textes parodiques et comiques mettant en scène, de manière polémique, la possible définition de
langages scientifiques et rejouant la guerre des sciences contre les lettres.
16603 - Rhizomorphe Identität? Motivgeschichte und kulturelles Gedächtnis im
europäischen Kulturraum
Room: Hs 29
Chair: Piszczatowski, Pawel; Godlewicz-Adamiec, Joanna
11:00 AM - Wien und Berlin - differente Zentren der klassischen Moderne
Sliwinski, Alexandra (University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)
11:30 AM - Handschrift als Grundlage einer vertieften philologischen Lektüre
Just, Anna (Universität Warschau, Warszawa, Poland); Opalinska, Monika (University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Austria)
Im Fokus des Beitrags stehen mittelalterliche Übersetzungen von Pater Noster in ausgewählte
germanische Sprachen/Dialekte.
12:00 PM - Zwischen Sacrum und Profanum - Erotik in der Literatur des europäischen Mittelalters
Godlewicz-Adamiec, Joanna (Universität Warschau, Warszawa, Poland); Piszczatowski, Pawel (Universität Warschau,
Warszawa, Poland)
Oft wird das Mittelalter – im Gegensatz zu der freizügigen Antike – als eine erotikfeindliche Zeit
angesehen. In den literarischen Texten aus dieser Zeit aber sind oft Sinnlichkeit und Sexualität
geradezu ihr strukturelles Model. Von der Liebeslyrik der okzitanischen Troubadours und der
deutschen Minnesänger, über die meist lateinische Vagantendichtung und die epischen Stoffe um
Tristan und Isolde, bis hin zu den ekstatischen Bildern der europäischer Mystik ist die Erotik ein
grundlegender Bestandteil der literarischen Tradition der Medii Aevi.
Das Ziel der geplanten Präsentation liegt darin, die verschiedenen Ausprägungen der Erotik in
mittelalterlichen Texten aufeinander zu beziehen (etwa den Sprachgestus der Minnesänger und die
Bilder der Unio Mystica bei Mechthild von Magdeburg).
Darüber hinaus soll sie eine Anregung sein zu der Spurensuche nach Ursprüngen der
Liebesmetaphorik des christlichen Mittelalters einerseits in der islamisch-arabischen Tradition, die
über das islamische Spanien zuerst auf Südfrankreich und später auf ganz Westeuropa einwirkte,
andererseits aber in der hebräischen Tradition des Hoheliedes und ihrer Vermittlung durch die
christliche Liturgie und das Schrifttum der jüdischen Diaspora in Westeuropa und dem islamischen
Spanien.
2:00 PM - High Fantasy's Dialogue with the Past
Blaszkiewicz, Bartlomiej (University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)
The aim of the argument will be to juxtapose the European tradition of heroic literature with
contemporary literary genres which derive their heritage, as well as the formal array of literary
devices, from that cultural context. More directly,we shall observe how modern high fantasy
tradition which has developed during the last fifty years out of prof. Tolkien's seminal theoretical and
41
literary achievement incorporated the legacy of the classical and medieval form of the epic, as well as
well as the uniquely medieval genre of the courtly romance.
We shall thus observe the way in which the genre of high fantasy positions itself against such as vast
and varied legacy and we shall trace a number of formal attitudes and practical approaches exhibited
by the leading contemporary exponents of the genre. Hence, alongside the classical tolkienian
model, the argument will refer to the interplay between the epic grandeur derived for the Antiquity
and the narrative pattern of the interlaced romance in the work of George R. R. Martin, the postmodernist tensions between the heroic tradition and the formal realist novel marking the work of
Susanna Clarke, and also the mock-heroic, quasi-Augustan dialogue with the past defining the
character of the literary output of Terry Pratchett.
The thrust of the argument will be to emphasise the strong bond of continuity between
contemporary high fantasy and its medieval roots and to argue for the existence of a lasting link of
literary tradition between the medieval and contemporary manifestations of heroic literature.
2:30 PM - « L'héritage qui m'encombre» Le rôle de la mémoire et de l'histoire dans la formation de
l'identité postcoloniale (L'Amour, la fantasia d'Assia Djebar)
Sokolowicz, Malgorzata (University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)
L’Amour, la fantasia d’Assia Djebar semble s’inscrire dans la catégorie du Rhizome de Deleuze.
L’histoire de la narratrice, alter ego de l’auteure, une jeune fille algérienne envoyée dans une école
française se m?le avec celle de l’Algérie coloniale et postcoloniale. Les ordres temporels se
juxtaposant, le roman se compose de sc?nes-souvenirs de la narratrice, de relations des événements
tragiques de l’époque coloniale (entre autres des fragments d’écritures d’Eug?ne Fromentin), de
témoignages racontant des luttes atroces pour l’indépendance au XXe si?cle. De ces multiples
rhizomes émergent, d’une part, l’identité hybride de la narratrice qui vit toujours entre la culture
arabe, berb?re, et la culture française, qui choisit la langue française et profite du patrimoine culturel
européen, mais n’oublie jamais ses origines et, d’autre part, l’histoire de l’Algérie fort marquée par
l’influence européenne, pas toujours positive.
L’Amour, la fantasia est un essai postcolonial de se réconcilier avec l’Histoire, de retrouver ses
origines, son identité et sa mémoire. Qu’est-ce que c’est la mémoire de l’Algérie ? De quels éléments
se compose-t-elle ? De souvenirs des Français qui visitaient le pays au XIXe si?cle ou bien de ceux que
les Algériens transmettaient oralement d’une génération ? l’autre ? De relations des journaux
français ou d’histoires que les femmes algériennes luttant pour l’indépendance racontaient ? Assia
Djebar ?
Dans son discours de réception ? l’Académie française, Assia Djebar expliquait qu’elle écrivait pour se
guérir et pour se retrouver. Est-ce possible de se retrouver entre les rhizomes de l’Histoire et de la
mémoire ? Dans L’Amour, la fantasia, la narratrice parle de « l’héritage qui [l]’encombre ». « Vais-je
succomber ?... », se demande-t-elle. Qu’est-ce que c’est cet héritage ? S’agit-il de l’héritage
européen ou de l’héritage algérien? Ou peut-?tre de l’Histoire qui a bien marqué les Français et les
Algériens, en unissant leurs passés et leurs présents.
3:00 PM - Renaissance rhisomorphe? Renaissance et ses modèles dans la perspective deleuzienne
Krawczyk, Dariusz (University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)
La renaissance poursuit une réflexion et autoréflexion très profonde sur ses rapports à l’antiquité, et,
on le sait déjà, l’application des modèles antiques pouvait n’avoir rien d’automatique. Ils étaient, par
la force des choses, fragmentaires, parce que la connaissance des cultures antiques l’était, ils
pouvaient se heurter à des traditions existantes très fortes qui ralentissaient ou tout simplement
42
empêchaient leur acculturation, ils pouvaient aussi, au passage, être vidés de leur substance. Les
combinaisons étaient nombreuses, loin de ce que pendant longtemps ont affirmé les historiens d’art
et de littérature qui voyaient comme modèle dominant une acculturation rapide. Gilles Deleuze et
Félix Guattari affirment que « Le rhizome procède par variation, expansion, conquête, capture,
piqûre », ce qui semble pouvoir apporter une perspective intéressante aux études littéraires
renaissantes. La communication sera donc une réflexion au sujet de la possibilité d’application de la
théorie du rhizome et les bénéfices potentiels. Il va concerner, en particulier, le problème des formes
poétiques des années 1540-1555, quand les formes héritées de Clément Marot et de son école sont
concurrencées par les modèles inspirées des sources antiques prônées par les poètes de la Pléiade.
16609 - FROM EUROPE TO BRAZIL: THE CIRCULATION OF LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE IN THE PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING WO
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th
Room: Erika-Weinzierl-Saal
Chair: Jobim, José Luís
4:00 PM - Between Lusophony and World Literature: Challenging Comparative Approaches to the
Literatures of Portuguese-Speaking Africa
Santos, Emanuelle (University of Warwick, Coventry, Austria)
Drawing on a comparative study comprehending contemporary works of the five Portuguesespeaking African countries – Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and
Príncipe –, the proposed paper aims at showing the problems and limitations inherent to two
interconnected pathways of comparative analysis: Lusophony and World Literature.
Departing from the intrinsic relationship between literary form and content in which context relates
to aesthetics, the paper argues that as a method, World Literature – be it as conceived by David
Damrosch (2003) or the Warwick Research Collective (2015) – does not fully eliminate agency
problems already known in the realm of “Lusofonia”. In do so, the paper aims at recovering the
importance of transnational specificity as an essential factor to be combined with systemic views of
the world which are always and already myopic in nature.
4:30 PM - Le projet d'Encyclopédie Brésilienne, la politique des langues et la circulation des idées de
démocratisation de la culture, durant la période du gouvernement Juscelino Kubistchek
Mariani, Bethania (Universidade Federal fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Le premier projet d’une Encyclopédie Brésilienne fut rédigé par Mario de Andrade en 1939. La
seconde initiative de création d’une Encyclopédie Brésilienne fut présentée en 1957 et formulée par
E. Cannabrava, dans le cadre de l’Institut National du Livre, dirigé par José Renato S. Pereira. Le
contexte politique, linguistique et culturel du gouvernement Juscelino Kubistchek donna jour à de
nombreuses actions de l’État en vue de soutenir, développer et apporter des fondements au débat
sur la(les) langue(s) parlée(s) au Brésil et sur la culture brésilienne. La politique qui concrétisait le
slogan “50 ans en 5” est marquée par un ensemble hétérogène d’activités telles que le Ier Congrès
sur la langue parlée au théâtre ; l’instauration de la NGB [Nomenclature Grammaticale Brésilienne] ;
l’application du questionnaire linguistico-ethnographique de Jucá Filho et le Ier Congrès de
Dialectologie ; l’inclusion du recensement démographique ; l’institutionnalisation des recherches sur
les langues indigènes ; la création de la Revue du Livre, la création de l’Institut Supérieur d’Études
Brésiliennes, entre autres initiatives. Comme nous le rappelle, à juste titre, C.G. Mota, il s’agit d’une
période complexe où les idées qui circulent sur la culture brésilienne et le travail intellectuel sont
43
liées à des objectifs de développement nationalistes. L’objectif de cette étude est de comparer les
deux projets d’organisation d’une Encyclopédie Brésilienne en observant surtout, par une analyse
discursive, les processus de signification de la langue et de la culture durant la période du
gouvernement Juscelino Kubistchek.
5:00 PM - CANNIBALISM AS A METAPHOR FOR CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
Jobim, José Luís (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Within literary and cultural circulation between the Americas and Europe, cannibalism played
different roles at different times. This paper will present an overview of the appropriation of the
figure of the cannibal in Latin American essays.
9:00 AM - Portuguese as source-language in literary translation: the case of João Ubaldo Ribeiro
Antunes, Maria Alice (UNIVERSIDADE DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil)
Brazilian writers and their literary works have been the object of interest of researchers for different
reasons for some time. It is true, however, that the impact of Brazilian literature outside the literary
system of origin (the Brazilian one) is little. Among the few writers who have managed to cross the
Brazilian (literary) system borders is João Ubaldo Ribeiro. His works have been translated into a
variety of languages although the circulation of his work is limited, as the writer himself states in an
interview (Cadernos de Literatura Brasileira, 1999). Also, the strategy used by the author, namely
self-translation, can be considered unique in Brazil for there are hardly any cases of (Brazilian) writers
who have chosen to translate their own literaty text. Based on the notion of patronage, "something
like the powers (persons, institutions) that can further or hinder the reading, writing and rewriting of
literature" (Lefevere, 1995, p. 15), the purpose of this talk is first to describe the agents that have
furthered or hindered the circulation of the novels translated by João Ubaldo Ribeiro in the Englishspeaking world. Secondly, we will analise the role that persons and institutions in general have
played to make his work reach the English-speaking audience. This analysis shows agents and
institutions acting to further or hinder the reading of novels by the Brazilian writer.
9:30 AM - La contribution de Manuel Rui Monteiro à lŽunivers pluriel de la langue portugaise
Batalha, Maria Cristina (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil)
RÉSUMÉ
Lóbjectif de la communication est dánalyser le conte “O relógio” (“La montre”), du poète et conteur
angolais Manuel Rui Monteiro, deuxième conte figurant dans lún des premiers recueils publiés après
líndépendance de lÁngola , Sim, camarada! ( Oui, camarade !), en 1977. Rui se propose de
présenter une critique goguenarde et irrévérente de la société angolaise, marquant la langue
portugaise du sceau de límaginaire social et culturel du pays, tout en rassamblant des ressources
narratives provenant de la modernité et de la tradition. Ce procédé, tel le montrent Deleuze et
Guattari, est lúne des marques essentielles qui nous permettent dídentifier une “ littérature
mineure ” , car, selon les auteurs, “ mineur ” signifie marginalisation, dévalorisation et survalorisation
de certaines esthétiques par rapport à dáutres. Cést par là quélle renferme la force de devenir qui
lui est propre, car elle s´éloigne de la prison quúne culture et une histoire déjà bien établies
imposent à une langue et à une littérature “majeures”. Lorsquíl prend la parole, le narrateur de ce
conte imprime à lárt de conter une perspective nouvelle, ancrée sur lóralité, mode de transmission
des valeurs et coutumes des sociétés traditionnelles en Afrique. Partant, Manuel Rui met en scène la
complexité des rapports entre deux univers culturels distincts (oral et écrit), mais responsables à part
égale de lídentité de son pays. Pour lui, lóralité africaine est porteuse de signes qui sont perçus de
44
manière individuelle, subjective, mais aussi perçus collectivement par tous ceux qui les reçoivent.
Dès lors, le binome tradition-modernité se dédouble dans lóption pour l´ “orature”, particularité qui
définit son oeuvre, ainsi que celle de nombreux écrivains de lÁfrique. Il y a dans le conte “La
montre” la superposition de trois histoires : celle de la montre, les histoires des luttes pour la
libération du pays, et, en même temps, l´histoire du parcours de construction dúne narration, ce qui
permet de remettre en cause les rapports entre les données historiques et la création fictionnelle. En
somme, tout ce qui touche aux langues touche aussi à l´histoire et à la culture et ce lien est loin
d´être innocent ou neutre.
11:00 AM - La réception de l'esthétique de la légèreté de Milan Kundera au Brésil et Budapest de
Chico Buarque
Barroso Filho, Wilton (University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil)
Vu des nos jours l’œuvre romanesque de Milan Kundera représente beaucoup pour la littérature du
xxème siècle, il est certain que son art de la composition a influencé des nombreux écrivant au tour
du monde, mais on ne parle pas de tout de cet influence chez les auteurs brésiliens. Il m’est venu à
l’esprit Budapest de Chico Buarque, non pas pour qu’il approche l’Europe Central au Brésil, mais
parque que son récit est peuple de similitude et d’éloignement de l’art de la composition qui
Kundera à la fois réfléchit dans son Art du roman comme pratique dans la narratif des ses romain.
Donc la présente proposition souhaite faire une analyse sur cet influence dans le cas précis de
Budapest et au même temps montre où cet inspiration kunderiene n’existe pas.
11:30 AM - Métaphorologie: Une étude à mi-chemin entre création et signification
Pereira, Deise (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro)
12:00 PM - Refuser la vérité interne et rejeter les « méthodes » : retrouver l'affectivité à l'intérieur
du texte littéraire
Lima, Rogério (Universidade de Brasília, BRASíLIA-DF, Brazil)
Quels sont les gestes qui nous permettent de nous identifier comme lecteurs? Quels sont les gestes
qui nous identifient comme des chercheurs de la littérature? Dans son livre « la littérature en péril »
Tzvetan Todorov plaide contre : « Une conception étriquée de la littérature, qui la coupe du monde
dans lequel on vit, s'est imposée dans l'enseignement, dans la critique et même chez nombre
d'écrivains. Le lecteur, lui, cherche dans les œuvres de quoi donner sens à son existence. Et c'est lui
qui a raison ». Dans son ouvrage Todorov rejette la littérature qui est devenue « objet langagier clos,
autosuffisant, absolu », il plaide contre une séparation entre le monde « réel » et le monde créé par
la fiction littéraire. Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht propose une lecture du texte littéraire qui porte à la fois
sur l’atmosphère, l’ambiance, le Stimmung du texte : sur un potentiel cachet de la littérature. Cette
rapproche Ce rapprochement du littéraire lui remet vers la proposition de Lukacs sur les relations
avec l’art dans son essai L’âme et les formes: « L'âme, pour réaliser ses aspirations les plus
profondes, doit dépasser le morcellement du monde extérieur et atteindre, dans l'œuvre d'art, la
forme, manifestation sensible du principe unificateur, de l'Idée, illisible dans l'informe quotidienneté
». Gumbrecht, depuis le moment qu’il a pu choisir ce chemin critique, il refuse de chercher dans la
littérature sa vérité interne; il rejette les « méthodes », il cherche à trouver l’affectivité à l’intérieur
du texte littéraire, il recherche à trouver une expérience sans définition pour l’instant. Cette
communication s’intéresse sur l’analyse du changement de la forme d’abordage critique de la
littérature, qui privilégie la sensibilité, l’atmosphère de l’œuvre d’art littéraire, ce qui permet de
reconnaître comme caractéristique humaine universelle la capacité de voir une dimension esthétique
dans toutes les formes d’activités et de production.
45
2:00 PM - Os sertões Beyond Brazil
MacKinnon, Chloé Brault (University of Toronto, Gatineau, Canada)
Gilberto Freyre wrote in 1966 that Euclides da Cunha’s Os sertões (1902)—a historical epic of the
War of Canudos—had influenced both Brazilians and foreigners to Brazil more than any other work
by a national writer (1966: 59). In order to trace the lasting influence of Os sertões beyond Brazil, my
paper offers a publication history of this seminal work with a focus on its first English translation.
First, I examine government patronage of da Cunha’s work in both popular and scholarly spheres
under Getúlio Vargas’ Estado Novo regime and link this domestic context to the burgeoning political
relationship between Brazil and the United States in the 1930’s and 40’s. Second, this historical
background allows for a discussion of the context and importance of Samuel Putnam’s 1944 English
translation of Os sertões funded by the United Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs as
part of the ‘‘Good neighbour policy’’ maintained until the 1980’s. It was such sponsored translations
that made possible the emergence of Luso-brazilian studies in American universities, especially
between 1939 and 1945, and thus the circulation of books written in Brazil on a global scale.
Whereas in 1944 Os sertões was already widely recognized as a classic in Brazil, Putnam’s English
translation allowed for foreigners to Latin America, at least in academic circles, to access Brazil, a
geopolitical periphery at the time. In conclusion, I suggest with reference to numbers of books sold
that Euclides da Cunha’s Os sertões is more widely read in translation and indirectly in its fictional
rewritings published after 1944 than the original text itself, and thus reaffirm the importance of the
first English translation.
Ref.: Freyre, Gilberto. “Euclides da Cunha, revelador da realidade brasileira”. 1966. Revista do livro da
Biblioteca Nacional. Revista do livro no 52. Ano 17. Março 2009. Rio de Janeiro: Ministério da Cultura
Fundação Biblioteca Nacional, 2009. Print.
2:30 PM - New Criticism and Nouvelle Critique in brazilian criticism
Brandini, Laura (University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil)
In the twentieth century, the 60’ and 70’ are key moments for the brazilian criticism: the discussions
about it in the news papers show a shift from a dilettante criticism to an academic or universitary
criticism; or, in other words, from a very personal and subjective way of writing about literature to an
objective discourse based on structuralism. This process create tensions envolving french and
american patterns, as far as some attempts to build a brazilian criticism: in this moment, the New
Criticism and the Nouvelle Critique are discussed in Brazil in order to settle not only the concept of
criticism, but also the mainly idea of literature and its objects. The quarrels in the newspaper as O
Estado de S. Paulo, for example, reveal a foreign critical terminology in brazilian territory and its
acceptation or refusal by the Critics. This paper aims to describe the circulation of critical ideas,
notions and concepts belonging to the New Criticism and the Nouvelle Critique in Brazil and analyse
the conflicts between it and the idea of a brazilian critical system, by Adolfo Casais Monteiro, Afrânio
Coutinho, Antonio Candido articles and essays.
3:00 PM - Walter Scott relu par le Romantisme brésilien
Peres, Marcos (University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo (SP), Brazil)
Le chapitre 1 de Waverley (“Introductory”), de Walter Scott, oeuvre non seulement l'un des romans
les plus influents de tout le XIXe siècle, mais fournit la clé par lequel le reste du livre doît être lu –
cést-à-dire, l’opposition entre, d’une part, l’histoire et, de l’autre, le romanesque. Sa réfutation des
romans de chevalerie, en refusant dáttribuer au héros un nom qui puisse évoquer l’ancien genre, a
ouvert le chemin à beaucoup d´écrivains de fiction - la preuve la plus significative est “L’Avant-propos
46
à la Comédie Humaine”, de Balzac - mais aussi à des critiques très sérieuses – par exemple, Gyorgy
Lukacs va développer la notion de “héros moyen” (dans Le roman historique), tandis que Alexander
Welsh ira formuler le concept de “héros passif” (dans The hero of the Waverley Novels) .
La fiction brésilienne du XIXe siècle, ainsi que léuropéenne et láméricaine (comme celle de
Fenimore Cooper), a également souffert l’influence écrasante de Waverley, en particulier son
principal nom, José de Alencar. Toutefois, une lecture contrastive de Waverley et le roman historique
dÁlencar Les mines dárgent nous montre, toutefois, des formulations très différentes sur la nature
du héros défendue par Scott dans le premier chapitre de son roman. Lánalyse de la traduction de
Waverley quÁlencar a probablement eu accès (celle de Caetano Lopes de Moura, imprimé par
Aillaud à Paris en 1844) suggère une interprétation très persuasive: cette traduction est similaire
dans presque tous láspects à l'original en anglais, sauf en ce qui concerne un seul détail: le premier
chapitre a été suprimé, justement où le narrateur réfléchit sur la nature du héros romanesque.
Le paper propos ici vise à réfléchir sur la façon dont cette lecture partialle de Scott, faite à partir
dùne traduction incomplète, a conduit Alencar à favoriser, dans son roman, une nouvelle modalité
de roman historique, beaucoup plus liée au “roman d'aventures” et au romanesque, tel que il est
défini par Jean-Yves Tadié - ce qui, enfin, fournit à l'histoire du Brésil un sens très différent de celui
proposé par Scott sur l'Écosse, dans Waverley.
09:00 AM - Surrealism and Anthropophagy
Rio Doce, Cláudia (Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil)
The work intends to read the anthropophagy movement as a brazilian version of surrealism, showing
the deep affinities between both of them. The proposal goes on a dual way. On the one hand, it
shows that even in the '20s we had among us a vanguard demonstration within the modernist
movement, which can be understood as brasilian´s own version of surrealism (against the authors
that claim there was no surrealism in Brazil or its manifestations were superficially), on the other
evaluates the anthropophagy as one of the richest and most productive aspects of modernism,
leading Augusto de Campos claims that if Oswald de Andrade had written in English, French or
Spanish, his anthropophagy would have entered the constellation of ideas from original and
unorthodox thinkers known around the world. Over time, the concept of anthropophagy was
revisited in several ways. If analyzed in its roots, however, can achieve the powerful and radical verve
forged by Oswald de Andrade as a way to rescue a weakened modernism.
09:30 AM - FROM THE "BOTTOM OF THE VIRGIN FOREST" TO SÃO PAULO: MARIO DE ANDRADE,
MACUNAÍMA AND BRAZILIAN LANGUAGE
Campos, Sheila (Universidade Federal de, Boa Vista, Brazil)
“I am hungry of the North, you can not imagine. (...). But I can surprise the secret of the simple things
of my land. And my land is still Brazil. I am not local.” It is with this declaration that Mário de
Andrade, in a letter to Câmara Cascudo on September 26, 1924, defines his curiosity for Brazil. Of the
huge correspondence that Mário de Andrade exchanged with several friends and intellectuals, the
letters exchanged with Câmara Cascudo (whom at first he did not know personally) are the most
reveal the interest of the author of Macunaíma for the things of Brazil. The Northern region
appeared as emblematic of the unknown (since he still did not know), and of the curiosities that he
had, artworks, wooden sculptures, churches, authors, and especially the Brazilian language. Of his
interest for the folklore and for the language as elements able of uniting a country so geographically
dispersed, Mário publishes in 1928, Macunaíma, influenced by reading Vom Roraima zum Orinoco, of
the German ethnographer Theodor Koch-Grunberg. Thus, this Communication is to reflect on how
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the interest of Mário for his land (as his correspondence demonstrates) flows into the linguistic
plurality that Macunaíma represents (the “Letter for the Icamiabas” is an example of that), whose
tongue / language reveals the many Brazils that go from São Paulo to "bottom of the virgin forest".
10:00 AM - STRATÉGIES DE CONSTRUCTION DE L'IMAGE AMAZONIQUE DEDANS NENÊ MACCAGI
(RORAIMA) ET DALCÍDIO JURANDIR (PARÁ)
Mibielli, Roberto (Universidade Federal de Roraima, Boa Vista, Brazil)
La langue portugaise est ce qui nous unit, au moins telle est la devise avec laquelle le Musée de la
langue portugaise a été créé. Cela semble également être l'assertif qui cède la place aux
préoccupations de ceux qui, en faisant usage de cette langue dans sa production littéraire, ils
cherchent à mettre en place un double mouvement, dans la relation entre centre et périphérie pour
situer le lieu d’oú ils vient et ses caractéristiques: dans un premier moment, il est traité d'inclusion
des zones périphériques d'où parlent / écrivent dans le contexte national, faisant qu'ils deviennent
connus et reconnus; dans un deuxième moment, , il a été traité d'identification de caractéristiques
sui generis, avait comme des marques d’identité de cette zone, la tournant différent avant le(s)
centre(s). Des écrivains comme Nenê Maccagi (Roraima) et Dalcídio Jurandir (Pará), même s’ils ont
vécu la plus grande partie de leur vie à Rio de Janeiro, à des moments différents, ont cherché à
utiliser stratégies linguistique-stylistiques dans la caractérisation de leurs régions et du district
fédéral. Ces stratégies sont, en partie, en raison de la renommée et l'importance relégué ces auteurs
sont responsables de l'image de soi de ces populations ou l'image qu’on fait, dans les grandes villes,
de ces endroits. Ce document vise à étudier et constituer un connexion standard à la façon dont ces
scribes amazoniennes construit ces images, établissant un modèle de représentation dans la
production de ces écrivains.
10:00 AM - Internationalizing Brazilian Literature: Companhia das Letras' Amores Expressos Project
Raynor, Cecily (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
Amores Expressos is an ongoing literary project that originally sent sixteen Brazilian authors abroad
to write a love story. Upon their return they would have the opportunity to publish their books. In
the end, not all of the novels were published by Companhia das Letras , nor have all of the initial
projects been completed as of 2015. Many critics have associated the literary project with a national
desire to internationalize Brazilian literature, and a handful of the works are being translated into
English. In this paper, I examine the Amores Expressos project and historicize it within the scope of
contemporary Brazil. What might it tell us about Brazil and the Portuguese language within a global
context? Importantly, I also examine the corresponding literary blogs, which accompanied the
writing of the books. The blogs act as a type of digital ruin, as they have largely been abandoned. I
argue that the fate of these online artifacts reflects some of the complexities of the project itself,
which has taken a range of directions, often highlighting tensions between the writers and the
publisher. Finally, I look at the history of the project, which, rather than novels, was originally
envisioned as a series of films. This can be seen in the header of the blogs, which shows the support
of "RT Features." What relationship exists between the visual culture of film and contemporary
literature in Brazil? Furthermore, what might some of the recent film adaptations of the novels tell us
about the project's international reach? Given its rich history and its ongoing status, the Amores
Expressos project offers a variety of important lessons when considering Brazilian literature within a
globalized context.
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16657 - Workshop: Productivity of plagiarism
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th
Room: Hs 50
Chair: Polubojarinova, Larissa; Baron, Christine; Krauss, Charlotte
9:30 AM - Diderot et le savoureux plagiat de la matière rabelaisienne
Nadège, Langbour (Université de Rouen / CEREdI, Rouen, France)
Le goût de Diderot pour Rabelais est incontestable. Le directeur de la première Encyclopédie
française a une profonde admiration pour celui qui introduisit, au XVIe siècle, le mot « encyclopédie
» dans la langue française. Cette admiration le conduit à réécrire et à plagier régulièrement Rabelais.
Preuve en est l’évocation de la « dive boutique » dans Jacques le fataliste. Preuve en est aussi, dans
ce même roman, la paysanne qui, après l’acte sexuel, se plaint de son oreille et se déclare enceinte,
faisant ainsi écho à la naissance de Gargantua par l’oreille de Gargamelle. Preuve en est encore la
correspondance de Diderot où celui-ci va jusqu’à revendiquer le plagiat du style rabelaisien pour
écrire certains textes. Si ma proposition vous intéresse, je souhaiterais développer ce propos et
présenter, en français, une intervention sur ce savoureux plagiat de Rabelais par Diderot.
10:00 AM - Falschgeld und Alchemie. Zur literarischen Produktivität der Fälschung in Charles Sorels
Histoire comique de Francion und Tristan L'Hermites Le page disgracié
Urban, Urs (Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Die Kopie – und mit ihr das Plagiat – hat, insbesondere seit den Diskussionen der so genannten
Postmoderne, eine radikale Aufwertung erfahren – die soweit gehen konnte, dass letztlich nicht nur
die Herkunft der jeweiligen Bezüge offen einbekannt wurde, sondern dass Kopie und Original
gänzlich in eins fielen und so die Unterscheidung zwischen beiden vollständig obsolet wurde: man
denke nur an die prominente Rezeption von Borges’ Erzählung über den Autor des Quijote. Fragt
man nach Funktion und Bedeutung der Fälschung für die Literatur, so zeigt sich schnell, dass nicht
nur der literarische Text selbst fälschen und gefälscht werden kann, sondern dass er die Fälschung
auch thematisiert – und auf diese Weise nicht selten auch das eigene prekäre Verhältnis zum
(‚faktischen‘) Vor-Bild problematisiert. Zu den literarisch besonders produktiven Motiven der
Fälschung gehört das Motiv des Falschgelds – man denke nur an die einschlägigen Texte etwa von
Baudelaire und Gide und ihre nicht minder prominenten Exegeten (Derrida, Goux). Das Phänomen
des Falschgeldes ist kulturtheoretisch interessant, weil das Geld selbst erstens kein Original
voraussetzt und zweitens reproduzierbar sein muss, um zu funktionieren – und eben dennoch
gefälscht werden kann. Wenn Geld nurmehr Information ist, steht dabei indes lediglich seine
Referenzialität auf dem Spiel. Zu einer Zeit, in der das Geld noch nicht gänzlich in seiner
Zeichenhaftigkeit aufging, sondern selbst noch einen mehr oder weniger massiven Substanzwert
besaß, ging es um anderes und mehr als nur die Verlässlichkeit seiner Verweisfunktion: und mithin
um anderes und mehr als nur die Fälschung eines Mediums. Genau das hat bereits die Literatur der
Frühen Neuzeit bedacht und zwar insbesondere in der niederen Gattungsvariante des komischen
Romans: etwa in Charles Sorels Histoire comique de Francion, deren Protagonist Geld fälscht, oder in
Tristan L’Hermites Le page disgracié, der Gold produziert. Ich möchte mir ansehen, was diese Texte
über die Logik von Geld und Falschgeld wissen, und herausarbeiten, wie die Fälschung hier literarisch
produktiv gemacht wird.
11:00 AM - The Fascination with Falsification. Russian Tsars in 19th Century Literature
Krauss, Charlotte (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany)
In 19th century European literature, the fascination with Russian tsars goes hand in hand with the
fascination for falsification and fraud. This phenomenon achieved great success and introduced a
49
series of fictional tales, overcoming language barriers. Nowadays, plenty of these adaptations would
be referred to as plagiarism. At the time, several more or less true stories of falsifications circulated
about the dreadfully clever and dreadfully brutal figures taken from Russian history; these will be the
subject of my presentation. The most famous story is that of the “False Dmitriy”, taking place at the
turn of the 17th century. In 19th century, this tale inspired writers and historians, like Friedrich
Schiller, Nikolay Karamzin, Alexander Pushkin and Prosper Mérimée, illustrating how difficult it can
be to draw the boundary between history and fiction in the case of an unresolved fraud. The story of
Peter I travelling incognito was not only reflected by Albert Lortzings’ successful opera (Tsar and
Carpenter, 1837), but also found its way in to popular literature as a topos of the omnipresent Father
Tsar. Among other second-rate stories of fraud and falsification, one must also mention the
spectacular story of Peter I’s – demonstrably false – testament, which was recounted for several
decennia. On the basis of the afore mentioned examples, my presentation will examine the literary
fascination with falsification. More specifically, it will investigate how “virally” spread rumors and
stories of fraud provoke literary production, and how these stories prolifically change through a
series of imitating, maybe plagiarizing texts.
11:30 AM - "Aber was soll uns Turgenjew?": Zum Habitus-Plagiat am Beispiel der Strategie Leopold
von Sacher-Masochs im literarischen Feld der 1860-er Jahre
Polubojarinova, Larissa (Staatliche Universität Sankt Petersburg, Sankt Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Im Referat soll mithilfe von Pierre Bourdieus Theorie gezeigt werden, dass auch textexterne
Momente durchaus plagiatsträchtige Aspekte zeitigen können (wie Image-Diebstahl). So wurde z.B.
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895) seit dem Erscheinen seiner ersten "Galizischen
Geschichten" Ende der 1860-er Jahre von der literarischen Öffentlichkeit in Deutschland wie in
Frankreich als eine Kontrafaktur des bedeutenden und überaus erfolgreichen (auch kommerziell)
Iwan Turgenev (1818-1883) wahrgenommen. Die Charakteristika „ein galizischer (bzw.
österreichischer) Turgenev“ tauchten öfter in den Buchbesprechungen des jungen Grazer Autors auf,
dessen Texte, seinem russischen Vorbild nicht ungleich, "slawische" Realien von Osteuropa, aber im
Medium der deutschen Sprache darstellten. Diese "Authentizität" eines auf Deutsch schreibenden
"Slawen" versucht in seinem Vorwort zu Sacher-Masochs Novelle „Don Juan von Kolomea“ (1867)
der wortmächtige Wiener Feuilletonist Ferdinand Kürnberger (offensichtlich zu Ungunsten des
hiermit in die Eastern Europe-Schranke verwiesenen Turgenjev) ins Spiel zu setzen, wenn er schreibt:
"Aber was soll uns Turgenjew? Er ist ein Russe. Er gehört nicht in unsere Literatur, bloß unserer
Übersetzungsliteratur. Wie wäre es also, wenn wir statt des Großrussen Turgenjew einen
Kleinrussen, einen Ostgalizier, d.h. einen Österreicher, d.h. einen Deutsche hätten?" Es soll die
plagiatorische Legitimationsstrategie offen gelegt sein, mit deren Hilfe Sacher-Masoch als
literarischer Anfänger die Grundparameter seiner Image-Konstruktion folgerichtig nach dem Vorbild
Turgenevs orientierte, um die von dem Russen im deutschsprachigen und europäischen
"literarischen Feld" besetze Nische eines "naturnahen Slawen" für sich zu beanspruchen.
12:00 PM - Plagier ou être plagié : Camille Lemonnier ou le "Zola belge" (titre provisoire)
Goutaland, Carine (INSA de Lyon / UMR LIRE, Lyon, France)
En 1886, l’écrivain belge Camille Lemonnier publie Happe-Chair , un roman qui dépeint la condition
ouvrière dans les laminoirs et présente de nombreuses similitudes avec Germinal , paru en volume
l’année précédente. En 1892, celui que l’on surnomme déjà le "Zola belge" semble condenser, dans
La Fin des bourgeois , la matière des volumes déjà parus des Rougon-Macquart . La critique belge
comme la critique française, selon son degré de bienveillance, verra en Lemonnier "le meilleur
plagiaire de Zola" ou bien "un disciple attardé du grand Zola", voire l’un des suiveurs sans relief de "la
queue de Zola". Tout en estimant le chef de file du naturalisme à qui il fait lire ses ouvrages,
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Lemonnier refuse une telle étiquette – comme, d’ailleurs, toute étiquette : "lorsqu’il me serait
lucratif et commode de me cantonner, à l’exemple d’autrui, dans un immuable périmètre – (les
firmes fructueuses ne sont qu’à ce prix), – je m’évade vers de variables latitudes et rechigne à me
laisser cataloguer sous une étiquette." ( Dames de volupté , 1892) Condamné à plusieurs reprises
pour ses audaces naturalistes, Lemonnier trouve en Zola, en retour, un ardent défenseur qui lui
confie même un jour : "Je ne vous relis pas de peur de vous plagier". Par-delà un intérêt commun
pour des milieux et des thématiques, par-delà des affinités dans les procédés d’écriture – qui, nous le
verrons, situent la démarche de Lemonnier à la fois en deçà et au-delà du naturalisme zolien – nous
souhaitons nous interroger sur la signification même de l’imitation aux yeux de deux écrivains qui,
chacun à sa manière, affirment leur volonté de reproduire le réel, et de "s’abreuver" à toutes les
sources de documentation disponibles, selon les termes de Zola. Essence même de la démarche
naturaliste, cette forme d’intertextualité superlative qu’ils revendiquent leur permet à la fois de
légitimer une esthétique nouvelle, et de susciter des émules.
9:00 AM - Paul Celan und Ossip Mandelstam
Bogumil-Notz, Sieghild (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft, Bochum,
Germany)
Das Thema unseres workshops setzt nicht nur voraus, sondern akzeptiert und verteidigt sogar die
Aufwertung des Plagiats. Unter diesen Umständen stellt sich die Frage, ob Cervantes Recht hatte,
seinen Don Quijote gegen das Plagiat, das seinem Werk widerfahren sollte, zu schützen, indem er
einen zweiten Band verfasste, in welchem er seinen Helden sterben ließ. Und wie steht es um die
Aufklärung, die die Basis für die Institutionalisierung der Idee des Plagiats geschaffen hat, das
seitdem als ein illegaler Akt von der Justiz verfolgt werden konnte? Man denkt auch an die berühmtberüchtigte Affäre Goll, unter der Paul Celan nur allzu sehr gelitten hatte. Seit jenen unhaltbaren
Vorwürfen datierte er seine Gedichte. In der Gegenwart stellt sich uns die Frage, warum uns die
Garantie der Autorschaft im Internet so wichtig erscheint. Und um ein letztes Beispiel zu zitieren: Ist
die feministische Kritik zu verteidigen, die die männlich dominierte Gesellschaft bezichtigt, die
weibliche Identität zu usurpieren? Ein vorzügliches Beispiel bietet die Idee des Heldentums. Die
Heldin wurde in der Geschichte im allgemeinen und in der Literaturgeschichte im besonderen
lediglich als die weibliche Variante des Helden ohne distinktive Merkmale betrachtet. Die Brüder
Grimm investieren in ihrem Lexikon nicht mehr als 2 Zeilen einer Kolumne, um die Frau als
„Heldenweib“ (virago) zu definieren, während sie der Beschreibung des Helden nahezu vier
Kolumnen widmen. Intention meines Beitrags ist es, Licht in das durch Kultur, Geschichte und
Ideologie verursachte Gewirr von Begriff und Sache zu bringen, um darauf eine neue Art zur
Diskussion zu stellen, das Verhältnis der Autoren, die explizit oder implizit auf einander Bezug
nehmen, zu denken. Das Verhältnis von Paul Celan und Ossip Mandelstam wird als Grundlage dienen.
Französische und englische Versionen meines Vortrages werden zur Verfügung gestellt.
9:30 AM - Fiktive Übersetzung oder inszeniertes Plagiat? Valery Larbauds Poésies de A.O.
Barnabooth
Gerling, Vera Elisabeth (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany)
Der französische Autor Valery Larbaud (1881-1957) ist im übersetzungswissenschaftlichen Kontext
durch seine Essaysammlung Sous l'invocation de saint Jérôme (1946) bekannt. Die Besonderheit
seines frühen übersetzungstheoretischen Ansatzes liegt in seiner modernen Textkonzeption, vertritt
er doch die These, gedruckte Texte seien keine stillgestellte Sprache, es handele sich vielmehr um
lebendige, sich stets wandelnde Wesen: „L'immobilité du texte imprimé est une illusion d'optique.“
(Larbaud 1997: 78), so sind bei ihm Texte als ‚Reisende‘ konzipiert. Larbauds Werk fußt also auf
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einem Hierarchien und Traditionen durchkreuzenden Textverständnis abseits des
Originalitätsgedankens. Vor diesem Hintergrund möchte ich in meinem Vortrag die Gedichte
Larbauds betrachten, die integraler Bestandteil seines literarischen Hauptwerks A. O. Barnabooth.
Ses œuvres complètes, c’est-à-dire un conte, ses poésies, et son journal intime (1908) sind und als
fiktive Übersetzungen inszeniert werden, wobei die Originale Leerstellen bleiben. In meinem Vortrag
möchte ich der Bedeutung dieses Konstruktionselements auf zwei Ebenen nachgehen:
1) Wie spiegelt sich das literarische Konstrukt der Pseudoübersetzung in der ästhetischen Qualität
der Gedichte wider? Welche Bedeutung kommt ihnen als intratextuelle Elemente des Werks zu? Wie
findet sich in den ästhetischen Verfahren dieser Lyrik die Verunsicherung des Originalitätsgedankens
realisiert?
2) Wie lässt sich die Bedeutung dieser Gedichte zu den übersetzungstheoretischen Äußerungen des
Autors selbst und zu andere übersetzungswissenschaftlichen Konzepten wie Pseudotranslation
(Toury) oder fiktive Übersetzung (Bassnett) in Bezug setzen?
10:00 AM - Dialogues and appropriations in 'The year of the death of Ricardo Reis', by José
Saramago
Grünhagen, Sara (Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
This paper proposes an analysis of the novel The year of the death of Ricardo Reis, by Portuguese
writer José Saramago, which builds the story from a heteronym by Fernando Pessoa, from other
texts and characters of literature and from historical events and figures. First published in 1984, the
novel uses the biographical data of Pessoa’s heteronyms, making Ricardo Reis return to Portugal at
the end of 1935, shortly after the death of his creator Fernando Pessoa. At first, the heteronym
appears with the profile and the characteristics by which he is known: a cold and stand-offish man
that seeks to alienate himself from the world as much as possible, a monarchist doctor and poet in
his spare time, whose style stands out for its erudite language, for the use of odes and for recurring
themes and figures, like the gods, death, time and the transience of life. Ricardo Reis is thus a
representation of the classic tradition, and as such he is challenged and deconstructed throughout
the novel, which confronts him with his view that ‘Wise is he who is satisfied with the spectacle of
the world’. Hence, in this work we aim to examine such appropriation of the heteronym, his poetics
and his biography, something that could be considered plagiarism, especially because often the
author does not indicate the authorship of poems, quotes and texts, including newspapers of the
time. For instance, on his trip to Lisbon Ricardo Reis brings a novel that he borrowed and did not
return from the ship’s library: The god of the labyrinth, by Herbert Quain (in Spanish and Portuguese,
a pun with “who”), the Borgian author from the short story “An Examination of the Work of Herbert
Quain”. There are several other appropriations in the novel, and we will seek to show that they can
be understood as a “productive plagiarism” that will engage in a dialogue with literature and history
in order to discuss both.
11:00 AM - Walter Scotts "St Ronan Well" und die Konstruktion des Kurort-Diskurses in der
russischen Literatur
Kulishkina, Olga (St Petersburg University for Technology and Design, Sankt Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Von Alexander Puschkins Romanentwurf "In den Bädern des Kaukasus" (1830) über Michail
Lermontovs "Ein Held unserer Zeit" (1841) bis hin zu Fjodor Dostoevskijs "Spieler" (1866) und Anton
Tschechovs "Die Dame mit dem Hündchen" (1899) (um nur die herausragendsten Beispiele zu
nennen) erstreckt sich der spezifische Kurortdiskurs der russischen Literatur im 19. Jahrhundert. Die
darin umgesetzte heterotope Raumkonstruktion mit dem ihr inhärenten Travestie-, Spiel- und
Devianzpotential bringt es mit sich, dass die Texte dieser Reihe im Laufe von Jahrzehnten mit
52
besonderer Eindringlichkeit für die Aufstellung von spezifischen Identitätskonzepten und narrativen
Verfahren gesorgt haben, die literarhistorisch üblicherweise als "genuin russisches" Spezifikum ("der
Russe in den Bädern") verwertet werden. Wenig Beachtung findet allerdings die Tatsache, dass
eigentlich ein englischer Text – der 1823 erschienene, in Russland seit 1824 in französischer
Übersetzung bekannte Roman von Sir Walter Scott "St Ronan Well" zum Auslöser der ganzen
"Kurortlinie" der russischen Literatur wurde – wobei man viele Übernahmen heute wohl als Plagiate
bezeichnen würde. In England fand der einzige Gegenwartsroman des prominenten "Waverley"Autors keine Resonanz und galt als misslungen. Ganz anders in Russland: Hier übernahmen die
Autoren (zuerst und ganz ausdrücklich Puschkin) zum einen die thematischen und motivischen
Elemente Scotts, etwa eine in das national wie sozial heterogene Milieu des Kurorts versetzte
Liebesgeschichte, eine grotesk anmutende "Typen"-Reihe, unzuverlässige Erzählerfiguren oder das
idyllische Topoi des "Eingegrenztseins". Zum anderen bedienten sie sich auch der von Scott im
Vorwort seines Romans ausführlich dargelegten "Theorie" des Kurortes als eines auf die Produktion
der kulturellen Devianz hin orientierten Raumes. Im Vortrag soll der Art und Weise dieser Aneignung
und Umsetzung am Beispiel von Texten Puschkins, Bestuzhev-Marlinskys, Lermontovs, Turgenevs,
Dostoevskijs und Tschechovs nachgegangen werden.
11:30 AM - The Imitation of Werther: Chinese Translations and Adaptation
Kaminski, Johannes (Academica Sinica, Taipei)
This paper traces the dissemination of Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther in the Far East during the
early twentieth century. After its original publication in 1774, it first took late-Meji-era Japan, then
Republican China by storm. Its translations coincided with a period of radical linguistic change that
saw the advent of the vernacular language, baihua. During this process, the Chinese language
received important impulses from foreign fiction. (Cf. Michael Gibbs Hill, Lin Shu, Inc. (Oxford: OUP,
2012), pp. 54-70.) In this process, Guo Moruo’s seminal 1922-translation of Werther played an
important role and provides the case example for this contribution to the workshop. While Guo first
became acquainted with the text in Japanese, his Chinese translation is based on a word-by-word
rendering of the German original. From the perspective of the source language, this translation’s
excessive fidelity foreshadows Guo’s re-writing of Werther in short stories, which emulate the
thoughts, style and emotional states featured in Goethe’s original. Very soon, Guo fashioned himself
as the Chinese Goethe – a self-conscious form of epigonism, which is also reflected in his prose. In
Guo’s plagiarism, the tasks of the translator and of the author merge. It is the result of literary
mimicry within the globalised context of world literature. While it entails the imitation of the culture
of the colonisers, it also allows for a disruption of its authority (Bhabha 1994). Thanks to Guo’s reinterpretation of Werther as a revolutionary hero against feudal society, the text is endowed with
previously unheard-of connotation of political and national emancipation. After all, Benjamin’s
'mimetisches Vermögen' does not relate to understanding Werther as a historic text, but of the
needs of a new audience. BIO: Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Academica Sinica in
Taipei, Taiwan. Prior to this, I was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Cambridge University, UK
(2012 to 2015). My publications include a monograph on Goethe (Der Schwärmer auf der Bühne:
Ausgrenzung und Rehabilitation einer literarischen Figur in Goethes Dramen und Prosa (1775-1786),
Hannover 2012) and around fifteen articles on classic literature in the German and Chinese tradition.
12:00 PM - Weltoffene Zeichenverschiebung: "Tausendundeine Nacht" als Rahmenstruktur des
koreanischen Comics
Lisitsyna, Daria (St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Die Sammlung morgenländischer Erzählungen, die in der ganzen Welt unter dem Namen
„Tausendundeine Nacht“ bekannt ist, gilt schon seit Jahrhunderten als eine unerschöpfliche Quelle
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der Motiven, Sujets und Figuren für weitere literarische Produktion und ist in vielen Texten der
Weltliteratur an zahlreichen Nachahmungen, Erwähnungen, Allusionen und intertextuellen
Bearbeitungen zu erkennen. Nur im 20.sten Jahrhundert sind solche beträchtlichen Autoren zu
erwähnen wie Jorge Luis Borges, John Barth, Italo Calvino, Yukio Mishima und viele anderen, die
bedeutende schöpferische Impulse in den Geschichten von Shahrazad gefunden haben. Auch die
modernen asiatischen Comic-Autoren bedienen sich des prägnanten erzählerischen Potentials der
„arabischen Nächte“. Unter denen ist aber das 11-bändige Werk der Koreaner Han Seung Hee und
Jun Jin Suk von besonderem Interesse, das die Geschichte von Shahrazad mithilfe eines anderen
Mediums nicht nur nacherzählt, sondern auch die geographischen, zeitlichen und sogar
geschlechtlichen Grenzen der Originalfassung weit überschreitet. Fraglich ist aber die Stelle solcher
intermedialen Adaptionen im Literaturprozess (wenn Comic-bücher überhaupt zu dem gehören) und
die Art und Weise, wie solche Erscheinungen bewertet sein können. Diese Themen möchten wir im
Rahmen des Workshops ans Licht bringen.
9:00 AM - Les paradoxes du plagiat dans la Roumanie communiste
Bud, Crina (York University Toronto, Toronto, Canada)
Après avoir passé en revue le contexte politique et législatif lors de deux grandes étapes du
communisme roumain (le régime stalinien de 1947-1964 et le nationalisme communiste de 19651989), la présentation se doit d’investiguer quelques domaines qui se sont confrontés au problème
de vol idées. Un premier niveau analysé sera celui idéologique. On y mettra en évidence la mise en
œuvre d’un grand code totalitaire opposé au grand code culturel de la Bible (cf. Northrop Frye). Le
nouveau code totalitaire est fondé sur un christianisme inversé et vidé de sens, les valeurs judaïques
et chrétiennes sont renversées dans une religion athéiste. Ensuite, seront présentées de manière
succincte des études de cas concernant le vol d’idées dans le domaine industriel, les emprunts,
souvent non avoués, de la musique occidentale et le plus retentissant cas de plagiat littéraire de
l’époque. Les conclusions feront ressortir l’oscillation paradoxale de ces pratiques entre leur
condition pénale et leur valeur subversive de source de certains codes culturels et intellectuels.
9:30 AM - Geschichtsumschreibung. Plagiate Paul Zechs
Gerlach, Hannah (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany)
Die Werke Paul Zechs, der vor allem mit Beiträgen in Kurt Pinthus' Menschheitsdämmerung und
Nachdichtungen der Lyrik Rimbauds und Villons bekannt wurde, durchziehen Dutzende von
Plagiaten. 1929 bereits wurde der Dichter nach entsprechenden Klagen aus dem deutschen
Schriftstellerverband ausgeschlossen. Diverse druckfertige Typoskripte im Nachlass Zechs enthalten
weitere nicht markierte Übernahmen aus fremden Werken; hier lassen sich etwa wörtliche wie
strukturelle Übereinstimmungen mit Texten Georg Lukács', René Schickeles oder Oswald Spenglers
nachweisen. Einige dieser noch immer unveröffentlichten Arbeiten Zechs, Kurzdarstellungen von
Autorinnen und Autoren wie Friedrich Hölderlin, Caroline Schelling oder Stefan George, sollen im
Mittelpunkt des Vortrags stehen. Eine Besonderheit der ab circa 1944 in Argentinien entstandenen
Texte ist ihre explizit politische Ausrichtung: Werke wie Charaktere fast aller Beschriebenen werden
von Zech als gänzlich unvereinbar mit nationalsozialistischen Positionen präsentiert, teils mithilfe
passend gefälschter Dokumente. Plagiate innerhalb der Essays sind keineswegs Gesamtkopien von
Textvorlagen, sondern den in Zechs Darstellungen vertretenen Ansichten angepasste und
kombinierte Auszüge. Als eine Hauptfunktion übernommener Textpassagen erscheint die Suggestion
eines so sicher nicht vorhanden gewesenen, umfassenden literaturgeschichtlichen Wissens Zechs,
das zunächst auch die Glaubwürdigkeit seiner politischen Behauptungen stärkt. Beispiele für Zechs
in diesem Sinne produktives, zu neuen Textaussagen führendes Plagiieren sollen im Vortrag gegeben
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werden. Sie verweisen letztlich auch auf die Frage, inwieweit Verwerflichkeit des Plagiierens von ihm
zugrunde liegenden Absichten abhängt. Gefahren selbst ‚gut' gemeinten Betrugs verdeutlicht
übrigens schon Zechs Biographie: 1916 ließ er den gerade verstorbenen Émile Verhaeren per Brief
zum Frieden aufrufen. Da die Fälschung kurz darauf bekannt wurde, blieb ihr Effekt Zechs zerstörter
Ruf.
10:00 AM - Exposition des sources et « reconstitutions » dans quelques œuvres de fiction et
nonfiction contemporaines
Grall, Catherine (Université de Picardie-Jules Verne, Paris, France)
Dans Reenactments - a memoir (W. W. Norton, 2013), Nick Flynn raconte et commente des moments
d’élaboration et de tournage du film adapté de son récit autobiographique, Another Bullshit Night in
Suck City - a memoir (W. W. Norton, 2005) : que signifie voir Paul Dano jouer des scènes de sa vie,
avec Robert de Niro à la place de son père, et Julian Moore à celle de sa mère suicidée ? Comment
travaille le réalisateur, Paul Weitz, pour l’adaptation et l’écriture du scénario (Being Flynn, Twenty
Century Fox, 2007)? Que disent les neurosciences du fonctionnement de notre mémoire et de
l’écriture par celle-ci de nos souvenirs ? Des romanciers, des poètes, qui ont nourri l’inspiration de
Flynn lui permettent également de composer cette dernière œuvre qui marie récit, réflexions et
questionnements directs partagés avec le lecteur : des références variées sont données dans un
abondante liste des sources, à la fin de Reenactments comme dans les précédentes nonfictions de
Flynn. D’autres œuvres ressortissent à ce genre, avec influence du modèle de l’enquête (W.T.
Vollman), du témoignage accusateur (M. Winckler), avec investissement autobiographique. Quel
rapport ces « expositions des sources » entretiennent-elles avec la pratique de romanciers
contemporains, qui indiquent également des textes qui ont servi à la composition de leur œuvre – cf.
« l’atelier » de L’Empreinte à Crusoë, par Patrick Chamoiseau ( Gallimard, 2012) , ou la bibliographie
des Samothraces, par Nicole Caligaris (Mercure de France, 2000) ? De manière générale, ces espaces
paratextuels qualifient le corps de l’œuvre en termes de genèse de celle-ci et de rapport au monde ;
ils sont encore le lieu d’une énonciation et d’une « présentification » privilégiée de l’auteur, qu’on se
propose d’analyser ici, et qui rend secondaire la question de la mimèsis.
11:00 AM - "- wenn Schönherr und Handel-Mazzetti dasselbe tun, ist es nicht dasselbe" (Karl Kraus,
1911) Literarische und moralische Argumentationen im Rahmen der Plagiatsvorwürfe gegen Karl
Schönherr
Steinsiek, Annette (Forschungsinstitut Brenner-Archiv, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria)
Karl Schönherr (1867-1943) wurde 1896 in Wien zum Doktor der Allgemeinmedizin promoviert. Seine
schriftstellerischen Ambitionen sind seit 1888 nachzuweisen, um 1900 gab es einen ersten
öffentlichen Erfolg, das Stück Glaube und Heimat (UA 1910) schließlich machte ihn berühmt. In Folge
der Aufführung kam es zu Plagiatsvorwürfen. Eine eigene Publikation trug die Artikel und
Argumentationen verschiedener Seiten zu dem Fall zusammen (M. Anklin: Enrica von HandelMazzetti und Karl Schönherr. Gedanken zum neuesten Literaturstreit. Berlin 1911). Einerseits wurden
literarische Begriffe wie „Stoff“ und „Sujet“ pauschal verwendet, andererseits wollte ein synoptischer
Vergleich „Wortgleichheiten“ als eindeutige Beweise vorlegen. Nach diesem „Literaturstreit“
versuchte ein anonymer Schreiber in einem Brief an die schon zuvor involvierte Augsburger Zeitung
(uns liegt der Durchschlag des Briefes vor), Schönherr ein weiteres Plagiat nachzuweisen: Auch das
Stück Erde (UA 1907) sei „Zug für Zug“ das Plagiat einer Novelle aus dem 19. Jahrhundert (welche,
soll erst der Vortrag verraten).
Die einen Plagiatsvorwurf begründenden (literarischen) Kriterien sind immer auch Strategien im
Streit um „symbolisches Kapital“ – aber letztlich führen sie tief in die Struktur des Literarischen im
historischen Kontext: Welche Elemente werden genannt, wie werden ihre Funktionen im Text
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gewertet? Im Vortrag soll vor allem anhand zeitgenössischer Mitteilungen eine Kriterienliste
präsentiert werden, die es erlaubt, die Vorwürfe exemplarisch zu prüfen und literarische, moralische
und juristische Aspekte zu entwirren. Gemeinsam könnte geprüft werden, ob diese Kriterienliste
auch in anderen Fällen dienlich sein kann. Erstmals kann anhand zahlreicher bisher unbekannter
Briefe von Karl Schönherr (knapp 100 Stück) seine Arbeitstechnik nachgezeichnet werden, die ihn
auch in der Tradition der im 19. Jh. üblichen Dramatisierungen von Prosaarbeiten zeigt.
Streitverhandlungen um diese Dramatisierungen waren ein wesentlicher Schritt zu dem
Urheberrecht, wie es uns heute noch bekannt ist, gewesen. *** Gemeinsam mit Ursula A. Schneider.
***
11:30 AM - Das literarische Verfahren des Plagiats als Mittel der Differenz: Franz Kafkas "Das
Schloß" und Libu'e Moníkovás "Pavane für eine verstorbene Infantin"
Bakirova, Elena (Universität St. Petersburg /Graz, Graz, Austria)
Im Vortag wird das Phänomen des Plagiats am Beispiel der komparatistischen Analyse von Libuše
Moníkovás "Pavane für eine verstorbene Infantin" untersucht. In diesem literarischen Werk entlehnt
die Schriftstellerin nicht nur den Titel vom musikalischen Stück Maurice Ravels, sondern lässt die
Protagonistin Francine Pallas den Roman Franz Kafkas umschreiben und imitieren. Demzufolge
handelt es sich um einen Fall der Metafiktionalität, indem sich das literarische Verfahren des Plagiats
einerseits produktiv und funktional, andererseits selbstreflexiv und entfremdend erweist.
12:00 PM - Geisteskrankes Eigentum: Die Plagiatsvorwürfe gegen Heinar Kipphardts "März"
Tashkenov, Sergey (RGGU Moskau, Moskau, Russian Federation)
Was kann plagiiert werden? Ein Text, eine Person, eine Sprache? Der 1976 entstandene Roman
"März" von Heinar Kipphardt, der zum Kultbuch der antipsychiatrischen Bewegung wurde, stellt
einen besonderen Fall des Umgangs mit fremden Texten, Denk- und Schreibweisen sowie
Persönlichkeiten dar, welcher nicht selten als Plagiat etikettiert wird. Für das große "März"-Projekt,
das einen Film, einen Roman sowie Theateraufführungen umfasst, verwendet Heinar Kipphardt
lyrische Texte des heute schon gut bekannten Schizophrenen Ernst Herbeck (auch unter dem
Pseudonym Alexander Herbrich), die Kipphardt zitiert und umgestaltet und deren Stil er übernimmt.
Der berühmte Wiener Psychiater Leo Navratil, der dem Autor einen möglichst breiten Zugang zur
Persönlichkeit seines Patienten freundlich zugestellt hat, äußert nach der Veröffentlichung des
Romans Plagiatsvorwürfe, welche eine Debatte in der Presse und dem Briefwechsel auflöst. Der
Vortrag hat zum Ziel, sich mit diesem Fall ausführlich auseinanderzusetzen: Wie geht man mit dem
geistigen Eigentum um, wenn dieses "krank" ist, wobei der künstlerische Wert solcher Werke immer
noch im Zentrum der Diskussionen steht? Und kann es als Plagiat bezeichnet werden, wenn die
sogenannte "verrückte Sprache" angeeignet wird, die in der Schizolinguistik allgemeinere Züge hat
und nicht die individuellen?
9:00 AM - Plagiat psychique et création
BARON, Christine (Université de Poitiers, POITIERS, France)
Depuis The Anxiety of influence (Harold Blomm, 1973), en théorie littéraire, il semble acquis que tout
véritable auteur s'efforce de se démarquer de ce qui le précède. La peur esthétique de l'influence
jointe à la crainte juridique de la contrefaçon créent un interdit de répétition, et les procédures
judiciaires se multiplient à l'encontre de nombreux écrivains depuis le dernier tiers du XXe siècle. En
2007, Camille Laurens impute à Marie Darrieussecq un "plagiat psychique" à propos de la publication
de Tom est mort qui raconte la perte d'un enfant du point de vue de la mère. Frappée par un deuil
similaire, Camille Laurens avait écrit dix ans plus tôt cette douloureuse histoire et elle accuse Marie
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Darrieussecq de lui avoir volé ce thème, mais surtout de l'endosser sans en avoir vécu la violence
intimement d'où l'invention du terme "plagiat psychique" qui définit cette intrusion dans la douleur
de l'autre. Or, le travail de l'écrivain consiste précisément à explorer les variations du moi, à se glisser
dans des identités multiples. En répondant à Camille Laurens dans Rapport de police , Marie
Darrieussecq ne fait pas l'éloge du plagait mais souligne la nécessité de dissocier expérience vécue et
pratique littéraire. La possibilité de ces "variations imaginaires du moi" (Ricoeur) qui caractérise tout
écrivain lui ouvre les portes de tout thème, et aucun ne peut se dire propriétaire d'un sujet de récit;
reprendre un thème conduit à le réexaminer et à l'enrichir sous des formes autres et bien des
réécritures qui contribuent à la diversité du paysage littéraire seraient impossibles aujourd'hui, à
l'aune de cette judiciarisation du paysage éditorial. Distinguer la contrefaçon de l'empathie
psychique suppose parfois des frontières ténues que cette contribution examinera sous divers
éclairages; juridique, théorique, psychologique.
9:30 AM - Plagiate fremder Identitäten - skandinavische Autofiktionen der Gegenwart und ihre
Folgen
Gruenewald, Jennifer (IGK 1956 Kulturtransfer und kulture Identität, Freiburg, Germany)
Das hybride Genre zwischen fiktionalem Erzählen und biographischem Schreiben, das bereits seit den
70er Jahren den Begriff der Autofiktion trägt, erfreut sich unter anderem in Skandinavien in den
letzten Jahrzehnten einer großen Beliebtheit. Bereits 1993 wurde Peter Høegs De måske egnede und
die drohenden rechtlichen Konsequenzen heftig in den Medien diskutiert – so lange bis der Autor
sich von den autobiographischen Hinweisen im Werk distanzierte. Auch Karl Ove Knausgård musste
sich letztlich mit ethischen und rechtlichen Fragen auseinandersetzen, als sich zahlreiche Personen zu
Wort meldeten, um ihre Darstellung in seiner international viel beachteten Romanserie Min Kamp zu
verhindern. Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold schrieb in ihrem autobiographischen Werk
Monstermenneske über die belastende Beziehung zu dem bekannten Autor Stig Sæterbakken, den
sie als weibliche Schlüsselfigur auftreten ließ – für die norwegischen Leser_innen anscheinend klar
erkennbar. Kurz: eine ganze Reihe sowohl in ihren Heimatländern als auch international etablierter
Autor_innen wagt sich an diese Form der Literatur und tritt damit ein in einen Grenzbereich von
Kunst und Privatsphäre. Durch die Fiktionalisierung von faktualen Subjekten ohne deren
Einverständnis zerstört diese Textgattung nicht nur den sonst eindeutigen Vertrag zwischen Autor_in
und Leser_in und schafft damit eine Deutungsunsicherheit; Literatur betritt damit auch einen
moralisch gefärbten Bereich und weist Elemente eines Plagiats auf, indem sie fremde
Persönlichkeiten kopiert und ihre Darstellung gewinnbringend nutzt. Mein Vortrag soll zunächst das
hybride Genre der Autofiktion an exemplarischen skandinavischen Texten analysieren und die
Verortung von Plagiatselementen überprüfen. Weiterführend soll der Zweck der Poetisierung real
existierender Personen und die narrative Wirkung diskutiert werden.
10:00 AM - Ethique du plagiat dans l'oeuvre de Calixthe Beyala
Sicard-Cowan, Helene (St Leonards School, St Andrews, United Kingdom)
Ma communication porte sur les enjeux éthiques des pratiques intertextuelles extrêmes qui
caractérisent l’œuvre de la romancière franco-camerounaise Calixthe Beyala. Ces pratiques valurent
à son auteure d’être condamnée pour ‘contrefaçon partielle’ pour le roman intitulé Le petit prince de
Belleville (1992). Dans un autre cas de supposé plagiat qui fournit le contexte de mon intervention
dans cet atelier, le critique littéraire Pierre Assouline informa l’écrivaine française Paule Constant que
Beyala avait copié un de ses romans, White Spirit (1989), dans son propre roman intitulé Assèze
l’Africaine (1994). Cette nouvelle accusation de plagiat entraîna la publication consécutive de deux
romans : Confidence pour confidence (1998) de Paule Constant, dans lequel la romancière met
précisément en scène une plagiaire, et Amours sauvages (1999), roman qui peut être considéré
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comme la réponse de Beyala au roman de Constant. À travers l’évocation de deux romans de Beyala,
Assèze l’Africaine (1994) et Amours sauvages, je souhaite revoir la réception négative que Constant,
Assouline et autres lecteurs pressés réservèrent aux pratiques intertextuelles extrêmes de Beyala
dans les romans en question. Pour être plus précise, je défendrai l’idée que l’imitation littéraire dans
les œuvres en question peut se lire comme un geste éthique par lequel la romancière souligne les
liens partagés par les anciens colonisateurs et colonisés par-delà les divisions de toutes sortes. Je
montrerai notamment que l’appropriation des œuvres de Constant par Beyala peut s’interpréter
comme un geste d’amitié et un témoignage de solidarité envers l’auteure imitée de la part de la «
plagiaire ». Ma communication est une version abrégée d’un chapitre de mon livre intitulé Vivre
ensemble : éthique de l’imitation dans la littérature et le cinéma de l’immigration en France (19862005) qui paraîtra en 2016 aux éditions Peter Lang.
16658 - Comparative Literature as a Transcultural Discipline
Room: Hs 46
Chair: Coutinho, Eduardo
9:00 AM - Comparativism in Latin America in the XXIst Century.
Coutinho, Eduardo (AC Studies Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Considering Comparative Literature as a dialogue among cultures, that is, as a discipline that, far
from being limited either to studies of a binary sort (between works, authors and literary
movements), or to the canon of Western tradition, is rather open to different types of literary and
cultural expressions and to the contributions of other areas of knowledge, we will draw a reflection
in this paper about the role of this new type of comparativism in Latin America. Our focus will fall on
the transformations that have taken place in the late decades regarding the dialogue between Latin
American thought and the contributions coming from Europe and the USA, and on the wider scope
the discipline has achieved in the Latin American context.
9:20 AM - Littératures migrantes ou transnationales: élargissant les frontières des esthétiques
transculturelles.
Bernd, Zila (zila bernd, Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Résumé : Problématiser la « Littérature Comparée », comme discipline, au moment actuel de la
modernité tardive, où le concept dídentité nationale ne se soutient plus ; réfléchir sur les migrances,
les déplacements et les mobilités ethniques et culturelles, qui obligent à repenser le concept stable
de Littérature Comparée, à la lumière des perspectives multi, inter et trans-disciplinaires et multi,
inter et transculturelles.
Mots-clés : littérature comparée; esthétiques transculturelles; transnationalismes; esprit migrateur;
mobilités culturelles.
Professeur à lÚniversité Fédérale du Rio Grande do Sul – Brésil et au Unilasalle/Canoas/Brésil.
Chercheur avec Grant du CNPq (Conseil national de développement scientifique et technologique)
9:40 AM - Worlds of difference, worlds of concord: between the Anthropocene and an indigenous
African myth of origin
van Vuuren, Helize (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
58
A /Xam archive of oral tradition was recorded in 1919-1921 by G.R. von Wielligh in Afrikaans. Unlike
the Bleek & Lloyd /Xam archive recorded from 1911 to 1936, which has attained UNESCO World
Heritage status (lloydbleekcollection.cs.uct.ac.za), the Von Wielligh /Xam archive has been rather
neglected due to its Afrikaans language medium, inaccessible to many scholars of Bushmen studies.
Recuperating what is of value in this more or less forgotten archive, the focus for the proposed paper
is a central myth of origin, read comparatively with other recorded hunter-gatherer traditions and
beliefs, as well as with Greek mythology. The view of an original "land of plenty" in the mythological
narrative is brought to bear on the present era of the Anthropocene (the dire state of ecology
through climate warming), and linked contextually to recent developments in palaeo–archaeology,
dating the origin of "homo symbolicus" (D’Enricco & Henshilwood 2011) at Blombos cave in South
Africa to about 100,000 years ago. A "cold reading" of the text on its own, followed by a comparative,
transdisciplinary and culturally informed reading, illustrate the restrictive aspects of the one
approach versus the other. The different reading methods utilised, highlights the challenges to the
researcher, as well as the contribution to final understanding, gained from a transdisciplinary
comparative perspective.
10:00 AM - Wandering Subjects. Brazilian and Portuguese narrative travels.
Radlwimmer, Romana (Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)
In my paper, I would like to cross-read contemporary (post-millennium) Brazilian and Portuguese
literatures. Various texts (of João Gilberto Noll, António Lobo Antunes, Andréa del Fuego, amongst
others) shall be analyzed and compared with regard to their "moving" quality in time and space. On
both sides of the Atlantic, these literary texts lay gentle trails of subjects wandering through concrete
and/or abstract spaces. By collecting these nomadic narrative strings and its related, embedded
subject fantasies, a regionally, nationally and transnationally marked topography appears: Brazilians
in Portugal and Europe, Portuguese in Brazil, Brazilians in Brazil, Portuguese in Portugal and Europe.
Can this mapping reveal constructive forms of un/thinking literary relations in the complex field of
Brazilian-Portuguese histories, spanning over post/de/colonial complexes? What kind of literary,
cultural and political discussions do these texts open up?
11:00 AM - Imagology and transnationalism: stereotypes, heteroimagotypes and allophilia in Rhys
Hughes and João de Melo
Simões, Maria João (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal)
Singularity and alterity are concepts that have long been the object of attention of
philosophers, and some of them stress the importance of social contexts for a full understanding of
those concepts. More recently, Social Psychology has carried out many surveys and studies on
relations between social groups and has shown the importance of stereotyping processes in the
configuration of groups vis-à-vis the otherness of different groups, as researchers like Craig McGarty,
Vincent Yserbyt and Russells Spears explain. Literary Imagology can enlarge this field of knowledge by
providing new insights into perspectives of the construction of imagemes, since, according to
Manfred Beller and Joep Leersson, “the origin and function of characteristics of others countries and
peoples, as expressed textually” is the main objective of imagological studies. The rebound of
Imagology traces a new path in Comparative Literature since this domain ascribed itself the study of
culture clashes and of transcultural experiences represented by literary works.
Moreover imagological studies can evolve with the input provided by the so called
‘transnational turn’ and the studies on transnationalism that focus on cultural hybrid phenomena as
they are figured in literary texts.
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This paper will depart from a conceptualization on stereotypes and imagotyptes in
order to observe how the foreigner and othernesss are represented in novels such as O Mar de
Madrid ( Madrid Sea ) by João de Melo, and A Sereia de Curitiba ( The Mermaid of Curitiba ) by Rhys
Hughes. Finally, the presence of cultural hybridism will be investigated and the possibility of
transnational representations will be pointed out.
11:30 AM - Cultural Territories as Post-Nacional Spaces
Resende, Beatriz (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
When we talk about contemporary art as global art, we refer to the cultural and artistic production
that circulates without borders, without framing national identities, created beyond the idea of
nation. In this post-national organization, however, references of territories of origin frequently arise
in contemporary literature, as well as in other art forms. References to territories may apear both
within critical visions or in evocations of positivity. These territories go beyond spatiality, geographic
or even ethnic boundaries. They may be adjacent areas or networked communities that create new
solidarities, despite differences between people or places. To speak of the territories where
literature is produced, of where it circulates and is consumed, becomes important for the critical
thinking that is interested in establishing relations between literature and politics, but refuses,
however, concepts such as national literature. Throughout experiments originated in Brazil, I will
analyze how certain artistic practices are presented today, dealing with literature in dialogue with
other arts, such as visual and performing arts, and how the concept of territory becomes important
for these studies.
12:00 PM - Cosmopolitanism(s) and National Literatures: an Intercultural Dialogue at the
Postnational Cartographies Era.
Gomes, Renato (Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
An Eurocentric conception of cosmopolitanism is questioned by thinkers as K. Appiah, Walter
Mignolo, Silviano Santiago among others, to search possible re-semantizations of the term in the
contemporary context, marked by the globalization, the multiculturalism and the expansion of the
new technologies of communication. Considering this confrontation of comopolitanisms, this paper
inquires how the tensions between cosmopolitanism and nationalism had grown up at the
postnational cartographies era (Appadurai). This research, on the other hand, aims to confront such
interpretations with those that appear at the beginning of XXI century, when the nation is anymore
the center of a system of signification (Martín-Brabero), at heterogeneous time (Chartejee) and of
globalization, when is it possible to speak about “cosmopolitismo do pobre” (subaltern
cosmopolitanism) and diaspora formulated by Silviano Santiago.
2:00 PM - Minimal Writings: the Traditions of Ernest Hemingway and Dalton Trevisan.
DIAS, ANGELA (Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), without any doubt was the predecessor of the literary minimalism,
emerged in the United States, during the decade of 1970. His style composed under the “iceberg
theory” is skilled by the procedures of reduction and simplification of the materials and resources. It
is constructed by means of simple and coordinated sentences, deprived of internal punctuations and
any species of rhetoric excess. His prose appropriates cinematography effects either using
simultaneous images or exploring collage of snapshots, by cutting them. In 1954, Hemingway is
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
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In Brazilian literature, only in the end of the 1950’s, appears an accent more systematically
minimalist, through the work of Dalton Trevisan (1925). His obsessive quest for silence, in the
capture of the elusive real influenced for him being awarded the Jabuti Prize of Brazilian Chamber of
Books, with his work Dissuasive short stories (Novelas nada exemplares) publicized in 1959. Besides
another prizes, the writer conquests in 2003, the Portugal Telecom Prize, which he shares with
Bernardo Carvalho.
Hemingway begins his literary career as a short stories’ writer, as well as the Brazilian writer, which
work, except for one of his books, is all composed of short stories.
This present paper aims to establish a comparative study between the themes and styles of these
two writers, both of them acknowledged and consecrated .
2:20 PM - Black Orpheus. Challenges for Transcultural Comparisons
Kopf, Martina (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Austria)
Comparative literature is often reduced to European literature or to North American classics even if
its objective is World Literature. The “Western Canon” (Bloom) still seems to dominate the scientific
landscape although the discussion about „New World Literature“ has been conducted for some time.
So what about the literature of the “rest of world”, including African, Asian, Australian, Middle and
South American literature? Why do we avoid transcultural comparisons? In her book All the
Difference in the World: Postcoloniality and the Ends of Comparison US comparatist Natalie Melas
asserts that, whereas a temporal scheme of evolution unified the comprehensive field of an earlier
positivist comparatism, a spatial scheme of sheer extensiveness undergirds this new attention to
comparative scope. The question consequently shifts from “what do you compare?” to “on what
grounds do you compare?” The general argument Melas develops is that, under these conditions,
comparison involves a very particular form of incommensurability: Space offers a ground of
comparison, but no given basis of equivalence.1 My contribution focuses on the challenges of
transcultural comparison. In breaching cultural borders from European to non-European literature or
vice versa cultural differences become clear. They might challenge the reader and the comparatist
who is not familiar with the foreign language, nor with particular cultural characteristics such as
traditions, rituals etc. and of course with transcultural literature per se which puts the term national
literature vehemently into question. To avoid any non- or misunderstanding or even eurocentric
interpretation, deeper insight into cultural context, original language etc. might be necessary. But
what if differences dominate similarities? Does the comparison then become a real challenge and
perhaps prove to be questionable in the end? These questions should be answered by examining
non-European receptions of the Orpheus myth as Brasilian writer Vinicius de Moraes’s Orfeu do
Carnaval/Orfeu da Conceição which was picturised by Marcel Camus as Orfeu Negro (1959) and
Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s Season of Anomy (1973). 1Melas, Natalie: All the Difference in the
World: Postcoloniality and the Ends of Comparison. Stanford 2007, p. xii.
2:40 PM - Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Mexico, 1651-1695) and Gregório de Matos (Brazil, 1636-1695):
the Ludicrous Machinery of Baroque Irony.
Marinho, Marcelo (Federal University for Latin-American Integration (UNILA), Foz do Iguacu - Parana, Brazil)
This paper is aimed to bring forth new poetic perspectives at the very crossing point of Mexican and
Brazilian literary representations of religion and society . Far beyond the study of national literatures,
we search to approach, on the basis of literary interpretations and through the theoretical tools of
Stylistics and Comparative Literature, the common ground reached by writers expressing such a
poetic experience in Latin-American literature. In their work, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695)
and Gregório de Matos (c.1636-1695), throught a broad ensemble of linguistic resources, express a
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deep disapproval in face of the dogmatic control of society by the Catholic Church, despite the risks
brought about by the omnipresent actuation of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition .
We'll unveil some poetic strategies adopted by both writers to exercise their freedom to express
themselves while ensuring, on the other hand, their own physical and psychic survival. Henceforth,
this paper is focused on the study of the main language devices employed to produce expressive and
delusive artwork, through two well known poems used to be respectively qualified as merely
ludicrous or religious poetry . Openly crossing those cultural borders, t he results should eventually
lead to broader stud ies of the dialogue between both multicultural countries.
3:00 PM - A Geo-Writing by Manoel de Barros
Moraes, Paulo (Paulo Benites, Campo Grande, Brazil)
The aim of this work is to study the geopoetic's category inside Manoel de Barros'
work. This is a particular area inside comparative literature studies expanding discussions about the
relationship between literature and space. The work looks for an objective comprehension of
regional manifestation way in our days. Thus, initially it considers that every regionalization is
temporary and programmatic cut. In the first place, to discuss concepts involved we are going to use
Rogerio Haesbaert's reflections about region, regional and regionality (2006; 2010; 2012); Walter
Moser about forms of mobility that are bound to narrators, times and contemporary spaces (2004);
Jean Béssière about the relation between center/centers and the new literary models (2011);
interrelated fields of aesthetic and politics in Jacques Ranciére and discussions between literature
and humanities, mainly relation between literature and geopoetic, drafted by Daniel Henry-Pageaux
(2011). Talking of geographical poetic implies that there is, in a separate plan, a symbolic language to
represent the space. Starting from Manoel de Barros' meaningful work readings, research shows how
spatial images, which highlight the natural and cultural sights, create a spaces's literary
representation.
9:00 AM - Comparative Literature, World Literature and Ethical Literary Criticism
Talvet, Jüri (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
Relying on some of the ideas of Yuri M. Lotman on “semiosphere”, the dynamics and dialogue
between “centers” and “peripheries”, as well as on my own ideas on cultural symbiosis exposed in
my essay books “A Call for Cultural Symbiosis. Meditations from U” (Toronto, 2005) and “Ten Letters
to Montaigne. ‘Self” and ‘Other’” (in Estonian, 2014; in English, 2015) and inspired by the recent
foundation in China of the International Association of Ethical Literary Criticism (2012), I will try to
meditate on the interrelation of Comparative Literature, World Literature and Ethical Literary
Criticism both in theory and in the practice of teaching and researching literature at universities and
high schools. The main purpose is to look at the ways how a “self”-centered practice of literary
research and teaching (formalistic as well as sociological approaches, restricting World Literature to
the Western mainstream, or just dealing with one’s own national literature, avoiding its comparative
contextualization) could be gradually replaced by a symbiotic-dialogical treatment of literature,
capable of providing our activity with a firm and solid ethical dimension, something that would
definitely strengthen the position of humanities in the world academia. At the same time it would
mean a new approach to the currently over-exploited trend of interdisciplinarity: contrary to the
mainstream of merging and dissolving humanities in science with little if any moral sense and effect,
the aim would be inter- , trans- as well as intra-disciplinarity within literature and humanities
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themselves, capable of revitalizing their cultural-spiritual and moral nucleus and potentiality, in
harmony with the needs of the present-day and future world (human) ecology.
9:20 AM - How to Face the Terror of Reason: from Literature to Philosophy.
Krause, Gustavo Bernardo (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
This paper discusses the influence of literature in philosophy. It assumes that the work of two Czech
writers, Franz Kafka and Jaroslav Hašek, is essential for the nature the thought of the Czech-Brazilian
philosopher Vilém Flusser. Two novels of these writers, The Metamorphosis (1915) and The
Adventures of Brave Soldier Švejk (1921), prefigure the terror of reason. Flusser is a victim of this
terror. In 1939, the philosopher flees from Prague in the direction of Brazil, leaving behind all his
family. His parents and his sister are murdered in concentration camps. His philosophy faces this
terror, assuming he is inspired by the symbolic strategies of Kafka and Hašek. Due to this, the
Brazilian philosopher Sérgio Paulo Rouanet, Flusser’s friend, calls him a kind of “meta-Švejk”. In
response to Rouanet, Flusser agrees, adding that he also considers himself a “post-Kafka” thinker.
Flusser’s philosophy can be said to be the most complete way, then, of what Abraham Moles called
“philosophical fiction”.
9:40 AM - On Ibsen's Thoughts and the German Culture
Li, Yinbo (College of Arts & Law, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China)
This thesis explores the influence of the German culture on Ibsen’s thoughts from the intercultural
communication perspective. The thesis begins with the analyzing of the intimate relationship
between Ibsen and Germany, and holds that he was influenced by German culture throughout his
life. Then it discusses the influence of the German culture on his religious and ethnical thoughts
respectively, and holds that his changing attitude to Christ Church from enthusiasm to indifference
was due to German philosophy and industrialization, and his change from “Norwegian nationalism”
to “Scandinavianism” to “Pan-Germanism” was due to Prussian militarism and German Unification.
Therefore, the German culture impressed Ibsen’s thoughts deeply, and made his dramas more
popular and charming not only in artistry but also in thoughts.
10:00 AM - Comparative Literature and the Challenge of Digital Media.
Zilberman, Regina (Instituto de Letras - UFRGS, Porto Alegre - RS, Brazil)
At first, it seemed only a question of transposition: from paper to screen, from print to digi-tal. A
good software would realize the mutation without major ou significative changes. However, the
virtual support determined modifications in the literary materiality, reproduc-ing what happened
when the press appeared in the fifteenth century and has been institu-tionalized from the sixteenth
century on. Consequently, new literary forms appeared, as the blog, not just a space in cyber sphere,
but a genre with its own characteristics. Later arose the social networks, who threw blogs into the
background and set new verbal expression paradigms. Have the Science of Literature and
Comparative Literature parameters to exam-ine and evaluate these productions, some quite volatile,
but no less important? If so, which are they? If not, a task presents itself - to define what could be
these new parameters, in-cluding the clarification of its scope and limits.
11:00 AM - Hafez and Emerson: Reception as a Transcultural Interaction
Fomeshi, Behnam (Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran)
The relationship between Hafez and Emerson has been extensively studied. Those studies referred to
influence of Hafez on Emerson, similarity between the two poets, Emerson studying and translating
Hafez, Emerson’s infatuation with Hafez and Hafez as an inspiration for Emerson. Although these
works covered some aspects of the relationship, none of them did touch upon whyness. Why did an
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American philosopher become interested in and inspired by a poet from a remote time and place
and with a different language and culture? The present paper is aimed at finding the reasons behind
Emerson’s reception of Hafez in the political, social and cultural discourses of Emerson’s time and the
correspondence between mystical thoughts of Hafez and Emerson’s transcendentalism. The
American poet’s reception of his Persian counterpart is an evidence of that phenomenon as a
transcultural interaction.
11:30 AM - Language and Identity in J.M. Coetzee's memoirs: Boyhood, Scenes of Provincial Life I
and II and Summertime
Hanna, Vera (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil)
This study derives from a project concerned with the trilogy of fictionalized memoirs by J.M. Coetzee,
Boyhood, Scenes of Provincial Life, a memoir (1997), Youth, Scenes of Provincial Life II (2002), and
Summertime (2009). Post-colonial literatures have given rise to contend about history and fiction
(history and legitimation), narrativity and indeterminacy, time and space; fundamental issues such as
home, language and identity can be viewed in one´s everyday life through practices of ordinary life in
narratives. The role of location/dislocation/relocation and language in the constitution of an
ambivalent identity will be analyzed in all the three mentioned books. Themes such as displacement,
personal moments of lack (or not) of intimacy with Afrikaners/English, Afrikaans/English language,
and the distinction between the author-protagonist´s English self and his Afrikaner self-feeling will be
examined. The research argues that fictionalized autobiographical memoirs represent an important
area of enquiry for it is related to an agent of temporalities that faces challenges to report what was
experienced or observed in the plot of everyday events - exceeded by its quality of decoding
experiences, aspirations and beliefs, for it is registered in facts and fiction commonplace, major and
minor occurrences. Either viewed as a literary genre or autobiographical record, it involves the idea
of interpretation - as interpretations expand, the criterion of truth is transformed into the truth of
the text, and in coming into the context, countless interpretations arise.
The issue of narrative/unconventional autobiography (Coetzee´s ‘autrebiography’) will be seen
through the lens of recent studies on contemporary memory studies and its relationship to the
History of the Present and authenticity. The research starting point will focus on Coetzee's claim
about the impracticality to tell the entire truth ( he states the truth contains too many facts) in
autobiography when having to pick up “certain memories from a reservoir of memories ” and let a
number of others untold, “You choose the facts insofar as they fall in with your evolving purpose” (
Doubling the point: essays and interviews, 1992: 18 ).
12:00 PM - The Cultural Polylogue of Milos Crnjanski's 'Roman o Londonu' (A Novel about London)
Krstic, Visnja (University of Warwick / University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Republic Serbien)
This discussion opens with a brief synopsis of Milos Crnjanski’s Roman o Londonu (A Novel about
London): namely, the novel is about immigrants Nikolaj and Nadja Rjepnin, an exiled Russian couple
living on the breadline in post-WWII London. The intersection of English, Russian and Serbian
cultures ranges from copious instances of intertextual references to older texts to those where
cultural elements are linguistically conflicted. In the wake of Kristeva’s understanding that ‘[a]ny text
is constructed as a mosaic of citations’, I shall discuss how Crnjanski creates the dialogical space of
his text, since the framework of his novel does not draw examples from one or two national
literatures, but from the vast field of Weltliteratur. Furthermore, Roman o Londonu abounds in
polyglossic phrases – predominantly but not solely in English and Russian – occurring throughout the
otherwise Serbian text. The paper systematically reassesses the relations among these intricately
connected languages in the target as well as in the source text. While Russian familiarity stands in
stark contrast to the ‘otherness’ of London, Serbian serves as a metalanguage. The difficulty of
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preserving the foreign gaze onto the English culture arises when the metalanguage of the novel
vanishes in translation, leaving English xenisms to blend in, what is now, an all-English text. In
conclusion, the paper challenges a commonly encountered assessment that the novel’s translation
into English is destined to failure because the source text heavily relies on the interplay between
Serbian and English, which would inevitably be lost in translation. Rather than regarding Roman o
Londonu as a mere linguistic experiment, the paper shows that the novel’s true value lies in the
cultural polylogue that Crnjanski masterfully creates.
16661 - The Ineffability of Language and Mystic Utterances
Date: Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Seminarraum Skandinavistik 1
Chair: Figueira, Dorothy
9:00 AM - De Certeau's heterology: from mysticism to the recognition of the Other
BESSIERE, Jean (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France)
From the analysis of De Certeau’s Le lieu de l’autre : histoire religieuse et mystique to today
expressions of mysticism and religious feelings in francophone literatures, we will try
1. to define the linguistic status of these expressions — De Certeau sees them as a performative
which is the result of the move from the written religious text to its flexible reiteration by the
believer. We should add that for De Certeau, this reiteration reveals the true belief.
2. To analyze how some francophone African novels organize the exemples of this reiteration ;
3. To extend the analysis and the argument it should command to novels which do not specifically
highlight mystical discourses, in order to decide whether the linguistic status of mystical expressions
or creeds can define the linguistic status and symbolizations of these novels with no mystical or
religious references. One foresee that the answer should be positive. Consequently, one will have to
consider this kind of literary extension of mysttical expressions as a cultural means to write novels.
9:20 AM - Modes of Literary Representation of the Ineffable: el Duende and Jibandebata
Bogumil-Notz, Sieghild (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft, Bochum,
Germany)
Where does the capacity of creativity in man/woman come from? Is it a gift or an acquired skill?
Independent from social, religious, ethical, linguistic backgrounds or depending on them? Is it a
mental attitude or the result of emotional conflicts rooted in the childhood of the creative person?
Or is it the result of a divine possession supported by a mystically transgressing language? The
problem of grasping the source of inspiration is due to its instantaneity. It appears in a flash of
images, voices, words – coming from where and why? Hence, poets – let us restrict to them – of
different times and cultures have shaped the ineffable lucidity. The title of my paper refers to two
examples of allegories taken from the Spanish and Indian tradition. We may ask whether we can
consider them representations of one identical experience or whether they are written into their
own languages/literatures with their specific ethical, aesthetic, and religious background. In the first
case we may assume that the experience of inspiration is the same throughout all cultures whereas,
if the latter case held true, creativity would denote an experience of its own in each language.
However my questioning of the representation of the ineffable will be different. I would like to point
out the way the mystical and/or mythical inscription of the personifications into the literary texts
become concrete beings by the author’s organizing the social, aesthetic and ethical situation of a
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given society. Thus it will become obvious that writing the ineffability literatures enounce clearly
their convergences and discontinuities across centuries and cultures thereby displaying new
“interpretive operations” (Eco) of their own social, ethical and aesthetic situation.
9:40 AM - TWO AND A HALF SYLLABLES OF LOVE : QUESTIONS ABOUT MYSTICISM AND LANGUAGE
Chanda, Ipshita (Dept. of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India)
“Mysticism”, says Michel de Certeau, “is the story of the Christian Occident.” This admission gives me
space to shift the terms of our discussion by relocating the conceptual frame that we may use to
think about the relation between language and the mystic experience. Through the ages, those who
have pondered the relation between the human and the divine, or the creator and the created, have
considered language as a medium of this relation. Bhartrihari, for instance, says that whether one
speaks of the self or of the other-than self, to speak, one can only use words – there is an order of
things that exists only in the word. Language gives outer shape to this nothing, while leaving its
interior mysterious, silent. This capacity of language, to reveal and to conceal, is used by literature:
mystic speech may be thought of as that metaphorical speech, which ‘refers’ wholly to the world
beyond the empirical. In the poetry written in Asian subcontinental languages by poets who were
identified as bhakt/devotee or sant/sage, we discover that faith in the existence of the ineffable
creator or creative spirit is expressed in the language of human relationships. But in the most
articulate expression of emotion towards another human nestles, the unspeakable mystic experience
of self-transcendence and union with the divine, akin to a secret meeting between lovers: it can only
be spoken of through the devices of literature. This does not detract attention from the ‘modernity’
of medieval ethical solutions to social crises, ironically echoed by contemporary poetry written in
these languages. Rather, juxtaposition of spatial and temporal locations indicates that the nature and
status of mystic experience depends on the view of being and language historically held or
traditionally passed down within cultures. A comparative research framework can take cognisance of
both these facts.
10:00 AM - A STANDS FOR AGALMA: THE MYSTIC SYMBOL OF UNUTTERABLENESS IN NATHANIEL
HAWTHORNE¿S THE SCARLET LETTER
De Angelis, Valerio Massimo (University of Macerata, Department of Humanities, Macerata, Italy)
In “The Custom-House,” the introductory sketch to Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the narrator
inexplicably places on his breast “a certain affair of fine red cloth, much worn and faded,” casually
found in a bundle of old documents. He immediately feels “a sensation not altogether physical, yet
almost so, as of burning heat,” and lets the object, the letter A, fall to the floor. This “ornamental
article of dress” is the “mystic symbol” The Scarlet Letter revolves around in the attempt to extract
some “deep meaning,” but always failing to do so – or better, substituting this hidden, ineffable
truth, which subtly communicates to Hawthorne’s and (by proxy) the reader’s “sensibilities” “evading
the analysis” of their minds, with the proliferation of a virtually endless series of possible external,
“surface” meanings. What is missing, in this process of semantic dissemination, is not only the
obvious “mystery” the symbol covers instead of revealing it (the name of Hester Prynne’s
accomplice, Arthur Dimmesdale, in the crime of Adultery, a word totally absent in the romance), but
also its very origin, desire, a concept which according to Jacques Lacan may have some kind of
expression only indirectly, by way of the objet (petit) a. In his 1960-61 seminar Lacan articulates the
objet (petit) a with the Greek term agalma – a precious ornament hidden in a worthless vessel which
alludes to, but cannot fully manifest, the ineffable dimension of desire. In my paper I will try to show
how, throughout Hawthorne’s romance, the mystic token on Hester’s breast operates as the mobile
signifier both for the impossibility of giving utterance to this desire and for the surplus of meaning
Hester creates with her artistic re-writing of the letter. The mystic potential of the scarlet letter
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might then be found in its capacity of telling without telling, or better of telling precisely by way of
the ethical choice of refusing to tell, of staging the ineffable in the most visible way.
11:00 AM - Mystical Speech
Figueira, Dorothy (University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Regarding the status given to mystical literary works, the problem has always been
how to speak about the so-called ineffable experience which cannot be spoken about. Michel de
Certeau theorized that such an experience of possession (divine possession as in the case of
mysticism) has no language of its own, but is marked in theological discourse and inscribes itself in
the effects it has on the discourse it borrows from its given religious tradition. Mystical speech is thus
written into religious language as a discourse of transgression.
This problem of ineffability informs the theorizing of mysticism in all religious
systems.. Significantly, it also contributes to the manner in which literature is inscribed in the
ineffable. Gershom Scholem claimed that modernity could not have produced Kafka had it not been
for the kaballah. He supported this claim by demonstrating that Kafta's aesthetic project, in which
language no longer anchors itself in semantics, drew on a long Jewish mystical tradition with ties to
Gnosticism, medieval Zoharic schemes and a belief in a hidden God. Once one can imagine language
outside of description. Scholem's theorizing is but one example of the modern phenomenon in which
scholars see texts working mystically to shift a reader's attention away from the communicable
toward the ineffable, away from the epistemological and toward a representational "beyond." This
shift appears to coincide with the convergence of religion, ethics, and literature as axes around which
contemporary problems are reframed so that these three disciplines taken together stage new
contexts for resolving social crises. This paper will examine these issues.
11:30 AM - HIGH, LOW, AND NO PLACE: PLACEMENT IN MYSTICAL EXPRESSION
Gillespie, Gerald (Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA)
Since European antiquity there is a rich diversity of expression of the mystical experience of
approaching a sacred realm or recondite godhead itself. Despite all differences one often can detect
broad analogies of positionings in certain tropes, such as ascending a mountain, harrowing hell,
turning into the interior realm of night or time or the mind, seeking entrance through a gate. Beyond
the sacred heights of Olympus and Cythaeron, poet-pilgrims visit Chrétiens’ and Wolfram’s
Montsalvage, Dante’s mountain of Purgatory, Petrarch’s Ventoux, Mechtild’s burning mountain,
Balde’s heavenly pass, Goethe’s pinnacle ruled by the Virgin Mary, Shelley’s Mont Blanc, Th. Mann’s
magic Mountain – to name but a few examples. Both Odysseus and Aeneas are vouchsafed numinous
encounters in the underworld and go on to assert legitimate orders on earth, but Dante takes the
cake by exiting normal history and traversing hell before he climbs past our primal Edenic home to
witness heaven, and implicitly comes back to record the awesome vision. Marlowe gladly seduces his
audience with Faustus’ living dream of marriage with Helen of Troy, while Cervantes wraps Quixote’s
vision of the lost chivalric world in the Cave of Montesinos episode in an ambiguous layering of
baroque irony and nostalgia, whereas his contemporary Bidermann shows that Cenodoxus’ purely
mental experience of heavenly raptures is a fatal hellish seduction. More starkly radical in the socalled Middle Ages were attempts by mystics to empty the mental scene of obstacles, even words, in
order to approach the divine. Some were baffled by the threat of nothingness in this quest. Some
flirted with the then contemporary boundary-line of heresy by grasping the soul to be the source or
discoverer of God or reciprocal with God in a love match. Recouping past knowledge of European
beliefs and acquiring systems such as kabbalah as a trove, Renaissance writers were predisposed to
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imagine how a hidden God would be detectable in phenomena of the creation and to exploit
androgynic patterns to explain natural and spiritual matters.
12:00 PM - Universal homes and universal homelessness: The curious Spinozism of Clarice Lispector
and Stefan Zweig
Lally, Katie (University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA)
What is the presence of writing in a Spinozan universe? What is the presence of
mourning? When such questions are posed to the texts of Clarice Lispector and Stefan Zweig, one
finds that these two prolific authors of the 20th century, both Jewish refugees born in Ukraine and
Austria, respectively, and who lived out their final years in Brazil, share much more than certain
biographical details. Lispector's and Zweig's mutual reconstruction of the natural world through
literature imagines it as a space of divine and yet amoral, causal and yet purposeless, creation.
While Lispector's oeuvre in particular is not overtly Jewish in theme nor in content, one recognizes
her texts' embodiment of Spinozan naturalism, even of a mysticism that hints at kabbalah, as
disclosing a distinctly Jewish thread that can be traced below the surface of the myriad worlds she
creates. As her writing exemplifies the subject positions of characters as Spinozan modes of the work
at hand, creating and created by the text in which they exist, it may likewise reimagine and
aesthetically restage substantive Jewish life as a modality itself -- one that may adapt and be at home
in all places while simultaneously expressing a sense of homelessness and continued mourning.
Zweig is likewise known to have taken refuge in what he called the "spiritual freedom" of
weltbürgerlich , diasporic being offered to him by his Jewishness, as a counterpoint to nationalism,
when his claim to a European home was destroyed. Observing Zweig's final, autobiographical
account, The World of Yesterday , we see that even in his last, hopeless years, the author textually
and substantively stages his own being in the world in a way that resists the Nazi aims of geopolitik .
By reading both Lispector and Zweig in context of Spinoza's influence, I hope to illuminate their
individual stagings of Jewishness as modality.
2:00 PM - The Symbolatry of the Here and Now: Immanence and Unutterable Marvels from
Metamorphoses to Fireworks
Mild, Matthew (The Tapestry, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Symbols provide ritual tokens of ineffable mystical experiences. This reading of Carter’s short stories
Fireworks and the Metamorphoses by Apuleius applies Spivak’s understanding of subaltern reversal
to the subversive renewal and allure of mystical symbols channelling the experience of immanence in
the here and now. Through their rhetorical insistence on Egyptian hieroglyphs and Japanese
ideograms, both works carve marvellous engravings of mystical utterances. This intertextual
discussion deals with the symbols of the holy male and female prostitute, carnival, and the night.
While Apuleius blends these allegories with distancing digressions apt to furnish detailed descriptions
of mesmerizing icons and effigies, Carter merges her symbols of unutterable immanence with the
pebbles and seaweed of wintry landscapes. Both narrations contrive to utter the ineffable and the
ephemeral by devising a self-reflexive profusion of estranging authorial nods and winks. The two
authors share a self-avowed purposefully unnatural use of everyday language and lyrical prose,
which is intended to enhance their adamant endeavour to expose the constructs and simulacra of
jealous heavenly gods and crystallized gender roles. Daily life on earth and sex become the axis of
social and ethical renewal summoned by the unutterable marvels of Lady Purple and the prodigious
ass. Their joyful celebration of sex, masks, and shadows forms a symbolatry transgressing
transcendence. A new ecstasy of the here and now pervades the elusive aesthetics of both texts.
Both subtle and blatant mimicries of the myth of Eros and Psyche are deftly woven together by
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Apuleius and Carter. This reading discusses their veiled revelries on the two initiatory journeys set in
late antiquity and countercultural Eurasia. Holy sex work, carnival, and the night supply subversive
codes of intangible experiences and apparitions.
2:30 PM - The Need for Apostasy
Millet, Kitty (SF State University, SF, USA)
In the 17thc, Kabbalist prophet, Nathan of Gaza, declared to the Kabbalist communities of Safed,
Jersualem, Smyrna, and throughout the Ottoman Empire, that the Messiah had come in the person
of Sabbatai Zevi. Many Jews, throughout the Ashkenazic and Sephardic world lauded the Messiah's
appearance, giving birth to the Sabbatean movement. When the ottoman ruler threatened to kill
Zevi for preaching heresy, unless he converted to Islam, Zevi converted. His prophet declared that
Zevi's apostasy reflected his battle with Leviathan in another world. Many of his followers rushed to
follow him, believing that they too would experience messianic redemption through apostasy. His
followers embraced this practice as a "redemption through sin." The Sabbatean movement became
characterized by this orientation so that mystical ecstasy was paired with the violation of the Law .
After Zevi's death, the movement continued, but as Gershom Scholem notes, its followers were more
likely to adopt Art rather than Religion to express Sabbatean principles, i.e. their mysticism displaced
on to the aesthetic. This paper analyzes the works of Adam Mickiewicz (19thc Polish poet and
Sabbatean ), Bruno Schultz (20thc Polish novelist), Kafka, and Philip Roth, to examine how Sabbatean
mysticism might appear in literature and why it's ethically important.
3:00 PM - Östen Sjöstrand and the Mystery of Poetic Language
Sondrup, Steven (Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
Östen Sjöstrand, one of the most prominent Swedish poets during the second half of the twentieth
century, had a profound spiritual experience as a young man that was the point of departure for his
poetic debut. His first two volumes of poetry, unio and Invigelse (Consecration), reflect not only his
highly personal religious commitment, but also a growing understanding of the strains in the broadly
European mystic tradition extending back to Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, Saint John of the
Cross, and Teresa of Avila, among many others. At the same time, however, he had a sense that
mystic experience is not readily amenable to verbal expression and any effort to breach its
fundamental ineffability is a concession to the world that does violence to ultimate truth. Realizing,
though, that he could not entirely desert the house of language, he entitled his next collection of
poetry Återvändo (Return) and thereby affirmed his commitment to his calling as a poet, at least in
part. From that point on, he examined in his poetry, essays, and translations the complex
relationship between twentieth century mysticism and various contemporary poetic traditions. His
comparative engagement with the works of T.S. Eliot and most particularly with the “Four Quartets”
foregrounds not only his continuing interest in mysticism in contrast to poetic evocation, but also
important aspects of Eliot’s approach to what has been described as the negative way of language.
16679 - Langues et littératures de jeunesse
Room: Hs 46
Chair: Benert, Britta; CLERMONT, Philippe ; E. O’Sullivan; M. Chmurski; E. Kaess; A. Knauth
9:00 AM - Introduction
,
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9:30 AM - La fable animale, multilingue et métalinguistique
Knauth, Alfons (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Romanisches Seminar, Bochum, Germany)
Avec sa tradition plus de deux fois millénaire et sa diffusion mondiale, la fable animale, classique et
post/moderne, peut se considérer comme un paradigme universel de la littérature de jeunesse. Par
sa dimension weltlittéraire, elle offre une polyglossie à tous les niveaux, intertextuel et intratextuel,
intralingue et interlingue, traduction comprise. À travers la représentation linguistique et
métalinguistique du langage des animaux et des humains, la fable explore un domaine très à part du
plurilinguisme littéraire.
La spécificité juvénile du genre découle de la proximité et de l’affinité rapprochées entre les jeunes et
les animaux, liées à des facteurs phylo- et ontogénétiques. Cette caractéristique a amené la fable
animale à se constituer très tôt comme genre didactique, d’abord en tant qu’institution du prince,
comme le Panchatantra oriental ou encore les Fables de La Fontaine. Dès l’antiquité, le manuel des
Progymnasmata d’Aphthonios proposa la pratique de la fable ésopique comme un exercice
rhétorique de base dans les écoles. La simplicité, l’humour et la portée zoo-anthropologique de la
fable lui donnent une éminente valeur pédagogique, porteuse d’instruction et de plaisir.
Vu l’enjeu idiomologique de notre propos, on se concentrera sur les fables dédiées aux psittacidés.
Ceux-ci ne livrent pas seulement le prototype du langage zoo-anthropomorphe, mais aussi une
perspective weltlittéraire, puisque le bibliotope du perroquet s’étend de l’Inde à l’Amérique et à
l’Europe, de l’antiquité à nos jours. Cela implique des vues très contrastées sur l’humanimalisme
(Supervielle) de la fable, autrement dit le rapport entre la nature humaine et animale, y compris le
langage.
La réécriture de la fable animalière fera l’objet d’une réflexion didactique. Elle sera développée à
partir de l’analyse littéraire et/ou du psittacisme primaire du langage humain.
11:00 AM - Words and Language in Moveable Books and Pop-ups
workshop: Langues et littérature de jeunesse (Britta Benert)
Monika Schmitz-Emans: proposal
Words and Language in Moveable Books and Pop-ups
Among the books specifically produced for young readers since the 19th century, movable books
(and since the 1920’s also pop-ups as a new subgenre) play a quite special role: They usually contain
words and images and thus can be read or just regarded, but additionally they invite their users to
playful experiences, putting characters and objects in motion, staging little scenes or explaning ‚how
things work’. Especially metamorphotic processes are most convenient to the medium as such. Popups provide three-dimensional paper sculptures that open up surprisingly when the book pages are
turned around. Recent paper architects and book artists allude to and profit from the playful
character of 19th century movable books, but they also refer to these books’ long (pre-)history as a
special device to mediate knowledge in medieval and early modern books.
What kind of role do words and language play as subjects within such books? In how far can langage
be ‚staged’ and reflected by the special devices of moveable book architetures? Several examples will
be presented in order to illustrate, in how far movable books have been constructed as books about
words, letters, languages and the elements of texts. (a) Like other books for young readers, moveable
books can be designed in order to teach words and verbal phrases or to stimulate plays with verbal
elements. ( b ) Using the specific technical devices of recent book engineering, movable books can
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provide for acoustic experience as well, for instance in order to make the birds’ ‚languages’ or other
animal sounds audible. (c) The alphabet has been chosen as a subject of ‚paper staging’ by several
book engineers, thus setting the elements of texts into motion as if they were alive. (d) As
representations of fictitious or even real topographies, the pages popping up can visualise complex
spaces of lettering – even (in special examples) multilingual and multiscriptural spaces.
11:30 AM - Spielerische Erfahrungen von Mehrsprachigkeit: Der Arche Literatur Kalender (2011ff.)
Bohnengel, Julia (Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Deutsch als Fremdsprachenphilologie, Heidelberg, Germany)
Seit 2011 erscheint jährlich eine mehrfach ausgezeichnete Publikation: Der von der Internationalen
Jugenbibliothek in München herausgegebene und mit einem Vorwort renommierter
KinderbuchautorInnen versehene Arche Kinder Kalender. Darin wird 'Kindern allen Alters'
wöchentlich ein Gedicht in Originalsprache (und ggf. -graphie) und in deutscher Übersetzung
geboten. Illustrationen aus den Originalen treten als drittes Element in ein spannungsreiches
Verhältnis zu den fremd- und deutschsprachigen Texten.
Der Vortrag möchte zum einen den Arche Kinder Kalender vorstellen: Seine Entstehungsweise und
Präsenz auf dem Buchmarkt, Kriterien der ausgewählten Texte sowie Tendenzen der
Übersetzungspraxis und der Bild-Text-Relation. Darüber hinaus zeigt er, wie der Kalender auf
spielerische Weise die neueren Eregebnisse der Forschung zu Mehrsprachigkeit und Kinderliteratur
umsetzt: Kindern wird in diskreter Weise, aber regelmäßig, in überschaubaren Zeiträumen das
Angebot gemacht, ganze, aber kurze Texte eigener und fremder Provenienz kennenzulernen. Sie
erhalten so die Möglichkeit, auf diversen Wegen Zugang zu unterschiedlichen Ebenen sprachlicher
Strukturen zu gewinnen. Die Differenzerfahrung zwischen Original und Übersetzung lässt nicht nur
Spielräume zur Phantasieentwicklung zu, sondern übt auch in die Erfahrung der Relativiertheit
kultureller Gegebenheiten ein. Unterschiedliche Bildtraditionen erlauben einen nonverbalen Zugang
zu den Gedichten, können aber auch die Fremdheitserfahrung steigern. Obwohl die Kombination von
Text(en) und Bild hohe literarische und visuelle Anforderungen an die Rezipienten stellt, bedetet die
Abgeschlossenheit eines Kalenderblatts eine überschaubare Aufgabe. Der Kalender leistet so einen
unaufdringlichen, aber wichtigen Beitrag zur literarischen Sozialisation komplizierterer Texte, indem
er sprachspielerische Vorlieben von Kindern aufgreift und über vergnügliche Unterhaltung auf die
Erfahrung von Mehrsprachigkeit einstimmt.
12:00 PM - Pour adultes. Le langage des images dans la littérature pour la jeunesse.
DANGELO, BIAGIO (Universidade de Brasilia - Instituto de Arte, Brasilia, Brazil)
Cette communication prétend développer quelques réflexions personnelles de ces dernières années.
On sait bien qu’il n’est plus possible de penser l’histoire des arts et des littératures à partir d’un
discours monolithique et linéaire. Si aujourd’hui les historiographies se mobilisent dans des axes
pluriels et transitoires, c’est pourquoi l’histoire de l’art et celle de la littérature ne peuvent être
considérées que comme transgression, c'est-à-dire coexistence de différents facteurs qui
constamment renouvellent le paradigme historiographique, ainsi que l’ensemble traditionnel des
éléments théoriques qui font de la littérature et de l’art un lieu de production de connaissance, par
nature, transgressive.La littérature pour la jeunesse est devenue, peu à peu, un lieu spécifique où les
artistes peuvent transgresser les limites, briser les règles, reconstruire les paradigmes à la base de
l'innovation des processus culturels.Le livre-objet et le livre d’artiste, dans le domaine, tristement
connu sous la nomenclature de «littérature pour la jeunesse», peuvent être considérés comme une
hypothèse de stratégie discursive et esthétique qui, en évitant le péril de la stabilisation, se configure
comme un aspect finalement totalisant de l’art et de la littérature, et non pas un aspect réducteur.
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Pour plusieurs auteurs-écrivains-illustrateurs, la littérature pour la jeunesse est un champ
paradigmatique d’expérimentations et de confluences entre la lettre et l’image. C’est ce que la
communication se propose de montrer.
2:00 PM - Philosophie du langage dans Le Hollandais sans peine de M.-A. Murail
Benert, Britta (Université de Strasbourg, STRASBOURG, France)
Marie-Aude Murail a pu se vivre au début de sa carrière « comme écrivaine pour non lecteurs, vouée
à faire des livres qui ne devaient jamais dépasser 200 pages » (cité dans Prince, 2015 : 152). Le
Hollandais sans peine, petit ouvrage illustré de 56 pagesparu en 1989 dans la collection Mouche/
L’école des loisirs, relève de ce que d’aucuns continuent à opposer à la vraie littérature : la littérature
de jeunesse/pour la jeunesse. Par la présente communication, je propose de montrer le coup de
génie que réussit ici encore l’auteure, en coulant dans un récit écrit aussi/d’abord à destination de
jeunes enfants, des éléments parmi les plus essentiels de la critique du langage que forgent
Mallarmé dans le domaine de la poésie, Nietzsche dans celui de la philosophie.
2:30 PM - Strange signs. Invented languages from alienation to zany
O'Sullivan, Emer (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany)
A number of graphic novels and picturebooks published in the past decade have presented various
forms of invented languages both in books which have been hailed as ‘wordless’, such as Shaun Tan’s
epic tale of migration, The Arrival (2006), or in Baloney (Henry P.) by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
(2005), the tall tale of an alien which creatively blends at least twenty different ‘Earth’ languages.
While in The Arrival the system of incomprehensible yet unsettlingly familiar symbols which take the
place of words on signs and documents both underscores the alienation of the protagonist in his new
environment and enables the reader to experience a similar disorientation, the creative and
performative approach by the protagonist in Baloney, who masters a melange of languages, is
employed solely for entertainment purposes.
This paper will discuss these and other examples (such as David Wiesner’s Mr Wuffles! (2013)) in the
context of multilingualism in children’s literature. It will address the functions which can be
attributed to invented languages and will take a brief look at how these are translated, when the
books appear in other languages.
3:00 PM - A la croisée des langages : création linguistique et interprétation sémiotique dans His Dark
Materials de Philip Pullman
Bazin, Laurent (Université de Versailles, St Germain en Laye, France)
La trilogie A la croisée des mondes ( His dark materials ) de Philip Pullman constitue l'une des
tentatives les plus originales du roman contemporain pour adolescents et jeunes adultes pour
déployer un univers (plus exactement une galaxie d'univers) ouvert à la prolifération des possibles.
L'invention diégétique y est donc de mise, avec la prolifération de personnages, objets et lieux créés
de toute pièce au gré des mondes explorés ; la langue se met au service de ce souci créateur en
multipliant les emprunts, dérivations et autres relexicalisations chargés de formaliser dans les mots
le travail d'innovation. Mais l'imagination linguistique va bien plus loin qu'un simple effort
terminologique, certes impressionnant dans son extension mais qui ne constitue que la surface d'un
travail ambitieux mené en profondeur sur la nature et le statut du langage, ainsi érigé en thème
structurant de l'ouvrage dont il polarise les ambiguïtés autant que les enjeux.
9:00 AM - Les fictions linguistiques dans les Aventures de Tintin : voies et voix du bruxellois
GRUTMAN, Rainier (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada)
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Dans cette communication, je me propose de regarder de plus près la façon dont les Aventures de
Tintin (ne) gèrent (pas) l’altérité linguistique qui, comme l’a brillamment montré Jan Baetens dans
Hergé écrivain (Labor 1989, rééd. Flammarion 2006), leur est constitutive. J e me concentrerai sur les
albums qui ont recours au dialecte bruxellois pour créer des langues fictionnelles (l’arumbaya, le
syldave, le bordurien) au statut ambigu : indéchiffrables et « inventées » aux yeux—et à l’oreille—de
tout lecteur francophone belge et a fortiori étranger, elles sont toutefois beaucoup moins « fictives »
pour les Bruxellois de la génération d’Hergé—qui les entendent (au double sens du mot) grâce à leur
connaissance passive (et parfois active) du dialecte flamand de la capitale belge. Ce sont, dans l’ordre
chronologique de leur publication originale : l’Oreille cassée, le Sceptre d’Ottokar, l’Affaire Tournesol
et Tintin chez les Picaros … Le premier de ces albums est doublement intéressant : 1) parce qu’Hergé
y met en scène une figure d’interprète (Ridgewell) et crée dès lors des scènes de traduction, qu’il
s’agit de traduire… 2) parce que la langue que prête Hergé aux indigènes arumbaya a reçu un
traitement tout à fait particulier dans la traduction britannique.
9:30 AM - Le Bon Gros Géant de Roald Dahl (1982) et ses avatars sur l'exemple de ses traductions
en français, polonais et tchèque
Chmurski, Mateusz (Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France)
Depuis trois décennies, le Big Friendly Giant de Roald Dahl appartient aux classiques de la littérature
pour enfants. Rééditée neuf fois en Grande-Bretagne, traduite en plusieurs langues et récompensée
par de nombreux prix, cette histoire d’une fillette enlevée par « un gentil géant » a été adaptée pour
le cinéma en 1989 (Brian Cosgrove) et est en train d’être filmée par Steven Spielberg (sortie prévue
en 2016).
Des syllabes inversées à la pléthore de néologismes, l’œuvre de Dahl se distingue par une mise en
abyme de la langue au seuil de la dyslexie, tant à des fins humoristiques qu’éducatifs : il suffit de
rappeler la richesse de patronymes employés dans le texte (du Childchewer, le mâcheur d’enfants,
au Fleshlumpeater, l’avaleur de la chair fraîche, ou le Bonecruncher, le croquer d’os). Écrivain gallois
né des parents norvégiens (1916-1990), proche de Tomi Ungerer (Le Géant de Zéralda, 1971), Dahl
emploie la création littéraire afin d’aller à l’encontre des stéréotypes et constituer un cadre fictionnel
dans lequel la socialisation est mise en récit et l’altérité se voit négociée dans et par la langue. Car
c’est la langue inventée de ses gentils géants, déformée à volonté, qui dépeint cet Autre tant
effrayant qu’attrayant.
Ainsi, traduire Dahl reste un défi et les avatars de ses héros dans d’autres langues, accompagnés
d’illustrations, permettent de questionner les enjeux de tradition et traduction littéraires à la fois.
Comparer les différentes incarnations de son texte et les moyens servant à rendre le parler des
géants, figures de l’altérité identitaire, permettra d’exposer différents emplois de la mise en jeu de la
langue dans la littérature pour la jeunesse. À travers les traductions françaises (Camille Fabien 1984),
polonaises (Michał Kłobukowski, 1991 et Jerzy Łoziński, 2003) et tchèque (Jan Jařab, 1998) du BGG
nous allons questionner non seulement les limites de l’innovation que ceux de la déformation dans la
construction du monde dans et par la langue.
11:00 AM - « - Malheur à moi, petit ballon vert... » Le langage poétique dans la littérature de
jeunesse en Union Soviétique
Kaess, Elisabeth (Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France)
Lorsque Roman Jakobson fit publier à Berlin en 1931 La Génération qui a gaspillé ses poètes, il ne
savait pas encore que le nombre de ces poètes sacrifiés qu’il avait nommés, un par un, continuerait
de croître : des sept cents écrivains présents lors du premier congrès de l’Union des écrivains
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soviétiques en 1934, seuls cinquante étaient encore en vie en 1954 et purent participer au second
congrès (Conquest, 1995, p.758). Il ne savait pas non plus que l’effacement des « possibilités
créatrices » et « la mort du poète » (Jakobson, 2001, pp.7-8) deviendraient un des objectifs
importants de la politique stalinienne. Les auteurs qui refusaient de conformerleur parole aux
normes dictées par le Parti se trouvaient interdits de publication et condamnés au silence - première
étape d’une disparition programmée. Ossip Mandelstam, Daniil Harms et Korneï Tchoukhovski, entre
autres, choisirent d’écrire pour la jeunesse, pour survivre et faire vivre la littérature « à demi fusillée
» (Svirski, 1981, p.23). Pourtant, la « littérature pour enfants n’est pas une activité de tout repos »,
écrit Mandelstam en 1927, elle « doit être surveillée de près ». Ils se réfugièrent alors dans le langage
poétique, dont les mystères ou les ambiguïtés leur permettaient de se jouer de la censure, le temps
d’un poème, de préserver leur identité déniée et d’inscrire la liberté au creux des vers. Dans les
oeuvres pour la jeunesse de Mandelstam, Harms et Tchoukhovski (une traduction française des
oeuvres non traduites encore à ce jour sera proposée), le langage poétique devient un « langage
métaphysique » qui contribue à résister au « mensonge totalitaire » (Coquio, 2015, p.44).
11:30 AM - Playing in the same language - História de D. Redonda e da sua gente (1942) by
Cortez, Maria Teresa (Universidade de Aveiro /University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal)
Until the mid-twentieth century,the tête-à-tête of different of nationalities as a means to address
identity questions is rather an exception in Portuguese children’s literature. Virgínia Castro and
Almeida, a renowned writer for children who came to collaborate with Salazar’s dictatorship, is one
of the few authors who explores multicultural environments in her work. Her children’s novel Em
pleno azul (In Full Blue, 1907) takes place in two Swiss boarding schools, where three Portuguese
upper class boys and a girl live, learn and play with children of different nationalities; and in História
de D. Redonda e da sua gente (History of Mrs. Round and Her People, 1942) an English and a German
boy come to Portugal because of World War II and make friends with a Portuguese boy.With the help
of a little black girl from the Portuguese African colonies, who speaks a “sort of Portuguese” of her
own, they access the fantasy realm of two eccentric ladies who refuse to be “grown-ups” – a
Portuguese fairy tale writer, D. Redonda (Mrs. Round), and an English toy artist, D. Maluka (Mrs.
Krazy) – who live together in a picturesque house in the pine forest. The foreign characters have
apparently no big problems with the Portuguese language, in which they communicate from the
beginning, although they sing in their native languages. Nor do they face special integration
problems, for in Mrs. Round’s magic land they are all given space to remember their national identity
and to represent their homeland abroad. The present paper will focus on the strategies chosen by
the author to bring together children with different national backgrounds and to create an image of
Portugal as an open multicultural and multiracial land at a time when war overheated nationalist
feelings. The construction of auto- and hetero-images, mostly related to the personality, behaviour
and preferences of the different characters, but also to the way they express themselves will be also
brought into discussion.
16680 - Mapping Multilingualism in 19th-Century European Literature:…
Room: Hs 24
Chair: Weissmann, Dirk
9:00 AM - Entre rupture et continuité : multilinguisme des auteurs juifs d'Europe Centrale et
Orientale au XIXème siècle. Yiddish, hébreu et langues nationales
Paret Passos, Marie-Hélène (PUCRS/ITEM, Porto Alegre- RS-, Brazil)
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Au cours du XIX siècle, en Europe Centrale et Orientale, de profonds changements, hérités du siècle
précédent, viennent bouleverser le mode de vie social et culturel des communautés juives. Inspirée
des Lumières (France) et de l'Aufklärung (Allemagne), la Haskala (Lumières juives), introduite et
développée au XVIII siècle par Moshe Mendelsshon et les Maskilim (adeptes de la Haskala), vise à
libérer les populations juives des limites du ghetto et à rompre avec l’utilisation du yiddish qualifié de
« jargon ». Au sein du monde juif dans les différentes provinces de l’empire austro-hongrois et de
l’empire russe, s’instaure un conflit sociétal opposant tradition et modernité, au cœur duquel la
bataille linguistique est un point névralgique. Je propose de présenter un panorama des langues en
présence, yiddish et langues nationales, puis des tensions et affrontements qui opposent, tout en les
mêlant, le yiddish à l’hébreu, dans le contexte des langues nationales de cette partie de l’Europe. Ce
panorama montrera également comment, de cet affrontement, émergent une presse et une
littérature hébraïques ainsi qu’une littérature yiddish.
9:30 AM - Le plurilinguisme italien du XIXe: le siècle des contraires
Sciarrino, Emile (Paris III, Gentilly, France)
1. Rappel rapide du contexte historique. Si une certaine historiographie considère le XIXe comme le
siècle d'affirmation du monolinguisme littéraire en Europe, en lien avec l'essor des États-nations,
l'Italie présente un cas divergent. Dominée par des pays étrangers, restée en marge des principaux
courants de pensée modernes, l’Italie connaît une réunification très tardive par rapport aux autres
pays européens (1861). L'unification de l'italien en tant que langue nationale est plus tardive encore.
2. Le modèle monolingue. Pourtant, il faut reconnaître les avancées considérables du monolinguisme
littéraire du XIXe siècle italien. D'une part, la langue poétique continue d'être fortement tributaire
des modèles élaborés depuis la Renaissance, notamment en ce qui concerne le classicisme poétique.
D'autre part, on assiste à la fondation d'une langue italienne moderne pour la prose et le roman
(Alessandro Manzoni). C'est l’effacement du plurilinguisme en faveur du monolinguisme.
3. Contre-modèles plurilingues. De nouvelles lectures historiques au XXe siècle ont mis en valeur des
contre-modèles plurilingues (cf. articles de Sanguineti).
D'une part, en poésie, l'apparition du vers libre permet une plus grande liberté linguistique. On peut
trouver notamment en Pascoli le modèle d'une poésie plurilingue (en particulier, son poème Italy).
D'autre part, le développement du vérisme sicilien ouvre d’autres perspectives pour le roman. Ce
courant s'inspire fortement du réalisme français tout en puisant dans une diversité linguistique
dialectale. Le plurilinguisme y est fondamental, en accord avec la vision du monde vériste (cf. les
analyses d’Alfredo Stussi). Ces deux modèles annoncent les expérimentations du XXe siècle.
10:00 AM - Écrivains russes du XIX siècle : écrivains plurilingues ?
ANOKHINA, Olga (CNRS, VERSAILLES, France)
Le XIX siècle était marqué par l’omniprésence de la langue française qui a acquis un rôle de première
importance auprès des élites européennes et internationales. En Russie, la majorité des élites était
au moins bilingue (français-russe), voire plurilingue. On pouvait assister à une situation étonnante où
la langue dite « maternelle », c’est-à-dire la langue de communication entre les parents et les
enfants, était le français, l’apprentissage de la langue russe arrivant plus tardivement et servant à la
communication avec les domestiques.
Même si cette situation diglossique n’était propre qu’à une couche bien particulière de la société
russe, elle a profondément marqué la littérature russe dans la mesure où un grand nombre
d’écrivains appartenaient à cette élite plurilingue et pluriculturelle et, par conséquent, avaient des
pratiques linguistiques multiples non seulement dans leur vie quotidienne, mais aussi dans leur
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activité d’écriture. L’exemple emblématique est le roman phare de la littérature russe Guerre et paix
de Léon Tolstoï qui s’ouvre sur plusieurs pages du texte français.
Si, pour des raisons évidentes, les œuvres publiées à cette époque gardent, dans leur ensemble, une
apparence nationale unilingue, l’examen des documents de travail des écrivains (brouillons, plans,
scénarii, carnets de notes, correspondance, etc.) laisse apercevoir le fait que la créativité d’un grand
nombre d’écrivains russes nationaux (Tolstoï, Pouchkine, Tourguéniev, Bounine…) est profondément
nourrie par l’apport d’autres langues et d’autres cultures, et notamment par celle de la langue et de
la culture françaises.
11:00 AM - Sur les traces du multilinguisme des exilés dans le sud de la France au XIXème siècle.
Kowalska, Magdalena (Uniwersytet Warszawski, Warszawa, Poland)
Après 1795 Pologne a disparu des cartes d’Europe, morcelée entre l’Empire russe, le Royaume de
Prusse et l’Autriche. Le pays n'existait plus en tant que tel et la vie culturelle harcelée par la censure
cesse d’être animée. Après la fin tragique de la guerre polono-russe de 1830–1831, les jeunes
générations polonaises ainsi que les représentants de la noblesse sont allés en exil dont la direction
principale est devenue la France. Konstanty Gaszyński est venu en Provence en 1834 (après le séjour
court au dépôt pour les militaires polonais à Avignon) comme poète débutant et soldat, par contre
quand il a quitté cette région dix ans plus tard, il était déjà éditeur reconnu de “Mémorial d’Aix”,
auteur d’un recueil de sonnets et des textes prosaïques consacrés à la Provence. Dans les recherches
modernes polonaises il est reconnu comme poète guerrier (l’auteur de chants de lutte) et au niveau
plus faible comme l’auteur des comédies théâtrales ou romans romantiques en polonais. Cependant,
pendant son séjour en France il a essayé d’écrire les poésies en français. Ses œuvres dans lesquelles il
a démontré son style individuel (non seulement l’imitation des grands romantiques de son temps)
restent ses récits écrits en français dans le recueil Nord et Midi: souvenirs (1839) ainsi que les articles
dans la presse locale (ce sujet a été mentionné dans l’article de M. Albisson, «Le romantisme et les
débuts de la presse locale à Apt en Provence: la Revue aptésienne 1834–1836 », in: L’occitanie
romantique, éd. C. Torreilles, Pau 1997). L’œuvre multilinguistique de Gaszyński ne constitue pas un
cas isolé dans l’histoire du romantisme polonais, il reflète plutôt la tendance de toute la génération,
avec les exemples si fameux comme Mickiewicz et ses cours des littératures slaves au Collège de
France menées en français.
11:30 AM - Italian Drafts, Greek Verses (?): Aspects of Bi(multi)lingualism in the Poetry of Dionysios
Solomos
Pavlou, Kostis (External member of the ITEM UMR 8132 CNRS/ENS, Nicosia, Cyprus)
The issue of bilingualism, and multilingualism in general, in the case of Dionysios Solomos (17981857) seemed to be, till the beginnings of the 20th century, almost sacrilegious: Solomos is
considered to be the “national poet” of Modern Greece; the poet who praised the heroism of the
Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) and the author of the Hymn to Liberty (1823) the first two
stanzas of which have been adapted as the National Anthem of Greece. Since the late 1940s, and
especially after the publication of the poet’s autographs in 1964, a more objective consideration of
Solomos’ bilingualism-multilingualism has begun; a bilingualism-multilingualism which can be
explained by both the poet’s social background (although the Ionian Islands where Solomos was born
had ceased to be under Venetian rule in 1797, Italian culture there was still prevailing throughout the
19th century) and the fact that he studied for 10 years in Italy, where he acquired a concrete Italian
education; indeed, his first poetical attempts in Italian reflect his high degree of assimilation of the
Italian literary language. The publication of his autographs brought to light the method of
composition of Solomos’ Greek work of maturity (c. 1824-1849) as well, which can be roughly
described as follows: Italian drafts “in prose” and gradual translation-adaptation of these drafts in
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Greek verses. What is more, Solomos’ manuscripts abound with citations in Classical Greek, Latin and
French, as well as notes in Italian, which incorporate his readings of his contemporary German
philosophical and aesthetical thought. This paper will present briefly the terms and consequences of
Solomos’ bi(multi)lingualism. Furthermore, it will describe the bi(multi)lingual way of Solomos’
writing with reference to the most predominant interpretations provided by modern scholarship. At
the same time there will be a critical discussion of certain aspects as well as a reconsideration of the
virtually accepted opinion that drafts in Italian “prose” lead to Greek verses; in fact, an intentional
metrical structure of the Italian drafts is quite often attested in manuscripts, while there is evidence
of an interpenetration of the two languages not only in a linguistic level but also in the level of
rhetoric structures and strategies.
12:00 PM - Multilingualism from Latin America to Europe in the 19th Century
Nissler, Paul (Stanford University, Stanford - Kalifornien, USA)
In my presentation, I would like to explore the role of Latin America and languages spoken in Latin
America (Spanish and Portuguese, as well as Indigenous Languages, such as Quechua, Aymara,
Garani, Nahuatl, and Mayan, a.o.) in multilingualism in 19th century European literature. There is
obvious interplay between Spain and Portugal and Latin America. I would like to explore further and
broader nuances in Europe. Here, I would like to consider translation and its reception,
understanding Indigenous literacy (Birgit Brander Rasmussen’s Queequeg’s Coffin, Martin Lienhardt’s
la Voz y su huella) and its influence in European multilingualism, and broader nuances of Latin
American multilingualism within European multilingualism. I would like to explore translation – as
well as institutes and patrons of their promotion (e.g. in Paris, Berlin and Vienna), for example of
Quechua – first translated into German by the Swiss J.J. von Tschudi (published in Vienna), later –
Quechau, Aimara and Muchik - by Ernst Middendorf (published in Berlin). An interesting figure within
this discussion (a.o.) is Alexander von Humboldt and his writings (in German and French) and
presentations and early establishment, of the study and diaspora of Latin American language (esp.
Quechua, Nahuatl). Latin American multilingualism in Europe and within European multilingualism
can be seen, for example, in the visits (and accompanying literature) of Peruvian Juan Bustamente
and Bolivian Emeterio Villamil de Rada in the nineteenth century to Europe.
2:00 PM - Monolingual city, multilingual voices: Polish exile writers in 19th century Paris
Mende, Jana-Katharina (Universität Vechta, Vechta, Germany)
Paris as the capital of the 19th century is usually viewed from a European and French
perspective. In the 19th century, Paris was also the most popular destination for Polish political
immigrants who came to France after the failure of the November uprising in the Russian part of
Poland in 1830/31. Among those immigrants were Adam Mickiewicz and his younger colleague
Juliusz Slowacki, the most famous Polish writers of the time, shaping Polish romanticism in exile.
While the French society sympathized with the Polish quest for independence, the exiled poets and
politicians found themselves living as immigrants in a different culture and surrounded by a different
language. Coming from multilingual surroundings in their home countries like the multilingual part of
the Habsburg monarchy, Galicia, the well-educated Polish intellectuals soon found their way into the
French discourse. Mickiewicz avoided French monolingualism by using multilingual strategies as an
individual and in his lectures on Slavonic language and literature. As a consequence, his Parisian
lectures at the Collège de France can be viewed as a multilingual text in a multilingual setting. On a
social level, multilingualism appears in the languages spoken by the immigrants within a monolingual
French society. Individual multilingualism surfaces in the language portraits of those exiles who were
fluent in many languages. Mickiewicz’s lectures offer proof of textual multilingualism demonstrating
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intratextual and intertextual multilingualism in different translations of the lectures. The social,
individual and textual levels of multilingualism lead to a discursive understanding of multilingualism
in Paris in the mid-19th century. My talk aims at presenting the multilingual discourse within a
predominantly French discourse in Paris between 1830 and 1850 through the eyes of the ‚Great‘
Polish migration and its most famous representative, Adam Mickiewicz.
2:30 PM - The Intrinsic Multilingualism of Verse Making: German Lyric Poetry from the 19th Century
Dembeck, Till (Université du Luxembourg, Esch-Belval, Luxemburg)
Through readings of German poetry from the 19th century, this paper investigates structures of
literary multilingualism that are particular to verse. These structures comprise, on the one hand,
latent forms of linguistic diversity, as, e. g., the use of metric structures or prosodic principles
formerly applied in different linguistic contexts; and, on the other hand, more manifest forms of
multilingualism, e. g., the insertion of words from other languages, which amplify the available
prosodic material. The analysis of these seemingly minor forms of literary multilingualism will not
only enhance the theoretical description of lyric poetry as a genre, but also highlight the multilingual
underground of a literary period, which is commonly considered almost entirely subjected to
monolingual norms. Starting out from a short survey of some developments in the romantic period
(Hölderlin’s adaption of Greek ode forms; Goethe’s experiments with metric structures of very divers
linguistic backgrounds), the paper juxtaposes lyric poetry by Heinrich Heine and August von Platen.
These two authors were not only notoriously entangled in public controversy, but also represent two
very different approaches to literary multilingualism: Whereas Platen experimented with the
adaption of antique and oriental metrical forms (e. g., Pindaric metre and ghazal), Heine made
intensive use of ‘foreign’, mostly French words in order to enrich his poetic vocabulary and to
achieve alienation effects. Both techniques will be closely described and examined with regard to the
underlying politico-cultural strategies. Eventually, it will be asked, in how far the two authors and the
strategies they employ are representative of literary multilingualism in 19th century German lyric
poetry.
3:00 PM - Marginal Languages, Multilingual Audiences: The Case of Georg Brandes and the Modern
Breakthrough
Allen, Julie (University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA)
Beginning in the 1870s, Scandinavian literature erupted onto the European literary scene, with
dramas by Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg playing in Berlin and Paris, while novels by Sigbj?rn
Obstfelder and J.P. Jacobsen inspired authors across Europe, from D.H. Lawrence and Thomas Mann
to Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan Zweig. The man credited with bringing about the Nordic ?Modern
Breakthrough? was the Danish literary critic Georg Brandes (1842-1927).
By 1880, Brandes was known throughout Europe for his articulate promotion of modern literature, in
particular Zola?s realist aesthetic and John Stuart MillÕs socially critical agenda. Brandes?
provocative lectures on Main Current in the Literature of the 19th Century, launched in November
1871 at the University of Copenhagen, brought him both international prestige and domestic
opposition that denied him a professorship. In 1877, Brandes exiled himself to Berlin, where he
attempted to establish himself as a literary journalist in the German media.
Throughout his career, one of the persistent challenges that Brandes faced was the status of Danish
as a marginal language with a very limited readership and a fairly narrow literary tradition.
Multilingualism was thus crucial to Brandes? success, both in terms of sources of inspiration and
markets for distribution of his works, to say nothing of networking with literary and political figures
across the Continent. His own fluency in French gave him access to the works of Sainte-Beuve and
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Taine, while his reading knowledge of English enabled him to translate Mill?s The Subjugation of
Women into Danish. The international distribution of his own works in Germany initially depended
on external translations, but Brandes eventually began writing his works in Danish and German for
simultaneous publication. This paper explores how Brandes? own multilingual career illuminates
broader issues of nationalism, globalization, and translingual communication.
4:00 PM - Mehrsprachigkeit in der Literatur des deutschen Vormärz (Heine, Büchner, Börne u.a.)
Weissmann, Dirk (Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France)
Mehrsprachigkeit in der Literatur des deutschen Vormärz (Heine, Börne, Büchner, u.a.) (Vorschlag
des Sektionsleiters: Abstract folgt)
4:30 PM - Jens Baggesen oder der Versuch, Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts auf Europäisch" zu
schreiben
Tabarasi-Hoffmann, Ana-Stanca (Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark)
Jens Baggesen (1764 - 1826) gilt als Grenzgänger zwischen der dänischen, deutschen und
französischen Kultur, zwischen Adel und Bürgertum und zwischen Klassizismus, Empfindsamkeit und
Romantik. Er dichtete auf Dänisch, Deutsch und gelegentlich Französisch, und seine Korrespondenz
weist einen regen Sprachwechsel auf, den Baggesen als „Schreiben auf Europäisch" bezeichnete.
Doch obwohl Baggesens Schriften zahlreiche Metareflexionen über den Sprachwechsel, über das
Verhältnis der drei von ihm verwendeten Sprachen zu einander und über die ideale Metrik, die in den
jeweiligen Sprachen zu verwenden sei, enthalten, wurde sein Werk bereits von seinen Söhnen Carl
und August sorgfältig nach Sprachen aufgeteilt ediert, wobei die Rolle des Dänischen als
Nationalsprache überhöht wurde und nicht-dänische Passagen seiner Tagebücher stillschweigend ins
Dänische übersetzt wurden. Diese nachträglich konstruierte „nationale" Perspektive auf Baggesen
prägte seine Rezeption im 19. und weitgehend auch im 20. Jahrhundert. Doch bereits zu seinen
Lebzeiten stand Baggesens Selbstauffassung als „Europäer" im Kontrast zum Widerstand, der sich in
dänischen (und norwegischen) Kreisen gegen die deutsche Kulturhegemonie regte; sie weckte
aggressive Polemiken, die Baggesen zu fluchtähnlichen Auslandsreisen zwangen. Und als Professor
für dänische Sprache und Literatur in Kiel (1812-1813) stand Baggesens Lehre im Gegensatz zu den
dänisch-nationalen Politisierungstendenzen, die eigentlich mit seiner Stelle verbunden gewesen
waren, weswegen er die Stelle nach einem Jahr aufgab. Der Beitrag rekonstruiert Baggesens
Ansichten über den Sprachwechsel und über die unterschiedliche dichterische Wirkung der
jeweiligen Sprachen und diskutiert sie am Beispiel einer Ode an Napoleon, die Baggesen in einer
französischen, einer deutschen und einer dänischen Fassung veröffentlichte.
5:00 PM - "Wie froh bin ich, dass nunmehr die geliebte Sprache lebendig wird" - Form and Function
of Multilingualism in travel writing 1800-1850
Vlasta, Sandra (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Halle (Saale), Germany)
„Wie froh bin ich, dass nunmehr die geliebte Sprache lebendig wird“ – thus is Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe’s reaction in his Italienische Reise [ 1813-17; Italian Journey ] when he eventually reaches the
first place where Italian is spoken. In fact, Goethe knows Italian and he uses the language also in his
travelogue on Italy, for instance when he depicts encounters with Italian people or when he gives
information and explanations on Italian names of places or buildings. Similarly, he uses also other
languages in this text, such as Latin. In doing so, Goethe takes up and continues a long tradition in
travel writing: in fact, multilingualism can be called a typical feature of travelogues.
In the 19th century, in particular during the first half of the century, travel writing was an extremely
popular genre all over Europe. From the end of the 18th century, the genre had been changing its
character from encyclopaedic to more entertaining literary and aestheticized forms. To some degree,
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this transformation has to do with the fact, that by then more writers could afford to travel and
published their experiences in the form of travelogues. Nevertheless, the interest in foreign places
and people, in ‘the other’, supposedly stands in stark contrast to the process of nationalization. In
particular, the genre’s multilingual character defies the view that the 19th century was “the epoch
that most effectively promoted nationalist monolingualism” (cf. the panel’s abstract).
In the proposed paper, I will give examples of multilingualism in travel writing in the first half of the
19th century. I will furthermore discuss the function of this stylistic feature and ask whether its use in
fact defies nationalist developments or, rather, enforces the idea of cultural difference.
The proposed paper can be given either in English or in German.
9:00 AM - Mehrsprachigkeit in den Reiseberichten Heinrich Heines und Hermann von PücklerMuskaus
Brückner, Leslie (Université de Lorraine, Metz, Strasbourg, France)
Im Kontext der Nationalbewegungen des 19. Jahrhunderts ist Einsprachigkeit die zentrale
literarischen Norm. Nur die Reiseliteratur widmet mit der Darstellung fremdkultureller Kontakte auch
der Fremdsprache mehr Raum. Welche Funktionen hat Mehrsprachigkeit in der Reiseliteratur der
ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts? Dieser Frage möchte ich anhand zweier prominenter
Englandreiseberichte des Vormärz nachgehen: Heinrich Heines "Englischen Fragmenten" (1830) und
Hermann von Pückler-Muskaus "Briefen eines Verstorbenen. Ein fragmentarisches Tagebuch aus
England, Wales und Irland und Frankreich" (1830-31).
Im ersten Teil soll die Rolle des Englischen bei Pückler und Heine vergleichend untersucht werden.
Beide Autoren verwenden englische Begriffe, um ihre Reiseberichte mit Lokalkolorit anzureichern:
Heine demonstriert sein kulturelles Wissen durch Wendungen wie "my home is my castle" oder "the
west end of the town"; Pückler erklärt von "butler" über "pantry" bis "tenniscourt" die kulturellen
Besonderheiten des bereisten Landes. An welchen Stellen verwenden die Autoren fremdsprachliche
Begriffe? Welche kulturellen und politischen Konzepte werden mit englischen Termini präsentiert?
Gibt es unübersetzbare Begriffe?
Im zweiten Teil sollen die Funktion des Französischen und das Verhältnis zwischen den drei Sprachen
genauer betrachtet werden. Fürst Pücklers Stil ist von der adeligen Zweisprachigkeit des 18.
Jahrhunderts geprägt. Auffällig ist, dass er für Berichte über Menschen verstärkt sein
Salonfranzösisch verwendet, Landschaftsschilderungen hingegen ausschliesslich in deutscher Sprache
verfasst. Spuren des Salonfranzösischen finden sich auch bei Heine. In den "Englischen Fragmenten"
ist besonders interessant, wie Heine französische und englische Begriffe verwendet, um die
politischen Systeme Englands und Frankreichs einander gegenüber zu stellen.
9:30 AM - Vielstimmige Weltansichten? Humboldts und Herders Sprachphilosophien als
Wegbereiter moderner Mehrsprachigkeitskonzepte
Kremer, Arndt (University of Cologne, Cologne/ Köln, Germany)
Wilhelm von Humboldts und Johann Gottfried Herders Sprachphilosophien werden bis heute meist
vor allem als Konzepte nationaler Einsprachigkeit zur Schaffung und Sicherung der einen deutschen
Kulturnation gewertet. Auf ursprünglich multilinguale und sozial wie rechtlich stark benachteiligte
Minderheitskulturen wie die deutschen Juden übte diese Denkrichtung eine große Anziehungskraft
aus, weil sie die Einbindung in die Nation an die Beherrschung der Nationalsprache zu koppeln
schien. Dabei wird nicht oder nicht genügend berücksichtigt, dass beide, Humboldt wie Herder,
Fremdsprachenerwerb und Mehrsprachigkeit ausdrücklich positiv bewertet haben. Durch
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Fremdsprachenkompetenz vermag das Subjekt den Geist – enger gefasst: die Kultur – eines Volkes so
kennenzulernen, als würde es ein bestimmtes Individuum kennenlernen; erst dadurch kann es
wirklich aus der Innenperspektive seines Geistes heraustreten, der ihm die Gegenstände der Welt
immer nur in Sprache vermittelt. Das Subjekt überprüft seine überkommenen Ansichten anhand
neuer Standpunkte und objektiviert seine individuelle Weltsicht. Indem der Einzelne den
Geistesgedanken anderer Völker näher steht, wenn er deren Sprache kennenlernt, nähert er sich
dem „allgemeinen Endzweck“ menschlicher Existenz, von dem Humboldt spricht: dem Wissen um die
ganze Menschheit, das jedem menschlichen Individuum innewohnt. Hierin und in dem Gedanken
einer transnationalen Ursprache aller Idiome mit entsprechenden ‚Universalien‘ zeigt sich wohl am
deutlichsten die humanistisch-kosmopolitische Dimension der Humboldtschen Sprachphilosophie .
Die enge, rationell-emotionale Bindung des Sprachsubjekts an seine Muttersprache wird durch
Fremdsprachenerwerb nicht beeinträchtigt, im Gegenteil: Sie lässt sich durch das Verständnis für
andere Denk- und Empfindungsweisen noch verstärken. Sukzessive wie simultane, funktionale wie
durchgängige Mehrsprachigkeit sind in diesem Konzept immer eine Option. Der Vortrag versucht der
Frage nachzugehen, inwiefern Humboldts und Herders Gedanken zum Fremdsprachenerwerb und
zur Mehrsprachigkeit, die ja in ihren Werken sprachphilosophische Ideologien des ausgehenden 18.
und des 19. Jahrhunderts (z. B. bei Hamann) aufgreifen, transformieren und neu formulieren, nicht
nur essentiell waren für den Kampf unterdrückter Minderheiten um Anerkennung im 19.
Jahrhundert, sondern auch relevant sein können für heute Mehrsprachigkeitskonzepte.
10:00 AM - "Literatur und Mehrsprachigkeit" Das Konzept eines Handbuchs zu einem wachsenden
komparatistischen Forschungsfeld
Parr, Rolf (Universität Duisburg-Essen, Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften, Essen, Germany); Dembeck, Till (Universität
Luxemburg)
Gegenüber dem klassischen Vergleich von Texten verschiedener Sprachen
und Kulturen stehen solche Texte, die von vornherein in mehreren
Sprachen geschrieben wurden, bisher nicht unbedingt im Zentrum
komparatistischer Forschung, auch wenn die Beschäftigung mit
mehrsprachiger Literatur– vielfach stimuliert durch
sprachwissenschaftliche Ansätze – zurzeit auch in den Literatur- und
Kulturwissenschaften einen Aufschwung erfährt. Davon kündet eine Reihe
von Sammelbänden und Zeitschriften ebenso wie die Etablierung
einschlägiger Forschungsinstitute und die Einrichtung von einschlägigen
Studienmodulen. Drei Gründe sprechen dafür, diese Entwicklung zu
begrüßen: Erstens verspricht die Beschäftigung mit und die Analyse von
mehrsprachiger Literatur denjenigen, die sich für Fragen der Inter- und
Transkulturalität, der Migration etc. interessieren, einen wichtigen
Zugang zu Phänomenen sprachlicher, kultureller und auch sozialer
Differenz. Zweitens kommen mehrsprachige literarische Texte dem neu
erstarkten Interesse an der sprachlichen Struktur der literarischen
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Textualität entgegen. Damit stellen sie auch eine Herausforderung an die
philologischen Arbeitsinstrumentarien dar, die sich verstärkt
linguistischer Konzepte und Terminologien annehmen oder diese adaptieren
müssen, um ihren Gegenständen gerecht zu werden. Drittens schließlich
bietet Mehrsprachigkeit die Möglichkeit, die Einschränkungen der
nationalphilologischen Betrachtungsweise zu überwinden. Dies ist
insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen Diskussion um
‚Weltliteratur‘ und die sich wandelnde Rolle der ‚Allgemeinen und
vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft‘ reizvoll. – Das Konzept des
vorzustellenden Handbuchs geht davon aus, dass sich die Erforschung
literarisch manifestierter Mehrsprachigkeit in erster Linie durch ihre
Fragerichtung und ihre Methodik auszeichnet. Daher stellt der Vortrag
über das Gesamtkonzept des Bandes hinaus einige ausgewählte Verfahren
literarischer Mehrsprachigkeit vor.
16691 - Translation as Utopia/Dystopia
Room: Hs 24
Chair: Kothe, Ana; Bernstein, Lisa
2:00 PM - Translating History into Herstories: Utopian Impulses and Dystopian Worlds of Christa
Wolf and Carmen Boullosa
Bernstein, Lisa (University of Maryland University College, USA)
East German writer, Christa Wolf, and Mexican writer, Carmen Boullosa, translate gendered EastWest relations of the past into today’s world by writing utopian and dystopian imaginary lives for
historical/ mythological women from countries, cultures, and eras far removed from their own.
Wolf’s Cassandra (1983) and Boullosa’s Cleopatra Dismounts (2000) construct alternative histories of
these two legendary figures to critique their heroines’ and their own societies, and to envision
alternative models of subjectivity and relationship for their readers. Written before the fall of the
Berlin Wall and Germany’s reunification, Cassandra recounts Greece’s conquest of Troy through the
Trojan princess’ perspective, thematizing contemporary issues of “becoming like them” and
perpetuating endless war. Writing one year before 9/11, Boullosa ends Cleopatra’s story with the
eerily prescient proclamation of the division of East and West, with the Romans’ domination of the
area that now constitutes the Middle East. Both writers incorporate post-modern literary techniques
of self-reflexive narration, historical and inter-textual references, and parody, to foreground the
fictitiousness of their texts and question literary and historical representation. At the same time,
both Wolf and Boullosa create within their texts a feminist space beyond patriarcal society, through
which they exhibit Ernst Bloch’s notion of a “utopian impulse,” or “anticipatory consciousness” of
imagined possibilities that have not yet been realized in the existing world. My paper explores the
cultural translation work of these authors who, coming from different geographical, historical, and
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political contexts, offer a critical-utopian view of “othered” women in order to address gendered
violence, war, and injustice in and beyond their own historical moment.
2:20 PM - Utopian horizons: Translating Yarimar Padua's The Witches of Latrop
Kothe, Ana (Humanities Dept. University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico)
Las bujas de Latrop, published in January 2015, falls within the utopian/dystopian literary genre of
young adult fiction. It deals with students, witchcraft, fantasy, and fable. At the same time, it
registers very real and contemporary concerns about the well-being of a country and the personal
development of young women. Ms Padua’s protagonist, Emilia, is a cross between Katniss (The
Hunger Games) and Hermione (Harry Potter). Like the Harry Potter series, The Witches of Latrop
embodies both utopian and dystopian elements while retaining cultural specificity. For example,
Harry Potter’s school, Hogwarts, elevates the British boarding school experience into the utopian
realm of fantasy while retaining a profound sense of “Englishness.” Despite Ms. Padua’s efforts to
create a “translatable” fantasy world, particularly with an eye to breaking into the English-language
book market, I argue that – like the Harry Potter series – there is an undeniable “Puertoricanness” to
her fantasy world, a Puertoricanness that eludes literal translation practices.
I am currently working with the author on the translation. This translation project involves what
Homi Bhabha calls in The Location of Culture a culturally performative act. What Ms. Padua and I
must keep in mind is the spirit of the work, not just the words. I side with José María RodriguezGarcía in his essay “Literary into Cultural Translation,” when he in turn sides with Luis Borges and
Walter Benjamin as they lament literary translations which do not retain a certain ineffable spirit of
the work. Using Benjamin’s metaphor of translation as reconstituting a shattered amphora to show
that Benjamin understood the fact that “the original that had previously held as a complete and selfcontained masterpiece is itself a fragment of a larger fragment” (4). Derrida also points this out –
there is no “singular” language, all language contains plurality, is infected with other languages and
cultures. Ms. Padua’s fantasy world lies, as Eduardo Galeano writes, “at the horizon,” always causing
author and translator alike to advance, to walk forward.
2:40 PM - "Let's meet wherever you are @ home": How Utopian is Creating a Global Virtual
Collaborative Learning Environment for Foreign Language Students?
Pillet, Stephane (Humanities Dept. University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico)
Acquiring a target language is painfully slow. To really learn a foreign language, it is often agreed that
immersion programs are far better than taking a course within the four walls of a classroom. Yet it is
not an option that everyone can enjoy. The goal of this presentation is to encourage colleagues to
create with me an interdisciplinary platform offering a virtual collaborative learning environment
based on social constructivist approaches to facilitate interaction and cooperation among students
and instructors on a global scale. Furthermore, I wish to interrogate to what extent such a project
constitutes a utopian linguistic and cultural translation.
Knowledge about languages and cultures is by nature “out there.” Students in Germany, for example,
share the knowledge that US students in German classes would love to acquire. Inversely, American
students know “the materials” taught in English classes in Germany. The platform would have for
objective to facilitate such virtual encounters that could be beneficial for everyone. Are we creating a
virtual “non-place” (utopia) that is actually a new form of place?
This virtual collaborative environment could also be interdisciplinary and intercultural. Engineering
students could work on a same project, and literature students share their readings of a same book.
This kind of exchange and collaboration involves linguistic aspects as a type of translation. If
communication fails not because of the language but because of mutual cultural misunderstanding,
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then knowledge about intercultural communication should be at least as important as the use of a
grammar rule. Because of its inherent multicultural interactions, a global virtual environment could
make learners identify areas of agreement and disagreement to seek consensus and cross-cultural
understanding as both sets of participants are “translated” into a virtual topos.
3:00 PM - Locating Translation
Huffmaster, Michael (Humanities Dept./University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico)
This paper employs cognitive linguistic theory to interrogate the topic “Translation as
Utopia/Dystopia” with a number of goals in mind. First, I discuss and explain the dominance of spatial
metaphors in our understanding of language in general—as a social and mental phenomenon—and
consequently in translation theory specifically. Next, I explore the spatial metaphorical underpinnings
of the concepts utopia and dystopia in order to suggest how they might offer a particularly useful
model for theorizing the distinction between translation as process and translation as product. I then
apply this model in reconceptualizing some canonical positions in translation theory from the
German intellectual tradition, for example, Schleiermacher and Benjamin. In conclusion I argue that
such a theoretical model has unique potential to foster insight into the nature of language and the
human mind as understood in contemporary cognitive science, and I discuss the important
ramifications of that potential for foreign language teaching in higher education today.
16692 - Secular Literary Texts and Sacred Exegesis
Room: Hs 16
Chair: Steven, Shankman
4:00 PM - Analysing Shakespearean Tragedy in the Light of Indian Religious Thought
Bhela, Dr. Anita (University of Delhi, New Delhi, India)
Shakespeare’s greatness as a dramatist may not only be valued more but also better understood in
the light of Indian religious thought .The Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata portray
the conflict between good and evil as an essential feature of the human condition. Homo sapiens are
distinguished from beasts by their possession of ‘god-like’ reason or intelligence. This intelligence
gives them the knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil. Alongside, humans have the freedom to
choose either good or evil, it therefore follows that good and evil must co-exist in this universe. The
principle of evil thus becomes an essential feature of the human condition. However, good and evil
being opposing forces are always in conflict. Moreover, the agents of good and evil being human
beings, human life is a continual warfare between the forces of good and evil. In this conflict, if
goodness is passive or weak, then evil wins, but if goodness is active and strong then it overcomes
evil and good prevails. This is the philosophy portrayed in the Indian epics. This paper examines the
nature of evil presented in some of Shakespeare’s tragedies in relation to Shakespeare’s concept of
what constitutes ‘ideal’ goodness and comes to the conclusion that a philosophy akin in many ways
to the philosophy of good and evil depicted in the Indian epics prevails in at least three
Shakespearean tragedies, namely Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear. At the end of these tragedies,
order is established and an atmosphere of peace and harmony prevails, and the outstanding forces
of good establish this order.
4:20 PM - Gitagovinda and Song of Songs: An Interreligious Reading of Erotic Love
Greenberg, Yudit (Rollins College, Winter Park, Uzbekistan)
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In my paper, I willunderscoreJewish and Hindu interpretive notions and approaches to reading sacred
texts. These include highlighting that Sanskrit terminology in particular, not only conveys the moods,
tastes, and emotions of love but also provides theories for classifying and understanding human
emotions and the dialectics and multilayered phenomena of love, both human and divine. A primary
example of such asystematic approach to love is the theory of erotic rasa and the Sanskrit
designation of viraha as the phenomenon of “love in separation” (Roberts, 2014, Schweig, 2014,
etc.). Another notion of reading texts, especially the Hebrew Bible, is sprachdenken (“speechthinking”), developed by modern German and Jewish philosophers such as F. Rosenzweig, who
epitomizes it in his reading of the Song of Songs (Rosenzweig, 2005; Greenberg, 1996, etc.).
Accordingly, the speech of the lover and beloved is examined in terms of its dialogical/grammatical
elements and as such, theologized as the ideal human-divine encounter. Rasa and viraha can be
usefully applied to the Song of Songs, and, conversely, analysis in terms of sprachdenken might
reveal hidden facets of the Gitagovinda.
4:40 PM - Reading Dante. Tom Phillips' "Dante's Inferno" as artistic reflection about exegetic
practices
In literature and art, innumerous comments, re-tellings, quotations, and allusions refer to Dante’s
„Commedia“ as to the probably most important European example of theologically grounded
fictitious literature. In the 1980’s, the British artist and writer Tom Phillips dedicated a large and
complex project to the first part of the Floretine’s famous work: „Dante’s Inferno“ consists of a large
series of images that visualize the XXXIV canti of the „Inferno“ - or rather: the artist’s own and often
self-referential interpretations of Dante’s texts. Phillips’ artwork is combined with an English
translation, also provided by the artist himself, and, additionally, the book version of Phillips’ work
contains the artist’s critical commentary on his visual interpretation of Dante. There are four images
dedicated to each canto, created from multiple materials and sources.
By Phillips’ triple interpretation - (1) English Dante translation, (2) images, (3) comments about the
images -, the art of interpretation as such is reflected on more than one level – with special
references to mediaeval exegetic practices and the distinction between a literal, allegorical, moral
and anagogical meaning.
Phillips’ commentary about the veltro image (Canto I, image 4) can be read as a mise-en-abyme of his
entire meta-exegetical enterprise, as here the distinction between different layers of meaning
according to medieval exegetic practices is explained - using Dante's own words. („I have used the
cryptic ‚Veltro’ image to indicate what and of what kind these layers are. Dante writes, as quoted in
the surrounding text of the image: ‚. . . that the sense of this work is not simple, but on the contrary
it may be called polysemous, that is to say of more senses than one, for it is one sense which we get
through the letter, and another which we get through the thing the letter signifies.’“).
In my paper, I will (a) give an outline of Phillip’s artwork in „Dante’s Inferno“, (b) focus on the subject
and the respective strategies of interpretation and (c) illustrate the meta-exegetic interest Phillips
takes in Dante’s infernal visions.
5:00 PM - Melanchthon, Aristotle, and Orthotomein, the sacred knife of dialectic
Major, Julia (University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA)
This paper investigates commentaries on Aristotelian ethics written by the German humanist and
reformer, Philipp Melanchthon, in light of revisionist scholarship on Aristotle in the Renaissance. I
argue that Melanchthon’s cultural translation of Aristotelian political ethics, fused with his teaching
of dialectic as practiced in the framework of Reformation education, oratory and political science,
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created an enduring effect on later ways of reading. Recently perceptions of Aristotle’s influence
during the Renaissance have been revised to suggest that it was more extensive than previously
thought. Melanchthon,the first Greek professor at the University of Wittenberg, was in the vanguard
of northern European humanists, mainly university teachers, who were dedicated to restoring and
re-reading a purified Aristotle translated from the original Greek. Melanchthon’s sixteenth-century
commentaries on Aristotle’s Ethics have been hailed as primary loci for the translation and
transmission of the term koinonia politike into vernaculars such as English, where it became the
keyword civil society. This paper examines Melanchthon’s philological re-reading of Aristotelian
ethics as it shaped and expanded Reformation views on the political ethics of the law-governed state.
As an example of his dialectical approach, adapted from Aristotle and deployed as a biblical
hermeneutic, in the dedication to the Erotemata Dialectices , Melanchthon argues that orthotomein
, found in Paul’s instructions to Timothy in the New Testament and often translated as “properly
dividing the word of truth,” refers not only to the Hebrew priestly practice of dividing, or cutting up,
the sacrificial animal and proper distribution of its parts, but also to the right practice of dialectic.
Melanchthon’s dialectical re-reading of scripture seeks to valorize both the practice of dialectic-metaphorically, the sacred knife of sacrifice-and the role of teachers as moral agents, or priests, in
civil society.
16711 - The Chinese Scriptworld and World Literature
Room: Hs50 / Audimax
Chair: Sowon Park; Karen Thornber; Jing Tsu; David Damrosch
2:00 PM - The Chinese Scriptworld
Park, Sowon (Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Oford, United Kingdom)
The Chinese script was the ‘universal’ writing system used across the multilingual terrain that
stretches across China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. While people spoke in a variety of Chinese
languages, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, they wrote in Chinese. Thus the written word was not
only thought of as a method of capturing speech but as a distinct form of communication in and of
itself.
A non-‘phonocentric’ relation between writing and speech is a distinctive feature that literatures of
the Chinese ‘scriptworld’ have in common. Other features include a shared scaffolding of concepts
derived from canonical Confucian and Zen Buddhist texts through which literacy was acquired. More
speculatively, the ‘ideographic’ system of signs has been thought to produce a cognitive world
distinct from those of other scriptworlds.
This paper will examine some of these ideas and propose the analytical unit of scriptworld as a
foundation for gauging the interconnections and interactions between national literatures of a
variety of different linguistic traditions. By focusing on the structural parallels and discontinuities that
the edifice of script provides, this paper aims to develop practical, informed strategies for reading
world literature.
2:30 PM - Scriptworlds: From Assyria to East Asia.
Damrosch, David (Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA)
In this paper, I'll describe the genesis of the term "scriptworld" in studies of the ancient Near East,
and discuss how the concept can best be adapted to the East Asian Sinosphere, with special attention
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to the implications for literary production and cultural memory when a country shifts from one script
system to another, using examples from Korea and Vietnam.
3:00 PM - Heterographics: on Roman Letters and Phonetic Indifference
Lock, Charles (Dept of English, Germanic & Romance Studies / University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that while our own writing system is perfectly natural we must
be startled by any other. How idiosyncratic, how difficult to master (poor children!), how inefficient,
and frankly, as foreigners tend to be, rather selfish. It is commonly supposed that while other
alphabets are specific to a particular language – Hebrew, Amharic, Arabic, Korean, Cyrillic, Greek,
Armenian and so forth – the Roman alphabet can offer hospitality in writing to many different
spoken languages. This has given the Roman alphabet a claim to universal sovereignty of utmost
benevolence.
The supposedly ‘strictly phonetic’ properties of the Roman alphabet have often been adduced as the
reason for its global success, even for its ‘superiority’ over all other scripts. The history of writing as
told in the modern West has been greatly distorted by the fact that its alphabet is phonetic. It has
been even more distorted by the refusal to question whether the Roman alphabet is as purely
phonetic as it is supposed to be. It is all but universally assumed that the purpose of writing is to
convey human speech. No such premise would be universally accepted in any writing system that
used ideograms or pictograms. These words themselves need to be interrogated as the vague or
desperate terminology of scholars devoted to and enthralled by the Roman alphabet.
The standard histories of writing and script – e.g. Diringer (1963), Coulmas (1989), Fischer (2001) – all
invoke a modifier such as ‘writing proper’ or ‘complete writing’ (Fischer) by which to distinguish the
phonetic alphabet from what is termed ‘incomplete writing’ or ‘pre-writing’. The assumption that
writing presupposes the prior existence of speech dies hard, despite the argument of Derrida’s De la
grammatologie (1967), and Derrida’s reliance on André Leroi-Gourhan (1965) and despite the latter’s
invoking of a source as ancient as Gregory of Nyssa (c. 380).
This essay will set out a counter-tradition of thinking about writing as merely contingently related to
speech. The assumption that ‘proper writing’ must be phonetic has inhibited and distorted all our
attempts to understand the global variety of scripts; ‘our’ indicates all those (even this one) that
express themselves through the Roman-lettered writing system. What, finally, have been the
implications of its phonetic inadequacies for any language apart from Latin?
4:00 PM - The Chinese Script in the Chinese Scriptworld.
McDonald, Edward (SunYat-Sen University, China)
In traditional Chinese cosmological thinking, ‘humans’ (rén 人) were the link between heaven and
earth; and ‘civilised pattern’ (wén 文 – to use only one of the many meanings of that polysemous
term), was a manifestation of the Way, and the key feature separating humans from the beasts (Shih
1959/1983: Ch.1). Wén was also the term for most kinds of meaningful linguistic patterning,
including script, writing, language, and text. The script, in the authorized lineage stemming from its
inventor Cang Jie, scribe to primal cultural ancestor the Yellow Emperor, embodied the link between
civilization and the cosmos (O’Neill 2013). In scholarly thinking about the Chinese character script,
roughly equal emphasis was put on links between the characters and aspects of the world, on the
one hand, and the sound of the words they represented, on the other. Pedagogical traditions,
however, tended to stress easily memorisable “just so stories” about the construction of individual
characters; and it was this aspect of the Chinese script that struck Western observers most strongly
in the pioneering reports of the Jesuit missionaries, coincidentally just at a time when European
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scholars were enthusiastically exploring the possibilities of a “universal character” (Mungello 1985).
The fundamental building blocks were thus laid for an ideological complex of characters as
“ideographs”, or symbols of ideas and things rather than words, an ideology constructed in the West
but later reimported into China and nativised by Chinese intellectuals. For the West, the Chinese
script held out the promise, embraced particularly eagerly by the literary and artistic worlds, of a
visual language not complicated by questions of sound, and thus by the arbitrary impositions of
individual languages (Bush 2010). ...
4:30 PM - Modern Korean Literature and 'Hansh' Translation
Park, Sungchang (Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea)
Modern Korean Literature and Hanshi (漢詩) Translation
Today, a widely-accepted theory tells us that modern Korean poetry began as rebellion against
traditional Korean lyrics such as hanshi (Literary Chinese verse) and sijo (Korean folk-verse). In the
early stages, modern Korean poets imitated and transformed the modern poetry of the West, which
had made its way to Korea through Japan. The first modern book of Korean poetry, Dance of Anguish
(1921) is a collection of translations of the 19th Century Symbolist poems, and shows well how the
aforementioned literary diffusion took place. For those early 20th Century Korean poets, modern
poetry meant free verse, and until the introduction of the modern free verse, the traditional concept
of poetry for Koreans was hanshi, which are compositions of strict literary forms. Thus, the
coexistence of modern poetic forms and hanshi may seem difficult.
However, during the birth and development of modern Korean poetry, the tradition of hanshi was
kept alive. In fact, modern poetry did not immediately replace hanshi. Instead, the two distinct styles
coexisted for a long period of time, supplementing and competing with each other. Among the poets
from the colonial era, those who are considered to have been influenced by hanshi are categorized
into these three types: 1) those who wrote their original hanshi, 2) those who employed hanshi
versification in composing modern poetry through hanshi translations, and 3) those who
demonstrated the uniqueness of hanshi philosophy and its form. This essay focuses on Kim Uk
(1896~?), who is considered to be the most representative translator and poet of the colonial era.
During his time, Kim Uk translated and published a number of collections of Chinese and Chosun
hanshi.
It is common that in analyzing the issue of modern Korean poetry and translation, scholars mostly
focus on the influence of modern Western poetry. However, the roles that hanshi and other
traditional Literary Chinese culture played in the development of modern Korean poetry are ignored.
...
Room: Audimax
9:00 AM - Translation as a New Tool for Rethinking the Local and the Global in the History of
Revolutions: Luther and Mao
Sinkwan, Cheng (University College London, UK)
My paper investigates how both Luther and Mao instigated a revolution by translating a universalist
ideology into a “vernacular.” In so doing, Luther inaugurated a new national idiom while Mao
founded a new nation. I then examine the discontinuities between the two revolutionaries, only to
bring them together again in a comparison of the success of both in universalizing their faiths
preached with a local accent.
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My arguments begin by pointing out how both Luther and Mao made “mistranslation” into a tool for
challenging the authority of the source culture and creating an autonomous voice for the target
culture (a new national idiom, so to speak). Through his Bible, Luther became the creator of the new
High German language. “Mistranslation” was also vital to Mao’s assertion of the dignity of the
Chinese culture and nation. By rereading Hegelian-Marxist dialectic via yinyangphilosophy, Mao
transformed what the West deemed to be “illogical contradictions” into interdependent entities,
thus transforming Marxist Internationalism and Chinese Nationalism into mutually enhancing rather
than mutually exclusive ways of thinking. This is important because nationalism was no less
important than communism for China’s struggle against colonialism and Western domination—
including possible “colonization” by dogmatic Marxism according to which China was deemed “not
ready for socialism/communism” due to her “backward” agricultural economy.
Behind such similarities between lurch critical differences. Luther translated the Bible into one
language only. Yet he claimed that it was his German re-interpretation of the Bible that offers the
“real truth” of the Holy Scriptures, on the basis of which he founded a new “universal” religion.
In contrast to Luther who made universalistic claim with his German translation, Mao concerned
himself primarily with formulating a Marxism suitable for his own nation (and, by extension, for other
third-world nations), and this despite the fact that The Little Red Book had already been translated
into 65 languages by 1967.
9:30 AM - Two Historical Narratives of Japan within Ancient East Asia as the Chinese Script-world
Tokumori, Makoto (Universiry of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan)
My presentation deals with the relationship between ancient East Asia as the Chinese script-world
and cultural identity constructed by historical narratives in Japan as a case study, referring to works
of an early modern Japanese scholar Motoori Norinaga (本居宣長 1730-1801). In the eighth century
Japan where they have no other form of writing than Chinese character, two distinct
historiographical texts were established by imperial command in quick succession: the 712 Kojiki (古
事記), or Records of Ancient Matter and the 720 Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), or Chronicles of Japan.
They are both concerned with the origin of the country and imperial family but different in narrative
and style; the Nihon Shoki is written in literary Chinese and modeled on authentic Chinese histories,
while the Kojiki is written in amalgamated Chinese and Japanese syntax and does not adopt
chronological approach in describing the past. What kind of cultural identity do these ancient texts
show? I will consider this problem by critical examination of Norinaga’s project in the eighteenth
century. Against the long-held tradition of regarding the Nihon shoki as an authoritative history he
put higher priority on the Kojiki in terms of textual originality. His hermeneutical studies on the two
documents were motivated by his longing for one genuine culture indigenous to Japan and
confidence of discovering it in those records written in Chinese characters. But on the other hand his
careful research reveals the fundamental effects of the script and common Chinese classical culture
on the texts. Through close analysis of the two historiographical texts and Norinaga’s argument on
them, I would like to bring up a topic for discussion about the relations between script systems and
literary texts.
10:00 AM - The Chinese Poetics of Xing-xiang: One of the Earliest Digital Poetics in the World
Zhao, Guangxu (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada)
The Chinese Poetics of Xing-xiang: One of the Earliest Digital Poetics in the World
Guangxu Zhao (School of Translation and Interpretation, University of Ottawa)
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In ancient Chinese poetics, Xing and Xiang are two separate concepts. Xing means lifting something
up because its hieroglyphic on bones or on tortoise shells looks like four hands holding something,
which indicates a kind of collective action or celebration. Xiang refers to something connected with
activities; in this hieroglyphic, it obviously indicates the thing surrounded by the hands. In Han
dynasty, Xing and Xiang were developed as an allegory with which to let the authorities to accept
good suggestions. In Wei-Jin and Southern-Northern Period, Xing and Xiang were used to explain
artistic creation. Xiang became something rouses the creator's affections. When talking about the
relationship between Xing and Xiang in literary creation, Liu Xie in his Wenhsin Tiao-lung said, "... that
which that which rouses the affections depends on something subtle for the sake of reflective
consideration." It was in Tang dynasty, these two concepts were combined together by Yin Fan to
form a systematic literary conception of form and meaning. With the concept of Xing-xiang as guide,
there appeared a lot of Xing-xiang poems in Chinese literary history. Comparing the up-to-date digital
poetics, we find the concept of Xing-xiang meets some criteria of digital poetics. This paper attempts
to make a comparative study in the following aspects: 1, the art of Chinese calligraphy and the basis
of digital poetics; 2, ancient Chinese Xing-xiang poems and contemporary E-poems; 3, translating
Xing-xiang poetry and creating E-poetry; 4, the idea of One and Many as the philosophic basis of
Chinese Xing-xiang poetics and Phenomenology of Perception as the philosophic basis of digital
poetics. Through this study, this paper attempts to reveal the role that Chinese Xing-xiang poetics
plays in constructing digital poetics.
Key words: Xing-xiang poetics, digital poetics, Xing-xiang poems, E-poems
11:00 AM - Chinese Script in the Alphabetic Age
Tsu, Jing (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA)
For more than five centuries, the Chinese script has wrestled with the question of its fate in the
modern age. From early Jesuit bilingual dictionaries to typewriting, phonology (yinyun xue) to
character retrieval methods (jianzi fa), the Chinese script’s strivance for modernity was the longest
revolution of the twentieth century--and continues in the digital age. This phenomenon has been of
obvious interest to the Chinese, especially in the general atmosphere of nationalism and
standardization. But the Chinese script revolution was never just a question about the Chinese
language for the Chinese. Unlike most writing systems, it has been a multi-scriptive global venture in
struggling for an ever larger medium, involving as many outsiders as insiders. Examining some of its
many faces, this paper constructs the first material and technological account of how the Chinese
script became modern under the condition of alphabetic dominance. Instead of succumbing its own
historicity to the modern power of western science, the Chinese writing system brought its own
empirical truths and methods to bear on the possibility of a scientific operation..
17430 - Denkbilder der Übersetzung
Chair: Eva Matt (Universität München), Ulrich Meurer (Universität Wien / Bochum), Michael Paninski
(Brown University)
9:00 AM - Einleitung zu "Denkbilder der Übersetzung"
Oikonomou, Maria (Universität Wien)
…
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9:30 AM - Multidisziplinäre Übersetzungsparadigmen und synonymische Phänomene vor 1800
Keller, Andreas ((ZfL Berlin))
…
10:00 AM - Die literarische Darstellung der Übersetzung als Knotenpunkt literaturtheoretischer
Reflexion
Babel, Reinhard ((Universität München / DAAD Bogotá))
…
11:00 AM - Merci, Mercy. Über die Pflicht und Schuldigkeit des Übersetzens bei Jacques Derrida
Sauter, Caroline ((ZfL Berlin))
…
11:30 AM - Zwitter/Zwilling: Genetische Bildungen von Übersetzung
Oikonomou, Maria ((Universität Wien))
…
16740 - Translation Within a Single Language
Room: Seminarraum Geschichte 2
Chair: Hayot, Eric; Saussy, Haun
9:00 AM - The Decipherings: The Inter- and Intra-languages of Pound's Asia
Bush, Christopher (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA)
My paper attempts to re-conceptualize the familiar topic of Ezra Pound’s translations from Chinese
and Japanese by considering them as part of an expanded “Sinosphere,” with analogs and
precedents in East Asian tradition. The first portion of the talk describes the unappreciated extent to
which Pound’s work was influenced by and was consonant with Japanese conventions of reading and
writing Chinese. Scholars have applied the term “interlanguage” to these conventions because of
their both/and, neither/nor character. Such traditions as kundoku frustrate any easy opposition
between “translation” and reading, interpretation, glossing, and so on, as evidenced by even
conventional treatments of the topic. The second portion of the paper then considers whether such a
reading of Pound’s translations as a kind of interlingual practice confirms and undermines readings of
them as an intralingual practice within English. My examples will be drawn primarily from Cathay and
The Classic Noh Theatre of Japan.
9:30 AM - Versification and prosification as translation and literary commonality
COSTE, Didier (Bordeaux-Montaigne University, ESCOURCE, France)
Versification and, asymmetrically, prosification, activate additional constraints to the grammar and
lexical selection of "natural languages," as they play with the limits between langue and langage .
They thus engage the otherness and strangeness of langue to itself, de-naturalizing it for the
hermeneutic as well as the aesthetic reader. Considering them as "translations within a single
language" will not only support the now rather banal notion that no language is a single language
when it is used literarily, it may help us realize that the perceivable difference of the constraints of
prose and verse forms brings different linguistic cultures closer together. Such an approach would
benefit from existing methods of comparative reading, but it could be turned into an enabling
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research and pedagogical experiment in inter- and translingual literary comparison: 1) In what
cultural and linguistic contexts can a text be perceived as transferred from a possible original that
was not actualized (e.g. written in verse instead of prose or the other way around)? 4) How far does
the study and theorization of versification and prosification offer patterns that could help modify and
improve translingual comparison, and understand the benefits of "transreading"? 6) Can the
products of versification and prosification be considered as experimental fields of interlinguistic
commonality, or even prototypes of literary universals? Examples used will range from Petrarca's
sonnets to The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth and Vivre sa vie by Jan Baetens.
11:00 AM - The Pharisees
Hayot, Eric (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA)
An experiment in translation, pulling back as little as possible from the limits of Borges's Pierre
Menard, this talk is a translation into English of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. No tricks,
minimal transformation, with the goal of producing a text that would strike an ordinary, wellinformed reader as just as good as the "original," which emerges, in the light of this new shadow, as
itself a shadow of some other ur-text that this act of "translation" makes visible for the first time.
11:30 AM - Interdisciplinarity as Translation
Solovieva, Olga (University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA)
Disciplines have their own languages, which operate within their own hermeneutic horizon. When
we learn a discipline, we learn how to speak its language. This competence goes beyond acquisition
of what might be called a professional jargon. It implies a specific disciplinary grammar and syntax,
inherent in the disciplines’ epistemological dimension. Interdisciplinary comparative literature is a
work of translation. Its success depends on good knowledge of different disciplinary languages and
skills in translating among their epistemes, though nominally within a single language. This
translation is inevitably a transmutation. But unlike with the foreign-language translations, where a
cultural transmutation is a by-product, often undesirable, here it acquires the methodological
salience. Some disciplinary languages are more easily mutually translatable than others. Thus the
work of interdisciplinary translation implies different levels of conceptual complexity. This paper
investigates through the examples of texts from different disciplines (philosophy, religious studies,
literary criticism, law, cinema, and science) the questions of translatability, its limitations and
epistemological potential.
12:00 PM - Translating the Family's Nazy Legacy to Bridge a Floating Gap
Yoeurp, Mélanie (German Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lognes, France)
Since the millennial turn, a spate of family narratives foregrounds narrators who
seeks to understand their parents or grandparents’ involvement in the Third Reich by contextualizing
the family archive that the latter left, such as memoirs, photographs, or family legends. But those
documents, although available in the narrators’ language, are not readily accessible. Since the
narrators’ intergenerational understanding occurs in the context of a ‘floating gap’ that accompanies
the shift of generations (Jan Assmann), i.e., at a time when the communicative memory of WWII is
transitioning into a cultural memory, those documents reflect a past where cultural norms and values
differ from those of today. How can the narrators make sense of them and relate to them?
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In my presentation, I claim that viewing the narrator as a translator allows us to
examine intergenerational understanding against the background of historical upheavals. More
specifically, it illuminates how contemporary German narrators engage with their families’ Nazi
legacy and stand towards it nowadays. Inspired by Lawrence Venuti’s and Bella Brodzki’s concepts of
translation respectively understood as a hermeneutic process and as a trope of ‘carrying over,’ I first
define the narrator/translator as choosing a target discourse that can ‘carry over’ a narrative from
the past. I then explore the implication of this definition: The narrators’ choice in terms of translation
reveals their positioning towards their family’s past. With the example of Uwe Timm’s
autobiographical novel Am Beispiel meines Bruders, I show how Timm effects a break with family
legends by contrasting them with a post-1989 memory discourse. With an analysis of Anne Weber’s
essay Vaterland, I demonstrate how her reinterpretation of her great grandfather—and his ideas that
could anticipate Nazi ideology—as a Humanist man brings him closer to her.
2:00 PM - To say it differently
Rath, Brigitte (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
Thomas Carlyle's _Sartor Resartus_ (1833/34) chronicles an invented
editor's progress with translating a fictitious work of German idealism into English. The editor's
biggest challenge lies not in the translation from German into English, but in how to present
idiosyncratic idealistic thoughts to readers schooled in empiricism; the editor sees himself as building
a bridge across the abyss dividing different philosophical disciplines. At a time when the natural
sciences differentiate and develop increasingly complex nomenclatures, _Sartor Resartus_ engages
with the threat that using a single language no longer guarantees comprehensibility. To be
understood by a broad audience, one may have to be able to say what one wants to say differently in
the same language. In the case of _Sartor Resartus_, readers following the editor's effort only have
his "translation" to go by. The editor's detailed report of his struggles with the fictitious "original
text" extends an invitation to the reader to imagine how the text one reads could have been written
differently. This moment of seeking alternatives creates an awareness for the context and the
audience of each utterance, for the tacit assumptions that shape how we speak and write. The
always present possibility or perceived necessity of translating within one language allows us to
reflect what we do when we decide to say things this way.
2:30 PM - My Idiolect, If I Have One
Saussy, Haun (University of Chicago, Chicago, USA)
Julia Kristeva once observed that “Tout texte se construit comme mosaïque de
citations, tout texte est absorption et transformation d’un autre texte” ( Sêmeiôtikê , p. 85). It was
challenging to say this in the sphere of literary studies circa 1965, a time when the death of the
author was still a secret whispered among initiates and analysis of style and form reigned. She wrote,
too, before the rise of translation studies; and translation risks making her bold statement a
statement of the obvious. For a translation of, say, Don Quixote is through-and-through a citation of
the Quixote , an absorption and transformation of it into another text. A translation of the Quixote ,
or almost any other work, must also be a chain of "citations" from the language into which the
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translation is being done-- or if the word "citation" shocks, then we can say idioms, phrases, topoi,
mannerisms. A literary translation is surrounded and carried by an ambience of precedent in the
language of arrival. Like screen actors, authors in translation are "dubbed," often with voices familiar
to the movie-going audience. The work that we know as translation typically involves two or more
languages foreign to each other, but within these languages too there is active work to do. Before
translating, the translator as reader must have determined what in the work needs to be brought
across; and while the work is still flying across the interlinguistic gap, the translator as writer must
begin to settle on the correlative style, manner, ethos, rhythm, etc., that will host the work in its new
home. To invert one customary assumption about translation, and with a deep bow to the
polysystems theory, I will suggest, through examples, the benefit of reading translations as
monolingual artifacts.
3:00 PM - From English To English: A Polysystems Approach To The Vernacular.
Saxena, Akshya (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA)
In the proposed paper, I use the polysystems approach to conceptualize the critical
paradigm of the vernacular in comparative literature today. I show the vernacular not as a position of
permanent opposition to discourses of power or an untranslatable theoretical impasse, but as the
very condition of translatability that is formative to visions of political modernity. I study the
circulation of the English language across three simultaneous systems in India to reveal the
heterogeneity of its meaning in a postcolonial context. Contrary, to the approach to the English
language in postcolonial studies and in comparative literary studies, as principally a global force or a
colonial legacy, I show that its presence across these different referential fields, shapes English as
part of specifically vernacular discourse. With key examples from 1) state policies on the legislation
of English in post-Independence India 2) the use of Hindi-English hybrid language in Hindi print media
and 3) Anglophone Indian writing, I argue that an appeal to “common people,” has always animated
the life of English. Both these political and cultural systems have shaped the career—the changing
norms and models—of Anglophone Indian writing.
16791 - 'Autor', 'Text' und 'Leser' im Kontext. Komparatistik und
Sozialwissenschaften.
Room: Hs 27
Chair: Batorova, Maria; Pospisil, Ivo
9:00 AM - Slowakische Literatur der Moderne im Kontext der europäischen Moderne. Komparatistik
und Sozialwissenschaften
Batorova, Maria (Institut für Weltliteratur, Bratislava, Slowakei, Slovakia)
Abstrakt: An hand der langjährigen Forschung, an hand der publizierten Monographien über
tabuisierte Themen der Literatur, darunter Autoren, die als Dissidenten ein Teil des professionellen
Lebens lebten, zeigt sich die Forschung im Rahmen des soziologischen Aspekts entscheident. Dieser
kommt aber hand in hand mit dem historischen Aspekt, sowie mit der minuziösen Analyse der
gewählten Texte eines Autors, dessen möglichst komplexen Kontext (Archive, Korespondenz,
Interviews usw.) rekonstruiert wird.
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Schlüsselwörter: Kontext eines Autors, Kontext des Textes Kontext des Lesers, (historische
Bedingungen der Akzeptanz), literarische Moderne, der europäische künstlerische Raum,
Rekostruktion
9:30 AM - Comparative Literary Studies and Area Studies: Advantages and Obstacles
Pospisil, Ivo (Faculty of Arts Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic)
The author of the present contribution deals with the connection od comparative literary studies and
area studies, its advantages and obstacles or pitfalls. He opens his explanation with the analysis of
various concepts of space and time in the literary artefact, of the space as a constitutive element of
the formation of the artefact. The danger of the application of area studies in general to comparative
studies consists in the defocusing and obscuring of the philological, textual kernel of literature in its
comparative aspect.
10:00 AM - Der Sammler als Autobiograph
Wer sammelt, produziert nicht selbst - so scheint es. Und doch ist die Zusammenstellung einer
Kollektion von Objekten bei genauerem Hinsehen ein konstruktiver Prozeß, dessen Ergebnisse den
gestalterischen Willen des Sammlers zum Ausdruck bringen, und zwar sowohl bezogen auf die Art
der jeweils gesammelten Objekte wie auch auf deren Anordnung. Dies gilt auch, wenn dieser Wille
des gestaltenden Sammlers sich wohl nie erschöpfend umsetzen läßt - zum einen, weil
"Vollständigkeit" beim Sammeln wohl meist eine Utopie ist, zum anderen, weil diverse äußere
Faktoren auf die Genese der Sammlung Einfluß nehmen - nicht zuletzt das manchmal schwer zu
handhabende Material selbst. Werden nicht physische Dinge ("res"), sondern Texte, Textbausteine,
Zitate, Vokabeln oder ähnliche sprachlich verfaßte Gegenstände ("verba") gesammelt und sortiert,
wie etwa beim Exzerpieren und Verzetteln, dann ist die kreative Dimension des Sammelns noch
evidenter, gleichzeitig aber natürlich auch die Abhängigkeit von äußeren Bedingungen. Sammler
agieren, stichwortartig gesagt, in einem Zwischenraum zwischen auktorialem Verfügen über ihren
Stoff und der Rolle eines bloßen Mediums, das Gegenstände der Erfahrung und des Wissens
arrangiert, die es nicht selbst hervorgebracht hat. Dies ist wohl einer der Gründe, warum Sammler in
jüngerer Zeit - genauer: in einer Phase kontroverser Diskussionen über Autorschaft und auktoriale
Produktivität - zu interessanten literarischen Reflexionsfiguren werden. Vorgestellt werden unter
diesem Aspekt ausgewählte Texte über Sammler. Leitend ist dabei die These, daß sich in deren
Tätigkeit - insofern sie literarisch dargestellt wird - Aspekte der literarischen Arbeit selbst bespiegeln:
einer Arbeit im Spannungsfeld zwischen auktorialer Disposition über Materialien und medialer
Funktion des Schriftstellers gegenüber den Dingen. Auch diese mediale Funktion muß dabei nicht
einseitig als defizitär wahrgenommen werden, denn wer sammelt, bewahrt ja kulturelle Bestände
und schützt vom Untergang bedrohte Objekte und Erinnerungen. Vorgesehene Beispiele: Georges
Perec: "Un cabinet d'amateur"; W.G. Sebald: "Austerlitz"; Edmund de Waal: "The Hare with Amber
Eyes".
11:00 AM - The Metafiktion in the postmodern prose
Zilka, Tibor (Institute of Languages and Cultures of Central Europe, Faculty of Central European Studies at Constantine the
Philosopher University in Nitra, Nitra, Slovakia)
In a realistic novel the fiction takes place inside the frames of the real world but the author or
narrator pretends as if it was reality, as if (s)he did not make up anything, as if the entire story was
merely transferred into the text from reality. Contemporary author discloses the proceedings of
his/her writings, (s)he also reveals when it is a fabrication, a fiction and when something is brought
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over into the text directly from reality. In Slovak literature this effect most often features in the
writings of Pavol Vilikovský.
Metafictional processes are typical signs of a postmodern text, although similar elements were
detectable in literature of previous centuries, however, not in such extent as today. At the end of the
1990s and in the course of the first decade of the 21st century, there was a growing number of
authors with significant signs of postmodern prose in Slovak literature such as Peter Pišťanek, Pavel
Vilikovský, Viliam Klimáček, Daniela Kapitáňová, Michal Hvorecký, Pavol Rankov and others.
Metafiction undisputedly belongs to the typical characteristics of the postmodern text, due mainly to
greater presence of these elements than in the past.
Key words: metafiction, World literature, postmodernism, reception, narrator, self-reference
11:30 AM - The author and metarepresentationality: comparative analysis
Kuzmikova, Jana (Institute of Slovak Literature, Bratislava, Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Only interdisciplinary systemization of new understandings, methods and perspectives connected
with literature, invented in contemporary sciences and humanities, directs to deeper understanding
of literary communication. Among others, also cognitive literary theory aims at the research of
literary creation. The contribution discusses, in particular, the mental processes of
metarepresentationality which are connected with episodic and semantic memory. Using sourcemonitoring analyses, we can better understand the role of the author in a literary work. This method
is applicable also in comparative approach. The analyses considers metarepresentationality in works
of foremost Slovak prosaists.
12:00 PM - Kommunikation und Schweigen in Prosatexten von Arthur Schnitzler und Stefan Zweig
(Kontextualisierung als Weg zur Komparation typologischer Zusammenhänge)
Zechelova, Katarina (Institut für Weltliteratur SAW, Bratislava, Slovakia)
Die Epoche der Wiener Moderne gehört bis heute zu großen Inspirationsquellen der Kunst und der
Wissenschaft. Unter der Klima der alten Österreichisch – Ungarischen Monarchie wachsen an der
Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert junge Künstler, Schriftsteller und Intelektuelle, die eigene
Ausdrucksprache suchen. Und es gibt vieles, was unter ihrem Deckel brodelt- Kampf mit der älteren
Generation, Verlust der moralischen und geistigen Werte, Infragestellung des menschlichen und
wissenschaftlichen Erkennens, politische Starrheit, Judenfrage, Aufstieg der Masse, Entdeckungen
der Psychologie, Krise des Individuums, usw. Wie aber sollte man das alles zum Ausdruck bringen,
wenn wovon man nicht sprechen kann, müsse man schweigen (L. Wittgenstein)?
Der Beitrag sucht die Antwort Anhand den Prosawerken zweier bedeutenden Autoren der Wiener
Moderne Arthur Schnitzler und Stefan Zweig. Ist das Schweigen beim Schnitzler definitiv, oder kann
es noch durchgebrochen werden? Welche Funktion erfüllt der Erzähler beim Zweig und um welche
Art der Kommunikation handelt es sich in meisten seiner Erzählungen? Wer und wie spricht man in
ihren Werken?
Der Beitrag demonstriert die folgenden Problemstellungen anhand der Methode der
Kontextualisierung, indem die Verknüpfungen zwischen dem Text, Autor und dem Kontext
untersucht werden. Ausgehend vom Text werden das Motiv des Schweigens, bzw. der
Kommunikation, die naratologischen Kategorien und Kompositionstechniken als Widerspiegelungen
von Poetiken beider Autoren miteinander verglichen. Die theoretischen Grundlagen für diese Art der
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Interpretation bilden die Studien und Publikationen slowakischer Literaturwissenschaftlern Dionýz
Ďurišin und Mária Bátorová.
2:00 PM - Péter Esterházy: the Author, the Text, the Reader or All of Them?
Paszmár, Lívia (Institute of World Literature SAS, Bratislava, Slovakia)
The end of the 1970s meant the beginning of a poetic shift that completely changed the language of
Hungarian literature. It referred to the language of prose and poetry as well. According to the
outstanding literary theorist Ernő Kulcsár Szabó the year 1986 was of great importance in relation
with that shift, because two key works were published that terminated the process of thischange:
Book of Memories (Emlékiratok könyve) by Péter Nádas and An Introduction to Literature (Bevezetés
a szépirodalomba) by Péter Esterházy. In my work I deal with the latter who is evidently one of the
key figures of the Hungarian postmodern literature.
As a PhD student of the Institute of World Literature SAS I had to choose a perspective that interests
the Slovak literary-cultural environment, therefore I have focused on the aspect of intertextuality in
the works of Péter Esterházy and I have also investigated the interpretation of that aspect in his
Slovak reception – essays, studies and journals of various kind. However, Slovak cannot be the only
literary-cultural environment that is interested in the questions of intertextuality in the works of
Esterházy, because after meeting with a warm response in German context, he has gained prestige
through Europe and has become the subject of studies outside the borders of Hungary.
Texts of other authors are natural components of Esterházy´s texts: some of his works contain
(incomplete) bibliography or footnotes and some of them do not. The latter kind I consider more
complex and therefore more interesting subjects of comparative analysis: they question the author,
the text and also the reader who in Barthes´s way can situate him or herself to the author´s position.
In my presentation I would like to focus on the author, the text and the reader in Péter Esterházy´s
world of texts which are both installed and subverted.
2:30 PM - Neo-sincere Theory in Comparative Literature
Anetta, Kristof (Institute of World Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia)
The intuition of scholars all over the world suggests that postmodernism has a successor - one that
steers away from postmodern irony, nihilism, and “brainless destruction of convention” (Thomson
and Childish in their Remodernism manifesto) towards authenticity and humanity, the “plain old
untrendy human troubles and emotions,” as put by David Foster Wallace. Performatism,
remodernism, metamodernism, transmodernism, and, finally, post-irony and New Sincerity - the
sheer number of words invented to describe the successor’s mutations attests to the strength of the
central concept they all share. It is true that most of these pigeonholes lack the methodological
robustness of the apparatus used to diagnose postmodernism, but at such young age and without an
inviolable assortment of literary deities, no era could be expected to do better. Let us briefly
abandon the technical aspects and focus on the philosophical pendulum, returning from a fleeting
visit to the existentialist-nihilist side (likely producing Beckett’s prose at the extreme) back towards
moral realism or even pragmatism. This project maps the theoretical landscape where neo-sincere
criticism could be built, involving a shift in the understanding of literature towards that of the
philosophers Richard Rorty and Martha Nussbaum, who believe that works of fiction are essentially
works of (moral) philosophy, and the notion that the historical role of the novel is a moral one – to
document and preserve the European “respect for the individual, for his original thought, and for his
right to an inviolable private life” (Kundera, The Art of the Novel). The consequence for comparative
literature might be a broader justification of its tendency to contextualize and use an even balance of
author, text, and reader in its search for connections and differences.
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16802 - (POST)IMPERIALE NARRATIVE IN DEN (ZENTRAL)EUROPÄISCHEN
LITERATUREN DER MODERNE
Room: Hs 31
Chair: Müller-Funk, Wolfgang; Chovanec, Johanna
9:00 AM - (post)kolonial vs. (post)imperial: Grundsätzliches.
Ruthner, Clemens (Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Im literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlichen Diskurs zeichnete sich in den letzten Jahren ein
Paradigmenwechsel von 'postkolonial' zu 'postimperial' bzw. 'global' ab. Doch was genau ist der
Unterschied - vor allem, wenn es um Phänomene der inneren Kolonisierung in Europa geht (zB im
Rahmen der Habsburger Monarchie und ihrer Nachfolgestaaten)?
Der geplante Vortrag wird genau dies diskutieren und Vergleichskategorien ausarbeiten. So wird
beispielsweise argumentiert werden, dass sich eine postimperiale Forschungsoptik besser dazu
eignet, äußere und innere Kolonisierung als die beiden Seiten einer Medaille und damit also als
Komplemetärphänomene zu denken. Weiters bleiben die Effekte, die eine wie auch immer geartete
Postkolonialität hat, besser im Blick - und zwar nicht nur auf Seiten der ehemals kolonisierten
Peripherien, sondern auch, was das Zentrum/den Kolonisator selbst betrifft. Grosso modo hilft eine
Refokussierung also, plumpe Dichotomisierungen zu vermeiden bzw. Polaritäten miteinander und
nicht bloß gegen einander zu denken.
9:30 AM - TEIL I: Post-imperiale Melancholie: ein Vergleich zwischen der österreichischen und
türkischen Literatur
Müller-Funk, Wolfgang (Universität Wien, Austria)
In our presentation we want to emphasize on parallels between the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and
the Ottoman Empire and focus on the myths which were subsequently created about them and
which can be found in the literature of both. The aftermath of the empires is characterized by the
processes of modernity, its positive and negative effects and by competing national narratives with
the question of economic, cultural and geo – political positioning.
In both geographical regions the loss of an empire, which was regarded as stable, calm, peaceful and
safe, led – particularly in times of political and economic uncertainties – to the creation of myths.
Central elements in the establishment of these myths are nostalgia and glorification of the lost
empires which are being expressed in literature and which are a discourse in politics.
Post-imperial melancholy can be seen as a common characteristic in a specific type of Austrian
literature, for instance in the works of Stefan Zweig and Joseph Roth, but - as Orhan Pamuk´s œuvre
makes evident - also in contemporary Turkish literature. ‘Hüzün’ is the Turkish term for melancholy
and tristesse. In Pamuk’s novel Istanbul he uses the expression to describe the missing cultural link to
the Ottoman past as well as the ongoing decline of the old cityscape of the former capital Istanbul
which is successively replaced by ‘non-places’ like shopping malls.
In analogy to Claudio Magris’ ‘Habsburg Myth’ it is goal of this presentation to describe the
characteristics of the so called ‘Ottoman Myth’. Following a comparative approach, attention will be
drawn on the importance of these concepts within the particular national narratives.
10:00 AM - TEIL II: Post-imperiale Melancholie: ein Vergleich zwischen der österreichischen und
türkischen Literatur
Chovanec, Johanna (Universität Wien, Brunn am Gebirge, Austria)
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...
11:00 AM - Fragile Ordnung. Habsburg als Großreich und Großerzählung
Magerski, Christine (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
Dem von Franco Moretti vorgelegten Atlas des europäischen Romans liegt die Annahme zugrunde,
dass verschiedene literarische Formen unterschiedliche Räume benötigen. Der Roman, so Moretti
am Fall der europäischen Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts, benötigt den Nationalstaat bzw. die
Entwicklung nationaler Identitäten. Was aber, wenn man den Fokus auf das 20. Jahrhundert und in
ihm auf ein Großreich wie die Donaumonarchie verschiebt? Der Vortrag fragt nach der Bedeutung
des Chronotopos für das Genre der Großerzählung, indem er die Romane von Joseph Roth und
Robert Musil als Thematisierung des Zerfalls und der Neuordnung im politischen und literarischen
Raum liest. Theoretisch ins Verhältnis gesetzt werden geopolitische und literarische Ordnung mithilfe
der von Herfried Münkler erarbeiteten Imperientheorie und seines Begriffs des politischen Mythos.
11:30 AM - Ein Skandal in der postimperialen Stunde null. Zu Miroslav Krlezas Text Eine trunkene
Novembernacht 1918
Bobinac, Marijan (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
In seiner autobiographischen, leicht fiktionalisierten Aufzeichnung Eine trunkene Novembernacht
1918 (Pijana novembarska noć 1918, entst. 1942, erstveröff. 1952) sucht Miroslav Krleža einen
Aufsehen erregenden Skandal zu rekonstruieren, zu dessen Entstehung er selbst wesentlich
beigetragen hat: Im November 1918, im Interregnum zwischen dem Zerfall der
Habsburgermonarchie Ende Oktober und der Gründung des SHS-Königreichs Anfang Dezember, sah
er sich bei einer in Zagreb zu Ehren der serbischen Offiziere veranstalteten Teeparty genötigt, laut
gegen die Rede des ehemaligen hohen k.u.k.-Offiziers Slavko Kvaternik zu protestieren. In seinem
Zwischenruf behauptete Krleža, Kvaternik, zu diesem Zeitpunkt Generalstabchef des provisorischen
Staates des Nationalrates der Slowenen, Kroaten und Serben, sei keine geeignete Person, einen
Trinkspruch auf die Offiziere aus Serbien zu halten, da er als „Generalstabschef des Belgrader
Gouvernements 1916“ im besetzten Serbien Menschen aufhängen ließ. Krleža, dessen Zwischenrufe
sich auf die moralische Korruptheit der bisher prohabsburgischen, jetzt plötzlich projugoslawisch
gewordenen einheimischen Elite bezogen, wurde er als Unruhestifter aus dem Saal verwiesen.
Der öffentliche Skandal in der ‚postimperialen Stunde null’ hat Krleža nachträglich in seiner
Überzeugung von der Misere der zeitgenössischen kroatischen Elite bestärkt; seine Hoffnung, dass
nach der Auflösung der kompromittierten k.u.k-Herrschaftsform die südslawischen Völker zu einer
nationalen, politischen und sozialen Emanzipation vorstoßen könnten, wird bald durch die nüchterne
Erkenntnis ersetzt, dass an die Stelle des imperialen Habsburgerreiches ein kleinformatiges, auf
Dominanzverhältnissen aufgebautes postimperiales Gebilde getreten sei.
12:00 PM - Der antihabsburgische Mythos in der kroatischen Literatur: der Roman Republikanci
(1914 - 1916) von Marija Juric Zagorka
Spreicer, Jelena (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
Unmittelbar nach dem Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs beginnt in der Zagreber Zeitung „Ilustrovani
list“ die periodische Veröffentlichung des Romans Republikanci (Die Republikaner, 1914‒1916) von
Marija Jurić Zagorka, der ersten kroatischen Journalistin und einer der fruchtbarsten kroatischen
Autorinnen der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Zagorka, bekannt für ihre Kritik an der
Germanisierung und Magyarisierung Kroatiens in der Donaumonarchie, behandelt in diesem Roman,
unter anderem, das Thema der Jakobinerverschwörung 1794. Die misslungene Verschwörung unter
der Leitung des Franziskanermönchs Ignaz Joseph Martinovics, für deren Ziel die politische
Unabhängigkeit aller Völker der Habsburgischen Monarchie erklärt wurde, dient als Folie für die
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Diskussion eines demokratischen Gegenmodells zum damals aktuellen österreichisch-ungarischen
Staatsgebilde. In diesem Beitrag wird Zagorkas Roman als ein kroatischer Gegenpol dem Konzept des
„Habsburgischen Mythos“ von Claudio Magris und eine idealisierte Projektion der nationalen
Konsolidierung interpretiert.
2:00 PM - Türken, Habsburger, Russen, Araber Wandel der Alteritätsbilder der ungarischen
literarischen und kulturellen Öffentlichkeit vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne
Pesti, Brigitta (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Wien, Austria)
Die in Europa ab dem 14. Jahrhundert vor dem Hintergrund der osmanischen Expansion
aufkommende sog. „Türkenfurcht“, die sich nach der Einnahme Konstantinopels 1453 bedeutend
verstärkte, beförderte die Herausbildung einer ideologischen Basis für eine bedeutende und
langanhaltende Alteritäts- und Identitätskonstruktion in der ungarischen Literatur. Das Bild des
„wilden und gottlosen türkischen Volkes“, das bis dahin als nur einer der ketzerischen Feinde
behandelt wurde, wurde besonders infolge der propagandistischen Bestrebungen der Reformation
zur „Geißel Gottes“, zum „Erzfeind“ und „Verfolger des Christentums“, zum „barbarischen Volk der
Apokalypse, und bestimmte bis ins ausgehende 17. Jahrhundert den ungarischen literarischen und
kulturellen Diskurs. Die Topoi über einen mythisierten Nationalfeind und über die herausragende,
fast heroische, jedoch tragische Rolle der ungarischen Nation, die in diesen Jahrzehnten entstanden
sind, reichen weit bis in die Moderne herein.
Die hier geborene Tradition der Fremdenfeindlichkeit löst sich nach den Türkenkriegen nicht auf,
sondern wird auf „neue Fremde“ projiziert. In der literarischen und kulturellen Öffentlichkeit werden
aus Türken erst Habsburger, dann Russen und seit kurzem Araber. Der Vortrag versucht eine kurze
Zusammenfassung der langen Geschichte der ungarischen Alteritätsbilder zu zeigen.
2:30 PM - Die napoleonischen Kriege im kroatischen kulturellen Gedächtnis
Dukic, Davor (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
Die Zeit der napoleonischen Kriege war auf dem Gebiet der kroatischen Länder besonders turbulent:
Die politischen Grenzen wurden zwischen 1797 und 1813 mehrmals neu gezogen, wobei Dalmatien
1805, vier Jahre später auch die Teile von Zivilkroatien, Militärgrenze und Istrien unter die
französische Herrschaft kamen. Bei den relativ seltenen Kriegshandlungen standen die Soldaten
desselben Volkes oft auf zwei verfeindeten Seiten. Viel intensiver verlief in den kroatischen Ländern
der politisch-ideologische Kampf zwischen den beiden Imperien, dem österreichischen und dem
französischen, ein Umstand, der in den Texten verschiedener Gattungen konkretisiert wurde, die
zugleich als die ältesten Exemplare des kroatischen propagandistischen Diskurses betrachtet werden
können. Die französische Herrschaft und die napoleonischen Kriege waren ein beliebtes
publizistisches/literarisches Thema auch in den darauffolgenden Jahrzehnten, insbesondere in der
Zeit der kroatischen nationalen Integration, in der sogenannten Kroatischen Nationalen
Wiedergeburt (1835–1848). Dieses Thema, als ein wichtiges Motiv des nationalen historischen
Narrativs, wurde in der kroatischen Geschichtsschreibung von der zweiten Hälfte des 19.
Jahrhunderts bis in unsere Gegenwart oft behandelt. Anhand der Analyse ausgewählter Quellen aus
dem 19. und 20. Jahrhundert sollen im vorliegenden Beitrag folgende Fragen erörtert werden:
- Welche sind die Hauptmerkmale der zeitgenössischen napoleonischen und habsburgischen
politischen Diskurse? - Welches ideologische Potenzial hatte das „napoleonische Thema“ im
Illyrismus (in der Kroatischen Nationalen Wiedergeburt)? - Wie wurde das Narrativ über die
napoleonische Zeit in das kroatische nationale Narrativ integriert?
3:00 PM - Das Theater im Krieg - die Koexistenz des Nationalen und des Imperialen?
Car, Milka (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
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Ging es darum, unterschiedliche soziale Schichten, religiöse Glaubensgemeinschaften, Ethnien oder
Nationen in einem Nationsbegriff oder in einer politischen Bewegung zu einen, so wurde das Theater
zu einem bevorzugten Ort, an dem die identitätsstabilisierenden Diskurse produziert werden. Man
appellierte an übergeordnete Gemeinsamkeiten und stützte sich auf verschiedene Traditionen, was
insbesondere im Laufe des Ersten Weltkrieges im Kroatischen Königlichen Landestheater in Zagreb
(Kraljevsko zemaljsko hrvatsko kazalište) zu beobachten ist. Um den Zusammenhalt der disparaten
Teile in der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie zu gewährleisten, wird die imperiale Macht auch
im Theater inszeniert, in einer Zeit, in der „imperiale Erwartung und nationale Erfahrung“ immer
weiter auseinander fielen (Leonhard/Hirschhausen 2009: 60). Zugleich wird die nationalbildende und
nationalintegrative Funktion des Theaters in Kriegszeiten besonders hervorgehoben, so dass im
Repertoirebild in den Saisonen 1914/15 bis 1917/18 beide Tendenzen abzulesen sind. Auf einer
kultur- und theaterwissenschaftlichen Basis sollen zentripetale Strategien der nationalen
Bewegungen und die imperiale Herrschaft im Vielvölkerstaat vor dem Hintergrund unterschiedlicher
nationaler Narrative vergleichend verfolgt werden.
4:00 PM - Blick und die Reizkultur um 1900 - Zur Genealogie der imperialen Poetik im Jung-Wien
Preljevic, Vahidin (Universität Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegowina)
Schon Said hat beobachtet, dass die koloniale Konstellation und ihre jeweiligen
Rahmenbedingungen eine besondere Wahrnehmungskultur hevorbringt, die sich dann vor allem in
der Literatur (und Kunst überhaupt) als einem Sensorium gesellschaftlicher Prozesse bemerkbar
macht. Kann man in diesem Zusammenhang von einer Poetik des Imperialen sprechen, die sich über
konkrete Blickführungen in Texten (Gestaltung der Erzählperspektive, Beschreibungsmodi,
Selektionsmechanismen u.a.) rekonstruieren ließe? Gehört dazu einerseits der allumfassende Blick
andererseits die inszenierte Vielfalt der Reize, deren Entsprechung in einer neuen
Wahrnehmungskultur der Metropole (Crary, Asendorf) zu suchen ist? Solche Ordnungen der
Sichtbarkeit implizieren auch Inszenierungen ethnischer, sozialer und geographischer Diversität, und
eine spezifisch imperiale Durchlässigkeit der Grenzen (Münkler). Diesen Fragestellungen wird in
ausgewählten Texten der Jung-Wiener Autoren wie Leopold von Andrian, Hugo von Hofmannsthal
u.a. nachgegangen werden.
4:30 PM - Konjunkturen des Imperialen. Zur Transfergeschichte von Hermann Bahrs Dalmatinischer
Reise
Vidulic, Svjetlan Lacko (Universität Zagreb, Croatia)
Hermann Bahrs Dalmatinische Reise (1909) gilt als »bemerkenswertes Zeitbild«, das die »letzten
Atemzüge des monarchistischen Vielvölkerstaats« »am Beispiel der Verwaltung der Provinz
Dalmatien schildert« (Einleitung zur Ausg. im Rahmen der Kritischen Schriften, 2012). Ein Zeitbild ist
der Reisebericht auch in dem Sinne, das Grundzüge seiner politischen Argumentation und seiner
literarischen Strategie – Bahrs Version des habsburgischen Mythos mit Betonung der ›pluralistischen
Identität‹ (Marie-Caroline Foi) sowie Bahrs Version des ›Nestingorientalism‹ (E. W. Said/M. BakićHayden) – aufs Engste mit der Logik und dem Status imperialer Herrschaft verbunden war. Dies soll
am Text selbst sowie an seiner primären Rezeption im deutschsprachigen und im kroatischen Raum
(u.a. A. G. Matoš) aufgezeigt werden. Ein Ausblick auf die neueste Rezeption (kroat. Übersetzung
1991, ital. Übersetzung 1996, mit einem Vorwort von Predrag Matvejević) prüft den Bezug zu den
Konjunkturen ›postimperialer‹ Erinnerungskultur.
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5:00 PM - Psychiatrie und Psychoanalyse in Czernowitz: Robert Flinkers Prosa
Palimariu, Ana-Maria (Alexandru-Ioan-Cuza-Universitaet Jassy, Romania)
I n Robert Flinkers (1906 - 1945) Prosaband Der Sturz ( entstanden 1941 , zuerst in Bukarest 19 70
erschienen ) sowie in seinem Prosaband Fegefeuer ( entstanden 194 0 - 4 4 , zuerst in Bukarest 1968
erschienen) lassen sich die Narrative , wenn auch i n eine m Stil geschrie ben, der an Kafka erinnert,
an die historischen Ereignisse ihr er Entstehungsj ahre doch anknüpfen. Der jüdische Czernowitzer,
der in Wien Medizin studiert, in Deutschland und der Schweiz beschäftigt ist, dann sich im Bukarester
Exil als Nervenarzt aufhält u nd für seine Schublade in deutscher Sprache Prosa schreibt, um sich
schließlich umzubringen, lässt sich (wenn auch in allen Erzählungen nur Jahresangaben aber keine
Ortsangaben bestehen), doch mit den Figuren aus den genannten Prosab ä nd en vergleichen. Ande
rs die Erzählung „Absalom. Eine Legende“. Auch in der bisherigen sehr bescheidenen Flinker Forschung wird sie kaum beachtet. Daher wird i m vorliegenden Beitrag der Frage nachgegangen , ob
die Erzählung „Absalom. Eine Legende“, die an die biblische Legende v om Alten Testament anknüpft
, jedoch einen deutlichen Akzent auf die Episode des Gerichts setzt, und verzweifelt nach einer
legendären „ Schuld“ zu suchen scheint, nicht auch als Erkl ä rung f ü r den Erfolg, den Psychiatrie
und Psychoanalyse in Czernowitz hatte n, gelesen werden kann
6:00 PM - Memoria & Postmemoria Deutsch-Südwestafrikas in der Literatur
Gärtner, Julian (Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany)
Im Gegensatz zu Frankreich und Großbritannien, wo spätestens seit Beginn der
Nullerjahre, befördert durch die Verleihung des großen Prix Goncourt oder analog des großen
Booker Prize an AutorInnen aus ehemaligen Kolonien, ein reges Interesse für deren Geschichten
einsetzt, bleiben ähnliche Phänomene in Deutschland aus. Abgesehen davon, dass Deutschland eher
über eine Vielheit an mittelgroßen Zentren verfügt, bleibt eine vergleichbare Bewegung von nonwhite people nach Deutschland und letztlich die Entwicklung einer postkolonialen Literatur aus – so
ließe sich argumentieren.
Überzeugender allerdings scheint es, andere Arten und Weisen der Memoria und
Postmemoria für Deutschland anzusetzen: Freilich kann in Deutschland viel weniger von einer
organisierten Gruppenbewegung oder -strömung, geschweige denn einem politisch-öffentlichen
oder buchmarktmäßigen Interesse die Rede sein als das etwa in Großbritannien der Fall ist. Dennoch
ist in der deutschsprachigen Literatur eine anhaltende und intensive Beschäftigung mit der (post)kolonialen Vergangenheit zu erkennen. Das wird besonders deutlich am Beispiel DeutschSüdwestafrikas, dem heutigen Namibia, das von 1884 bis 1915 als erstes sogenanntes deutsches
Schutzgebiet erworben wurde.
Anhand ausgewählter Werke soll überblickshaft die Memoria und Postmemoria
Deutsch-Südwestafrikas – die Paradigmen des Erinnerns, ihre thematischen und formellen
Verschiebungen – nachgezeichnet werden: Gustav Frenssens Peter Moors Fahrt nach Südwest (1906)
kann als erstes grundlegendes Paradigma sowohl der nationalistischen-soldatischen als auch der
solidarischen Erinnerung gelesen werden. In direkter zeitlicher Nähe zum zweiten Weltkrieg leitet
Alfred Anderschs Weltreise auf deutsche Art (1949/59) die Frage der Ursache ein, die sich
gewissermaßen in Uwe Timms berühmten Roman Morenga (1978) zu einer nüchternen und
objektiv-kritischen Haltung verdichtet. In der neueren Literatur wandeln sich die Modi des Erinnerns
zum touristischen oder absurd-spielhaften wie etwa in Christof Hamanns Fester (2003) oder zur
Beschäftigung mit der eigenen Familiengeschichte wie in Stephan Wackwitz' Ein Unsichtbares Land
(2005) oder Ludwig Fels Herero (2015).
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6:30 PM - Warten auf die Barbaren: Kafka und Coetzee
Karakassi, Katerina (Kapodistrias Universität Athen, Greece)
In Kafkas Beim Bau der chinesischen Mauer (1917) scheint die Einheit des Volkes, die Identität der
Nation durch die Grenzen des Eigenen nur potentiell bedrohenden Barbaren bestätigt bzw. bestärkt
zu werden. Doch sie wird nicht nur durch den unerklärlichen Teilbau, sondern auch von der
Unmöglichkeit die Mauer zu vollenden als illusorisch entpuppt. Hinzu kommt, dass dieses unendliche
Projekt des Mauerbaus, das die Labilität bzw. Variabilität der Grenzen nach Außen zu betonen
scheint, im Text Kafkas mit der Schwierigkeit zusammenhängt, den entsprechenden Innenraum und
dessen Zentrum zu eruieren. Um die vertrackte Beziehung zwischen Zentrum und Peripherie kreist
auch Coetzees Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), ein Roman, der als eine Art Fortsetzung bzw.
Variation des Erzählfragmentes Beim Bau der chinesischen Mauer gelesen werden kann. So finden
hier zwar im Gegensatz zu den China-Fragmenten Begegnungen mit den Barbaren statt. Der Fremde
entpuppt sich jedoch stets als ein deutungsbedürftiges, ja fast transzendentes Feld. Die
Verworrenheit und die Fragmentierung des Bildes des Anderen korreliert dabei – wie auch bei Kafka
– mit der Unmöglichkeit die eigene Welt zu deuten, was auch das Unverständnis der fremden Welt
gegenüber radikalisiert. Dass die Barbaren bis zum Ende der Narration, die wie ein Bericht konzipiert
ist – nicht kommen, lässt das Vorhaben der Hauptfigur die „Wahrheit“ zu sagen, ein Vorhaben, das
der Magistrat mit dem Chronisten Kafkas teilt, als eine semiotische Geste erscheinen, die das Warten
auf die Barbaren bzw. die Grenzen in ein polyvalentes Bedeutungsfeld verwandelt. Und gerade
diesem Feld, das uns über Zentrum und Peripherie spekulieren lässt, ist der vorliegende Beitrag
gewidmet.
7:00 PM - Imperial and Post-imperial References in Ingeborg Bachmann's Gender-Theatre of
Todesarten
Festic, Fatima (University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
The paper will discuss imperial and post-imperial references in Ingeborg Bachmann’s prose-cycle
Todesarten (“Ways of Dying”) with the focus on the problem of the formation of the question of
history and identity in it.
Since Bachmann uses two cognitive prisms – gender and theatricality – through which she activates
her narrative text to pass into its social and historical ground, the paper will explore how that
practice in Bachmann’s work elucidates that specific tangle of power-structure and production of
knowledge. It will also emphasize the processing of axiological scales within the connection powerknowledge which could be one of the keys toward understanding the complexity of Bachmann’s
work.
In an interview (1969 [1983]) Bachmann claimed that because Austria was an empire it’s possible to
learn something from its history, and “because of the lack of activity into which one is forced there
enormously sharpens one’s view of the big situation and of today’s empires.” It is from that legacy
that Bachmann multiplies, historicizes and contemporizes contexts of her life-“Exile” into the
writerly-readerly positioning and conceptual, sub-textual, inter-textual, inter-medial and physical
nomadization of her memory and script (or also “creolization” of her constant Vienna) - as a
politically informed account of an alternate subjectivity that she manages to affirm albeit through
ambiguity, as a literary and theoretical avant-garde indeed.
The paper will argue that pervading evocations-reconstructions of the imperial references that
Bachmann keeps complementing with the post-imperial references throughout the “Ways of Dying”,
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inscribe her own version of a non-colonial po-i-et(h)ics, illuminative of the performative memorizing
of some aspects of the monarchic along with other times.
16829 - Prismatic Translation
Room: Hs 41
Chair: Park, Sowon; Walid Hamarneh; Stefan Willer; Robert Young; Eva Horn; Vladimir Biti; Robert
Stockhammer
9:00 AM - Variorum Translations
Reynolds, Matthew (OCCT - Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom)
There are various partial and competing theoretical paradigms for thinking about multiple
translations. They can be seen in terms of ‘reception’, ie as manifestations of historical and cultural
difference; as indexes of period or personal styles; as eruptions of the signifying potential of the
source text. This paper will begin by reaching back to classic 1970s and 80s work on texts and
interpretation by Fish and de Man to ground a more comprehensive theorisation in terms of an
agonistic and yet generative relationship between the many and the one.
Variorum editions display a range of variants as evidence for the selection of a ‘best text’ while at the
same time eroding confidence in that text by revealing the many different choices that have been
made in the past. Each branch of the paradox is reliant on the other: the ‘best text’ conjures into
being a crowd of less good readings that it is being preferred to; while the idea of the ‘variant’
assumes the existence of a unitary text that it varies from. In many respects, the same tensions are
generated by multiple translations.
The paper will go on to ask how much this state of affairs owes to a particular set of institutional
assumptions, the regime of standard languages and the technology of the book. Here, it will draw on
Matthiessen’s 2013 argument about the relevance to translation of ‘agnation’, ie the shadowing of
texts by innumerable possible alternative expressions. It will consider whether new ways of
presenting prismatic translations, both in print and in electronic media, might move on from the
example of the variorum so as to nourish new reading practices and point towards fresh ideas about
textuality and meaning.
Other points of reference are likely to include multiple translations of Inferno 33 into English and of
Jane Eyre into French and Italian; Peter Robinson Poetry and Translation; new media artworks by
John Cayley; the 2015 Prismatic Translation conference at OCCT (Oxford).
9:30 AM - Translation through the Lens of Language
Young, Robert (New York University, New York, USA)
While much attention has been directed towards the role of translation in its relation to the range of
differences between source and target languages, comparatively little thought is given to its relation
to the ways in which language itself is conceptualised in such transactions. In this paper I shall argue
that it makes little sense to conceptualise translation without first asking ‘what is a language?’ Since
this is quite possibly an unanswerable question, this in turn causes difficulties for any concept of
translation. What becomes clear is that translation, in its modern understanding, is founded on a
particular concept of language, which is rarely articulated and when it is, can be seen to be
profoundly problematic from a conceptual and practical point of view. As a result, it might be said
that far from mediating the differences between languages, it is translation that produces them
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Chair: Stefan Willer
10:00 AM - Ideographic Translation
Park, Sowon (Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom)
Writing systems are typically accepted as transparent tools for transcribing spoken languages. This
view is encouraged by phonetic alphabetic writing, which encodes the sound of speech. Yet the
relations between writing and speech are complex. Speech is at times simply an intermediary
between thought and writing; at times it is the immediate manifestation of thought from which
writing derives; at others, speech and writing are quite separate. The relations between writing and
speech are also as various as the different script systems. Translating literature written in one script
system to another might be precisely where the variation would be most evident. Yet translation
theories have been notably uninterested in how script shapes meaning, focusing almost entirely on
the differences between spoken languages. This phonocentric approach to translation critically
neglects the gap between speech and writing, as if speaking and writing are more or less
approximate. By being unaware of the range of script systems and naturalising the specific
convention that is phonetic writing, we limit our perspective to this one kind of written language –
‘speech for the eyes’ – instead of seeing the full spectrum. This paper examines writing from a more
visually inclined prism and brings into focus ‘ideographic’ translation, which bypasses sound and
operates directly from visual image to meaning.
11:00 AM - Translating Happiness
Howell, Yvonne (University of Richmond, Richmond, USA)
It has long been noted that words for ‘happiness’ (Freude, Glücklichkeit, schastie, radost, bonheur,
raha, etc. ) do not translate seamlessly across even closely related languages. The etymological roots
of words that designate happiness – presumably a highly subjective state that is, nevertheless, a
universal human capacity – point to intriguingly different cultural and philosophical notions of what
‘happiness’ entails. This paper will examine recent attempts to theorise cross-cultural notions of
‘happiness’ and look more closely at the words used to designate (and translate) the concept in
several different literary traditions.
11:30 AM - Translation and the (Un-)making of Meaning Value
Hamarneh, Walid (University of Richmond, Richmond, USA)
During the past two decades scholars have been engaged in studying the role of translation in the
different and diverse processes that helped universalise the western ‘modern’ and its spread in
different societies and cultures especially during the historical moments of colonialism and
globalisation. These two historical moments, highly controversial and difficult to disengage
temporally, have been moments of interaction and strife, contact and confrontation, encountering
and countering, sharing and separation, or at least attempts at all that. The, by now accepted, central
role that translation played in these complex processes has been difficult to theorise due to the
different historical conditions and cases that were studied. Most theoretical pronouncements
depended on particular cases or cases from contiguous areas.
The global circulation of signs and the ways their meaning values are made and unmade
problematise further the issues of equivalence and reciprocity of meaning that have been central to
theories of translation. This is especially the case when we are confronted with cases where
reciprocity becomes a problem in trans-lingual and trans-cultural exchanges where predominantly
unequal forms of global exchange characterise the material and intellectual conditions of that
105
exchange. Such en-counters become more interesting when they are performed with the pretext of
‘authenticity’ envisioned under these conditions of unequal exchange.
To examine some theoretical aspects of such processes, I have chosen two cases, one from Egypt
(Mujstafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti 1876–1924) and one from China (Lin Shu 1852–1924). The two were
contemporaries who had no or little command of any foreign language and were proponents of the
resuscitation of classical modes of literary discourse. Yet both worked mostly in ‘translation’. They
translated works from the western cannon, especially novels, and from languages they did not know.
However, their ‘translations’ were very popular to the extent that they became a part of the canon in
their respective cultures.
Chair: Robert Young
12:00 PM - Translation, Interpretation, Orientation
Chaouli, Michel (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA)
‘“Interpretation”,’ Harold Bloom writes at one point, ‘once meant “translation,” and essentially still
does’ (A Map of Misreading, 1980, 85). If his proposition has merit, then it encourages us to think of
translation on a scale of complexity that we ordinarily reserve for the idea and practice of
interpretation. But do we know how to think of interpretation? How might we conceive of this idea
so that it is apt to enrich, rather than diminish, the notion of translation?
The most entrenched notion of interpretation, developed in ancient times as part of the practice of
turning religious and legal codes into canonical texts, relies on a semantic model that is essentially
substitutive: the interpretation comes to take the place of the religious or legal text. We often think
of interpretation as being parasitic on the text to be interpreted, but in this classical model, the
interpretation stands in for the law, in effect becoming the law. If we follow this model, translation
will look like a process of substituting one set of words (in one language) for another set of words (in
another).
Yet there are other models of interpretation that we might use as our point of departure. What if we
thought of interpretation not as a way of substituting one set of meaningful signs for another, but as
a mode of comportment? It would be a way of knowing what I must do in a certain situation (rather
than figuring out what someone else is saying). Using Wittgenstein’s language (without taking on all
of his philosophical baggage), we might say that interpretation would involve ‘knowing what to do
next’, moving about a new world, learning to orient oneself in it. Depending on the signs I set out to
interpret and depending on my mood, the ways I orient myself may be narrow or they may leave
great latitude, but they would have to be understood as being constrained, for without constraints
the notion of learning to orient oneself in a world would have little sense. In my talk, I hope to
develop the idea of interpretation as a form of orientation and what promise it might hold for the
notion of translation.
Chair: Eva Horn
2:00 PM - Language-stretching, parallel aesthetics and poetic equivalence:
Poetic idioms in a multilingual literary culture
Orsini, Fransecsa (SOAS, University of London, London, United Kingdom)
One would expect that in a multilingual literary culture there would be a great many translations –
isn’t that one way newness enters a literature? But my experience with early modern literary culture
106
in north India is that formal translations were, in fact, remarkably few. From what we can glean from
the texts we have and the relatively few multilingual traces in the mostly monolingual archives, the
multiple poetic tastes and idioms that existed and were cultivated did not travel through translation.
How did they travel, then? Using examples from courtly and devotional Persian, Hindi, and Urdu
texts, I will argue that either the differences between the poetic idioms were stressed and these
were consciously cultivated in parallel from each other, or else it was poetic ideas, images, and
expressions – rather than whole texts – which travelled from one language to the other. The result
was either the setting up of poetic equivalences (X image in Persian is equivalent to Y image in Hindi),
the conscious mixing of poetic images and key terms in a macheronic idiom, or language-stretching –
the introduction of new words or ideas or stretching old ones to new meanings. Another outcome
was that poets and audiences in the various languages became familiar with the different poetic
idioms and repertoires even in the absence of formal translations and of widespread literacy, given
the oral-performative contexts of much of this poetry. The Indian example, then, helps us think
about the “carrying over” of poetic ideas and significant terms beyond formal translation.
And while modern language ideologies taught people to believe that “Persian and Urdu belong to
Muslims” and “Hindi is the language of the Hindus”, not just pragmatic language use but also poetic
tastes were and remained eclectic longer after those ideological pronouncements.
4:00 PM - From Space to Event: The Development of Yuri Lotman's Concept of Translation
Norimatsu, Kyohei (University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan)
Yuri Lotman (1922–93), the leading scholar of Soviet semiotics, in his later years focused his attention
on translation and dialogue between various semiotic systems. This enabled him to escape the
limitation of static description inherent in a given sign system and to describe and clarify the dynamic
process of production of new meanings. In this sense, his notion of translation was highly prismatic.
At the same time, Lotman developed the concept of the ‘semiosphere’, which embraces various
semiotic systems and functions as the basis for translation between them. This virtual space which
precedes any semiotic systems and supplies the precondition for prismatic translation, is reminiscent
of the imperial space that was the Soviet Union, uniting various nations and cultures. In the last few
years of his life, however, Lotman moved away from this ‘imperial’ view of translation,
reconceptualising it as ‘explosion’; he now described the production of new meanings through
translation as an unpredictable event in time. Referring to other contemporary Russian cultural
theories on translation and dialogue, this paper examines the shift in Lotman’s view and thus
explores problematics of prismatic translation.
4:30 PM - What remains Untranslated in translatio imperii?Translation as Political Operation
Biti, Vladimir (Institut für Slawistik, Wien, Austria)
As if by definition, translation lays claim to continuity, refusing to accept any substantial break
between its states of departure and arrival. The latter declares fidelity to the former, suppressing the
betrayal which is being committed. The same repudiation characterizes the operation of translatio
imperii carried out along an irreversible historical axis, even if it transfigures political rather than
linguistic states into one another. Inasmuch as the asymetry between the internal structures of these
states underlies the same denial in both translatio and translation, the analogy between the
suppressed political kernels of these two seemingly completely heterogeneous transitions appears to
be illuminating. Although their states of departure and arrival are both discontinuous and dislocated
with regard to one another, the successor erases this peculiar conjunctive disjuncture in order to
ensure the sovereignty of both relates. Interpreting translatio(n) as the successor’s self-asserting
reaction to the “spectral” address of the model, I, on the contrary, intend to question both the
model’s and the successor’s sovereignty. The model, inasmuch as the successor’s unequal
107
constituencies experience it, turns out to be a conflict-ridden constellation rather than sovereign.
However, if the successor’s constituencies cannot respond to the model’s uncertain address without
competing with other internal constituencies, their sovereignty is equally questionable. It is precisely
translatio(n) as a camouflaged self-establishment which the successor’s constituency needs to
become sovereign. Translatio(n) is an eminently political operation because it only promotes the
constituency that authors it to the status of agency, while relegating other constituencies to the
status of its enablers. This constitutive bifurcation points to an apocryphal untranslated residue amid
the publicly translated state, uncovering the possibility of different translatio(n)s.
Chair: Vladimir Biti
5:00 PM - Cultural Translation or the Political Logic of Prismatic Translation
Habjan, Jernej (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia)
In political terms, the transition from translation as channelling of equivalences to translation as
refraction of differences can be viewed as part of the shift from consensual translation to cultural
translation. Arguing for consensual translation, J ü rgen Habermas speaks of a process of returning
excluded individuals into the community by translating their pathological private languages into
public communication. On the other side, Homi Bhabha ’ s and Judith Butler ’ s cultural translation is
a process of universalising the very sphere of public communication by making it recognise its
excluded other. Both Butler and Bhabha have convincingly criticised Habermas ’ s therapeutic
essentialism, which shares much of its flaws with the channelising translation as compared to
prismatic translation. Like channelising translation, Habermas ’ s universal pragmatics subsumes
otherness under equivalence, and only Butler ’ s and Bhabha ’ s proposals of cultural translation
grant otherness the status of difference. However, according to the Viennese collective eipcp, and
notably Boris Buden, Butler ’ s and Bhabha ’ s models of translation are prone as much as Habermas ’
s to the post-political ideology of balancing the impossibilities instead of facing the impossibility of
balancing. In my paper, I will focus on Butler ’ s proposal of cultural translation as an endless process
of translating identities excluded from the legal notion of universality back into this notion, which is
thereby itself retroactively universalised. I will argue that Butler ’ s proposal rests on a misreading of
(Derrida ’ s misreading of) Austin ’ s speech act theory, and try to show how such a reification of
performativity could be avoided in the shift from channelising translation to prismatic translation.
9:00 AM - Literary Dictionaries as Meta-poetical Projects
According to the linguist Mario Wandruszka („Interlinguistik“), we are multilingual within the realms
of our own language, using different languages corresponding to diverse practical contexts of living.
Languages are no monosystems, and thus there is only a relative difference between the speaking of
the different idioms any language is consisting of and real multilingualism. Moreover, we never
master our native language perfectly; it remains, at least partially, a foreign language for us. Examples of experimental poetic writing have been interpreted as intralingual translation projects
ponting to the relativity of this difference and revealing strange and unexplored dimensions within
the seemingly familiar everyday language. Especially with regard to the French poet Michel Leiris, but
also to Edmond Jabès and Georges Perec, the writer and literary criticist Felix Philipp Ingold has
stressed the significance of what he (also) calls intra-lingual translation as a basic poetical strategy.
To his opinion, a closer and more systematical investigation on this topic would lead to important
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discoveries concerning the theory of translation as well as of literature. Intralingual translation, to
Ingold’s opinion, is dominating large, though peripherical areas of poetical art, including phenomena
as anagrammatical texts, palindroms, phonetical readings, and other kinds of experiments based the
language- and letter-“materials“.
In literature, the dictionary can be regarded as an important reflection model that points to a
fundamental self-referential interest of literary writing in the nature and the potentials of language.
It can firstly be modelled in its function as a device to foster communication and understanding, even
with regard to the world of nonverbal things. But it can secondly also be viewed as a device of
questionable value, as far as the ‚other’ in whatever respect is concerned. Literary dictionaries of
invented languages are paradoxical object reflecting the borders of translation. Similarly, dictionaries
containing unfamiliar words or proposing deviant explications stimulate reflection both about
language itself and about the tension between the comprehensible and the incomprehensible.
....
9:30 AM - The (Un-)translatability of 'Welt'
Stockhammer, Robert (Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Munich, Germany)
Paradoxically enough, there doesn’t exist a worldwide concept of world. Its translatability cannot
even be guaranteed with respect to the three official languages of the ICLA conference in Vienna,
2016. Neither does the Vocabulaire européen des philosophies:Dictionnaire des intraduisibles
contain an entry on monde, nor the Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon an entry
on world – both of them confine themselves on near-equivalent signifiers from other languages,
olam (Hebrew), mir (Russian), and Welt (German). Leaving, with regard to my competences, Hebrew
and Russian aside, even the equivalence of the English and German words, despite of their obvious
etymological relation, cannot be taken for granted. It seems that the German signifier implies a
philosophical dignity which is not always realised in the world wide web: ‘die Bezeichnung einer in
sich sinnvoll gegliederten Ganzheit, einer intern strukturierten Vielfalt’ (to quote the Historisches
Wörterbuch der Philosophie which heavily relies on the impressive entry on Welt in Grimm’s
Deutsches Wörterbuch). German is a language especially presumed to make sense (see also
Weltweisheit or Weltanschauung, composites without satisfactory equivalents in other languages –
but there are similar, albeit less acknowledged problems if Weltliteratur is hastily translated as world
literature). At the same time, however, the entries on Welt in Grimm’s Wörterbuch and in the
Dictionnaire des intraduisibles make it plausible that the German word has, in its turn, developed its
semantic abundance via the incorporation of related signifiers from other languages (Kant’s use of
the German word, for example, is explicitly influenced by connotations of monde). In other words: At
least some problems of (un-)translatability are produced, not so much by linguistic or cultural
uniqueness (by the Greek or the German way of talking and thinking), but rather by prismatic
refractions of earlier translations. Perhaps, Welt has been always already translated. My contribution
will try to test this hypothesis, specifically via readings of the above mentioned dictionary entries as
texts in their own right.
Chair: Robert Stockhammer
10:00 AM - Translation or Itinerary? Tracing the Path of Azerbaijani Literary Terms
Geybullayeva, Rahilya (Baku Slavic University, Baku, Azerbaijan)
Words, like peoples, travel their own evolutionary path, which can be retraced in one way or
another. Like families and tribes, the words crossbreed in fresh soil with other interpretations,
acquiring new shades of meaning. These shades then spill out into new words which, at first glance,
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have nothing in common with the previous meaning of their progenitor; for example, the lexical
series – semeni-sema-semela-zemlya – where each word appears to be original.
Interpreting individual words in translation without any knowledge of their culturological context
leads to contradictions. For example, how should we understand the ban on wine in the Holy
Scriptures (sherab) and the praise of wine (sherab) in classical Islamic poetry of the same era? How
did wine come to be divided into both drink and symbol in one and the same culture and historical
period? Why do the Azerbaijani and Turkish languages have two words to mean the same drink wine
(the semiotics of the word Russian vino [вино – wine] go back to the semiotics of the word of the
same root vina [вина – sin]): sherab and chakhir, which are different from one another in terms of
their lexical roots? Searches for an answer to these questions lead to the distant past (relatively) of
the primary semiotics of sacred drinks, which through interpretation and translation enter different
cultures in new semiotic dimensions.
In this work we suggest retracing the path of several literary terms of Azerbaijani and Turkish
literature studies such as ədəbiyyat, tarikat, kitab, namə, xəmsə and also figures and images such as
aşuq, ozan, Dədə, məcnun, saqi and şərab which are not mentioned (as well as other appropriate
terms from other eastern cultures) in the Western textbooks and in Oxford Dictionary of Literary
Terms by Chris Baldick. They are traditionally considered to have been borrowed from classical
Islamic poetry in the Middle Ages by peoples newly converted to Islam. To restore their
contemporary interpretation the medieval period is accepted as their point of origin. Although the
question of the beginning of (primary) meaning, of the starting point or origin, is relative, like the
beginning of national literature and culture of a nation or people. Parallels with, and divergences
from, earlier cultures, cultures that are geographically close and not so close, can be found in these
literary terms. They existed in the pre-Islamic period in other neighbouring cultures. Study of this
path allows cultural matrix to be determined which reveal common names for different phenomena,
different names for common phenomena or elements of so-called prismatic translation.
11:30 AM - The Hungarian Spectrum of Petronius' Satyricon
Hajdu, Péter (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)
I would like to test the metaphor of translation as prism in the Hungarian translations of Petronius. It
is always a challenge to translate Latin texts into non-Indo-European languages, which have
completely different structure, and very probably different ideas about artistic merits of a text. The
situation is especially delicate with Petronius for two reasons. On the one hand, the text does not
everywhere fit in with the traditional standards of Latin, which is taught in schools and for which a
canon of translation strategies have been developed. On the other, Petronius' work started being
regarded as a novel in the 20th century, which solicited translators use free, creative strategies to
apply the text to the expectations of novel readers. There are three Hungarian translation sf the
work. István Székely (1910) and József Révay (1920) translated only the single long continuous
fragment, Trimalchio's dinner, then István Károly Horváth (1963) all the available fragments. All the
three translators can be regarded as professionals, since they translated a lot. Székely was a
secondary school teacher, who translated several books from German and some from Latin. He
produced the most innovative prose translation from Latin in his age. Interestingly enough he
regarded the literary piece a xenophobic fable. Révay in that period of his life was a freelance
translator and writer. He was not allowed to teach between 1920–45, so he translated from Latin,
Greek, Italian and French, and wrote several informative books on ancient cultural history, but also a
lot historical fiction. He rather standardised the Hungarian Petronius. Horváth was a university
teacher and a talented scholar, who loved to do research in texts that he regarded as examples of
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ancient popular realism. His Petronius is a realist writer. These three translations offer three rather
different images of the Satyricon.
12:00 PM - 'Originalmäßig': Goethe/Retranslation/Diderot
Willer, Stefan (Center for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
Denis Diderot’s philosophical dialogue Le neveu de Rameau, written probably in the 1760s, remained
unpublished until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1804, a handwritten copy was forwarded to
Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who almost immediately started to translate the text. After this German
version had been released in 1805, the French copy seems to have disappeared. However, some
fifteen years later, in 1821, Le neveu de Rameau was published in the French edition of Diderot’s
collected works – for which the editors, in lack of any copy of the original text, had tacitly retranslated Goethe’s German version. (It was only in 1890 that a copy from Diderot’s own hand was
discovered.) In my talk I will reconstruct the story of this complex circulation of copies whithout
originals. For this purpose, I will elaborate on Goethe’s own account of the matter, which he
published in 1824. This essay comprises several (translated) documents of the case in question, e.g.,
a letter in which the French editor praises the fidelity of Goethe’s translation by means of which
Diderot’s work could be restored ‘originalmäßig’ (= in the mode, shape, or measure of the original).
This case story can be regarded as an inquiry into the predicament, but also the potential, of
prismatic translation.
16832 - Speaking About Small Literatures in Their Own Language
Chair: Liina Lukas; Katre Talviste; Jeanne E. Glesener; Vanessa Matajc
9:00 AM - How to speak about Small Literatures? Preliminary Reflections on Terminology and
Discourse
Glesener, Jeanne E. (Université du Luxembourg, Esch-Belval, Luxemburg)
The issue of small literatures and their own language inevitably raises questions about metalanguage
or/and terminology. Indeed, the very fact of referring to ‘small literatures’ (with an explanation of
the term added in brackets) rather than using the canonized but highly inappropriate term of ‘minor
literatures’ clearly shows that ‘speaking about small literatures’ also compels us to reflect on
terminology. Just as the descriptive models and normative categories that are part and parcel of the
literary scholar’s tool box mostly arise from the centres, so it is with terminology. Often, it too is just
not quite right to describe or name phenomenon specific to small literatures. This terminological
struggle is not restricted to scholarship alone but is also present in what I have called ‘the discourse
on smallness’ as formulated and cultivated by small literatures, especially in the 19th and 20th
century. Very much aware of their peripheral position and the circumstance of (what they perceived
as) their ‘belatedness’ towards situations at the centre, their attempts at self-description are not
exempt of terminological uncertainties and difficulties. This paper will present some preliminary
reflections on the terminology related to small literature studies. It will put some general questions
regarding the definition and description of small literatures before moving on to confront some of
the more antagonistic terms available for their description (small versus minor; belatedness verses
asynchronicity, etc.) and their implications. It will conclude by arguing that terminology is not only
directly relevant as a descriptive tool, but that it is also a device to counter central visions dominant
in some areas of general literary theory.
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9:30 PM - Contemporary Bilingual Literary Practice in Carinthia
Leben, Andreas (Universität Graz, Graz, Austria)
The literary practice of Slovenes in Austrian Carinthia has undergone significant differentiations and
expansions in light of the geopolitical agitations in Europe in the decades since the discontinuation of
the literary journal mladje (1960-1991). At the same time, literature by Carinthian Slovenes has fully
crossed over into bilingualism and worked its way into the center of German-speaking audiences’
attention – interacting more and more with authors who have a receptive, participative, or even
production relationship with this literature. As such, in the space, surrounding a ‘small’ literature that
can be defined as both the point of departure and the destination of a certain literary
communication, there emerged a literary sphere of interaction, which appears tentatively
indefinable according to language and topography. As conceptions assuming a regionally anchored
minority-based literature appear to be inadequate to describe the associated processes of
communication and interaction, the paper will present a concept that tries to expose an alternative
model for the description of a multicultural literature sphere that is characterised by bilingualism and
cultural transfer. The literature to be examined fulfils ideal requirements for a model study –
focusing on its constitution, on its relations to central models and repertoires, and on the innovative
potential of a ‘marginal’ literary sphere with regard to the need for the renewal of the involved
cultural hubs. Since this concept encloses a reposition of literature by Carinthian Slovene authors
within the literary systems, the centers and peripheries involved, there is also to address the
question as to whether the shift to bilingual and trans-lingual literary production represents either an
economic or an assimilation phenomenon to which minority-based practices and structures within
the ethnic group may have a tense relationship.
Chair: Katre Talviste
10:00 AM - Ambedkar's Vision of Egalitarianism and Literature
Jahan, Rahmat (Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, Gaya Bihar, India)
Ambedkar's Vision of Egalitarianism and Literature
With the continuance and perpetuation of out dated customs, traditions and the
ever widening gap between our personal and social lives, we are witnessing the realization of the
black prophecy of 1927 of Miss Katherine Mayo, an American journalist : "...if Indian self government
were established tomorrow, and if wealth tomorrow rushed in succeeding poverty in the land, India,
unless she reversed her own views as to her "untouchables" and as to her women, must still continue
in the front line of the earth's illiterates."
(Katherine 1927:202) It is to be salvaged from this grim scenario that we seek shelter
in Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar's ennobling theory of Egalitarianism. Dr. Ambedkar, India's greatest
visionary, has wrongly been hailed as a leader only of the downtrodden. He was, in fact, an original
thinker and was a rare embodiment of a historian, an economist, a revolutionary, a sociologist, an
academician and above all the constitution maker. Ambedkar, the great visionary, was pledged to the
emancipation of mankind from all kinds of exploitation as ordained by the egalitarian doctrines of
Buddhism. His efforts, therefore, were not geared for the emancipation of the Dalits only, but of the
entire human beings. It is rather unfair to compartmentalize him as a Dalit leader and utmost a
'constitution maker'. B.R. Ambedkar was the saviour who fought lifelong for the rights, liberties and
equalities of the underdogs or 'dalits'. And ‘dalit’ represents the existential conditions of a group
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subjected to subjugation, social, political, economic, cultural and religious. The present paper shall
discuss in detail Ambedkar's contribution in the evolution of literatures of the 'marginalised'.
Dr. Rahmat Jahan
Professor, P.G. Deptt. of English
Magadh University, Bodh Gaya
2:00 PM - Le roman de fondation entre littérature politique et symbolique
Le Baillif, Anne-Marie (Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, Marne-la-Vallée, France)
À la différence de pays comme l’Angleterre, la France ou l’Espagne pour lesquels la littérature
accompagne l'évolution depuis le haut moyen-âge, la littérature estonienne se confond, jusqu'en
1920, avec la littérature du pays dont elle fait partie. Il n'est pas question pour autant de parler de
littérature coloniale puisqu’elle n’a jamais été une « colonie » mais une province d'administration
plus ou moins libre. Les écrivains qui sont les premiers à porter le qualificatif d'estoniens produisent
une littérature originale et originelle. Dans le domaine de la culture, il s'agit de la recherche de
différences propres à l'aire géographique qui peuvent constituer un socle commun et donner
naissance à une culture spécifique.
Anton Hansen connut sous le pseudonyme de Tammsaare porte la primauté de la production
littéraire estonienne. C’est à cet auteur que nous nous attacherons même s'il n’est pas le seul
exemple de ce qui pourrait se désigner par « Roman de fondation »
C’est l’ensemble de la saga de Tammsaare qui « dit » la fondation de l’Estonie. J’emploie à dessein le
terme juridique parce que c’est de cela qu’il s’agit. Le titre général a recours à cette voie : Vérité et
Justice. Quels sont donc les éléments qui transforment cette saga, proche du roman d’apprentissage
classique, en un texte à portée politique et fondatrice ?
Biographie
Anne-Marie Le Baillif a étudié à Rouen à Caen et à Paris, elle obtient son doctorat ès Lettres
modernes à la Sorbonne en 1995. Elle a été en poste à Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée de 2000 à 2010.
Actuellement elle s’interroge sur la concomitance entre l’émergence de démocraties européennes
avec une littérature neuve les accompagnant : le « roman de fondation ».
2:30 PM - Mapping the world literary system and small literatures: the aspect of geo-politics and
geo-political poetics
Matajc, Vanesa (Dep. of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana,
Slovenia)
In Moretti's graphs, maps and trees which represent the model of the world literary system, the form
acts as the central research category. However, the very practical result, such as monumental work
The Novel (2007), reveals that small literatures can easily disappear from the world literary system:
in this many-sided presentation of the novel genre, one could hardly find European novels written in
the small-power languages, although they create divergences of the historical, social-critical and
proletarian novel genres, including literary strategy of the historiographical metafiction too. In the
second half of the 20th century, these divergences can be explained either as confirmations or
subversions of the dominant poetics that were distributed by the geo-political centres during the
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period of the Cold War. In this view, a number of European small literatures of this period perform
the morphospace of the border, i.e. the collision of the geo-political poetics that significantly created
the world literary system. This will be argued by the case of Slovene collections of novels that
represent and confront three different images of the world novel. In short, small literatures can reappear in mapping the world literary system by taking into account the divergences of form
motivated by the geo-political aspects of morphospaces.
Chair: Jeanne E. Glesener
3:00 PM - Le théâtre luxembourgeois: spécificités et problématiques d'un petit genre
De Toffoli, Ian (Université du Luxembourg, Institut de langue et de littératures luxembourgeoises, Esch-Belval, Luxemburg)
Il faut faire du théâtre là où on a quelque chose à dire, là où l’on a développé des relations avec les
gens, c’est-à-dire, le plus souvent, là d’où l’on vient, avait l’habitude de répondre Frank Feitler,
directeur du Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg de 2001 à 2015. Aussi exhortait-il les écrivains
dramatiques luxembourgeois à écrire dans la langue « vernaculaire, maternelle ou territoriale » 1 ,
donc en luxembourgeois, au lieu de l’allemand ou du français, langues véhiculaires. Évidemment, le
choix de la langue d’écriture, au théâtre luxembourgeois, qui ne connaît son véritable essor
professionnel que depuis une quarantaine d’années, est loin d’être anodin. L’étude que nous
proposons présenter au cours de la section de groupe « Speaking About Small Literatures in Their
Own Language », voudrait donc analyser, dans un bref survol, l’évolution du théâtre luxembourgeois,
de ses débuts populaires (le plus souvent en luxembourgeois), avec l’apparition d’une conscience
nationale qui passe par la littérature, au théâtre contemporain (souvent plurilingue) qui se veut
plutôt comme une critique des symboles d’identité culturelle et nationale, selon trois points de vue
différents : linguistique (usage innovant de la langue vernaculaire et brassage des langues afin de
créer des pièces spécifiquement luxembourgeoises), thématique (spécificités formelles et de contenu
du drame luxembourgeois au sein d’une petite littérature) et pratique (difficile professionnalisation
du théâtre sur la scène culturelle d’un petit pays).
Bibliographie sélective 100 Jahre Theater in
Luxemburg , Simon Baldauff-Beck et Marc Linster (éds.), collection « Amphitheater », 7/8 ,
Echternach, Phi, 1989. Dossier « Theater in Luxemburg », Forum , n° 260, octobre 2006. Roger
Muller, « Von den Anfängen des lëtzebuergeschen Theaters », Galerie , 30 (2012) n° 3, p. 355.
1 Gilles Deleuze et Félix Guattari, Kafka. Pour une littérature mineure , Paris, Minuit, 1975.
4:00 PM - "Wer hierzulande schreibt, kennt sein Risiko" - Literatursoziologischer Blick auf das
Luxemburger Literatursystem
Gilbertz, Fabienne (University of Luxembourg, Esch-Belval, Luxemburg)
Das Luxemburger Literatursystem ist nicht nur durch Mehrsprachigkeit geprägt, sondern auch durch
die oftmals ambivalente Spracheinstellung seiner Akteure. Während die Luxemburger
Literaturproduktion in deutscher und französischer Sprache lange Zeit als sprachlich mangelhaft
angesehen wurde, blieb das Luxemburgische als Literatursprache überwiegend auf die Genres der
Kriegs- und Heimatliteratur beschränkt. Die damit verbundenen, von vielen Akteuren verinnerlichten
und für ‚kleine‘ Literaturen gängigen Topoi der Provinzialität und Verspätung prägten die
Selbstwahrnehmung mehrerer Generationen und werden insbesondere in literaturgeschichtlichen
Darstellungen offenbar (Hoffmann 1989).
In meinem Vortrag, der Elemente meiner Dissertation aufnimmt, soll gezeigt werden, dass im Falle
der Luxemburger Literatur ästhetische Fragestellungen nur im Zusammenhang mit einer Analyse der
literatursoziologischen und soziolinguistischen Rahmenbedingungen diskutiert werden können. Mit
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Blick auf die sechziger und siebziger Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts möchte ich beschreiben, wie
insbesondere die fehlenden institutionellen Strukturen die Entwicklung eines autonomen und
professionellen Literatursystems hemmten (vgl. Manderscheid 1977, Hausemer 1985, Rewenig 1985
u.a.). Die Theorie der Polysysteme (Even-Zohar 1990) scheint dafür ein interessantes
Beschreibungsmodell zu liefern, da sie im Gegensatz zu anderen systemischen Konzepten (z.B.
Casanova 1999) literarische Mehrsprachigkeit explizit berücksichtigt. Darüber hinaus kennt die
Theorie verschiedene Gründe und Formen der literarischen Interdependenz und vermag somit, die
Entwicklung des Luxemburger Literatursystems literaturgeschichtlich und -soziologisch zu
kontextualisieren.
4:30 PM - Literature defined by language?
Kõvamees, Anneli (Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia)
In the era of hyphenated identities where the relationship between foreign and own is shifting, the
exact definition of national literature is also under question. In Estonia an interesting literary debate
erupted in connection with the Estonian Russian writer Andrei Ivanov (born 1971) who turned out to
be difficult to classify. Some of the questions that arose were: is Estonian literature a literature
written in Estonian or is it a literature written in Estonia? Should Estonian literature be only in
Estonian-language? Especially small nations like Estonians tend to define one’s identity according to
the language spoken and ethnicity, not the citizenship. There are various significant shifts in Estonian
literature. For example, in Estonian literary history one finds at the beginning of Estonian literature
various Baltic German authors, J. Undusk has noted that “For a long time Estonian literature was part
of Baltic German literature in Estonian” (J. Undusk, Eesti kirjanduse ajast, ruumist ja ülesandest XX
sajandil. – Looming, No. 2, 1999, p. 251), but at one point Baltic German authors were excluded from
Estonian literature or noted only in the remarks as peripheral phenomena. It is only recently that the
inclusion of Baltic German literature into Estonian literature is taking place. The position of Estonian
Russian literature has also shifted from rejection and periphery in the spotlight. The works by Andrei
Ivanov have played an important role in that process. Taking the Estonian Russian-language literature
as the basis, the paper deals with the questions of defining national literature; various smaller
literatures inside small literatures; peripheral literature inside peripheral literature; and the aspect of
language in these matters.
Chair: Vanessa Matajc
5:00 PM - Moving centres and peripheries in the lives and works of L. Welch and P. Joris
Hansen-Pauly, Marie-Anne (University of Luxembourg, Mersch, Luxemburg)
Welch and Joris are originally from Luxembourg, a small country where participation in literary
communities is linked to language choices (Luxemburgish, French, German) and a search for cultural
models. For writers, this implies multiple, uncertain notions of centres and peripheries, as well as
complex orientation questions. Above all, this situation opens up issues of centripetal and centrifugal
forces constantly interacting.
Both Welch and Joris leave Luxembourg as young adults and while continuing their travelling they
‘settle’ in North America: Welch in Canada and Joris in the United States. For their writing, they
choose English, a language which was not part of their original linguistic background. This paper aims
at showing how, on the one hand, their work gives evidence of their attraction for the great
languages of culture outside Luxembourg while, on the other hand, much of their writing deals with
the literary concerns of cultural communities, usually perceived as peripheral. For Welch the focus
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will be on her close links to the Canadian Maritimes whereas Joris’s ongoing interest in Arab
literature in French offers further insights into his understanding of centre and border.
So where do they belong? How do they perceive themselves as writers? Who do they address? How
and where will they be remembered, studied? Their viewson the position of the literature created
outside the centres will be analyzed with some of the concepts or metaphors they have used
themselves: e.g. migratory lives (Welch), nomadic literature (Joris).The rich output by the two writers
is sufficiently diversified to allow links with current debates on transculturalism and multicentricity.
Finally considerations on the reception of Joris’s and Welch’s work lead to an examination of new
models of mapping literature, which take into account multiple locations and its dynamic and dialogic
nature.
11:00 AM - Die Weltliteratur als Bestandteil kleiner Literatur
Lukas, Liina (Universität Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
Die kleine, dem „literarischen Meridian von Greenwich“ (Casanova) fern liegende Literatur kann „an
der Existenz der Anderen nicht vorbeikommen“ (Masing). Sie konstruiert sich eine „Weltliteratur“,
die sie als einen Teil ihrer eigenen literarischen Tradition betrachtet. So gewährleistet sie sich eine
„Verdichtung der geistigen Atmosphäre“ (Oras), die nötig ist für ihre ästhetische Erneuerung. Nach
einer essentialistischen Kulturauffassung könnte solch eine Art „kultureller Kreditnahme“ als
Fremdeinfluss oder „Selbstkolonisierung“ erscheinen. Geht man hingegen von einem dynamischen
Kulturbegriff aus, so „findet eine Kultur den sichersten Garant ihrer Lebenskraft im Dialog mit
anderen Kulturen, ja mit der Weltliteratur im weitesten Sinne“ (Talvet).
Nachgegangen wird dem Begriff der Weltliteratur (als einer Konstruktion des (meta-)literarischen
Kommunikatisonsprozesses) einer kleinen Literatur am Beispiel der estnischen Literatur - mit ihren
knapp eine Million potentiellen Lesern eine der kleinsten unter den europäischen Literaturen. In
ihrer Aneignung der Weltliteratur hat sie eine lange Tradition, die auf ihrem multilingualen
Entstehungskontext gründet. Sie entwickelte sich im intensiven Kontakt mit anderen Sprachen. Sie
entstand anderssprachig, so dass die Grenzziehung zwischen dem Eigenen und dem Fremden
unmöglich wird. Interessanter als die Suche nach der Originalität, ist die Frage, weshalb zu dieser
oder jener Zeit bestimmte kulturelle Elemente ausgewählt und neu zu einem funktionalen Ganzen
zusammengesetzt worden sind.
Freilich darf man den kolonialen Charakter des historischen Modell der Kulturvermittlung zwischen
den großen und den kleinen Kulturen in Europa nicht übersehen. Es gilt zu prüfen, ob es das
„eingeübte“ (koloniale) historische Modell des interkulturellen Verhältnisses im Baltikum in der
postkolonialen Ära ermöglichte, offene Kulturtransfermodelle aufzubauen. Der „Weltliteratur“
kommt eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Bildung der postkolonialen Identität zu.
11:30 AM - Small translations of a big text: fragmentary translations of Marcel Proust's "A la
recherche du temps perdu" in Estonian
Kütt, Madli (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
Marcel Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu has been translated into Estonian only in small and
very personally selected portions. These selections have been made by translators themselves, who
have not been turned down by the length and the greatness of the job but have been inspired by
their own necessity for one piece or another of this river novel. The fragmentary nature of these
translations does not however have to be considered in negative terms for “missing out” but may
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also be seen as an advantage for giving additional information about translators’ personal
relationships with the text and with its fictional subject.
In my paper I would like to present a comparative study between translations of Proust's
"Recherche" in Estonian to discuss the ways that translators deal with spatial expressions of the
fictional subject, and how the translators’ aim to remain invisible or not meets with the Proustian
dialectics of visibility and invisibility.
12:00 PM - 0 to 100 in less than 10 Years. A Story of a History of 20th-Century Literature
Talviste, Katre (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
A small literature, such as the Estonian literature, often regards itself in a
comparativist perspective, both in academic studies and literary pedagogy, looking for ways to
become a part of a larger, inter- or transnational literary tradition and also to find its own specific
identity within the larger tradition. Awareness of this constant contact with other cultures is
perceptible in all literary practices, including teaching reading and literary history. Literary pedagogy,
in turn, has to help readers acquire and handle this awareness, explain the difference, the parallels
and the connexions between Estonian literature and others. The priorities in selecting the other
literatures and the way of defining Estonian literature’s relations with them have varied over time,
depending on both literary and extra-literary circumstances and agendas.
I will describe some aspects of Estonian teaching traditions: the representation of
Estonian literature and other literatures in textbooks over the past hundred years, the recent
changes in curriculum, and the challenges brought by the changing pedagogical and academic
concepts. I will particularly focus on the pedagogical and historiographical issues encountered in the
process of creating a high-school textbook on 20th-century literature (Tallinn: Avita, 2015) of which I
am a co-author (with Janek Kraavi, Liina Lukas and Katrin Puik). The issues stem from three new tasks
we had undertaken: 1) to offer a brief comprehensive history of the entire 20th century, a period
which has only recently become available for such a synthetic consideration; 2) to describe literary
processes without categorizing literature on national basis, while respecting the diversity of world
literature and the need for a certain continuity in the teaching tradition; 3) to take advantage of the
new, digital support for presenting literature as a part of wider cultural practices.
16881 - New Perspectives on the Paragone
Chair: Thoss, Jeff; Mathieson, Jolene
9:00 AM - Paragone as an analytical device
Bruhn, Jørgen (Linnæus University, Complit, Växjö, Sweden)
The field of Interart and Intermedial studies has proposed a number of analytical tools that aim to
describe the intermedial aspects of individual media products, for instance literary texts, as well as
the constellations of historical forms. The historical idea of Paragone, in the beginning relating to the
battle between arts in the early modern period, has most often been applied as a contextual support,
a useful background that might help explain specific aspects of individual media products or the
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relation between ore than one media product. In my paper I would like to modify this historisizing
approach to a certain extent.
Initially, I briefly discuss some of the existing critical attempts of actualizing the concept of Paragone
in recent years. This leads me to the main objective of my presentation which is to suggest that the
Paragone might be transformed from a historical fact to a analytical category that might prove to be
a productive part of intermedial literary analysis.
9:30 AM - Der Paragone in mediologischer und kultursoziologischer Perspektive
Wolf, Norbert Christian (Uni Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria)
Die Debatten um den Paragone wurden als Phänomen des Wettstreits zwischen den Künsten lange
ausschließlich auf symbolischer Ebene untersucht. Erst in den letzten Jahren hat man auch die soziale
Ebene der Distinktionsbildungen als Motor künstlerischer Einsätze und Produktivität in den Blick
genommen. Der Vortrag soll einschlägige Ansätze neuerer Theoriebildung präsentieren und anhand
ausgewählter Beispiele aus der deutschsprachigen Literatur- und Kulturgeschichte kritisch mustern.
10:00 AM - Reflections on a myth - reading text and image in a new perspective
Führer, Heidrun (Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund, Sweden)
Paragone is a well-known and often applied category to discuss the interrelationship of the Sister
Arts.However, it does not seem to be a sufficient label to respond to the general questions raised
about representation, mimesis and identity brought together in the postmodern intermedial writing
of The Matisse Stories (1993), by A.S. Byatt, which was influenced by French avant-garde in literature
and visual arts. Therefore, I propose the integration of the reader as a third part by drawing on the
peritextual design as well as on circumtextual and intratextual frames. Such alternative allows me to
anchor an emblematic tradition of perceiving the materialised form of the printed book that in
postmodern rhetoric plays both with the interdependency of text-image and their contextual
relationship along with the Sister Arts and their marginalised little brothers.
11:00 AM - "The physiology of the nervous system and the processes of the imagination": ekphrasis
and artful language in William Carlos Williams' Spring and All
Gander, Catherine (Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom)
Taking the visual literacy required by artworks as a point of intellectual departure, poet and physician
William Carlos Williams presents his hybrid book Spring and All (1923) as an experiment in language;
in the ways in which writing, like painting, should not be a method of mirroring the world, but rather
of both (re)cognising and (re)creating it. This said, scholarly approaches to his ekphrastic poems have
interpreted them as transcriptions of the visual artworks to which they respond, thereby
participating in the separation of subjects that the discussion of ‘the verbal representation of visual
representation’ implies. The poem I examine from Spring and All (later called ‘The Pot of Flowers’) is
constructed visually, aurally and linguistically to evoke the receptive and creative processes
generated by one’s encounter with an artwork (Charles Demuth’s ‘Tuberoses’). However, as Williams
writes, ‘[t]he reason people marvel at works of art and say: How in Christ’s name did he do it? – is
that they know nothing of the physiology of the nervous system and have never in their experience
witnessed the larger processes of the imagination’ (123). For Williams, then, the cognitive and the
creative are interdependently connected: a deeper understanding of the neuro-scientific bases of
imaginative processes is needed in order to comprehend art’s emotive effect. This paper employs
recent developments in areas of neurophysiology, aesthetics and cognitive poetics (apparently
‘conflicting’ fields in which Williams nonetheless had a strong working interest) to investigate
whether ‘comparison’ (paragone) between the visual and the verbal in ekphrasis can be reconfigured
as ‘correspondence’. This rooted in process – specifically, the embodied cognitive, perceptual
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processes of reception of both painting and poem. Via this combinative approach I throw light on
how we might read Williams’ poetry the way he intended: as ‘the force upon which science depends
for its reality’.
11:30 AM - Sarah's Silence: The Paragone and Feminist Critique in John Fowles' The French
Lieutenant's Woman
Mathieson, Jolene (Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany)
Although a fairly substantial theoretical literature on the subject of Fowles’ postmodern narrative
techniques in The French Lieutenant’s Woman has sprung up in the last decades, scholars have
ignored the paragonal relationship between his use of 19th-century English pictorial aesthetics and
the act of narration; which is regrettable considering that via its metanarrative voice, TFLW directly
engages and critiques the texts of Victorian aestheticians and artists, especially in regards to how
they viewed the role of women in Victorian society. When read in the context of the paragone, TFLW
reveals aspects of theme, especially concerning the relationship between verbal and visual
representation, that have hitherto been overlooked. This paper examines the ways in which pictorial
aesthetics is used to create the two protagonists, Charles and Sarah, and argues that its use can be
understood as a type of performative paragone; that is, as a gendered struggle for dominance over
identity. By subjecting the visual art symbol to the power of language, TFLW not only champions the
act of narration, it foregrounds emplotment’s (in)ability to provide a viable voice to the historically
silenced image. The envisioned goal to show how the paragone can be/is used as a feminist critical
tool.
12:00 PM - Beyond Paragone: Artistic Collaboration in 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'
Gil Curiel, German (UCC, Cork, Ireland)
Adaptations have been crucial to cinema from its inception. However, the focus was for a long time
devoted to issues of fidelity and later medium-specificity—what we might call paragone debates of
sorts—, and it is only relatively recently that the field has opened up to new approaches. Some of
these, such as the search of the predominance of visual aspects beyond the literary, or the strategies
adaptors follow to localise a story—film content—to make it relevant across cultures, or the concept
of adaptation as a collaborative art, are among the most innovative. It is precisely these approaches
that are the subject matter of my proposed paper. On the basis of a theoretical framework that sees
adaptation as a collaborative process, which entails a dynamic interaction between the arts rather
than their competition, my proposal seeks to investigate the role played by the various arts—
literature, theatre, poetry, painting, music and cinema— in the film Girl with a Pearl Earring. Based
on the homonymous novel written by Tracy Chevalier and published in 1999, Girl with a Pearl Earring
was directed by Peter Webber in 2003, featuring an original music track. Ostensibly on the
fictionalized history of the painting of the same name by Johannes Vermeer in 1665, Girl with a Pearl
Earring involves the interweaving and harmonization of the contributions made by the various arts
into a unified whole that I contend successfully demonstrates cooperation instead of competition,
bringing earlier theorisations of the total art (by Wagner, and recently by Peter Greenaway) more
relevant and fruitful for this kind of artistic and intermedial relation.
2:00 PM - Embracing the Rival? Intermediality as a Literary Posture in Austrian Pop Literature
Degner, Uta (Uni Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria)
Mein Beitrag befragt die intermedialen Tendenzen in der österreichischen Pop-Literatur der späten
60er und frühen 70er Jahre vor dem Hintergrund der Paragone-Frage. Ich werde dabei die These
vertreten, dass die in der Konkurrenz der Künste angelegte Agonalität innerliterarisch funktionalisiert
wird.
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2:30 PM - Gegen die "digitale Sünde" - Literatur als Reflex auf den Medienumbruch zum digitalen
Zeitalter am Beispiel des Romans "Die Meisen von UUsimaa singen nicht mehr" von Franz Friedrich
Sommerfeld, Beate (Adam-Mickiewicz-Universität Posen, Poznan, Poland)
Dass Literatur die Entwicklung der Künste reflektierend begleitet und sich neuen Kunstformen
gegenüber positioniert, sich von ihnen abgrenzt oder mit ihnen interferiert bzw. sich von ihnen
affizieren lässt, ist ein Gemeinplatz der Komparatistik. Auch der Umbruch vom analogen zum
digitalen Zeitalter wird in allen Künsten, auch in der Literatur, reflektiert, führt zu Umgruppierungen
und Wertungsverschiebungen im System der Künste, Ein Beleg dafür ist der Roman "Die Meisen von
UUsimaa" des Experimentalfilmers und Autors Franz Friedrich (2104). Stark polariserend bezieht der
Roman zum Medienwandel Stellung und schlägt sich auf die Seite der Analogmedien Fotografie und
Film, wobei er auf den Fotografie- und Filmdiskurs des 20. Jahrhnderts (von Bela Balazs, Walter
Benjamin bis hin zu Roland Barthes und Georges Didi-Huberman) zurückgreift. Indem der Roman ein
Gewebe aus photoästhetischen Topoi, Metaphern und Diskursen spinnt, modelliert er eine Ästhetik
des Abdrucks und der Berührung, in der das Medium als Membran und Kontaktfläche gefasst wird,
die die Subjekt-Objektgrenzen zum Vibrieren bringt. Diese auf dem "Analogiezauber" (Cassirer) der
analogen Medien beruhenden Resonanzeffekte will Friedrich in die Literatur übertragen. Der Text
entfaltet eine Poetik halluzinatorischer Bildlichkeit und Resonanzen, die sowohl auf Barthes' Modell
des "vokalischen Schreibens" als auch auf das Konzept des Resonanzraums der Stimme rekurriert,
wie es im Rahmen des Logozentrismus ins Feld geführt wird. Das Unbehagen an der Repräsentation,
das aus Friedrichs Roman spricht, geht mit einer nostalgisch gefäärbten Sehnsucht nach dem
Authentischen einher. Es ist die Frage zu stellen, wo die Grenzen einer unironischen Rede vom
authentischen Abdruck liegen.
9:00 AM - Depicta poesis: intertextual links between Horace's Latin verses and the images of
baroque Portuguese tiles
Araújo, Filipa (University of Coimbra, Sebal, Portugal)
Many centuries after the composition of Horace’s literary monumentum, the humanist Otto van
Veen published an emblem book entitled Q. Horatii Flacci emblemata (1607). The first version
contained only Latin texts from classical authors with allegorical pictures, but in the third edition
(1612) the Latin texts were accompanied by Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish quatrains, in order to
illustrate the former compositions. The exquisite work reflected the collaboration of various artists
(printers, commentators, engravers) and it certainly reached different audiences, according to its
multiple languages and semiotic codes. The emblem book inspired by Latin poets circulated widely
around Europe along the 18th century and it was repeatedly translated and adapted, benefiting from
the extraordinary editorial success of emblematic models during Modern Although a Portuguese
version of the Q. Horatii Flacci emblemata has never come into light, there is an unpublished
translation, hold in a luxurious manuscript, decorated with golden watercolour paintings, which
seems to have been produced as a speculum principis.Therefore, this study aims to disclose that
unknown codex, analysing its relevance within the reception of Van Veen’s emblem book around
Europe. In addition to this comparative process, the dialog between literature and the visual arts will
be extended to the universe of Portuguese baroque tiles. Comparing the emblematic compositions
drawn by van Veen with the motives hand-painted on a selected corpus of 18th century ceramic
panels, thematic resemblances will be pointed out, in order to demonstrate the connection between
verbal and visual languages.Following the comparative trends which emphasize the dialog between
Literature and other arts, especially in what concerns text and image studies, this paper focuses on
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the analysis of complex intertextual relations and proposes a travel across different cultural spheres,
challenging the linguistic borders of the human communication.
9:30 AM - The Art of Instruction: 17th-Century History Painting and "Advice-to-a-Painter" Poems
Thoss, Jeff (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
This paper proposes to examine “advice-to-a-painter” poems – a peculiar phenomenon of 17th
century English poetry – as a new stage in literature’s involvement in the paragone. While the visual
arts were dominated by portraiture in 16th-century England, the 17th century brought an increasing
range, visibility and connoisseurship to painting, thus renewing the field of debate. Of particular
interest is the rise of history painting, which had not only been declared the most noble of genres by
Alberti but also appeared as the most literary due to its focus on narrative. As such, it represented
the greatest challenge to literature from the visual arts yet, inevitably provoking reactions on the
part of poets. These most prominently came in the form of “advice-to-a-painter” poems. At first
glance, the strategy pursued in these texts appears to be obvious: the poet gives instructions to a
painter, charging himself with the intellectual work of the painting’s design and reducing the painter
to a manual labourer, thus reproducing the hierarchy of the arts the Italian Renaissance had rebelled
against. In addition, the poet clearly describes “unpaintable” paintings, ekphrastic fantasies which
can only be created through words. Yet, in spite of their seemingly blunt and lopsided approach,
these poems exploit the rivalry between the arts to create new forms of literature, revealing the
paragone to be an open-ended dynamic process that continually unsettles hierarchies and triggers
reflections about mediality and medial difference. I will support these points via an analysis of two
examples, Edmund Waller’s “Instructions to a Painter” (1666) and Andrew Marvell’s “Last
Instructions to a Painter” (1667).
10:00 AM - "O, Hogarth, had I thy Pencil!" Henry Fieldings literarische Karikaturen
Faßhauer, Vera (Uni Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Im England der 1830er Jahre stellten der Schriftsteller Henry Fielding und der Maler William Hogarth
die von den Klassizisten propagierte Vorbildfunktion der Antike für die moderne Kunst grundsätzlich
in Frage: Statt der idealisierenden Darstellung des Schönen wandten sie sich in kritischer
Auseinandersetzung mit den Sitten der modernen Welt der Nachahmung des Hässlichen und
Lächerlichen zu. Wenngleich die Werke beider, zumal nach damaligen Maßstäben, zahlreiche
burleske und karikierende Elemente aufwiesen, verwiesen sie auf den moraldidaktischen Nutzen
ihrer Schilderungen, um die Assoziation mit den niederen Gattungen zu unterbinden. Stattdessen
platzierten sie ihre Werke gattungshierarchisch zwischen dem Erhabenen und dem Grotesken; die
darin vorkommenden Figuren stellten sie in die Tradition der Charaktere Theophrasts.
In ihrem gemeinsamen Anliegen, dem Hässlich-Komischen in der Welt der Kunst zu höherem
Ansehen zu verhelfen, treten der Schriftsteller und der Maler in einen spielerischen Wettstreit mit
der natura naturans, deren Schöpfungen es auch im Bereich des Hässlichen getreu nachzuahmen und
zu übertreffen gelte. Die Zuständigkeitsbereiche beider Künste vorgeblich klar voneinander
trennend, sieht Fielding sich bei der Schilderung des moralisch Hässlichen gegenüber Hogarth im
Vorteil: Der Maler, dem ausschließlich visuelle Mittel zur Verfügung stünden, sei weit eher der
Gefahr des Karikierens ausgesetzt als der Schriftsteller, dem das flexiblere Medium Sprache ein
breiteres Spektrum an erzählenden, beschreibenden und andeutenden Darstellungsmitteln zur
moralischen Schilderung eröffne. Scheinbar die Unterlegenheit der Literatur bei physischen
Schilderungen anerkennend, verzichtet Fielding umgekehrt gelegentlich auf eigene
Figurenbeschreibungen und verweist stattdessen auf Hogarths Bilder. Bei genauerem Hinsehen zeigt
sich jedoch, dass beide Künstler sich einer strikten Trennung der Zuständigkeitsbereiche ebenso
wenig verpflichtet fühlen wie dem Gebot der getreuen Naturnachahmung: Greifen Hogarths
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Bildserien, in denen ausschließlich typenhafte Verkörperungen von Tugenden und Lastern agieren,
prozessuale Erzählstrategien der Literatur auf, so schrecken Fieldings Romane keineswegs vor
teilweise grotesken physischen Karikierungen zurück. In spielerischer Inversion des Urbild-AbbildVerhältnisses belegt er dabei die „vollkommene Naturtreue“ seiner eigenen Figurenschilderungen
durch Vergleiche mit ebenso „wahrheitsgetreuen“ hogarthischen Zeichnungen.
11:00 AM - An Anthropologist's Paragonal Project: Cultural and Artistic Alterity in the Poetic and
Critical Writing of Edward Sapir
Reichel, A. Elisabeth (University of Basel, Department of English, Basel, Switzerland)
This paper investigates the political and ethical ramifications of the rivalry between
literary writing and music in the ethnomusicological project of Edward Sapir (1884-1939). Sapir, a
student of Franz Boas and the mentor of Benjamin Lee Whorf, played a central role in the formation
of cultural anthropology and the early development of linguistic anthropology. What is far less
known is that he is also the author of over five hundred poems and numerous studies of music and
literature, many of which were published in renowned little magazines of the time. It is this largely
unexplored corpus of poems and criticism that forms the basis of the present paper. Starting from
a conception of music as sound structured according to a set of historically contingent, socially and
culturally constructed rules, the paper probes Sapir's treatment of different musical conventions and
genres: first, what was then considered 'primitive music' and, second, European classical music. The
close analysis of the poems "The Clog-Dancer" (1919) and "To Debussy: 'La Cathédrale Engloutie' "
(1917) together with the essays "Percy Grainger and Primitive Music" (1916) and "The Musical
Foundations of Verse" (1921) shows that the rivalry between music and literature in Sapir's writing is
inflected by the ideological associations with which these specific categories of music are fraught.
That is, while 'western' classical music is conceived as a fully developed system of codes, 'primitive'
music is denied the same sophistication, being placed in an earlier stage of artistic development and
serving as an adjunct to literary writing at best. While "The Clog-Dancer"'s ekphrasis is thus an
appropriation of a 'primitive' musical Other, the poem "To Debussy" does not represent an object at
a distance but imitates music in such a way as to render the artistic alter part of the persona's Ihere-now.
11:30 AM - New Perspectives on the Paragone - A Case Study of Jiang Zhaohe's (1904-1986) Figure
Painting
Chen, Joan (School of Art, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China)
Jiang Zhaohe left inscriptions in large amounts of his ink-wash figure paintings, either in the form of
poems or short essays. Among the richness of inscriptions in the history of Chinese ink-wash
paintings, Jiang’s texts are different, or modernized. The words are uttered no longer by the author
but by the figure in the painting. The text in the painting titled Selling Her Son (Picture 1) reads, “My
dear you were born like a phoenix, but it is hard to cherish you during the famine year.You must take
more care of yourself after leaving, never take for granted that Mum would be by your side
anymore.” In this case his painting looks like one ceased scene from a drama, not merely a
combination of an image and a diary-like note of the painter, as the traditional Chinese paintings
normally do. It is safe to point out the possibility of this style of using texts being influenced by other
genres of art, such as woodblock-printed illustrations and western caricatures, though we may not
able to know the details. However, the life-size figures in Jiang’s paintings hold so powerful
expressions that the audience will be impressed without even reading the texts. One of the
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interesting sequence of the verbal-visual relation in this case is that the rivalry of the words and
image is hard to negotiate. With the first person in the inscription refers to the figure instead of the
author, the painting becomes an illustration to the written text as well as a note to the image, while
the emptiness of the background offers enough space and traditional similarity for the audience to
switch from the visual grammar to the verbal ones which otherwise would be impossible to reach.
12:00 PM - Parergon and Paragone
Nagy, Fruzsina (University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary)
The following presentation is aiming to denote the borders arising between fine arts and literature
and investigates the consequences of breaching, transgressing these borders. We take a look at the
borders and frames which not only protect but also reveal, or get into conflict with each other by
getting in touch with the works of art they enframe. The presentation sets out from a special case of
framing, the phenomenon of parergon. First, it takes into account the most decisive milestones of
the history of the notion and its various meanings in antique literature, then its rediscovery by Kant
in painting and sculpture, and finally by placing it in the language philosophy discourse with the help
of Derrida's writing. From the rivalry of these forms of art from antiquity till the present day newer
and newer chances of interpreting the parergon appear and they gain importance or disappear for
good. Fitting into the line of meanings of interpreting the parergon and by distancing itself from
those, this presentation seeks to offer a new chance of interpretation upon re-reading the notion.
We examine the parergon (which we can also identify as a basic by-product of the paragone) through
the motif and/or phenomenon of the 'cloud ' which we approach through a biblical (literary), a
romantic (painting) and a modern (photographic) example, trying to broaden its horizon of
interpretation by new applications. The extended applicability may raise the question of redefining
the notions and through this the presentation wishes to join the goals of the panel entitled New
Perspectives on the Paragone.
2:00 PM - Invisible Texts
Isherwood, Tim (University of Salford, Salford, United Kingdom)
Typefaces have a unique set of characteristics that define context. These definitions are subtle but
create myriad contrasting outcomes, affecting how a reader appreciates a text. This consideration
presents a strategy employed by typeface and graphic designers alike, in demonstrating the
conventional superiority of texts through appropriate selection and use, presenting the reader with
the most compatible version of the text. This paper documents collaborative work by the author and
visual text poet Judy Kendall, both contributing a discourse on the creation and visualization of text,
considering the visibility of language and the impact typeface creation has on the written word. The
author will outline his approach to creating a specific typographic treatment that uses GPS
technology as a drawing tool to make large scale physical letterforms across an urban environment,
creating performative responses to the text. The paper will examine the semantics of the works
production, whilst considering Debord’s Situationist and Le Maitre’s Lettrist concepts of
psychogeography and hypergraphy, which regard the synthesis of writing with other modalities. This
paper will question the superiority of text within visual communication, typography as visual artefact,
and the interface between these two aspects.
2:30 PM - Effects on Text of the Foregrounding and Foreignisation of Typeface
Kendall, Judy (University of Salford UK, Salford, United Kingdom)
Effects on Text of the Foregrounding and Foreignisation of Typeface
by Dr Judy Kendall, University of Salford
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The extent to which written text relies upon the expressive medium of typeface for its
communication and effect is often unacknowledged. Typeface translates text for the reader not just
in terms of conveying semantic meaning but in terms of atmospheric, emotional, and rhythmic
effects and affects, which, of course, also have a bearing on meaning. Conventionally, as in this
abstract, type designers and typesetters work to ensure that the features of the typeface selected
and the ways in which it is set out on the page contribute to ensure its persisting invisibility: it
remains a transparent purveyor of the text that it contains. Such transparency, as Lawrence Venuti
has shown in the field of translation, domesticates the text for readers. In other words, the
extraordinary care that is often taken not to draw attention to the typeface in which the text has
been set means readers remain affected by but unaware of its atmospheric, emotional, and semantic
qualities. Conversely, foreignisation of the text by means of alteration of typeface shape, size,
spacing, use and conventions, makes the readers aware not only of what that typeface is but of what
it is not. When such foreignisation takes place, interesting changes occur to the reader's perception
of both text and tyepface. At the extreme end of the continuum, the text becomes more seen than
read, transformed into a visual artefact of type. Drawing on the work of typographic designer and
creative writer Sam Winston, whose creative visual and textual manipulations of sculpture, drawings
and books directly questions conventional understanding of words as carriers of messages and
information, this paper will seek to define the tipping point beyond which written text is transformed
into a visual artefact of type, and to analyse the effects on both reader and text when that point is
reached and then breached.
Note: while this article could stand alone, it is designed to work best as a prequel to Tim Isherwood's
paper on t ypography and text, also submitted to your strand.
16929 - Languages of the Imaginary: interdisciplinary reflections
Room: Hs 23
Chair: Valenzuela, Sandra Trabucco; Baseio, Maria Auxiliadora ; Cunha, Maria Zilda
11:00 AM - Littérature et Sculputure dans la Poésie Brésilienne Contemporaine
Berwanger da Silva, Maria Luiza (UFRGS ; UNILASALLE, Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Tout en partant de la configuration de l’imaginaire comme « compréhension » et « transformation »
de la relation dialogique établie entre des champs symboliques et non symboliques mis en
intersection, cette communication se proposera à mettre en évidence l’efficacité de ces relations
interdisciplinaires, examinant la Poésie Brésilienne Contemporaine produite sous l’égide des rapports
Littérature/Sculputure. Pour ce faire, cette communication fixera comme échantillon exemplaire
l’œuvre Bernini (2014) du poète Horácio Costa approchée à celle du sculpteur Bernini sinthétisée par
Mémoire sur mon séjour à Paris (2015). Cette communication présuppose que l’appartenance de ces
œuvres à des genres distincts constitue un lieu fertile pour l’émergence de relations intertextuelles,
interartistiques et interculturelles, configurées comme représentations privilégiées du rôle joué par
l’imaginaire. Dans ce sens, si comme « compréhension », cet imaginaire démarque la singularité de
chaque champs à faire dialoguer, comme « transformation » il produit des entrecroisements qui
favorisent l’innovation réciproque, et, en même temps, la création d’un espace intervallaire qui en
découle. Ainsi donc, cette communication examinera tout autant la cartographie de ces innovations
que celle de ce territoire nouveau auquel les langues de l’imaginaire perçues dans leur pluralité
permettent d’aboutir.
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11:30 AM - I TELL, THEREFORE I KNOW: NARRATIVE AS A LEARNING MODEL
Carelli, Fabiana (University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Since Mankind has learned to communicate through multiple languages, Man tells stories. Over
thousands of years, narratives were assumed to have been playing multiple roles and were praised as
a model for the personality development (Freud 2010); as an experience sharing model (Benjamin
2011); as models for the constitution of societies and cultural and political sharing (Eliade 2013;
Vernant 2006); as one among the human rights, the right to fabulation and idealization and
realization of utopias (Candido 2012). In the last fifteen years, the raise of the so-called Narrative
Medicine in healthcare environments has sought to demonstrate that narrative models, once
considered only by literary and artistic studies, in fact extrapolate the universe of literature and art
and constitute an ontology, a form of knowledge and action upon reality (Greenhalgh, Hurwitz 1998;
Carelli, Pompilio 2013; Carelli et alii 2013; Carelli, Marques 2014). In the wake of thinking literary
models intertwined with other areas of knowledge, this paper seek to introductorily demonstrate
that the development of narrative skills seems also to be the basis for the improvement of learning in
children, through the contrast of literary concepts with some XX and XXI Centuries theories of
cognitive development (Piaget 2013; Vygotsky 2012; Freire 2013; Siemens 2006; Kapp 2012). From a
concrete experience with new technologies in the classroom (a system based on the development of
teaching materials for tablets, tested in a pilot project at a Brazilian public school), we aim to show
how narrative models can revolutionize the design of teaching methods for formal education and be
thought as an effective model for learning.
12:00 PM - Of Paint and Pen: Tim Rollins + K.O.S. and the (Dismantled) Literary Text
Haller, Jennifer (The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, USA)
Tim Rollins and K.O.S. have garnered praise for their intertextual dialogue between painting and the
written page. In using pages from canonical literary texts by Melville, Kafka, et al. to the inclusion of
musical scores, the artists use the texts for a dual purpose: as both subject and base for their visual
art. Since the 1980s, the artists have been engaged in a decades-long conversation with the visual
and the literary and the authority of the canon. This paper seeks to continue this dialogue, parsing
the relationship between text and image, as well as the use of text as image (sign). Further, this
paper seeks to examine the complicated relationship between literary text and (artistic) image: what
happens when the visual image threatens to undermine textual authority? With these
considerations, this paper will argue that the intentional subversion and (literal) deconstruction of
the literary text, provides a space in which the socio-political issues come to the fore.
2:00 PM - Die Stimme der Verführung: "Die Sirene" (1980) von Dieter Wellershoff
Carrington, Maria Cristina (University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal)
Der berühmte Mythos von Odysseus und den Sirenen wurde mehrmals in der deutschsprachigen
Literatur behandelt und von Autoren wie Rilke, Kafka, Brecht, Ingeborg Bachmann u.a. neu
bearbeitet. Dieter Wellershoff kehrt in seiner Novelle 'Die Sirene' (1980) zu diesem Thema zurück.
Der Autor war einer der Vorreiter des ’Neuen Realismus’, einer Strömung der 70er Jahre, die die
unversöhnliche Realität des Alltags darstellt, um so das ritualisierte Verhalten des Kleinbürgertums,
die neurotische Routine der Häuslichkeit, der Familie und des Berufs aufzudecken.
Die Novelle von Wellershoff erzählt eine ‘unerhörte sich ereignete Begebenheit’, die Verführung des
Pädagogik- Professors Elsheimer durch eine ihm unbekannte weibliche Stimme am Telefon. Die
anfängliche Verführung wandelt sich zu einem Kampf, in dem zwei Welten einander
gegenüberstehen: die bürgerliche Existenz eines Mannes und das verborgene Leben einer Frau, die
etwas ganz Anderes repräsentiert – Wunschtraum, Gefahr und Utopie zugleich.
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Nicht nur der intertextuelle Spiel mit dem Sirenen-Mythos, sondern auch die Spannung zwischen
Stille und (imaginäre) Kommunikation wird sich als Angelpunkt des vorliegenden Beitrags
konstituieren.
2:30 PM - Textual Reality to Virtual Reality: Cultural Politics and Representation of Humiliation,
Caste and Social Justice in Amarchitrakatha, Bhimayana and Gardener
Ingole, Prashant (Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Ahmadabad, India)
The paper focuses on the contemporary graphic narratives and rise of the dalit literature which
centers the discourse of humiliation, caste, social justice and biographical illustration of the
emancipatory personalities; specifically from Jotirao Phule To Ambedkar. The paper forms the basis
through comparative and cultural studies perspective to study the representation in art language and
to understand the reconstruction of the story of Phule and Ambedkar as emancipatory figure and
icons for Dalit, voice of social justice and equality. In recent years thrust to understand or interpret
Phule and Ambedkar has grown up. Because of the multiplicity of the reasons such as politics of
exclusion and inclusion, politics of vote bank, politics of co-option and so forth. This is happening
through various modes of representation. Therefore, this paper aims to illustrate how Phule and
Ambedkar are represented to attract and to exclude their journey against caste consciousness and
against traditional religious beliefs? How politics of representation makes difference in visual and
verbal genres? Moreover, paper argues taking clue from Gopal Guru that, bringing Phule and Dr.
Ambedkar into elite (mainstream) public sphere caste and their fight against caste eradication can be
understood, but hatred against them or hatred against Dalit community will be rare help to improve
pre-conceived notion of brahmanical forces. In addition it also deals to bring out the underlying
ideological problems of representation in Indian literature. Moreover, focusing on Amarchitrakatha
series portrays Ambedkar in very idiosyncratic way with its effect of the 'defined' culture. However,
Bhimayana and Gardener graphs Phule and Ambedkar against Amarchitrakatha's cultural politics of
representation. Brings everyday suffering of Caste and the fight for social justice with the aesthetical
effect of Adivasi Gond Pradhan art form and Popular imagination. Notwithstanding, the illustration of
these texts based on Phules and Ambedkar's writing which differs in illustration.
3:00 PM - Once upon a time and so many other times: Hansel and Gretel, from the craft to the
audiovisual narrative
Valenzuela, Sandra Trabucco (Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil); Cunha, Maria Zilda (Universidade de
São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil); Baseio, Maria Auxiliadora (Universidade Santo Amaro, São Paulo, Brazil)
Fairy tales constitute a huge imaginary heritage that keeps stories, which origins bring us the time
when time could not be counted. These anonymous narratives that circulated orally, from generation
to generation, have changed along the time in different cultures and societies. This "mouvance"
process (ZUMTHOR, 1993), articulated in mnemonic networks, enables the creation of
intervocalization and intertextuality connections, which achievement is rended in different semiotic
systems, in a circular movement that allows exchanges, transformations and disruption. In these
dynamics, some invariant elements remain and enable us to recognize narratives, without
considering time, place and new artistic systems where they are inserted. Reinvented in different
codes, languages and supports, in these creative translations (PLAZA, 2003), when there are new
elements, those narratives — marked by vocal gesture — are covered in each context of production
and reception. And so, they indicate different ways to represent their passions, aspirations and ideas.
In this work, from the perspective of semiotic studies and comparative literature, we will analyze one
of those tales that enchants children and adults — Hansel and Gretel — by Brothers Grimm, collected
from oral tradition. It will be compared with the audiovisual version of TV series Once upon a Time,
first season, episode nine, entitled "True North". The perspective here adopted is far away from the
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notion of allegiance, or sources and influences of one version over the other; differently, the study is
based on intersemiotic dialogue, interartistic and intercultural perspective. The proposal is to analyze
the audiovisual narrative in its dialogue with the narrative craft, peering into the transition of this
narrative by brackets, codes and languages, in order to reflect on its rereading in the contemporary
era.
4:00 PM - Temporality and finitude: the Wolf in João Guimarães Rosa and José Roberto ToreroŽs
fiction
Prando, Fabiana (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)
The wolf, as a symbolic vector, is a highly complex image because it keeps positive and negative
polarities. Symbols are essentially pluridimensional and express relationships and not a conceptual
logic. The symbol permits a relationship of complementarity and it is susceptible to an infinite
number of dimensions. To the Western imagination, the wolf is the wildest animal of all.
According to Durand, the Big Bad Wolf, in a more advanced thought, is close to the Gods of Death
and to underground forces. In the Egyptian pantheon, Anubis, the great psicopompo God is the one
that has the shape of a wild dog and it is worshipped as the God of the Hell. The dogs equally
symbolize Hecate, the dark moon and the waning moon - sometimes represented by Cerbero under a
three-headed-dog.
Time disguised in a wolf fur, the terrible eater that reveals the anguish before
the becoming future is the conductor of our investigation about the relationship between the books
Fita verde no cabelo , by João Guimarães Rosa and Chapeuzinho Preto , by José Roberto Torero. We
will observe how the anguishing attitude of the human being facing death and time will be revealed
in their fictions.
Fita verde has faced death visiting her grandmother and became aware of the
wolf that peeps all of us. Chapeuzinho Preto saw in the mirror a woman instead of a girl. She
realized that time has passed and the death will come someday… The consciousness of their own
finiteness is the blessing of the encounter with the wolf.
Benedito Nunes, Paul Ricoeur, Heidegger
and Durand will give the theoretical background to our research.
4:30 PM - La lumière dans les romans arthuriens et le Livre des rois de Ferdowsi
Ringgenberg, Patrick (Universite de Lausanne, Arzier, Switzerland); Abai, Andia (Shahid Beheshti University Tehran, Arzier,
Switzerland)
L’étude comparée des textes épiques de l’Occident et de l’Iran médiévaux demeure embryonnaire,
alors même qu’une communauté de thèmes et de procédés, souvent d’origine indo-européenne,
offre matière à d’intéressants rapprochements et d’utiles confrontations. Cette étude propose une
approche croisée de l’emploi littéraire, esthétique et symbolique de la lumière dans les romans
chevaleresques du Moyen Âge occidental (romans arthuriens du XIIe-XIIIe siècle) et dans l’épopée
iranienne du Livre des rois de Ferdowsi (début du XIe siècle). Lumière clarté, brillance, rayonnement :
cette étude aimerait évoquer la manière dont ces motifs se déclinent dans des registres sacrés,
royaux et chevaleresques, et comment le recours à des métaphores de lumière, dans le discours de
textes situés dans des espaces culturels éloignés (Occident chrétien et Iran islamique), débouche sur
des fonctions narratives et symboliques somme toute analogues, mettant en évidence une
universalité de la lumière comme motif et la parenté culturelle des textes épiques.
11:00 AM - THE PAULO AFONSO FALLS BY CASTRO ALVES (1876): INTERWEAVING POETRY AND
SOCIAL IMAGINARIES
Gobbi Alves Araujo, Giovanna (University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
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The aim of this paper is to examine visualizing rhetorical techniques in the poem The Paulo Afonso
Falls by Castro Alves (1847-1871) in association with the pictorial construct of the waterfalls in the
Brazilian social imaginaries of the nineteenth century. Enargeia is the visualizing effect achieved in
discourse through the use of rhetorical devices that enable the speaker to create “imaginary scenes”
conveying immediacy and concreteness to the narrated event. The intended effect is to present a
scene as if it were happening before the eyes of the audience so as to stimulate pathos both in the
poet and in the listeners. In The Paulo Afonso Falls , the metaphoric configuration of the natural
setting stages the tragic drama of slavery with graphic vividness in addition to the sublime. The water
element plays a prominent role, since it is structurally articulated with the development of the
narrative as well as the main characters’ fate. It reflects central concepts to the plot (purity, dishonor
and resistance), embodying the essence of lively metaphorical expression. We propose that the
enargetic manifestation of violence and opression – represented by the ekphrasis of ‘Laokoon and
his sons’ – works as a persuasive feature in the poetic reflection on slave freedom. Given the pictorial
aspect of the waterfalls in the poem and the intricate relations between poetry and visual arts, this
analysis will also benefit from a commentary on the centrality of the Paulo Afonso Falls in the
Brazilian visual culture of the nineteenth century. Its most iconic image, by Auguste Stahl (1860),
which depicted a Black man against the turbulent torrent, became a visual paradigm, and along with
travel narratives, generated social imaginaries on collective representation and power relations. The
poem by Castro Alves inserts itself in this narrative and pictorial tradition, presenting the Paulo
Afonso Falls as a metaphor for slave freedom and a national icon related to social liberation.
11:30 AM - Unveiling the Sorceress: Word and Image Encounters in the Works of Three South
American Women Poets
Puppo, María (Universidad Católica Argentina / CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Since its XIXth century origins, Comparative Literature has traced the thematic and formal links
between literature and painting, whereas for the last decades, Visual Studies have emphasized the
historicity of the act of seeing and the social circulation of images. In continuity with both
approaches, today we mainly focus on the tension and complexity implied in interartistic relations
(Monegal 2003, Nancy 2005).
In this paper we propose to examine how the visual and the verbal intertwine in some works by
Amanda Berenguer (1921-2009), Marosa di Giorgio (1932-2004) and Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972),
three leading female voices in Twentieth Century Uruguayan and Argentinean Poetry. In order to
unveil the role played by visual imaginaries in the composition of some of their poems, we shall
distinguish and analyze several poetic procedures that include the avant-garde techniques of
assemblage and collage, the strategic use of framing and perspective, the deliberate transformation
or obliteration of iconographic sources and the fusion of words and images in kinetic poetry.
12:00 PM - Storytelling in Advertising: "The last wishes of Volkswagen van"
Valenzuela, Sandra Trabucco (Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil); Bonaldo, Luciane Ferreira (Universidade
Nova de Lisboa, São Paulo, Brazil)
Storytelling is one of the fundamental components of a culture; it is a resource to find plausible
explanations for the reality seen from the inside of Plato's cave. Enraptured before the narrator, the
social group seeks to discover, to understand, to experience and to internalize viewed, heard or
imagined experiences related to real or fictional universe instigated by outside the cave light. This
metaphor may be applied to postmodern contemporary time (Maffesoli, 1984; Baudrillard, 1981;
1991), which light comes from the computer screens and any kind of electronic devices that offer the
chance to navigate between the real and the sacred: the truth(s) is (are) in the cloud. Stories told
through the media gain scale of unquestionable truths, destined to be read, interpreted, assimilated
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and incorporated into daily life permeated by imagination. As a privileged tool, media
communication arrogates the oral narrative as a dialogical strategy to approach the
receiver/consumer, retaking the practice of that oral tradition, coupled to the non-verbal
representations of pictorial and sound tissues, resulting in works that aim to build a memorable and
exciting communication. Advertising creation identifies in this dialogic relationship established
between narrator and receiver/consumer the opportunity to produce films which are able to offer a
plunge into the world of imagination, dreams, desires, establishing a chance to satisfy the imaginary,
when the receiver feels himself/herself as the protagonist of the story, through the mnemonic
resource. The aim of this study is to analyze the advertising video production entitled "The last
wishes of Volkswagen van", 2014, created by AlmapBBDO for Volkswagen Group in Brazil. Narrated
in first person, the vehicle tells its story in a testimonial form, with an omniscient narrative. The van
is like an old lady telling the receiver her story, as Walter Benjamin's metaphor, spelled out in "The
storyteller" (Benjamin, 1985), the "trading seaman". The film features a contemporary trend in
advertising production: the storytelling (Cogo, 2013).
17052 - The Text as Being: Ontologies of Redemption and Repair
Room: Hs 42
Chair: Millet, Kitty
2:00 PM - No Regrets: On the Pagan Possibilities of Being in the Americas
Johnson, Dane (San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA)
In Zitkala-Sa / Gertrude Bonnin’s 1902 essay “Why I Am a Pagan,” she depicts herself as “a wee child
toddling in a wonder world,” expansively positioning herself beyond the fixed spiritual confines and
ontological possibilities of either “the pale-faced missionary” or “the hoodooed aborigine.” Zitkala-Sa
/ Bonnin invokes contemporary confines and dark pasts only to suggest a playful possibility – or
performative hope -- of moving forward with no regrets, a pagan “I” who contains multitudes.
This paper is part of a book-project provisionally titled “’I’m Me’: The Hidden History (or Open Secret)
of Being in the Americas,” which explores ways in which certain tropes of being deployed primarily in
fictional narratives—exemplified by the “I’m Me” of the title—foreground a sense of split or multiple
consciousness as constitutive of being in the Americas. These tropes go back at least to the founding
discourses of the “New World,” and I analyze them going back to the nineteenth century. In these
texts, the protagonists both display and resist received scripts and disparate cultural histories. They
search for a space where it is possible to shed their overdetermined identities without becoming
invisible--searching for a place to say, as Morrison's character Sula does, "I'm me."
For this section, my focus is on moments in an array of literary texts where religious language and/or
a representation of religious experience, often of a pantheistic nature, combines with mixed
languages, or at least mixed ideolects, to become a representational space that challenges purist
foundations of the very languages, religions, and identities on which these artists draw, that
questions redeeming one past while rejecting another, and that, as in Zitkala-Sa, often looks forward
with no regrets, even if it is a haunted and haunting hope.
2:30 PM - Rahmana: From Text to Maternity On Emmanuel Levinas Talmudic hermeneutics
Dal Bo, Federico (Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI Berlin), Berlin, Germany)
In my paper I will address Levinas’ implicit “Textualism” which is based on his Talmudic hermeneutics
and I will do so with respect both of his famous “Talmudic readings” and his major philosophical
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works. In order to manifest Levinas’ implicit "Textualism” I will specifically focus on his treatment of
the Aramaic term Rahmana: “the Merciful One.”
With respect of (Talmudic) linguistic evidence, the Aramaic term Rahmana may designate both “God”
and “Scripture:” namely, the One who is merciful and the means by which He is merciful. I assume
that Levinas usually neglects such a subtle semantic difference and that he rather describes Rahmana
as “God:” or, better put, with God’s “maternal side.” By emphasizing only this sense of the term
Rahmana Levinas identifies God with Scripture but this apparently “metaphysical” assumption has to
be corrected with respect of Levinas’ implicit notion of “secularization” that is also connected to a
specific reception of Heidegger’s notion of Seinsgeschichte.
On the one hand, Levinas identifies God with Scripture in this precise traditional sense: the very
Jewish way by which God has revealed Himself to the people of Israel is indeed through Scripture.
With respect to this, there cannot be, in principle, any “distinction” (or “ontological difference”)
between God and Scripture.
On the other hand, Levinas doesn’t intend to propose an immanent, ontological “textualism.” The
identification of God with Scripture shall rather be interpreted as a sort of “scriptural theism.” True,
Scripture is the very means by which God has revealed Himself to the people of Israel. Yet this
traditional “religious” assumption has to be corrected with a supplementary, “philosophical” one: the
text of Scripture has to be “secularized.” In other terms, Scripture as to be transcended towards to
ethics, especially towards to “maternity.”
In my paper I will prove how this dialectics between “text” and “maternity” is founded on Levinas’
unilateral interpretation of the term Rahmana on account of a number of gender issues, such as the
oppositions between: male/ female, metaphysics/ ethics, philosophy/ Judaism as well as
“(traditional) religion/ religio (in its etymological sense as “bound”).
3:00 PM - Beggars, Runaways and Prodigal Daughters - The Construction of Life Stories and the
Deconstruction of Storytelling in the Prose of Alice Munro and Marie NDiaye
In Alice Munro’s stories, people are often damaged by others and even more often damage
themselves by way of their faulty choices. Above all, there is the protagonist’s choice to limit herself
or to view her life and possibilities in a reductionist way that she is not able to change.
The impression of authenticity is so strong that one can easily overlook how the narrative itself
promotes it. Sometimes, the narrator draws her own story from first-hand narration, selecting and
then constructing somewhat mischievous, compulsive curricula from which the protagonists
seemingly cannot escape, thus forming their lives into a text presupposing ontologies of regret,
mistrust, self-betrayal and limitation. At other times, multiperspective narration leads to uncertainty
about the rendered events and the characters’ intentions. Either way, the unreliability of observation
and narration forms the texts’ opaque center, thus suggesting both the possibilities and the limits of
giving substantial information about a person’s life and character, and presenting a seemingly
authentic narration as highly artificial. Whereas Munro’s stories leave the realm of realism only
rarely, French author Marie NDiaye shifts her characters’ perspectives until surreal effects start
showing. Often, the narrator in NDiayes novels becomes more and more uncertain about the line
between perception and imagination and the factuality or fictionality of events. Generally, her
characters move in circumstances and relationships that verge on the margins of the emotionally
tolerable while trying to maintain the impression of being in control. The work of both authors
demonstrates how narration fails as a coping strategy for fictional characters – thus questioning its
role even outside the literary text.
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4:00 PM - Violence and the Imagination: An Aesthetics of Contact
Borato, Meryl (York University, Toronto, Canada)
I propose to look at the relationship between violence and the imagination as explored in three
literary representations. In Martin Crimp’s play, The City, expression is restricted to imperfect
imitations of whatever the individual happens to consume, such that one of the characters wants to
celebrate his new job by “driving into oncoming traffic,” an absurdly literal interpretation of what he
more than likely observes on television (38). In Richard Flanagan’s The Unknown Terrorist, the
individual is lamented to be nothing more than a product of vicious external conditioning, which
finds its only relief in death. The third text, however, points a way forward through aesthetic
expression. In Pat Barker’s Double Vision, the individual attempts to recover itself in artistic creation
against the threat of hollowness that accompanies the experience of violence.
In the first half, I propose to discuss the problem of expression as an investigation of art as a
commodity form. Having established the diminished role of human creativity in contemporary life, I
will explore the extreme consequences of these conditions with the theoretical framework of
Hannah Arendt and Moishe Postone. Then, I will offer a reading of Pat Barker’s Double Vision to
show how the text refuses violence as a creative instrument by using sculpture as a vehicle for
imaginative contemplation. I argue that Double Vision puts forward an aesthetics of contact or of
touch in opposition to the voyeurism of other media. I thus distinguish between spectatorship and
genuine engagement. I argue that voyeurism is the narcissistic perversion of desire and is consistent
with art as a commodity form. Aesthetic engagement is its opposite, inviting the response of another
and encouraging the formation of new ontologies. Then, I will conclude with some thoughts on the
romantic mode and political imagination as articulated by Fredric Jameson and Northrop Frye.
4:20 PM - Reading Elfriede Jelinek for an Ethics of Violence
Lally, Katie (University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, USA)
Can violence ever be ethical? Such is the disquieting question that may arise when
one encounters the work of Elfriede Jelinek, whose prose and theater pieces implicate their audience
in a violence that the passive reader or observer may not wish nor expect to occupy. Analyzing the
Austrain feminist author's Die Ausgesperrten (Wonderful, Wonderful Times), published in 1980, and
Krankheit oder Moderne Frauen. Wie ein Stück (Illness or Modern Women), first published in 1984
and premiered on stage in 1987, I will interrogate the role of the observer in the co-creation of both
acts of violence and their representation. Turning to Jelinek's literary and performance-based
inheritances from such thinkers and Austrian cultural staples as Freud and artistic movements such
as Wiener Aktionismus, I will suggest that the violence that the author demonstrates, both public and
domestic, seen and obscured, acts not as a facile nor gratuitous sort of entertainment but causes the
audience to question their own involvement, as witnesses, victims, or perpetrators by virtue of their
complicity. Jelinek's textual world in her novels experiments with the slippage of subject positions, so
that one in reading is forever moving between the space of the objective and the subjective, acting
and being acted upon, guiltess and suddenly on trial. Jelinek's work, often occupied with historical
themes of fascism and the Holocaust as well as forms violence against women, particularly focuses
on Austrians' refusal to accept a cultural and historical role in Naziism. The result of this nonidentification, Jelinek claims, is that Austria "is stuck in the alternative of lightness or mountains of
corpses." Thus, we may see Jelinek's depictions of violence as both carving new terrain for feminist
modes of writing and critique in a marriage of high and low culture, and an ethical grappling with
multigenerational crimes against others.
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4:40 PM - Trauma, emotion and ethics in the narratives of Martin Amis
Constantinescu, Catalin (Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany)
My paper investigates the complex relationships between trauma narrative, emotion and ethical
choice in reading fiction. The research focuses on two novels of Martin Amis (Time's Arrow and The
Zone of Interest), in order to reveal the consequences of an unemotional exploring of the Holocaust
from a postmodern perspective. I suggest that is possible an ethical criticism that should give
answers to questions like: how deep are the moral implications of such trauma narratives, how far
can we go with the speculations on the emotions implied, and if these emotions are moral. Do we
need a special kind of ethical reading? Ethical reading (a term coined by J.Hillis Miller) may be related
to ethical literary criticism. A comparative approach reiterates fiction's function of teaching:
literature as teaching an emotional or behavioural grammar. Taking an ethical stand as author or
reader may imply emotion and cognition. Moral emotions are related to an ethical behaviour, and
one may say that moral action is supposedly based on empathy, which is an emotion (structure of
feeling, in terms of Raymond Williams) implying cognition (Suzanne Keen, Martha Nussbaum,
Antonio Damasio, Leda Cosmides, John Tooby, Nancy Eisenberg, Martin Hoffman). Readers’ cognitive
and emotional responses do not inevitably lead to empathizing with victims of ontological fictions,
but fiction may uncover empathy and ethics in understanding the past and the human race. Martin
Amis has delivered two of the most prominent fictional accounts of the haunting past, trying to
imagine a reader searching to answer not to the question ‘How was possible the Holocaust to
happen?’, but ‘Why was possible?’.
5:00 PM - An Ethics for Missing Persons
Millet, Kitty (SF State, SF, USA)
An excluding condition for most philosophers in modernity (Lyotard, Levinas, Kant), literature as a
production of the imaginathon has been understood as incapable of articulating an ethics because
the faculty associated with ethics, Reason, must not intervene in Art. Such intervention would
suppress the imagination's liberation, giving instead either an ideological object or a legal maxim.
Furthermore, the reception of art elicits the imagination too. As a faculty, the imagination is not
required to know facts or the truth about any historical event. Readers need not worry about such
details. But if history has imposed an event that erases all knowledge of the human, then, the
imagination pushes against its exclusion in order to represent the crisis of human loss, the unknown
victims of modernity. This paper examines works by H.G. Adler, Anita Desai, and Jorge Semprun, in
order to think about how literature might propose an ethics for "missing persons."
2:00 PM - Romantic Being in English and Slovak Literature
Pokrivcak, Anton (University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Trnava, Slovakia)
The paper will deal with the role of the language of emotions in Romantic imagination. The first part
will discuss the attitudes to emotions in several historical periods, the second part will concentrate
on Romantic definition of poetry as “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” taking its “origin
from emotion recollected in tranquillity”. Finally, attention will be paid to the interpretation of some
William Wordsworth´s poems as examples of the ontological aesthetics in which emotion and
imagination determine the depth of lyrical subject´s involvement with the nature of being.
Wordsworth´s ontological aesthetics will then be compared with the expression of Romantic feelings
of anxiety, loss and tragedy, in the work of Slovak Romantic poets, especially Janko Kráľ. The last part
of the paper will be concerned with the reassessment of the place of Romanticism in contemporary
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critical approaches to literature, stressing its potential to address the essential aspects of human life
at the expense of the still prevailing obsession with the superficiality of ideological determinants,
mostly based on ethnic or cultural distinctions.
2:30 PM - A Note on Names and Generic Labeling
Weiss, Vered (UIUC, Urbana, USA)
This paper explores generic labeling and the productive use of names in Frankenstein, Jane Eyre,
Dracula, Rebecca, and the Golem, ‘Ha’adonit veHarochel’, ‘Tehila’, ‘Mishael’, ‘Ad Hennah’, and
Khirbet Khizeh. In these texts, the use of names conveys meaning, and the generic labeling of the
texts themselves is significant for their comprehension as cultural artifacts. From the lack of names to
the profoundly meaningful, names are crucial for these texts. For example, the nameless creature in
Frankenstein offers a striking contrast to the Golem, as the former is nameless and rejected while the
latter is, indeed, named and embraced. Bearing in mind the importance of names and signification as
a productive aspect of creation within the Judeo-Christian tradition, this paper seeks to uncover the
connection between literary naming and generic categorising. In both the Hebrew and English texts
we see how the generic appropriation influences the reading of the texts as participants of cultural
discourses. Previous readings of the texts in English within post-colonial and feminist discourses
might obscure their ambivalence. Similarly, even while Agnon and Bialik wrote in Hebrew, their work
was not always accepted as part of the Hebrew literary world. Like a name, which binds a certain
essence to the thing or character, genre functions as a productive constraint. I propose considering
genre in the same ontological category as a name, as restrictive bind that invites greater creativity.
The question, eventually, is how the identity of the text and the identities explored in the text
correspond in a productive manner.
4:00 PM - Kafka's Legacy. Wound, Damage, and Repair in Delay.
Park, Saein (Northwestern University, Chicago, USA)
This paper reconsiders Kafka’s literary-ethical legacy in two contemporary East Asian “Kafkaesque”
writers, while it focuses on the recurring motif of the wound and the time-space of repair-in-delay. It
first revisits the representations of the wound in Kafka’s The Country Doctor and In the Penal Colony,
examining how these short stories avoid linear-temporal, causal narratives of the wound and, by
doing so, do not partake in the long-historical discourse of sin and punishment in both Christiantheological and modern legal-political senses. I argue that the narratives, instead, open up a timespace of repair in permanent delay, attempting to contain the wounds and damages that are nonrepresentable in historical discourses. This way of narrating wounded and damaged beings then
becomes adopted as a major narrative technique in the two contemporary “Kafkaesque” novels,
Murakami Haruki’s Kafka on the Shore and Young-Ha Kim’s Empire of Light, especially as it concerns
the problematic of the historical trauma of war and national division. Going against the grain of the
common understanding that both Haruki and Kim reject literature’s role of healing historical trauma
as they aim to innovate contemporary literature, I argue that the narratives of the unhealed wound
and the damaged subject found in their works inherit the Kafkaesque time-space of repair-in-delay
and critically renew its literary-ethical significance.
4:30 PM - Oe Kenzaburo Says Go to Hell
Archambault, Brandon (European Graduate School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland)
In his essay “An American Traveler's Dreams—The Huckleberry Finn Who Goes to Hell,” Oe
Kenzaburo, the second Japanese writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, discusses the singularly
heroic power that Huckleberry Finn holds for him. That is, Huckleberry is a hero against the forces of
racism, postcolonialism, and military aggression that have concerned Oe since childhood—a fact
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which Oe initially considers astonishing, given Huckleberry's position in American literature and
culture. After thorough consideration of the the racial and military climate of the 1960s under which
he composed the essay, Oe comes to the conclusion that Huck's heroism consists in his choice to go
to hell . Huck's incredible decision makes him fearless and free, and therefore “the first hero [Oe]
acquired through literature.” This gave Oe , for the first and apparently only time, a figure who could
separate him from the rhetoric of fascist Japan and also, after the war, a figure who could show him
how to resist the “oppressing, demonic power of the word America” which he felt even then afflicted
him. What I wish to analyze is the incredibly unconventional reading Oe gives: he offers us a Huck
who does not act to save his travel partner, the runaway slave Jim; who is patently anti-American;
and who above all attains his heroism through his suicidal relationship to hell. What, specifically,
about the new Huck that Huck becomes (the Huck who goes to hell, as opposed to the one who
hadn't) is so freeing and healing? And even more importantly: What hope of freedom and
fearlessness can this subject, suddenly and counterintuitively universalizable in Oe's reading, offer us
today?
5:00 PM - Extrahuman Transcendence in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray
Fry, Katie (University of Toronto, Centre for Comparative Literature, Toronto, Canada)
Oscar Wilde’s 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray can be read as a literary
experiment in a diabolical sort of redemption: the young and beautiful protagonist is ‘redeemed’
from the human affliction of aging and is granted the ability to remain eternally young and beautiful.
In the novel, Dorian makes a Faust-like pact with an unspecified supernatural force so that he can
take on the eternal and unchanging form of a work of art (specifically that of his portrait) and thereby
preserve his beauty from being tarnished by experience and the passage of time. Wilde once
remarked that Dorian represents “what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.” Despite the fact
that Dorian in some sense fulfils the author’s (otherwise unattainable) wish to transcend the
temporal conditions of human life, the novel’s tragic conclusion—in which Dorian ultimately chooses
death over eternal youth—suggests that Wilde recognized the incoherence inherent in this wish to
remain unchanged.
My presentation will examine Wilde’s treatment of the prevalent human desire to
be redeemed from the transient nature of life in light of Martha Nussbaum’s discussion of internal
and external transcendence in her essay “Transcending Humanity.” According to Nussbaum, human
values—such as love, compassion, and courage—are dependent on human limitations (mortality,
neediness, imperfection) and become meaningless when deprived of these constraints. Dorian’s
descent into the depths of moral reprehensibility and his inability to enjoy his eternal youth similarly
suggest that human notions of the good are inextricable from the context of transient life and the
deterioration of the body. My paper will explore how Wilde’s radical experiment in subjecting life to
aesthetic principles in the pursuit of perfection or redemption shares certain characteristics with
what Nussbaum would call otherworldly or “extrahuman” forms of transcendence.
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17093 - WORKSHOP: Begegnungsorte und -medien. Transfer, Medialität und
Situativität jüdischer Literatur
Chair: Terpitz, Olaf; Windsperger, Marianne
9:30 AM - The Honourable Woman': Figuring Israel and Palestine from a British Viewpoint
Vice, Sue (University Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom)
In this paper, I will analyse the ways in which the recent BBC television series The
Honourable Woman (Hugo Blick 2014) constructs its central female character, Nessa Stein (Maggie
Gyllenhaal) as a figure of transfer and encounter between Britain and Israel. Nessa takes this form by
virtue of her construction as a Jewish woman, an ‘Anglo-Israeli’ whose efforts to redeem the effects
of father’s Israeli arms dealing take the form of philanthropic ventures in the Palestinian Territories.
Thus personal and political impulses intersect in the character of Nessa, as revealed in terms of the
drama’s plot – with its clear intertextual debt to John LeCarré’s An Honourable Schoolboy – as well as
its cinematography. In relation to the latter, the cost of Nessa’s activities is revealed in the drama’s
final episode by a montage consisting of fictional and archival film footage, of Nessa’s childhood
alongside the history of the Middle East. Such a technique implies that The Honourable Woman is an
instance of what Joshua Hirsch has called ‘post-traumatic cinema’, in which historical trauma is
filtered through the subjectivity of a British-Jewish woman. However, I will argue that the drama’s
inconsistent view of the connections between Jews and Israel, and of halachic Judaism, reveals its
conflicted generic nature. Nessa’s Jewish ‘inheritance’, as she puts it, is paternal, while her own son,
Kasim, is described as ‘Palestinian’, despite his Jewish mother. Thus nationality and religion are
confused, while femininity is central to the drama’s plot yet marginalized. Indeed, its title is
ambiguous, perhaps referring to Nessa’s Palestinian friend, the ideologue Atika, rather than to Nessa
herself. Thus the tropes of British-Jewishness and Middle Eastern conflict are used for narrative
reasons, to exemplify, as the writer and director Hugo Blick puts it, of ‘personal reconciliation’ in a
situation of ‘irreconcilability’.
11:30 AM - The Cosmopolitan Survivor
Millet, Kitty (SF State University, SF, USA)
Cosmopolitanism has often been applied to Jews, both in Germany and the U.S.; it refers to Jews
who cross all kinds of boundaries. In the U.S., it carries positive connotations while its earlier German
history suggests the opposite. As Götz Aly notes, through a series of laws leading up to and after
emancipation, German Jews ‘break out of the ghetto,’ and move into formerly foreclosed
occupations. Thus ‘Germans felt they had lost something and Jews appeared to gain it.’ Their route
to emancipation appeared as a dizzying social mobility in which Jews moved quickly to embrace the
possibilities of liberation. Their ‘cosmopolitan’ attitudes enabled them to circulate within modernity
as ‘stateless,’ ‘citizens of the world.’ However, this attitude transformed ‘cosmopolitans’ into
‘parvenus,’ and then into ‘pariahs’ (Arendt). H.G. Adler describes the effect of this transformation on
the survivor in his novel, Eine Reise; Jean Améry (2009) links it to his experiences at Auschwitz and
wonders if they ‘echo’ other historical oppressions?
Commensurability and its implications emerge again in a private memoir of a Polish survivor who was
hidden as a child in a Belgian convent during the Holocaust. Recently commissioned to edit the
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memoir, historian Julie Wheelwright, identifies an experience, unknown in other survivor narratives.
The young boy insists that at the end of the war, camp survivors were brought by the Allies to a
‘collecting station’ at Brussels, where they stood on tables, waiting for someone to claim them. His
mother was there, but the narrator refused to enter and ‘collect her.’ He remembers refusing to see
his mother exhibited, waiting to be claimed. Recalling the images of slave auctions, in Mary Prince
and Olaudah Equiano, the young narrator realizes that his mother’s liberators have made her
reentrance into the world after the Holocaust, contingent on his adoption of a narrative of her
exhibition as abject slave.
In this paper, I analyze the collision between cosmopolitanism and the Holocaust survivor in order to
identify the implications of this collision and to ask how literature repositions these implications in
relation to other groups’ experiences of oppression. Through an examination of Anita Desai’s
Baumgartner’s Bombay, Ruth Klüger’s Weiter Leben, and Eduardo Halfon’s The Polish Boxer, I look at
the complexities of ‘the cosmopolitan survivor.’
12:00 PM - Narrating the other, discovering the self? Literary recuperations of Yugoslav Jewry
Zivkovic, Yvonne (Cambridge University, Lucy Cavendish College, Stuttgart, Germany)
As the British historian Tony Judt has noted, the collapse of communist systems in Eastern Europe
since the 1990s triggered a multifold “return to memory:” it signified both a recuperation of
nationalism as well as an unearthing of memory related to the Holocaust and fascism. One of the
most striking examples for this is the disintegration of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.
The Yugoslav official rhetoric of progress, plurality and unity left no room for inconvenient truths that
might ignite conflicts between its numerous ethnicities. This was particularly true for the crimes
committed against Jews and Serbs by the Nazi puppet state of Independent Croatia (NDH). While
Socialist ideology promoted the image of the partisan hero who had liberated the South Slavs from
the grip of fascism, it also subsumed all victims in one indistinct mass, into which the Jews was
quietly assimilated. This changed during the Yugoslav civil wars, which were staged by both Croatian
and Serbian nationalists as the continuation of conflicts from the Second World War. The role of
critical memory was consequently taken over by writers who sought to recuperate those aspects of
history that had been carefully edited by the Socialist regime, of which Jewish history was an integral
part.
This paper examines to which extent literary recuperations of Jewish life and the Holocaust counter
efforts of memory manipulation on one hand, and construct a new collective identity with the
transnational Jewish citizen as role model on the other. I will analyze the writings of Miljenko
Jergović, a non-Jewish Croatian author, to demonstrate how the Jewish legacy is used to re-examine
important chapters of Yugoslav history, from the Habsburg Empire to the Second World War. In his
short story collection Mama Leone (1999) which reveals his family’s entanglement with fascism, as
well as in his novel Ruta Tannenbaum, (2006) which traces the fate of a Jewish woman in Nazi
occupied Croatia, Jergović asks crucial questions of responsibility and justice. Even more strikingly, he
creates intertextual parallels to the Serbian-Jewish authors Danilo Ki š and Aleksandar Tišma, both
Yugoslav literary icons during the 1970s, but whose Jewish topics were continuously downplayed.
2:00 PM - Fool and jester. The literary figures of the "Schlemiel", the "Schelm" and the "Don
Quijote" between ambivalence and encounter
Terpitz, Olaf (Institut für Slawistik, Wien, Austria)
The literary figures of the „Schlemiel“, the „Schelm“ and the „Don Quijote“ are usually ascribed to
and perceived in various national literatures and, thus, to/in national languages – all in accordance to
the concept of nation as formulated by Herder –, and what is more to/in the divide between Jewish
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and non-Jewish (in this case Christian) literatures. However, at a second glance, those literary figures
have more in common than their differences (as constructed since the late 19th century under the
notion of the „nation“, the „particular“) suggest. Arguing with Bakhtin’s theory on carneval those
three figures serve/d as literary means to mark the voice of resistance, of non-conformity, the voice
of a stranger through irony and ambivalence. As observers and commentators, they assume/d a
critical role towards the official or mainstream discourse and question/ed accepted norms and
values. Obliged to their critical potential of (world) enquiry I will formulate in my talk first ideas on
the distant – close relation of those three literary figures, especially in respect to times of societal
and cultural upheaval, as for instance embodied by the fault zones of modernity, i.e. beyond the
lingual „divides“ of Yiddish, Spanish, German, Russian or Polish.
2:30 PM - Nokhem Shtif in Berlin: emigré life through the lens of Yiddish feuilletons
Nath, Holger (University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany)
The feuilletons of the Yiddish philologist, literary critic, cultural activist, and founder of YIVO, Nokhem
Shtif (1879-1933) were written during his stay in Weimar Berlin in the early 1920s.
His essays on life in Berlin differ from the literary works of his fellow emigrés, like Dovid Bergelson,
Der Nister, and Moyshe Kulbak. While their work described life in the big city and living among nonJewish refugees, Shtif pursued other themes. He perceived himself as an outsider even among fellow
emigrants and became infamous for his harsh criticism of the Yiddish literary scene. His cultural
conservatism reflected a deep suspicion of modern life which influenced his views of Yiddish cultural
autonomy. Along with Nietzsche's concept of the here and now, folk culture and folk language, i. e.,
“in Yiddish for Yiddish”, shaped his approach and his hopes for a flourishing Jewish/Yiddish society.
Evoking images of everyday situations, from dog walking to descriptions of his journalist colleagues,
he also strove to connote the plight of the Yiddish writer and the difficulties of making a decent
living. Writing for a predominantly Jewish American audience and publishing in New York's Der
morgen zhurnal may (for better or worse) have helped to reinforce his out-group status among
Jewish intellectuals.
Shtif's series of essays ended 1925 with his return to Kiev to work at the Chair for Jewish Culture at
the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. An analysis of these works (which have until now been largely in
the academic literature) should provide new insights into the study of the Yiddish renaissance and of
Yiddish culture during the interbellum years.
3:00 PM - Autobiography as a Synthesis of Russian and Yiddish Literature: Osip Dymov's Memories
Mikula, Thomas (Institut für Slawistik, Wien, Austria)
Der Vortrag befasst sich mit dem russisch-jüdischen Prosaschriftsteller und
Dramatiker Osip Dymov (geb. Iosif Perel’man, 1878-1959). Anfang der 1900er Jahre trat er in der
russischen Literatur zunächst mit Erzählungen und Feuilletons sowie als Theaterkritiker in
Erscheinung. Unter dem Eindruck der Pogrome in seiner Heimatstadt Białystok sowie unter dem
Einfluss Vladimir Žabotinskijs wandte er sich jüdischen Themen zu, so etwa im Drama “Slušaj, Izrail’”
(1907) und “Večnyj strannik” (1913). Im deutschsprachigen Raum wurde Dymov ab 1908, als seine
Tragödie “Nju” am Deutschen Theater in Berlin von Max Reinhardt aufgeführt wurde, rezipiert.
Ab seiner Ausreise in die USA im Herbst 1913 verlagerte sich sein Wirken fast
ausschließlich auf das jiddische Theater, vor allem in New York, später auch den Film. Nach
mehrjährigen Aufenthalten in Mitteleuropa in den späten 1920er und 1930er Jahren, wandte sich
Dymov ab den 1940er Jahren vor allem der Niederschrift seiner Lebenserinnerungen zu.
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In seinem autobiographischen Hauptwerk “vos ikh gedenk”, das zunächst in der
jiddischen New Yorker Zeitung “forverts” und anschließend in zwei Bänden publiziert wurde, nimmt
vor allem die Frage nach dem Verhältnis zwischen russischem und jüdischem literarischem Schaffen
im Russländischen Reich eine zentrale Rolle ein. Im Versuch, die eigene literarische Produktion in den
jüdischen kulturellen Kontext einzuordnen, bezeichnet er die russische Literatur als Brücke zwischen
den Völkern: “Das russische Wort war für meine jugendliche Natur das halb maskierte jüdische Wort
- eine Übersetzung, Deutung oder alles gemeinsam…”
Der Vortrag beschäftigt sich mit den Strategien, Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der
nachträglichen Sinn- und Identitätsstiftung im autobiographischen Schreiben.
9:30 AM - Judezmo in Multilingual Literary Texts
Güde, Elisabeth (LMU München, Berlin, Germany)
Der Beitrag setzt sich mit (zumeist) autofiktionalen Texten auf Türkisch, Französisch und Englisch
auseinander, zu deren mehrsprachigem Repertoire Judezmo (Judenspanisch) gehört. Als
Großelternsprache oder heritage language ist das Judenspanische diesen überwiegend seit den
1970er Jahren entstandenen Texten zum einen unmittelbar eingeschrieben; zum andern bergen sie
metasprachliche Reflexionen und Auseinandersetzungen um Mehrsprachigkeit, 'Jargon' und
Hochsprache, Sprachtod und Archiv. Es handelt sich um ein literarisches Phänomen, das klar zu
umgrenzende lokale Bezugspunkte (z.B. Istanbul) aufweist und gleichzeitig – bedingt durch
vielschichtige Migrationsbewegungen – auf globaler Ebene Querverbindungen zwischen Texten
verschiedenster Provenienz ziehen lässt und so durchaus vor dem Hintergrund der „neuen
Weltliteraturen“ zu lesen ist. Historisch sind besonders türkisch-sephardische Begegnungsorte
relevant, für die der Übergang vom Osmanischen Reich zur Türkischen Republik von maßgeblicher
Bedeutung ist. Damit schließt der Beitrag in mehrfacher Hinsicht an die im Abstract zum Workshop
aufgeworfenen Fragen zu „Konzepten des Transfers, des Austauschs und der Übertragung“ an. Der
Schwerpunkt der Betrachtung liegt – passend zum Überthema der ICLA-Konferenz 2016 –auf den
Dynamiken von Ein- und Mehrsprachigkeit und deren Verschriftlichung bzw. literarischer
Verarbeitung; zentral für die Thematik sind zudem Exil, Migration und Diaspora, ohne die
sephardische Geschichte und Kultur nicht zu denken sind. Da sephardische Themen innerhalb der
Literaturwissenschaft und auch im Kontext jüdischer Literaturen im Allgemeinen wenig behandelt
werden, ergibt sich hieraus in Hinblick auf die im Workshop angelegten Diskussionen eine
Erweiterung, gerade in der Frage nach „jüdischen Literaturen“.
10:00 AM - Commemoration, Memory and the Literary Construction of the Self in the “Minor
Languages” (Franco) Yiddish and Romanian – A Comparative Approach to Texts by Myriam Anissimov
and Norman Manea
Aistleitner, Judith (Universität Wien, Wien, Austria)
Der vorliegende Aufsatz präsentiert die Ergebnisse einer eingehenden Lektüre und textnahen
Analyse der Werke La soie et les cendres, Dans la plus stricte intimité und Sa Majesté la Mort von
Myriam Anissimov sowie Intoarcerea huliganului / Die Rückkehr des Hooligan von Norman Manea.
Myriam Anissimov, franko-jiddische Autorin, und Norman Manea, rumänischer Exil-Schriftsteller
jüdischer Herkunft, überlebten beide im frühen Kindesalter die Shoah. In den Texten des Korpus
stellen sie die extrem traumatischen Erfahrungen in den Kontext einer literarischen Rückschau auf
das eigene Leben. Charakteristisch für die Texte beider sind eine ausgeprägte Selbst-Referentialität
sowie eine intensive Sprach-Reflexivität. Der Ausgangspunkt dieser vergleichenden Erforschung liegt
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in der besonderen sprachlichen Situation der Autor_innen , die sich auf die Narrativisierung
persönlicher Erinnerung und kollektiv-familiären Gedenkens ebenso sehr auswirkt, wie auf die
angewandten textuellen Strategien, Lebensmodelle jüdischer Identität zu artikulieren. Im Rekurs auf
Jacques Derridas Konzept der Einsprachigkeit des Anderen wurden Myriam Anissimovs Texte auf die
darin sprachlich-kulturell verhandelten Konfigurationen jüdischer Identität nach der Shoah befragt.
Die Präsenz der jiddischen Sprache im französischen Textuniversum der Autorin legt die Einreihung
ihrer Texte in die Tradition der „kleinen“ oder „deterritorialisierten“ (Deleuze/Guattari) Literaturen
nahe. Aus Norman Maneas Texten wurde die Problematisierung jüdischer Identität im Weiterleben
nach der Shoah durch Rückgriffe auf Grundtopoi der Literaturgeschichte herausgearbeitet. Mittels
intertextueller Verweise auf jüdische Autoren wie beispielsweise Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, Marcel
Proust und Mihail Sebastian artikuliert er die Bedingungen, jüdisch-osteuropäische Identität zu leben
ebenso, wie Erinnerungen an traumatische Zäsuren in seiner Biographie.
11:00 AM - Versing a “Kulturnation” – Anthologies of Poetry in the National Jewish Discourse in the
Beginning of the Twentieth Century´
Reichert, Carmen (Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Munich, Germany)
Als die individuelle Emanzipation über Assimilation und Aufgabe jüdischer Identität sich im Westen
als Trugschluss erwies und im Osten neue Pogrome jede Hoffnung auf eine solche im Keime
erstickten, antworteten Herausgeber und Autoren aus (kultur-)zionistischen und nationaljüdischen
Kreisen mit der Arbeit an einer eigenständigen, nationaljüdischen Kultur und versuchten nun auf
kollektiver Ebene, über die Anerkennung als Kulturnation, eine Emanzipation zu erreichen. Der
Literatur als Kronzeugin von Kultur und Bildung kam dabei eine zentrale Rolle zu.
Während jiddischsprachige Anthologisten wie Shaul Ginzberg und Yankev Fikhman in Osteuropa an
der Schaffung einer säkularen jiddischen Nationalliteratur arbeiteten, versuchten Kulturzionisten um
Martin Buber und Berthold Feiwel, mit Hilfe von Anthologien das jüdische „Nationalbewusstsein“ zu
stärken. Beide Konzepte bezogen sich dabei auf Herder’sche Ideen wie der Volksgeistlehre, dem
Glauben an die Wirkmacht von Dichtung und die Konstruktion eines mythischen Verhältnisses von
Volk und Dichter und auf Goethes Konzept von Welt- und Nationalliteratur.
Wichtigstes Medium bei der Arbeit an der Nationalliteratur, auch das ein Erbe aus der deutschen
Romantik, war die Lyrikanthologie. Mein Vortrag wird von den Vorworten deutscher und jiddischer
Anthologien ausgehend nicht nur nach der Rezeption deutscher Theorien von Nationalliteratur
fragen, sondern auch den Wechselwirkungen zwischen jiddischer und deutschjüdischer Literatur
nachgehen: Während den deutschen Juden das Ostjudentum als authentisches, von der Assimilation
unverfälschtes Judentum eine wichtige Inspirationsquelle für neue Dichtung war, ist der Einfluss der
deutschen Klassik und Romantik aus der jiddischen Dichtung nicht wegzudenken. Da die Wahl der
Sprache, in der eine Nationalliteratur geschaffen werden soll, ein Politikum ist, das sich nicht nur
zwischen Deutsch und Jiddisch abspielt, wird am Rande auch die Diskussion um eine neuhebräische
Literatur einbezogen werden.
11:30 AM - Surfaces of Encounter: The reader of Modern Hebrew Literature during the First decade
of the Twentieth Century
Nethanel, Lilach (Bar-Ilan University, kibutz yakum, Israel)
This talk is dedicated to the enigmatic figure of Modern Hebrew literature's reader during one of its
most fertile periods. It seeks to decipher the far-reaching consequences of the transnational and
mobile construction of the Modern Hebrew literary field. By the end of the nineteenth century, the
writing and reading of Modern Hebrew in Europe was neither part of a religious practice, nor did it
merely satisfy a purely aesthetic inclination. It mainly functioned as an ideological means used by a
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minority of Jews to support the linguistic-national Jewish revival. Given the absence of a particular
geographic center and political hegemony, the reading of modern Hebrew literature could be
considered as a unique surface of encounter, where national Hebrew literature gradually gained its
political power. However, some fundamental contradictions put into question the actual influence of
this literature on the political sphere: How did the non-spoken Hebrew language come to produce
popular Hebrew writings? How did this literature engage the common Jewish reader? In this talk I
propose a new consideration of Hebrew reading practices. I argue for the inclusion of the nonreading readers as important contributors to the constitution of the Jewish literary nation. Hebrew
readership never extended beyond a social minority of engaged Hebrew readers, who for the most
part were themselves Hebrew writers. The larger part of the Hebrew literary field was composed by
latent participants: Those who did not read Modern Hebrew but supported the linguistic revival
project, and recognized the cultural importance of its authors. Functioning in a literary field
composed by transnational chain of communication, and influenced by the constant mobility of its
writers and readers, Modern Hebrew literature mainly aimed to create a national library instead of a
common reader. Therefore it should not be seen as a project of reading. It should be better defined
as an attempt to reposition literature as a worldly object to a non-reading audience.
12:00 PM - In Search of a Lost Shtetl-World? A History of Yiddish Literature in American Culture
Windsperger, Marianne (Institut für Germanistik, Wien, Austria)
“We do have writers whose private libraries of meaning are more like those of their Yiddish
predecessors than their American English ones”, states the American author Dara Horn and points at
lines of continuity in the literary history of Yiddish.
Commonly reflections on Yiddish language transmission in the United States emphasize
discontinuities: Yiddish is regarded as a displaced and disappearing language that made its way from
“the Shtetl to the Lower East Side”. In my contribution I aim at taking a closer look at the role of
Yiddish literature in American Culture and the processes of mediatization and media changes that
characterize “postvernacular languages” (Jeffrey Shandler): With the gradual fading of language
transmission within families, strong images, proverbs and songs as well as transferable literary
figures (e.g. The Fiddler on the Roof) represent important ways of connecting with Yiddish culture.
These developments point to the commodification of a language and literature in which
consumability replaces the active ability to speak, read and write. Labeled as “New Ashkenaz” or
“Scribblers on the Roof”, a young generation of writers in the United States reconnects to Yiddish
texts (Dara Horn, Rebecca Goldstein, Nicole Krauss) and to aesthetic practices of Jewish Eastern
European Culture.
· In a first step, I will interlock a reading of American literary histories and anthologies with
phenomena of American popular culture drawing attention to the classification, labelling and
contextualization of Yiddish texts.
· In a second step, I will ask for the self-positioning of American Jewish authors who regard Yiddish as
their cultural heritage.
· In my analysis of literary works I will examine the function of intertextual references to Yiddish
literature highlighting the concrete mediality of the intertext (e.g. acts of reading, writing, viewing
and listening that are staged in the novels).
2:00 PM - Henriette Herz (1764-1847) as a Cultural Mediator
Conterno, Chiara (Università di Verona, Verona, Italy)
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In meinem Vortrag werde ich mich mit der deutsch-jüdischen Salonniere Henriette Herz
auseinandersetzen. In Berlin führten sie und ihr Mann den sogenannten „Doppelsalon“. Während er
hochgestellte Gäste aus Politik und Kultur empfing und Gesprächskreise zu wissenschaftlichen und
philosophischen Themen führte, sammelte sich um Henriette Herz ein Kreis von Literaturliebhabern
und Literaturinteressierten. Daraus entwickelte sich der bekannte Salon (1780-1803), der sowohl von
Politikern und Wissenschaftlern als auch von bildenden Künstlern, Literaten und Philosophen besucht
wurde. U.a. verkehrten dort Jean Paul, Karl Philipp Moritz, die Brüder Humboldt, Mendelssohn,
Madame de Staël, die Schlegels, Goethe und Schiller, der junge Börne und Friedrich Schleiermacher.
Mit der Begierde, Neues und Fremdartiges zu genießen, begegnete Henriette Herz den
zeitgenössischen kulturellen Strömungen und literarischen Phänomenen. N och vor Rahel
Varnhagens Salon stellte der von Henriette Herz eine neue Form des geselligen Lebens dar und
wurde Mittelpunkt des kulturellen Lebens Berlins, ein Ort der deutschen Literatur- und
Geistesgeschichte.
In diesem Kontext zielt der Vortrag darauf ab, die Rolle von Henriette Herz als Kulturvermittlerin zu
beleuchten, denn es war ihr Verdienst, Kontakte und Freundschaften zwischen vielen Gelehrten,
Künstlern und Wissenschaftlern hergestellt zu haben. Dank ihrer Offenheit und Wissbegier konnten
unterschiedliche literarische Strömungen, Epochen und Gesellschaftskreise bei ihr zusammenfinden
und in ihrem Salon wurde zudem der Weg zur geistigen Emanzipation der Frau vorbereitet. Dieses
bunte Kulturleben wird anhand der Erinnerungen und Briefen der Henriette Herz sowie von den
Zeugnissen Dritter wiedergegeben. Die Verschränkung der verschiedenen Quellen vermittelt
einzigartige Porträts damaliger Autoren und einen aufschlussreichen Einblick in eine Epoche an der
Schwelle zwischen Aufklärung und Romantik.
2:30 PM - Isaac Bashevis Singer, an intercultural reading.
Stepien, Aneta (Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Isaac Bashevis Singer has been described as Polish born Jewish-American author and what can often
be observed is ghettoization of his work read through either exclusively Jewish, Polish or American
lens. It is indeed the transnational nature of Singer’s fiction, drawing from both the local and
European culture, that pose some interpretative challenges. My research on I.B.Singer centres on
gender and sexuality with particular focus on the construction of masculinity in the writer’s novels.
More specifically, the study considers the way Poland’s nineteenth century impulse towards
modernity and rapidly modernizing society informed the performance of Jewish masculinity and
Jewish male sexuality. Other important questions addressed in the study are to what extent, if at all,
the late nineteenth and early twenty century Polish literature shaped Singer’s literary style, themes
and genres? What are the influences of Viennese modernism and writing on race, gender and
sexuality Singer came across with while living in Warsaw in the 1920s and 1930s on his views on
literature, gender and his own male subjectivity? How the condition of living in the Diaspora, Jewish
migration and issues of belonging are embodied in the construction of his characters? Even though
the scholars such as Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska strongly rejects the idea that Singer patterned his
works on known Polish writers, such as Bolesław Prus, arguing that Bashevis’ characters are created
from a critical perspective, which “contrast strongly with the patriotically heroic point of view
characteristic of many Polish authors”, it is precisely the opposition of this tendency that
demonstrates engagement with the surrounding culture and literary currents. In this workshop I
want to suggest the need for intercultural study of Singer’s work and offer some readings of his texts
through gendered perspective with a reference to the questions listed above.
3:00 PM - Georg Brandes and his Transnational Vision
Blak Hjortshøj, Søren (Department of Culture and Identity,Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark)
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My PhD project is an interpretation of Georg Brandes´ innovative oeuvre in the light of his
background as a Danish-Jewish intellectual. I suggest a new perspective on the category “19th
century assimilated Jewishness,” since this term does not hold as a suitable label either for Georg
Brandes or the many other cosmopolitan-orientated bourgeois European-Jews who struggled to find
their place in the different Western European national cultures in the latter part of the 19th century
and fin-de-siécle.
My focal point will be to show a unique cosmopolitan ideal that Brandes constructs in his early
writings. I call this ideal “the transnational vision.” With “the transnational vision”, Brandes projects a
liberal universal ideal which he represents through the figures of “the modern Jew”, “the emigrant”,
and “the critic.” However, as a result of a certain Jewish “race” heritage, Brandes claims that “the
modern Jew” has a particularistic precedency in developing “the transnational vision” and, in fact,
Brandes advocates that “the modern Jew” is the most innovative individual in the development of
the modern world. Still, it is noticeable that at the same time Brandes venerates “modern
Jewishness” and other “modern Jews” such as Baruch Spinoza, Heinrich Heine, and Berthold
Auerbach, he also distances himself from being Jewish influenced. For the later part of his writings, I
show that this ambivalent representation continues through Brandes’ original interpretations of the
influential 19th century dichotomy “Athens vs. Jerusalem”, and I will also formulate the constituents
of this ambivalence. In doing this, I argue that this indistinctiveness has been a strategy for Brandes
in his effort to build himself a career as a “critic” from the 1870s onwards within the domain of the
majority society.
17121 - One theme: different media
Chair: DINIZ, THAIS
9:00 AM - A Glance at the Attitudes towards Film Adaptation in Iran
Khojastehpour, Adineh (Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran)
Developed more than fifty years ago, adaptation theory has gone through significant changes, mainly
after the rise of postmodern theories and concepts such as post-structuralism and intertextuality.
Recent theorists of adaptation see it mostly as an independent, rather than a secondary work
endeavoring to keep the "essence" of an "original". Also, today, the "originality" of the adapted work
is to a great extent questioned as it is itself seen as an intertext influenced by and interacting with a
large network of texts, including both written and visual texts. In spite of all these changes of views,
adaptation theory needs to develop further. In countries such as Iran, the attitudes towards
adaptation and especially film adaptation tends to be traditional. Though some filmmakers have tried
to make independent works of free adaptation, the theory of adaptation still moves around seeing
the adaptation as a secondary work, obliged to follow the lead of the "source" faithfully. This paper
studies the issue of film adaptation in Iran, with a focus on the critics and thinker's attitudes toward
the issue.
9:20 AM - Film narration in contemporary literature: an Argentinian example
Mattos, Cristine (Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Jardim da glória, Brazil)
This paper aims to investigate the presence of film language in contemporary fiction through the
example of two novels of the Argentinian writer Tomás Eloy Martínez: The Perón Novel (1985) and
Saint Evita (1995). Despite the attested interchange between literature and cinema - especially when
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we think about adaptation from book to screen - critical studies about filmic characteristics in
narration still have no established focus. Analysis mixing themes, media and structures in movies and
written stories usually offer only partial and superficial conclusions due to a lack of theoretical
considerations about concrete medial configurations and their specific intermedial qualities. In
Rajewsky terms, my analysis examines the way contemporary novel, as the one here taken as an
example, uses intermedial references from film language. Considering the aspects of each of the
media involved, I will also discuss the conditions of novelistic production and reception inside the
Hispanic literary traditions, that enable the presence of film intermedial references in narration.
9:40 AM - The Fabulative Function of Magic and Spiritualism in "Eisenheim the Spiritualist"/The
Illusionist
Lin, Wan-shuan (Yuanpei University, Hsinchu City)
In Steven Millhauser’s “Eisenheim the Illusionist,” the illusionist is accused of subverting the Empire
of the Hapsburgs by blurring the boundaries between illusion and reality. Facing arrest, the illusionist
breaks free from the grip of the empire and even brings down the heir to the throne by performing a
series of magic routines, one of which disturbingly combines escapology and spiritualism, in The
Illusionist, the film adaptation of the short story. The public hails his performance as a revolutionary
movement through which the empire is to be turned into a certain spiritual republic. This paper aims
at comparing Millhauser’s fiction and its filmic adaptation and exploring why magic and spiritualism,
often slighted as no more than tricks and illusions, may contribute to allowing the new possibilities in
politics to emerge. I argue that magic and spiritualism have a social and political function when
considered as examples of fabulation in the Deleuzian sense. Gilles Deleuze takes up the Bergsonian
notion of fabulation, a hallucinatory power that creates images of spirits and gods, and gives it a
political sense by reconsidering it as part of the creative process that inspires every advance into the
new. Artistic invention is a manifestation of such a process of creation which produces intense
images that falsify those of the dominant social order. A space is thereby opened up where the
possibility of something new is suddenly seen and a new collective, or a people to come, can be
invented. Thus, Eisenheim’s magical art, described as being able to bend the law of life and death as
well that of time and space, demonstrates how the fabulative function is set into motion.
10:00 AM - Redeeming Time: The Hollow Crown and Chimes at Midnight and their Transit through
Tavern, Castle, and Battlefield in Henry IV Part 1 & Part 2
Monteiro, Flávia (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Contagem, Brazil)
Even though Henry IV Part 1 & Part 2 have not received the same amount of attention as other
Shakespearean plays concerning adaptations, the works derived from these plays provide a fruitful
ground of analysis in the field of adaptation studies. The filmic adaptation Chimes at Midnight and
the TV production The Hollow Crown are examples of explorations of these plays in other media.
The study of these adaptations supplies an illustration of the historical development of
entertainment -- Theater → Cinema → Home entertainment (TV series) along with the specificities of
each medium. Tavern, castle, and battlefield are the main settings of comparison and contrast of
particular devices and contexts involving the source text and its adaptations, film and TV series.
Ultimately, the analysis of elements belonging to these settings, taking into consideration the use of
devices particular to each medium, results in a view of each work as an object of art, with its own
value and without the veil of prejudice which attributes a supposed superiority of one medium over
the other.
11:00 AM - Toward a People's Art - A Study of the Odessa Collective and the Third Theatre
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Very few art movements in the world are directed towards the economically poor and illiterate
masses and address their artistic and cultural needs. Historical materialism attempts to relate the
production and reproduction of culture to the organization of the material conditions of life. From
the Marxist viewpoint, can it be said that a market-made culture is being sold to an audience who are
compelled to buy it? In order to address this question among others, this paper will try to study The
Odessa Collective of Kerala, and The Third Theatre of Badal Sircar (West Bengal) as two significant
examples, which brought about socio-cultural awakenings in the fields of cinema and theatre in
India. The Odessa collective was a socialist group started by filmmaker John Abraham in Calicut in
1984, which transformed the process of film production and distribution into a collaborative effort of
independent filmmaking, whereas Sircar in the 1970s made the revolutionary move of distancing
theatre from the structure of the Western proscenium. He developed a theatre that would rely on
the human body where primacy would be given to the power of physical performance without
relying on any external embellishments. Various forms of ‘dominant’ or ‘popular’ ideologies have
tried to shape the ‘rural’ and ‘subaltern’ consciousness through the medium of art and culture, and
by studying some of the most eminent plays of Sircar and films of Abraham as texts, this paper will
try to raise and answer the above questions. Both the artists envisioned art for the common people:
a people’s cinema and a people’s theatre. The unconventional screenings of both the Odessa
Collective and Third Theatre relocated the audience from the enclosed space of the theatre to the
outside world, made the performance accessible to the public, granted the audience greater agency
by enabling it to participate rather than merely view the spectacle and facilitated a rural-urban
synthesis in two different artistic mediums.
11:30 AM - Literature and the Visual Arts: William BlakeŽs different Tygers
Oliveira, Solange (Federal University of Minas Gerais Brazil, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Considering the variety of treatments available for the development of similar themes in different
media, especially as regards the limitations imposed by the possibilities of each medium, the paper
discusses the contrast between the text of William Blake´s The Tyger and various intermedial
transpositions of the poem to modern paintings. The analysis brings forth a number of pertinent
questions, including the ancient rivalry between the power of the image and the power of the word,
the paragone foregrounded in Jean Hagstrum´s canonical work, The Sister Arts . As a conclusion of
the analysis, the paper sides with those who argue for the superiority of literary over pictorial
representations_ a consequence of the abstraction and greater power of concentration afforded by
verbal art. In this connection, we may briefly recall Hegel´s view on poetry as the highest of art
forms, raised above, in ascending order, architecture, sculpture, painting and music. In his Aesthetics:
Lectures of Fine Art, the philosopher argued that (verbal) language is the most spiritual, least
material of the artistic media. Poetry is therefore best able to fulfill the primary tasks of art, and, in
this regard, has been privileged over painting. This argument would explain why certain artists have
restricted their pictorial representation to the first stanza of Blake´s poem, and even then have
thought it necessary to split their painting into several sections, each focusing on a single descriptive
aspect of the few verses of the stanza.
12:00 PM - Variations on a theme: Kandinsky, Joyce, and Vittorini
Viselli, Antonio (Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada)
This paper will explore the intermedial adaptation of musical fugue in painting and literature. By
studying not only a common theme amongst the sister-arts, but by defining what the term “theme”
signifies in various media, I will question why particular artists revert to fugal form in different, even
conflicting, media. Such transpositions problematize spatio-temporal boundaries, mimesis, and
semiotics, and are in direct relation with a modernist representation of subjectivity. Fugue is by
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definition the contrapuntal variations of a single subject or theme. Therefore, in lieu of retrieving a
“source text” or hypotext – such as Bach’s unfinished Art of Fugue, for example–, I will question how
and why particular artists of a certain period re-create a similar form/theme – or “style,” as
musicologists have defined the fugue – beyond music in the works of Kandinsky, Joyce, and Vittorini.
2:00 PM - Iconicity, Rebelliousness, and Intermediality in Rock Music Culture
Amancio, Maria Angelica (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), Belo Horizonte, Austria)
Long hair, leather pants, boots, thumbtacks: Rebelliousness in rock is not only a musical
phenomenon, but also – and, sometimes, mainly – a visual one. Jim Morrison, Ozzy Osbourne, Kurt
Cobain, and many other rock stars have always been responsible, intentionally or not, for dictating
styles and fashion trends. But how does iconicity interfere in what is supposed to be the most
important medium of their music, i.e., their albums? Considering that nowadays audiences can easily
download their favorite songs thanks to new technological tools and particular websites, the music
industry has started to pay more attention to objects that can be attractive for their historical, visual
and material/tactile aspect, such as: anthology box sets (The Beatles Anthology (1995) being one of
the first examples in the CD era); new booklet formats; artist’s books ( such as the one that
reproduces Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics notebook); and several other types of collaborations among
musicians, lyricists, and graphic designers. Back in the 1980s, we can find this tendency in one of the
most famous heavy metal bands in the world. Their mascot, a monster called Eddie, as well as the
peculiar font used on the band logo, were present in all the covers and helped create a personality
for the band. This logo font is now part of Microsoft Word font database, which helps us have an idea
of its importance and success. By extension, booklets can help us reassess the role of authorship and
authorial images in a moment when individuality and originality have lost their legitimating power.
This paper analyzes the relevance of iconicity in those objects across three decades, comparing how
the theme of Rebelliousness is treated in different media: visual and musical ones. It also notes how
material transformations alters the ways in which culture is produced and consumed. Methodologies
providing support to the analyses to be carried out include intermediality (Liliane Louvel, J.T.W.
Mitchel, and Anne-Marie Christin) structuralism (Gérard Genette’s paratext theory) and postmodern
theory (Frederic Jameson).
2:20 PM - Images from artists' studios
Arbex-Enrico, Márcia (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais -UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil); Baptista do Lago, Izabela
(Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
This proposal aims at discussing the relationship between the arts and media from one of its most
recurrent topoi: the artist's studio. In literature, this space is constantly referred to, in both
nineteenth century narratives and contemporary texts that renew the tradition of Künstlerroman,
when presenting characters – painters or photographers, as well as models and images – in this
privileged space of creation. Metaphor of such literary creation space, the atelier takes many forms
of ekphrasis that dialogue with pictorial representations of the artist's studio, also abundant in art
history. The confrontation between the literary text and painting depicting the artist's workplace will
allow us to identify the intrinsic characteristics of each of the media, their points of friction, as well as
their contact points, in order to establish a parallel between the figure of the artist and the writer
who, in a mirrored relationship, unveil their creative processes.
2:40 PM - One term, several meanings: transmedia according to different areas of study
Figueiredo, Camila (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
The term “transmedia” arised from the recognition of some fluid medial characteristics, and has
been useful and appropriate in the analysis of contemporary cultural products. Based on the triad
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convergence of the media, participatory culture and collective intelligence, transmedia has described
a strategy commonly used to expand narratives, explore fictional universes and develop medial
characteristics that cannot be exhausted in one medium, but transcend to several other media. It has
also come to be a profitable opportunity because it ultimately wins consumers from different niches
and increases the engagement of the public. But more than simply the idea of “across media”, the
definition and scope of the phenomenon vary according to the area of study. From transmediality to
transmedia storytelling, from expanded or distributed narratives to cross-sited narratives, from
multiplatform narratives to transmedia branding, transmedial practice has been defined in distinct
ways and has also designated different phenomena. This text will investigate distinct views on the
term, more specifically from the field of Narratology, Media Studies, Marketing and Intermediality.
Understanding that the perspectives from these fields may collaborate so that the transmedia
phenomenon can benefit from analyses in different approaches, this text will also propose a
classification that aims to be useful to those research areas..
3:00 PM - Samambaia: a house as poem, novel and film
Vieira, Miriam (ufmg, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Samambaia is a modernist house located in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Besides being the
inspiration for Elizabeth Bishop’s Pulitzer winner poem Song for the Rainy Season (1960), the house
has been remediated in other media, such as novels and a film — The More I Owe You (2010), by
Michael Sledge; Rare and Commomplace Flowers : The Story of Lota de Macedo Soares and Elizabeth
Bishop (1995), by Carmen Oliveira, and its film adaptation, Reaching for the Moon (2013), directed by
Bruno Barreto. Since reception plays a major role in intermedial transformation processes, I argue
that each time this architectural environment is remediated, it supplements not only the house per
se, but also all of its transmediations in different media. Therefore, based on the notion of
architectural ekphrasis, this paper aims at discussing different processes of intermedial
transformation in different contemporary media products.
17126 - Dans quelle mesure l'effet de vie est-il la condition du langage de l'art ?
Room: Hs 42
Chair: Münch, Marc-Mathieu ; Guiyoba, François; Couto Pereira, Helena Bonito
9:00 AM - "L'effet de vie" de la lecture
Lushenkova, Anna (Université Paris 4-Sorbonne, Villeurbanne, France)
Proposition de communication pour la table ronde "Dans quelle mesure l'effet de vie est-il la
condition du langage de l'art ?"
A la lumière de la théorie récente de l’effet de vie, je souhaite interroger la vision des auteurs de la
première moitié du XXe siècle des liens essentiels qu’entretiennent la littérature et la découverte de
la « vie pleine ». L’effet esthétique de la lecture en est à l’origine dans un grand nombre de romans
d’initiation du XXe siècle, et en particulier ceux de Marcel Proust. Les auteurs russes émigrés en
France dans la première moitié du XXe siècle entament un dialogue littéraire avec Proust, en
particulier autour des questions des rapports entre l’art, la lecture et la vie. Je souhaite interroger les
visions de Marcel Proust, d’Alexeï Remizov, d’Ivan Bounine, de Iouri Felzen et d’autres auteurs
autour des problématiques inhérentes à la réflexion sur la littérature et « l’effet de vie ».
Selon la théorie de l’effet de vie, l’effet esthétique de la lecture se rapporte essentiellement à une
question de flux. Il s’agit d’un flux bilatéral, lorsque la lecture, alimentée par le « corps vital » du
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lecteur, le nourrit simultanément. Ainsi, interroger la conception de la lecture par l’artiste permet de
réfléchir à la question « Dans quelle mesure l’effet de vie est-il la condition du langage de l’art ? »
9:30 AM - La Notion d'invariant dans l'œuvre du poète syrien Adonis.
bouderbala, tayeb (University of Batna-Algeria, Batna, Algeria)
Nous nous attacherons à étudier la notion d’invariant qui se dégage de l’œuvre de l’écrivain syrien
Adonis dans la perspective de la théorie de l’effet de vie. En effet, toute l’œuvre de cet écrivain est
informée par cette riche dialectique qui tente de mettre en perspective tout en les dépassant, la
spécificité de l’expression littéraire et artistique et son inscription dans l’universalité. Autrement dit,
les structures transhistoriques, appelées parfois structures anthropologiques de l’imaginaire, sont
omniprésentes. Mais ces structures se déploient dans l’espace et dans le temps, selon une historicité
particulière. En effet, la poétique arabe qui trouve son expression authentique et magistrale dans les
textes d’Adonis essaie de concilier esthétique spécifique profondément enracinée dans l’héritage
culturel arabe, et un fonds humain qui relève des universaux. La notion de l’effet de vie nous fournit
ici une grille de lecture de cette œuvre, tant en amont qu’en aval, au plan de la forme, comme au
plan de la signification. Nous fournirons des exemples vivants, en poésie comme en prose, pour
illustrer cette notion qui est le fondement de tous les arts.
10:00 AM - La fraternité des arts à lŽépreuve des adaptations du poème Morte e vida severina, de
João Cabral de Melo Neto
PEREIRA, HELENA (Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Il ságira d´étudier la fraternité des arts dans lóeuvre de João Cabral de Melo Neto, Morte e vida
severina, qui est un long poème dramatique, puis dans ládaptation avec musique de Chico Buarque
en 1968, pendant la dictature, et enfin dans la version vidéo de 1981. Ma contribuition montrera
comment chacune des trois oeuvres considerées met au service dún même effet de vie les moyens
qui lui sont propres et, le cas échéant, comment elle les conjugue harmonieusement.
11:00 AM - Multiplicité d'art et de vie dans La piel que habito, de Pedro Almodóvar
RODRIGUES-ALVES, Maria-Cláudia (IBILCE- Universidade Estadual Paulista, São José do Rio Preto - SP, Brazil)
Ayant pour inspiration le roman Mygale (1984) de Thierry Jonquet (1954-2009), le film La piel que
habito (2011) est marqué par la multiplicité de références artistiques, de genres, d’identités. La
peinture et le piano, passe-temps de Vincent/Eve, protagoniste de Mygale, devenu Vicente/Vera à
l’écran, et leurs fonctions dans le roman (plutôt mélancoliques et provocatrices) ne peuvent pas être
comparés aux activités créatrices du personnage recréé par Almodóvar, qui, plutôt que l’évasion,
recherche son identité au moyen de l’art et de la méditation. Vincente/Vera survit dans sa condition
captive avec le soutien des cours de Yoga à la télé et de la sculpture (l’œuvre de Louise Bourgeois),
activités à partir desquelles il/elle donne vie à ses propres créations, en forgeant aussi sa nouvelle
identité. L’univers du réalisateur espagnol sert de cadre à ce contexte de mort/vie. La mythologie et
l’art, ses repères à lui, son identité, et pourquoi pas, son ADN y sont constamment présents, comme
s’il voulait aider Vera à finalement se reconnaître en tant qu’individu, en tant que femme.
Almodóvar, lecteur de Jonquet, devient alors le conteur d’une nouvelle histoire, où l’art sauve, et
transforme le roman noir de l’écrivain français en une histoire épouvantablement lyrique et pleine de
vie.
11:30 AM - LA PLURIVALENCE AU COEUR DE LA CREATION LITTERAIRE ET CINEMATOGRAPHIQUE DE
SEMBENE OUSMANE
DJOB-LI-KANA, Edouard Christian (Effet de vie, Trondheim, Norway)
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A travers l’idée de l’effet de vie, Marc Mathieu Munch propose une théorie esthétique où
l’appréciation des oeuvres d’art se fait par rapport à l’effet qu’elles pourraient exercer sur les
récepteurs. Munch pense que toute oeuvre d’art dite réussie est celle qui arrive à créer dans la
psyché du récepteur co-créant un effet de vie, c’est-à-dire une vie artificielle, une seconde vie
provoquée par la lecture de l’oeuvre et dans laquelle évolue ce récepteur. L’oeuvre d’art déclenche
chez ce dernier les rêves, les souvenirs, les émotions, en lui ressuscitant un monde connu ou en lui
faisant découvrir de nouvelles réalités. Donc pour Munch, la valeur esthétique d’une œuvre se
mesure proportionnellement à sa force, c'est-à-dire à sa plurivalence. Chaque auteur devrait donc
travailler à doter son texte d’une plurivalence, d’une esthétique capable d’installer une tension dans
la psyché des recepteurs parfois venant de cultures différentes.
A tout prendre, l’on comprend que malgré la diversité des formes d’art, des démarches et des
publics, la plurivalence, corollaire de l’effet de vie, est un élément universel et transversal des
œuvres. Cet article le démontrera en montrant comment elle structure la création littéraire et
cinématographique de La Noire, deux œuvres artistiques de sembène Ousmane.
12:00 PM - De la lecture intuitive à la lecture critique - Le spectacle de masques dans le roman
d'Abe Kôbô La Face d'un autre
Brock, Julie (KYOTO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (KIT), KYOTO, Japan)
Le roman de l'écrivain japonais Abe Kôbô La Face d'un autre (1964) est à la fois un spectacle de
masques et une réflexion sur le spectacle de masques. Dans notre communication, nous montrerons
d'abord que la thématique du masque en tant que « nouveau visage » peut s'interpréter comme une
fiction au premier degré, mais qu'elle a également une signification en tant que métaphore du roman
lui-même dans une lecture du second degré. Ayant admis cette dualité, nous chercherons à en
découvrir l'unité par le biais du témoignage. En nous fondant sur les éléments d’une lecture que nous
avons faite il y a trente ans, et qui nous a engagée dans une longue pratique de l’analyse critique,
nous interrogerons rétrospectivement notre pratique de recherche afin d'expliciter comment s’est
articulé, dans notre expérience, le passage entre la lecture spontanée et la réflexion critique. Nous
espérons par ce questionnement éclaircir le processus par lequel un lecteur ordinaire se transforme
en un lecteur critique, et comment il prend conscience des enjeux de la création. En conclusion, nous
montrerons que la lecture, en tant qu'activité intellectuelle, constitue son objet en fonction d'un
horizon d'attente plus ou moins formulé et conscient. Cette part de l’activité peut faire l'objet d'un
partage entre différents lecteurs et alimenter une discussion profitable à tous. Mais nous montrerons
également qu'une autre part de la lecture, stimulant des zones plus profondes de la conscience,
procède de la structure de l'inconscient, du rêve, c'est-à-dire d'une réalité non objective, et qu'il est
impossible d'admettre au rang des objets scientifiques. Pour finir, nous poserons la question de
savoir si le propre de la littérature - notamment romanesque - n'est pas justement d'atteindre à ces
profondeurs inconscientes de la psyché, favorisant l'éveil de la conscience du lecteur sur les éléments
constitutifs de son « moi » le plus intime... et paradoxalement d'un « moi » étrange, non familier.
2:00 PM - Fiction et effet de vie, deux faces du même code universel des arts.
Münch, Marc-Mathieu , France
Les nombreuses recherches récentes sur la fiction semblent bien se rencontrer dans l'idée que l'être
humain ne peut vivre et survivre que grâce au cerveau que l'évolution lui a donné. Celui-ci fonctionne
en modélisant le monde, lui-même et l'avenir. Or cette puissance de prévoir, de faire des
hypothèses, d'imaginer peut aussi servir à créer des mondes fictifs que la dextérité des artistes peut
rendre présents et faire vivre dans l'esprit du récepteur.
Je vous prie de recevoir l'expression de mes hommages distingués
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2:30 PM - La fraternité des arts en Afrique
Guiyoba, François (Ecole normale supérieure de Yaoundé, Yaoundé, Cameroon)
Mon propos va se situer sur l'axe de "La fraternité des arts" et va porter sur « La fraternité des arts
en Afrique traditionnelle : polyvalence des artistes et entrelacement des arts ». Il s'agira de montrer
que, dans la société traditionnelle de ce continent, les arts fraternisent tout naturellement en raison
de la polyvalence de tout artiste digne de ce nom. Sous ces cieux, on n'est pas musicien ou sculpteur
ou conteur, etc., mais musicien et sculpteur et conteur, etc. Un peu comme si l'art ne se déclinait
qu'au singulier, pour ne se manifester qu'en un pluriel interdisciplinaire, voire transdisciplinaire.
17218 - (Queer) Relationality: Gender and Queer Comparatists at Work
Sponsored by the Comparative Gender Studies Committee
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th //
Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Hs 21
Chair: Spurlin, William
11:00 AM - Stein's and Hemingway's Queer Relationality
Coffman, Chris (University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA)
This paper will examine Gertrude Stein’s highly fraught friendship with Ernest Hemingway.
Hemingway’s initial supplication to Stein’s tutelage transformed into retaliatory aggression once he
noticed Alice B. Toklas’s power over her. Whereas Stein admits in The Autobiography of Alice B.
Toklas to having “a weakness for Hemingway” despite his faults (208), Hemingway—who notoriously
spoke of wanting to “lay” Gertrude—spitefully attacked her relationship with Toklas in his memoir A
Moveable Feast (Benstock, Women of the Left Bank, 171). Considering that text as well as Stein’s
portraits of Hemingway, I will argue that the homophobia evident in Hemingway’s treatment of Stein
was a form of paranoia about the prospect that their masculine homosocial bond might also have
included masculine homosexual desire. The result of this reaction was a volatile mix of “desiring,
identifying, representing, repelling, paralleling, differentiating, rivaling, leaning, twisting, mimicking,
withdrawing, attracting, aggressing, warping, and other relations”—forms of relationality that play
out in the texts through which Stein and Hemingway engage one another (Sedgwick, Touching
Feeling, 8).
11:30 AM - Between Queers, Queers Between: HIV, Community, and Bi Queer Erasure
Greenblatt, Jordana Marion (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada)
Listing who might benefit from HIV PrEP, the US Center for Disease Control mentions gay/bisexual
men and “ heterosexual[s] …with partners …at substantial risk of HIV infection (e.g., people who
inject drugs or have bisexual male partners).” Eliding bisexual women and conflating gay/bi men
reflects safer sex organizations’ broader tendency to ignore bi women and/or lump non-monosexual
queers in general with gay men or lesbians. Extending beyond safer-sex info to broader queer
culture, such lumping ignores the health needs of bi queers and denies the existence of bi queer
community. As Patrick Califia notes, “ …HIV education programs …for ‘gay/bisexual’ men …never
include any information relevant to bisexual men’s female partners.” Neither does most information
for “lesbian/bisexual” women, which primarily addresses sex between cis women. Framed as “gay”
or “heterosexual” depending on their partner, bi queers who only or primarily have sex with other
queers find no information geared to their specific needs, a lack disproportionately affecting queer
women who have sex with queer men. Recognition of such queers exists only rarely in the margins of
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safer sex information, and more commonly in writing by queer-not-gay authors such as Califia and
Carol Queen. Their work (fiction and non-) contrasts with monosexual queer literature, such as Sarah
Schulman’s People in Trouble, wherein Kate is a tourist with less stake in the AIDS crisis even than
“proper” lesbian activists, and her bisexual practice is framed as an inability to give up hetero
privilege. As Kenji Yoshino notes, hetero- and homosexuals share investments in policing identitarian
boundaries by eliding bi queers. This reassertion of “clean and proper” community boundaries
replicates the investment in reasserting clean and proper bodily boundaries that William Haver
observes within HIV safer sex discourse—a reassertion that comes at the cost both of recognition
and of the sexual health needs of queers “in between.”
12:00 PM - Transgender Boom?: (Non)Relativities of Contemporary Transgender Autobiographies in
Transnational context
Mahasupap, Saran (Transgender Boom?: (Non)Relativities of Contemporary Transgender Autobiographies in Transnational
Context, San Francisco, USA)
Currently, transgender is put in the spotlight in media and public. At present, popular culture creates
the new bar of tolerances and (re)open space for voicing transgender existence. In cultural aspects,
this phenomenal implicitly reshaping and, gradually, ameliorating tolerance toward transgender. This
seems to give a better picture of transgender issue. However, what is represented through media
and public remains prejudice. In other words, transgender seems to be created with a sense of
distorted or foreign body and fabricated femininity. Transgender seems to be generalized as a
strange body.
Repetitive prejudice toward transgender in media is still galore. Therefore, transgender have to use
tactics of empowering their self- narrative. Transgender autobiographies thus are applied as a tool in
arguing and creating power and agency of transgender. Exploring current autobiographies of
transgender, it gives the sense of relativities of "becoming" transgender and depicting performative
and constructive identity of transgender through narratives. Self as foreign identity and body are
narrated and depicts its closely bound as relativities of how to become a transgender.
Autobiographies of transgender employ the process of narration to redefine self and creatively
recreate the concept of foreign body based on their experiences.
The concept of foreign body becomes a one of the core ideas that reach to construction of
transgender identity. However, the relativities of transgender identity in contemporary
autobiographies is not ideally related and share the similarity. The narrative of transgender vividly
has tensions in variants of differences like race, religion and spaces. This differences is able to break
the relativity of transgenders and give the diversities of transgender itself. Transgender
autobiographies therefore enable to be in-between space and transitional point of not only gender
but the nexus of several discourse like bodies, races, religions and nations.
This study aims to explore the relativity and its limit in contemporary transgender autobiographies in
Thailand, India, China USA and Germany and also gives the analysis of in-between position of
transgender which is not only sharing gender concepts but also differs and unique itself by the
various conditions seen in different discusses and spaces.
11:00 AM - Running against the Limits of Language: Nathanaël's "Paper City" ("Papierstadt")
Tutschek, Elisabeth (Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada)
Following Wittgenstein’s remark in conversation with Waismann, “[a]nrennen gegen die Sprache?
Die Sprache ist ja kein Käfig” (Wittgenstein, Schriften, Bd. 3 117),1 this paper aims to queer
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translation and explore the space ‘in-between’ languages and the notion of ‘untranslatability.’ Its
objective is, on the one hand, to create a link between expressions of ‘queer’ and Wittgenstein’s
language philosophy, and, on the other hand, to illustrate translational practices that are “at odds
with the normal, the legitimate, the dominant” (Halperin 1995: 62). Turning to Nathanaël’s Paper
City (2003), I will first show how this text is queer as it transcends binary oppositions, exploring the
frontiers of language, sexuality, and genre. The sexual attributes and linguistic gender of its
protagonist n corrupt the heterosexual matrix: “n tucked her soft cock into her skirt” (11). Another
character, “[kw?t],” is “unnameable” (17) as it crosses the linguistic boundaries of the French ‘quoi’
and the ’English ‘what,’ creating a lexical hybrid. This is how Nathanaël claims “l’intraduisible” (51).
By breaking open two linguistic systems through code switching and lexical amalgamations,
Nathanaël creates a hybridity that also modifies the grammatical structure of her multilingual English
and French writing. My paper confronts the (un)translatability of this hybridity and the queer text. It
proposes translation strategies for the multilingual queer narrative and, in particular, Paper City,
focusing on code switching and wordplay like the above mentioned ? (‘quat’) and their translation
into a third language, German. My discussion hence brings the challenges faced in translating Die
Papierstadt back to Wittgenstein’s mother tongue.
11:30 AM - Translation and/as Queer Politics in Contemporary Francophone Life Writing from the
Maghreb
Spurlin, William J. (Brunel University London, London, United Kingdom)
This paper scrutinizes new representations of same-sex desire and queerness emerging in
postcolonial francophone literature by gay and lesbian authors from the Maghreb. It identifies and
interrogates issues around linguistic and cultural difference and translation, and thus explores new
sites of (queer) relationality. The paper argues that authors such as Nina Bouraoui, Rachid O, and
Abdellah Taïa foreground translation and narrative reflexivity around incommensurable spaces of
queerness in order to index their negotiations of multiple languages, histories, cultures, and
audiences. These complex textual and political strategies respond to the fact that these writers are
now living in diaspora and that Maghrebian spaces of gender and sexual dissidence are now
increasingly inflected by globally circulating discourses and embodiments of queerness and therefore
must be understood comparatively, given their simultaneous destabilisation of cultural norms
around gender, sexuality, and national belonging both within North Africa and in Europe.
12:00 PM - Queering Coetzee: Kristien Hemmerechts' Transwriting of "Disgrace"
Plate, Liedeke (Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands)
In the summer of 2015 Flemish author Kristien Hemmerechts publishes her novel *Alles verandert*
(*Everything Changes*), in which she transwrites J.M. Coetzee’s *Disgrace* (1999), transforming its
main protagonist from male to female and moving the setting from post-apartheid South Africa to
postcolonial Belgium. Hemmerechts stays close to Coetzee’s plot. Like David Lurie in Coetzee’s novel,
Iris Verdonck is a professor of literature who loses her job after an affair with a female student.
Verdonck is specialized in issues of gender, having developed a TransSexLit test, which demonstrates
that, “Everything changes when you change the character’s sex” (47). The novel itself is, of course,
such a TransSexLit experiment, exploring relations of language, violence, sexuality, gender and other
power relations in the context of postcolonial and multicultural Belgium. Not only do straight
sexualities become queer, but issues of race/ ethnicity, class and migration are brought to bear on
the narrative, as she is molested by three women from North Africa who forced their way into the
house where she stays with her son, who is housesitting for a Belgian diplomat.
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In this paper, I discuss *Alles verandert* as a transwriting; that is, as a rewriting in another language,
a transposition to another socio-cultural and historical setting, and a transformation of gender, sex
and sexuality that translates Coetzee’s *Disgrace* quite queerly. On the one hand, I inquire into
Hemmerechts narrative, exploring how it relates to, touches, and transforms Coetzee’s novel. On the
other hand, taking my cue from Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s “irreducibly spatial positionality of
*beside*” (2003: 8) as generative preposition, I inquire into the space Hemmerechts’ transwriting
opens up in between the two texts through the relations that emerge between the performative
work of transwriting and that of transgender/transsexuality.
11:00 AM - Transgressing Translation/Translating Transgression: In Search of Lili Elvenes
Caughie, Pamela (Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA); Meyer, Sabine (Independet Scholar, Berlin, Germany)
In 1930 Danish artist Einar Wegener underwent a series of surgeries to become Lili Elvenes (a.k.a. Lili
Elbe). Fra Mand Til Kvinde: Lili Elbes Bekendelser (published in Denmark in 1931, in Germany under
the title Ein Mensch wechselt sein Geschlecht in 1932, and in Britain and the U.S. in 1933 as Man into
Woman: An Authentic Record of a Change of Sex) is the life narrative of Lili Elvenes, considered by
some scholars to be the first historical transsexual. Working with Danish translator Marianne Ølholm,
we are producing a comparative scholarly edition of this work, with the first full-length translation of
the Danish edition. Our separate comparative analyses have revealed numerous and significant
differences between the Danish edition and the others. For example, the Danish edition contains
several dream sequences missing from the others. Place names and names of characters also differ,
as do dates of letters and the ages of characters. Significantly, a few passages in the Danish edition
use the feminine pronoun for Lili where the German and English-language editions use the masculine
or avoid the pronoun altogether. The Danish edition also gives Grete much more space, fleshing out
her character as a “modern girl.” Differences due to translators’ choices and striking paratextual
differences among the four editions affect the reading experience. Our presentation will consider the
effect of these textual and paratextual variations and lexical differences on feminist, queer, and trans
readings of the narrative. Trans life writing in general disrupts conventions of narrative logic by
defying pronominal stability, temporal continuity, and natural progression. It thereby demands
analysis beyond a conventional genre-based framework, work we have undertaken in separate
publications on this narrative. Our particular focus in this presentation will be on the effects of these
different translations on how transsexualism (a term of the time) gets constructed through this
narrative. Where does transsexualism reside in such a multilingual narrative? Might any
transnarrative be a translation, residing in the spaces between languages?
12:00 PM - Gendered Violence and the Digital Body?
Zimmerman, Tegan (Okanagan College, Edmonton, Canada)
The popularity of online media like social media, video games, You Tube, blogs, etc. has been
changing the landscape of how feminists understand and define embodiment for quite some time.
This presentation, however, argues that given the proliferation of online gendered violence in the
aforementioned mediums, an urgent re-assessment and rethinking of digital embodiment is
necessary . Drawing on feminist scholarship on the body by Susan Bordo and Rosi Braidotti amongst
others, I analyse several examples from online popular culture to support my argument that it is
imperative for gender theorists to consider the digital body as embodied. One of my primary
examples will be the potential to rape other online users in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. In
my discussion, I will outline how I am using the terms embodied and disembodied, online and offline
and proceed to question whether a differentiation between these ideas is useful or even makes
sense when theorizing gendered violence. Moreover, I will touch on several key ideas such as s patial
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and cultural notions of online physical proximity, perceived identities of and relations between online
users, and how intersections between gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national and religious
affiliation, as well as disability influence one’s conceptions and experiences of online embodiment
and disembodiment. A relational analysis of “online” gender and violence is both suitable and
necessary given that the political stakes of this timely topic.
11:40 AM - Challenging the Centre: Alternative History of 'Deviancy' in the Self-Representations of
Women Sex Workers from India
GUPTA, SEEMANTINI (Independent Scholar, KOLKATA, India)
This paper seeks to explore the construction of the identity of ‘deviant woman’ in
contemporary India with specific reference to the issue of sexwork. I would be analysing selfrepresentations of sexworkers in oral narratives to analyse how the sexworker’s subaltern ‘self’ plays
a significant role in re-constructing the narrative of 'deviancy' in India. The purpose of the paper is to
arrive at a better understanding of the processes through which the notions of deviancy and
subalterneity are constructed.
In this paper, I analyse the history of sexwork in colonised India and argue that the
‘other’ing of sexworkers with respect to both cultural ideology and legislative parameters is a legacy
of the Victorian moral and legal system. I analyse a few oral narratives of women sexworkers to find
how the unique subjectivity reshapes one’s identity. I argue that in her construction of the ‘self’, a
sexworker often challenges and subverts the master discourse which had criminalised her as a
‘deviant’ woman. These oral narratives asserts a ‘deviant’ woman’s agency-claim—over her body,
sexuality and her profession and re-shape the narrative of deviancy.
I argue that these oral narratives are ‘non-traditional’ sources of history and are
important in understanding the gaps and aporias in the traditional narratives of deviancy in
postcolonial, post-globalised India. Read against various legislative measures which are taken by the
Indian government to police sexwork in the country, these narratives help locate the silences of
mainstream history and facilitate an understanding of the social motivation behind the silences.
Reading the oral narratives, the marked biases in the dominant discourse on sexuality become
evident. The self-representations also help the researcher to develop a perspective of the ‘centre’
from the ‘margins’ and have the potential to undo the system of male dominance which marginalises
not only the ‘deviant’ sexworkers, but all women.
12:00 PM - Beautiful Boys on the Horizon of Cross-Cultural Spaces
Arvas, Abdulhamit (Michigan State U, LANSING, USA)
This paper explores the beautiful boy as an erotic embodiment of territory to underscore the
relationship between sexuality and space, between hierarchical sexual objectification and territorial
objectification in early modern Ottoman and European representations. In tracing this sexual
embodiment though a queer contrapuntal reading of literary and cartographic representations, I
uncover a horizon of different spaces that makes possible what seems impossible through its
heterogeneous significations. The boy on the horizon, I suggest, is subject to the homoerotic gaze of
the poet, the cartographer,and the reader.
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11:00 AM - Frameworks, Rituals, Mirroring Effects. A Queer Reading of the S/M Relationship
Fusillo, MASSIMO (University of L'Aquila, ROMA, Italy)
Sadomasochism played an important role in Michel Foucault’s reflection on power and sexuality; he
«espied in Sm the potential for constructing an alternative form of community and relationality,
which would escape regolatory and normative relations of knowledge and power, by playing with
and de-contextualizing that power. SM dramatises the elasticity and two-way directionality of power
[…] by enabling players to reverse the roles of dominant and subordinate partner at any given point»
(L. Downing, in D. Langridge – M. Barker (eds.), Safe, Sane and Consensual. Contemporary
Perspectives on Sadomasochism, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). According to this perspective, some
theorists highlighted the queer potential of BDSM: the ability to create a space of experimentation of
new relationalities (for example, in the same volume, R. Bauer, Playgrounds and New Territories: the
Potential of BDSM Practices to Queer Genders). This vision certainly depicts some subversive aspects
of BDSM culture, such as the figure of dominatrix or the practice of gender reversal, but it sounds, as
a matter of fact, too anarchistic and one sided, since in the BDSM prevails a fascination for totalizing,
pure and coherent roles. This paper will argue that the queer nature of the master and slave
relationship lies in its performative and ritual character: in its exaggerating scenes and costumes in a
specific setting, and in its presenting power as a consensual game, based on empathy and mirroring
effects. After this theoretical discussion, which will cover Lacan’s concept of masquerade re-used by
Linda Williams, the paper will analyse some of the few literary and artistic representation of BDSM
devoid of stereotypes and morbid connotations: especially Roman Polanski’s filmic adaptation of
David Ivers’ Venus in Fur, which rewrites von Masoch’s masterpiece, contaminating it with a
reference to the myth of Dionysus; and some recurrent scenes in Robbe-Grillet’s narrative and filmic
production, which can be read in parallelism with his wife’s Catherine Robbe-Grillet’s activity as
dominatrix.
11:20 AM - Figures of Maternal Violence: Embodiments of Radical Otherness
Schmidt, Rita Terezinha (Federal University do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Resistances to self-sacrifice, ambivalences, denials and plain rejection in relation to maternity or
maternal nurturance are inscribed in the trope of the “unatural woman” that emerged in the XX
century in literary works by female writers from different geopolitical and cultural locations whose
deployment of post-romantic strategies delegitimizes romance plot considered part of an ideological
apparatus for the maintenance and reproduction of the sex-gender system while encoding in their
writings new rhetorical representations and symbolical/social inscriptions of agency for female
characters. In the ground-breaking historical and theoretical considerations on motherhood as an
institution with norms designed to keep women in servitude, Simone de Beauvior regarded the
female reproductive body as inherently oppressive and decried ‘maternal instinct’ by stressing
repeatedly that biological facts cannot ground human values. Since the seventies, the
interdisciplinary field of theoretical inquiries into femininity, sexual difference, female subjectivity
and identity, subject-formation, female body, reproduction and nurturing, grounded on a wide
spectrum of philosophical perspectives and methodological frames, yet maternal violence as a
historical fact and a fictional event has been sidelined and as it stands today, it constitutes a
repressed subject matter, a taboo in western culture. My proposal is to examine figures of infanticide
in two novels, Uma duas (One Two -2011), by the Brazilian writer Eliane Brum, and Ventos do
apocalipse (Winds of Apocalypse -2010) by the Mozambique writer Paulina Chiziane. I will focus on
the relational dimension of rage, grief and violence related to scapegoating and projections such as
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marginalization, disavowal, denial and objectification, with aditional comments on the novel Beloved
(1987) by Toni Morrison. But instead of privileging a textual interpretation predicated on the logic of
cause/effect, I want to probe into the effect, an impossible scenario of unmitigated negativity, to
explore the problematic of the limits of the human and the performativity of aesthetic narratives in
the scope of current discussions on violence, law and ethical relationality.
11:40 AM - Voice and Self-Empowerment. On Sexual Violence against Women in 21st-Century
Prose.
Nenadovic, Ana (University Vienna, University Banja Luka, Vienna, Austria)
Multiple female experiences relate one to another across space, time and national
literatures. A bonding female experience, in times of both war and peace, is sexual violence. Sexual
assault and rape of women has been a literary motif since the Antiques, therefore, its representation
has varied. Whereas the representations of, e.g. Lucretia's rape illustrate a self-determined female
character, in recent Latin American and South African prose a trend to silence and victimize female
characters, who experienced sexual violence as adults, can be distinguished.
By comparing various prose works by authors as recognized as Zoë Wicomb, Zakes
Mda, J.M. Coetzee, Mario Vargas Llosa, Roberto Bolaño and Gabriel García Márquez, the
representation of women by men and the female voicelessness, as theorized by Gayatri C. Spivak in
her essay Can the Subaltern Speak? , is striking as is the victimization of the female characters.
Even though it is female characters, who experience sexual violence, it is the male
characters' perspective the readers are confronted with. The male perspective in the works is
achieved through the narratological strategies of focalization, distance and mode as described by
Gérard Genette. By denying the female characters to talk about their experiences, the healingprocess and, therefore, the way back to self-determination is impeded, as constituted by Judith
Herman in Trauma and Recovery . While voicelessness appears on different levels, still the suffered
trauma cannot be overcome. As a consequence, the female characters remain their predators' and
traumas' eternal victims.
This presentation aims to demonstrate that, in selected works of prose from
different Latin American countries and South Africa, victimization and voicelessness are tightly
connected, leading to the conclusion that voice and self-empowerment predetermine each other.
11:00 AM - Die Kryptographie des queren Vertrauens: Subalterne Relationelle Erzählgestalten von
Auf der anderen Seite bis Barbe-Bleue
Mild, Matthew (The Tapestry, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Im Erzählaufbau literarischer und sonstiger Texte spielen das Vertrauen in Relationen und das
Verlangen nach der Entwicklung mehrerer Weltbilder durch immer neuere kryptisch messbare
Vertrauenserweiterungen die Rollen von Eros und Psyche auf der Alltagsbühne der relationellen
Erfahrungen. Sowohl auf dem Bildschirm als auch auf gedruckten Seiten steht das archetypische
Abbild des queren, erweiterten Vertrauens im türkisch-deutschen Queerfilm Auf der anderen Seite
(2007) von Fatih Akin und im feministischen Roman Barbe-Bleue [Blaubart] (2012) von Amélie
Nothomb im Vordergrund. Diese Deutung vergleicht die zwei Texten mittels der Anwendung einer
Spivakschen poststrukturalistischen subalternen Umkehrmethode und durch die Analyse der von
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Kimberle Crenshaw theorisierten Sozialintersektionen. Dabei werden auch noch intertextuelle
Vergleiche zu den postfeministischen Queermusikvideos Lady Gagas, dem türkisch-italienischen
Queerfilm Saturno contro [In Ewigkeit Liebe] (2007) von Ferzan Ozpetek und Angela Carters
feministischen Werken diskutiert. In den reichen Erzählgestalten Akins und Nothombs verkörpern
eine lesbische Militantin und die neue Hausmieterin eines Mörders schöpferische Darstellungen von
Queer- und Frauensubversion. Wie im gleichnamigen Märchen darf die neugierige Hausmieterin die
Kammer des Mörders nicht aufschließen und achtet das Verbot trotzdem nicht. Die Militantin im
Spielfilm schließt mehrere verbotene Kammer ihrer Heimat auf. Relationelle Umwertungen sind für
die beiden Figuren besonders wichtig. Diese Interpretation bespricht insbesondere deren
phänomenologische Wahrnehmung struktureller Intersektionen, unkonventionelle Beziehungen und
Versöhnung von Vertrauen und Verlangen. Heimat und Haus finden sich zu Schauplätzen einer
kryptischen Überprüfung auf deren Unabhängigkeit verwandelt.
11:20 AM - Gesturing Toward Queer Temporality: Erotohistoriography in Renee Gladman's "Event
Factory" and Bhanu Kapil's "Incubation"
Dilts, Rebekkah (UC Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, USA)
Recent theories of queer temporality seek to attend to experiences of loss, trauma and marginality
by advocating conceptions of history that fracture or at least deviate from “straight time.” Elizabeth
Freeman’s notion of queer temporality in particular postulates that a queer writing of history can be
both embodied and erotic. I am interested in considering what Freeman’s ideas about an embodied
and erotic queer writing of history might yield when applied to Renee Gladman’s book Event Factory,
and Bhanu Kapil’s book Incubation. These two authors have invested their work in questions about
the relationship between texts and bodies, object and experience, language and intimacy, and their
personal experiences as queer – variously as woman, lesbian, immigrant, racial minority – have called
upon them to create their own queer relationships to space, language and personal history.
In Event Factory, I am interested in how the book’s defiant narrative structure and invention of an
“un”-readable language offers a queer poetics that itself gestures towards a queer temporality that
emerges from the act of reading.
In Kapil’s Incubation, I explore how the narrator’s act of hitchhiking is a queer one that seeks to
abandon neat temporal frames like family, femaleness, and safety. The book’s invocation of the
cyborg body, via the act of hitchhiking, seeks affinities in boundary-less or border spaces that require
“queer” types of identification and intimacy.
In addition to Freeman’s figuration of queer temporality in her book Time Binds, I engage with
theorists Judith Halberstam and José Muñoz’s definitions, outlined in In a Queer Time and Place and
Cruising Utopia respectively. I will argue that the queer poetics employed by Gladman and Kapil, for
us as readers, construct spaces where new forms of intimacy, where a queer temporality, can
emerge.
11:40 AM - Identities Performed in Interaction: Queer Literary Theory and Positioning Theory
Dell'Aversano, Carmen (Università di Pisa, PISA-PI, Italy)
Queer theory is ultimately a critique of identity, dissolving it into the performances out of which it is
constructed.
My paper aims to explore the contribution that a recent methodology of the social sciences,
positioning theory, can make to a queer literary criticism. By showing that identities are not essences
but relations, and that they are constructed through the iteration of invariably interactive
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performances, positioning theory can help build a research programme for literary criticism on queer
theory’s most basic ontological assumption.
The originators of positioning theory, Harré and van Langenhove, define it as “the study of local
moral orders as ever-shifting patterns of mutual and contestable rights and obligations to speaking
and acting”. This definition makes it clear that, far from being an essence, identity is impermanent
and only exists in interaction. The definition of the theory’s basic construct, “position”, as “a complex
cluster of personal attributes which impinges on the possibilites of interpersonal, intergroup and
even intrapersonal action” shows its intrinsically relational nature.
Because of the fluid nature of positions, positional analysis necessarily operates by focusing on
minimal units of interaction. This is why a number of traditional fields of literary analysis, such as
rhetoric and stylistics, can contribute significantly to the quality and interest of the results of
positional analyses, even improving on the way they have so far been conducted and presented in
the social sciences literature. By formulating research questions stemming from queer theory in such
a way as to make it possible to answer them with the tools of rhetoric and stylistics, positioning
theory has the potential to act as a bridge between the relatively abstract concerns of the former
and the extremely sharp, but sometimes narrow, focus of the latter, and to make some of the most
traditional metods of literary analysis relevant to queer theory.
17220 - ATELIERS : Aspekte der österreichisch-französischen Kulturbeziehungen /
aspects des relation
Chair: Karl, Zieger; Bachleitner, Norber
2:00 PM - Austrian Periodicals as Media of Cultural Transfer between France and Austria (ca. 1790
to 1848)
Bachleitner, Norbert (Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria); Werner, Juliane (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende
Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Austria)
The paper will present a sample of magazines that were important for the transfer of French
literature and other cultural areas. As a starting point we choose reports about French politics and
literature at the time of the Great Revolution in conservative magazines such as the Magazin der
Kunst und Literatur (1793-97; ed. by F. F. Hofstätter) and Französische Mord- und
Unglücksgeschichten (1793/94; ed. by L. A. Hoffmann) as representatives of the reactionary phase
under emperor Frances II. The paper will then highlight magazines dedicated to general information
and entertainment, e.g. the Allgemeine Theaterzeitung (1806-60; ed. by A. Bäuerle), Der Sammler
(1809-46; ed. by I. F. Castelli and others) and the Wiener Moden-Zeitung (1816-50; ed. by Johann
Schickh and others). Due attention will also be paid to the role of French-language periodicals such as
Le nouvelliste français (1815/16; ed. by Karl Reichard), Alliance littéraire (1839/40; ed. by L.
Waiditsch), or the Journal de littérature étrangère (1841/42; ed. by Antoine Lagerhanns).
2:30 PM - Degeneration, Masochismus, späte Rezeption Übersetzungen österreichischer Literatur
ins Französische um 1900
Mitterbauer, Helga (Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB, Bruxelles, Belgium)
Während französische Kulturzeitschriften bereits ab Mitte der 1890er-Jahre regelmäßig auf die
Wiener Moderne hinwiesen, setzte mit Ausnahme weniger Werke Arthur Schnitzlers die Übersetzung
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der Publikationen von Jung Wiener AutorInnen erst mit einiger Verspätung ab den 1920er-Jahren ein.
Im letzten Viertel des 19. Jahrhunderts interessierten sich die französischen Leser vor allem für
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch: Von seinen jüdischen und galizischen Geschichten bis zu den erotischen
Texten, auf Basis derer der Masochismus zu seiner Bezeichnung kam, wurde fast sein gesamtes
Œuvre – meist von Anne-Catherine Strebinger – ins Französische übersetzt. Daneben wurde Max
Nordaus Entartung intensiv diskutiert. Bekannte Autoren des Fin de Siècle wie Hofmannsthal, Rilke,
Schnitzler in größerem Ausmaß, Werfel, Wassermann und Zweig wurden im Gegensatz dazu erst ab
den 1920er-Jahren übersetzt, als man auch bereits die nächste Generation (Kafka, Max Brod, Vicky
Baum) auf Französisch lesen konnte. Die Ausführungen zeichnen die historischen Entwicklungslinien
der Übersetzungen österreichischer Literatur von 1880 bis 1930 ins Französische nach und erläutern
deren Intentionen und Rahmenbedingungen anhand von Para- und Metatexten.
3:00 PM - L'image de l'Autriche dans quelques revues françaises des années 1920/30: vers une
nouvelle identité culturelle?
Zieger, Karl (Université Lille, Lille, France); Wilker, Jessica (Université Lille, Lille, France)
En France, pendant longtemps, l'Autriche a été associée à l'Empire des Habsbourg et à la conception
d'un état multiculturel, considéré par les uns comme „une prison des peuples“ et par les autres
comme état essentiel pour l'équilibre en Europe et rempart contre une domination prussienne en
Europe centrale. Du point de vue littéraire et culturel, c'est notamment la „modernité viennoise“ qui
a retenu l'attention et l'intérêt du public français. Que devient cette fixation à „l'esprit viennois“
après la chute de l'Empire et la création de la Première République? À cette question, cette
communication tente de répondre en analysant des articles consacrés à l'Autriche dans les années
1920/30 dans différentes revues françaises, notamment le Mercure de France, revue avec une
ambition artistique et esthétique affirmée, la Revue de Paris, grande revue „généraliste“ et la Revue
des Vivants, revue moins connue que les précédentes, organe des „Anciens combattants“, proche
des idéaux de la „Société des Nations“. Sera examiné notamment le rôle de ces articles et de leurs
auteurs pour la compréhension de la culture de „l'autre“ et pour les échanges entre les deux pays.
Jessica Wilker (Université Lille, EA 1061 ALITHILA, F-59000 Lille, France)
17222 - Island Fictions and Metaphors in Contemporary Literature
Chair: Schödel, Kathrin ; Dautel, Katrin
11:00 AM - Out of time: literary islands and their distinctive temporalities
Zubarik, Sabine (Universität Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany)
One of the main focuses of island studies – on fictional as well as real islands – usually lies on the
distinctive spatiality of islands (given by their size and form, their extreme geological conditions and
the distance from the mainland). Though acknowledging the important emphasis on the spatial
categories, this paper wants to focus instead on the distinctive temporalities that island narrations
propose and that so far – even if sometimes mentioned aside – are generally neglected by academic
studies as a decisive topic (exceptions are e.g. Moser; Rod & Smith).
Many contemporary novels on islands dwell explicitly on the shifted experience of time, or even the
entire loss of temporal relations, which the protagonists have to deal with or sometimes come to
embrace (e.g. Kracht; Schrott; Wegehaupt; Hettche; Seiler; Eco; Cortázar; Pehnt).
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This contribution aims to analyze certain “other-time”-modalities in selected examples that propose
a disruption with the globalized regime of international “common time”. Such modalities are:
deceleration, standstill, individual versus socio-political time, unreliable time, stretched or distorted
time, multilayered or superposed time, timelessness, and irrelevance of time.
The question behind this survey is: Why are island-settings in literature so extremely attractive for
the discussion of alternative time concepts, and what does it mean for a society if abandoning the
time-pressure of our present age needs exclusive, insulated-isolated spaces?
11:30 AM - Sebald on Walser on Kleist, and so on: Sebald's use of the island as a telescopic space
Schwebel, Shoshana (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)
In two sentences, Sebald uses the spatial metaphor of the island to bring together Rousseau, Kleist,
Keller, Robert Walser, and himself—overlaying nationalities, languages, and generations onto one
small space. Yet for all that it collapses space and time, the island also (in Sebald’s configuration)
functions like memory, and skews reality ever so slightly. My paper will start from Sebald’s reminder
that the island in literature still signifies the clumsy translation of history into memory or narrative
(as with Odysseus and the sirens), and, like memory, is a showcase of preservation and containment,
as well as loss and repression—both Heimat and exile, to use Sebald’s words (Sebald 149).
In his tribute essay “Le promeneur solitaire,” written about Walser but named after Rousseau’s
walking-journal, Sebald describes a series of connections that link him to Walser, though each
connection is slightly out of sync and relies on the author’s assumptions: he discovers a photograph
of Kleist’s house on the island of Aare, which has been tucked into a book on Keller belonging
“almost certainly” to a German-Jewish refugee. The telling of this discovery brings Sebald’s own
history of Manchester in the 1960s into fictional contact with the previous generation’s history of the
Holocaust and exile, which is in turn linked to Germany’s literary legacy, the Bildungsroman. From
this photograph, Sebald imagines Kleist and Walser witnessing each other’s final days of isolation
from two sides of the same lake in Switzerland. Using the exilic point of the island as epicentre,
Sebald creates an imperfect loop (like his own modern Bildungsroman hero), converging singular
literary histories and the (fictional) memories that they inspire. Overall, my proposed paper argues
that the island in Sebald’s essay functions as the key metaphor for writing about history and memory
simultaneously, which is exactly the arena of contemporary writing that Sebald has been so
influential in reshaping.
12:00 PM - "Only under water things stayed as they were". Narrating the ambivalence of truth in Juli
Zeh's novel Nullzeit
Dautel, Katrin (University of Malta, Naxxar, Malta)
Im 2012 erschienen Roman Nullzeit von Juli Zeh wird zunächst ein scharf umrissener Inselraum
evoziert, dessen Grenzen im Laufe der Handlung jedoch analog zur Trennlinie zwischen
verschiedenen Entwürfen von Wirklichkeit verschwimmen. Die Insel wird für den Auswanderer Sven,
der sich in zehn Jahren auf der kanarischen Insel seine Version der Wirklichkeit zurechtgelegt hat,
zum dystopischen Raum. Seine Taktik des Heraushaltens wird durch das perfide Spiel eines
Schriftsteller- und Schauspielerpaars zunehmend in Frage gestellt und involviert den insularen Raum
immer mehr ins „Kriegsgebiet“ der Beurteiler und Darsteller auf dem Festland, aus dem sich der
Tauchlehrer vehement heraushalten wollte. Wahrheit wird zur sprachlichen Konstruktion, bald
zweifelt der Leser auch an der Zuverlässigkeit des Ich-Erzählers. Es geht in Juli Zehs Inselszenario
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jedoch auch um die Frage nach dem Grad der Einmischung in aktuelle politische Debatten, was auf
das politische Engagement der Autorin selbst und ihre Tätigkeit als Juristin zurückzuführen ist. Der
geplante Vortrag untersucht die Verbindung von räumlicher Darstellung und sprachlicher
Konstruktion von Wirklichkeit über Juli Zehs literarische Evokation von Insel- und Unterwasserraum.
Es soll aufgezeigt werden, inwiefern sich Diskurse im Raum materialisieren und darüber eine „Poesie
des Zweifels“ (Daniela Otto) entworfen wird.
2:00 PM - Klippe, Küste, Insel Grenzerfahrungen und Geographie bei Raoul Schrott
Schällibaum, Oriana (University of Zurich NCCR Mediality, Zürich, Switzerland)
Das Projekt möchte den vielfältigen Erfahrungen der Grenze in den Texten Raoul Schrotts nachgehen,
die in intrikaten Verknüpfungen von Sprachlichkeit, Benennung und Weltschöpfung am Topos der
Insel kristallisieren. In Raoul Schrotts monumentalem Roman „Tristan da Cunha oder die Hälfte der
Erde“ (2003) ist die Insel Tristan im südlichen Atlantik der Brennpunkt aller Gedanken und
Geschichten. Die historische Tiefendimension, die Schrott aufruft, zeigt alle Kuriositäten und
Idiosynkrasien der Inseln im okzidentalen Diskurs: Ihre Unverortbarkeit, ihre Unzugänglichkeit, ihren
Hang zur Utopie, ihre geographische Unstetigkeit und Besetzbarkeit mit Geschichten. Die vier
Haupterzählstränge definieren sich durch ihr Verhältnis zur Insel – und zu einem „Anderen“, das
damit untrennbar verbunden ist: In drei Fällen ist es eine Frau mit dem immergleichen Namen Marah
als Fluchtpunkt des Verlangens, im vierten Fall erleben wir die Stimme einer Marah, die sich im
Geflecht von Begierde, Trennung und Trauma artikuliert. Tristans geographische und geschichtliche
Beschaffenheit bietet den Protagonisten „Muster und Figuren“ für ihr eigenes Leben – mit allen
Brüchen, Klippen und Unzulänglichkeiten (Sylvie Grimm-Hamen). Auch Raoul Schrotts Erstling „Finis
Terrae“ teilt „die Vorliebe für extreme, fast unbewohnbare Landschaften ausserhalb der ‚zivilisierten’
Welt“, verbindet „[e]rotisches und geographisches Begehren“ (Stefan Höppner).Die darin erzählten
Enden der Welt sind vielfältig: Der Text Pytheas’ über die Fahrt nach Thule bricht ab, der todkranke
Ludwig Höhnel wird bei Land’s end vermisst, in der Konstellation der Figuren tun sich mehrere
Abgründe aus Inzest, Schuld und Sexualität auf. Zuletzt implodiert jegliches Sinnmuster im
Verschwinden zweier Expeditionsteilnehmer auf der Südinsel des Turkana-sees. Auf der Insel schient
eine eigene Gesetzmässigkeit zu herrschen, zeitliche Kategorien verlieren an Relevanz, stattdessen
treten Ursprungsmythen zutage. Zuletzt hat Mustafa Kemal Mirzeler (2006) die Eingliederung dieses
rätselhaften Verschwindens in die mündliche Tradition der El Molo untersucht und so versucht, die
„andere Seite“ zur Sprache zu bringen – ein Unterfangen, das in „Finis Terrae“ nur anklingt.
2:30 PM - «Inseln sind Heimat im tieferen Sinne». Sardinien-Deutungen und
Mythostransformationen in der deutschsprachigen Literatur der Gegenwart
Serra, Valentina (Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy)
«Inseln sind Heimat im tieferen Sinne, letzte irdische Sitze, bevor der kosmische Ausflug beginnt» (
Ernst Jünger, 1955)
Die alte Faszination Sardiniens auf Schriftsteller und Reisende deutscher Sprache verfügt über eine
umfangreiche literarische Tradition, die, abgesehen von einigen bedeutenden Essays und
Bibliographien, noch nicht mit einer umfassenden und systematischen Studie untersucht worden ist.
Seit der zweiten Hälfte des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts weilten viele deutschsprachige Autoren,
während ihrer langen und oft gefährlichen Reisen durch die Küsten des Mittelmeeres, auf der Insel
Sardinien, die, von den Zentren der europäischen Kultur und Macht weit entfernt, immer als
Peripherie gelitten hat und seitdem als «primitiv», «archaisch» und «unverfälscht» gespürt wurde.
Das Land galt deshalb als eine von der Modernität ersparte und «unkorrupte» Welt, die am Rande
Europas von „edlen Wilden“ bewohnt wurde.
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Das Bild Sardiniens hat sich aber im Laufe der Jahrhunderte wesentlich von einer isolierten,
«unberührten» und «vergessenen» und damit von jeglicher Form der „Zivilisation“ oder der
Korruption der Moderne bewahrten Insel verändert. Vor allem während des 20. Jahrhunderts wurde
sie von einer in Reiseberichten als entfremdenden im pejorativen Sinn beschriebenen Dimension (18.
und 19. Jahrhundert) zur in Romanen und Erzählungen als abenteuerlich und miragenhaft
gedeuteten Realität (20. und 21. Jahrhundert), zur «unirdischen» (Max Niehaus, 1938) und
«metaphysischen Heimat» (Ernst Jünger, 1955), zum verlorenen und von allen Menschen ersehnten
Paradies (Fritsche, 2011), in dem der Mensch den Sinn seiner Existenz in Verbindung mit den
Naturkräften nachholt und den ewigen Ur-Sinn des Lebens zurückgewinnt.
In dem vorgeschlagenen Beitrag werden die literarischen Imagen Sardiniens in Reisebeschreibungen,
Romanen, Erzählungen und in der Lyrik als Metapher einer onthologischen und mythischen
Dimension untersucht.
3:00 PM - "Quête" und "enquête" in Inseltexten von Annette Pehnt und Hubert Damisch
Mattern, Pierre (Freischaffend, Offenburg, Germany)
„Quête“ und „enquête“ in Inseltexten von Annette Pehnt und Hubert Damisch
Pierre Mattern, Offenburg
„Quête“ meint die zur traditionellen Erzählung tendierende Suche nach einem Objekt, in der trotz
Gefahren das Subjekt zuletzt das Gesuchte zu seiner Vervollständigung gewinnt. „Enquête“ ist
dagegen eine Datensammlung, die zunächst einfach Materialien nebeneinander stellt. Das Subjekt
kann in ihr jedoch von Grund auf in Frage gestellt werden, da ein Basis-Narrativ fehlt.
Den behandelten Texten – Annette Pehnts Roman „Insel 34“ (2003) und Hubert Damischs Prosa „Le
Messager des îles“ (2012) – ist zunächst gemein, dass sie sich der ‚Bildlastigkeit‘ der Insel – ihre
Übersättigung mit Bildern aus Märchen, Mythos, Literatur, Film – bedienen und sie mit dem
gegenläufigen, ‚utopischen‘ und zur Reflexion führenden Moment ihrer notwendigen Abgetrenntheit
kontrastieren. Sie unterstellen dieses Spiel aber den ganz unterschiedlichen Logiken der „quête“ und
„enquête“.
So erzählt Pehnt eine weibliche Bildungsgeschichte und parabolische Selbstfindung: Die Erzählerin
bereist drei Inseln; die „enquête“, die sie als Wissenschaftlerin auf die erste Insel führt, bleibt
Episode, die „quête“ führt sie ins Reich der Bilder, aber auch zur Affirmation der Trennung. Der
Kunsthistoriker Hubert Damisch bietet ein in eine Autorfiktion eingebundenes Dossier von kurzen
fiktiven und essayistischen Texten, in dem die „enquête“ irreduzierbar wird. Während sich in den
Essay-Texten das Subjekt souverän geben kann, taucht sein Bedrohtsein in den fiktiven Kurztexten
aber immer wieder auf; in der rahmenden Autorfiktion wird schließlich vom rätselhaften
Verschwinden des Autors erzählt.
4:00 PM - Pfaueninsel, Island Narratives around 1800, and Historical Fiction
Williams, Seán (The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom)
This paper examines Thomas Hettche’s prize-winning novel Pfaueninsel: published in 2014, it has
since won the Bavarian, Wilhelm Raabe and Solothurn book prizes, and was also short-listed for the
German book prize. The novel is set on the historical Peacock Island in Berlin around 1800, but of
course it was written for a present-day readership. Hence my paper has two parts.
First, I consider the role of (particularly inland) islands in the long eighteenth century. Islands played
a major role in the literary imagination. The most obvious example is the literary afterlife of Defoe’s
Robinson Crusoe (1719), which Pfaueninsel notes Marie, the protagonist, might have enjoyed. Jean
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Paul’s best-selling German novel Hesperus (1795) is inspired not only by Defoe, but also by
Rousseau’s existence on St Peter’s Island in Lake Bienne in 1765. Further, the fictional island on
which Hesperus is purportedly written is – like the real-life Pfaueninsel and Hettche’s representation
of it – an example of Anglophilia. It is, moreover, a place of political prose against German court
societies, as well as of poetological reflection. Paradoxically, then, the island around 1800 becomes a
place of idyllic critique in German writing, a far-flung, aesthetic setting with problems that are all too
close to home. The first part of my paper traces the intertextual references of Pfaueninsel, and
attempts to read this work in conversation with island narratives around 1800, rather than reading
the island metaphor as simply relevant to societal, intersectional discrimination today.
Second, I claim that the present-day context for Hettche’s narrative is not so much island novels, but
instead a trend in German prose fiction towards re-imagining life and especially discourses of artistic
and scientific subjectivity around 1800. Daniel Kehlmann’s Die Vermessung der Welt (2005) or Alissa
Walser’s Am Anfang war die Nacht Musik (2010) are other examples of this trend.
4:30 PM - Dreaming of Islands': Evolution and the Individual Utopia in Samuel Butler, Aldous Huxley,
and Michel Houellebecq
Sreenan, Niall (University College London, London, United Kingdom)
This paper examines three works, Samuel Butler’s Erewhon (1872), Aldous Huxley’s Island (1962),
and Michel Houellebecq’s La Possibilité d’une Île (2005), in which theoretically individuated
geographical spaces stage conceptual and literary explorations of sociopolitical and philosophical
tensions generated by Darwinian evolutionary theory. Butler's novel, in the tradition of More's
Utopia, examines an apparently ideal, geographically remote, autarchic polis, that has evolved on
divergent lines from his own. Huxley's work also explores an ideal society, one in which Darwin's
evolutionary theory is venerated and mobilised as a source of enlightenment. Houellebecq's novel
examines later developments in Darwinian biology - the displacement of competitive dynamics of
selection to the social and political realm, the advances of genomics – and depicts a Utopia in which
the individual's sovereignty is cardinal.
My approach is nourished by Deleuze’s philosophy of creation and individuation and its relation to
Darwinian evolutionary thought and is motivated specifically by Deleuze’s essay “Desert Islands”.
Here the fantasy of a desert island, of unadulterated individuality, comes to represent fantasies of
pure political and conceptual individuation and (re)creation. Such dreams, however, are challenged
by the central ethological precepts of Deleuze's philosophy of relation and Darwinian evolution.
My purpose is to show how these novels respond to Darwinian evolutionary theory and how, in
doing so, they articulate the tension between Utopian fantasies of 'being already separate' (Deleuze)
and 'the intimate, complex manner in which inhabitants of each country are bound together'
(Darwin). This tension, I propose, is central to the power of the island metaphor, for the fantasy of
the island is not only a political one, but, I suggest, is integral to the epistemological architecture of
Utopian science and biological theories of the human itself.
5:00 PM - Man is an Island: On the Herme(neu)tics of Michel Houellebecq's Lanzarote
Arnds, Peter (Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
Michel Houellebecq’s island fascination emerges primarily from his two novels La possibilité d’une île
(2005) and Lanzarote (2000). The latter will be the focus of this proposed paper. It provocatively
employs the narrative about the protagonist’s week-long holiday on the island of Lanzarote as a way
of exposing various facets of European cultures and human experience as hermetic phenomena, as
mental and cultural islands. Lanzarote itself features as a place of temporary exile for the tourist
industry, a topos of primordiality and heterotopia for sectarian beliefs in extra-terrestrial life,
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reflecting the island’s un-earthly but also mythical aspect. It is both isolated from Europe, its
antithesis, but also a kind of underworld of ancient (Greek) proportions that throws into sharp relief
other European island phenomena, a prism through which Houellebecq exposes a series of hermetic
conceptual monads: from nations such as Belgium and Luxemburg, to sects, sexual practices and
fantasies, natives versus tourists, cultural stereotypes as encapsulated views, and single man as an
island (Rudie, the Belgian tourist in opposition to the two German lesbians Pam and Barbara). In its
theoretical approach my paper draws on philosophy (the monad theory by Pythagoras and Leibniz)
and myth (Hermes). Its topic is Lanzarote’s metaphoricity (with comparative glances at The Possibility
of an Island), the hermeneutics of this text’s hermetic phenomena, as it were, bearing in mind the
narrator’s role as Hermes with his multiple functions, such as god of commerce, protector of
travellers, and guide to the underworld. The ‘small world’ of Lanzarote in this novel is a salient
example for how an apparently insignificant “godforsaken Spanish island in the middle of the
Atlantic” (Vintage, p.38), its history until recent times “a history of complete isolation” (p.34), opens
up a broad intercultural web of references.
4:00 PM - Die deutsche "Strafexpedition" gegen die Insel Ponape (1910/11) und ihr Echo in der
Gegenwartsliteratur
Schwarz, Thomas (Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan)
In 1910, about 200 insurgents from the island of Ponape (Caroline Islands) rebelled against the
German empire. The navy defeated the uprising with four warships. This was the most significant
military operation of the German ‘East-Asia Squadron’ in the South Seas. My paper will deal with the
peculiarities of warfare against a Pacific island, protected by a natural ally, the coral reef. The colonial
masters executed 15 leaders of the rebels and deported more than 430 islanders. While only up to
ten insurgents were killed in the armed conflict itself, general living conditions in exile resulted in a
massive decimation of the rebel population. By imposing sanctions collectively, the colonial power
experimented with a racist biopolitics backed by the German state. My discourse analysis examines
the echo of the events in German media where German ‘Pacificism’ orchestrates the superiority of
the Occidental colonial power and legitimizes the crushing of rebels, depicted as infamous and
ignoble barbarians’. My thesis is that colonial literature reinforces the ideological effects of colonial
discourse: Novels like Alwin Asten’s “The Combats on Ponape” (1911) and Richard Deeken’s “Racial
Honour” (1913) reorganize the narration of the events as a story of national pride by glorifying the
heroic death of German blue jackets. For a critical comparison, I will take into account two less
known novels written from a postcolonial perspective, Gerhard Grümmer’s “Ponape in Rebellion”
(1991) and “The Missionary” by Sibylle Knauss (1997). Against this background, I will critically
elucidate the symptomatic historical void of Klaus Modick’s “The Greyness of the Carolines” (Das
Grau der Karolinen”, 1986). Despite its aesthetic qualities, the novel omits the account of the Ponape
rebellion while even shedding a positive light on German colonial rule in the Pacific.
4:30 PM - Grönlands Funktion als insularer Raum jenseits der Zivilisation im Werk Libuse Monikovas
Stamm, Ulrike (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
In Libuse Monikovas novel "Treibeis" Greenland plays an important role. The description of this
northern island opens up the stage for a text dealing with questions of power and history, civilization
and wilderness, exile and love. In my paper I want to explore how Monikova deploys this island in
order to create a space beyond which is not part of Europeans civilization and not situated at a
border but - being an island - beyond borders. In which way is this position related to the fact that
the main protagonist of the novel teaches Shakespearean theatre in a school in Greenland? And how
is Monikova's presentation of Greenland related to the dialectic of islands as spaces of seclusion and
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interconnection? In a second part of my paper I want to analyze the position of Greenland with
regard to the topographic triangle that Monikova describes consisting of Greenland, Czecholovakia
and Austria; these countries form the poles between which her reflections about history and the
cultural imaginary of centre and periphery fluctuate. Which role does Greenland - imagined as an
empty and barren space - play in relation of the dynamic of European history whig has, as Monikova
points out, always lead to inequality and exclusion?
5:00 PM - Inseln der Gewalt
Hoffmann, Sascha (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Metzingen, Germany)
Die Insel schafft Imaginations-Arsenal wie kaum ein anderer Ort. Sie ist ein Zwischen-Ort: Sie wirkt in
sich geschlossen und lebt aus sich selbst, zeitgleich ist sie dem Unendlichen des Meeres ausgeliefert
und definiert sich häufig über ihre Beziehung zum Festland. Die Insel als anderer Ort, gerade auch im
Sinne Foucaults, unterscheidet sich grundlegen vom Festland. Ihre Disposition scheint bestimmten
‚Zuständen‘ und ‚Phänomenen‘ als Katalysator zu dienen und ihrem Erleben einen nicht
vergleichbaren Charakter zu verleihen. Besonders deutlich wird dies am Gegenstand der Gewalt,
welche in etablierten gesellschaftlichen Systemen in dieser Form nachzuvollziehen nicht möglich
wäre oder wenigstens deutlich würde. Die Literatur dient gleichsam der Insel als Möglichkeit, Kritik
zu üben und eine Versuchsfläche zu schaffen, auf der aktuelle Missstände und Gefahren aufgezeigt
werden. Beispiele finden sich in unzähligen Romanen, die auf unbewohnten und bewohnten Inseln
verortet sind. Sie verdeutlichen, dass Gewalt auf dem anderen Raum der Insel in vielerlei Hinsicht
differenzierter darstellbar ist. Dabei fällt auf, dass die Beziehung zwischen Insel-Raum und dem
Phänomen Gewalt uneinheitlicher Natur ist: Gewalt kann von außen über die Insel hinwegziehen,
was sie zu einer Art Durchgangs-Station macht; Gewalt kann von außen auf die Insel gelangen und
auf dieser ver-enden; Gewalt kann auf der Insel ausbrechen und auf dieser verbleiben, sie also nicht
verlassen; und Gewalt hat die Möglichkeit, auf einer Insel zu entstehen, um von ihr aus nach außen
zu drängen. Ein gezielter Blick auf literarische Inseln und diese tangierende Phänomene der Gewalt
offenbart daher nicht nur das dispositionelle und Imaginations-Potential des Heterotopos Insel,
sondern zeigt zugleich auf, welch Kausalität(en) die Gewalt selbst unterworfen ist.
4:00 PM - Sensing/Thinking Island Spaces
Hartmann, Britta (University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia); Samson, Barney (University of Essex, Colchester, United
Kingdom)
The second paper of the panel will examine the ways in which fictional island spaces are
(re)conceived through human perceptions as well as the processes through which insular spatiality is
constructed and configured through mental operations (Merleau-Ponty, Bachelard). Sensory
perceptions will be highlighted and traced in Henry de Vere Stacpoole’s novel The Blue Lagoon and
the Mutiny on the Bounty films. Island spatiality, in these cases, is bound to notions of perception:
the gaze, auditory moments, descriptions of smells etc. all cause individual islands to be conceived
and reconceived. Thus, the senses function as vital tools in the construction of these islands for both
characters and readers. Mental operations, in turn, are examined with particular attention to Derek
Walcott’s play Pantomime. Here, too, the notion of shifting insularities becomes apparent: readers
and characters alike must imagine the island, interrogate their preconceptions, and engage with
questions of definition. Overall, then, this paper proposes the notion that island perceptions and
mental operations play a pivotal role in the (re)conceptions of fictional island spaces.
4:20 PM - On the Spatial Practice of Island-Making
Graziadei, Daniel (Universität München, München, Germany)
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The third paper of the panel examines the construction of insular space(s) via spatial practices, be
they corporeal, social, or imaginary. The paper will be divided into three parts. The first part offers a
brief discussion of spatial practices in fiction (Lefebvre, de Certeau). It asks how narrative can be seen
as a practice that produces space and examines the specific spatial practices required for the
production of island space (such as swimming, circumnavigation, and landing). These reflections
should allow for a set of precise questions concerning the processes and qualities of the spatial
practice of islandmaking. This theoretical base will be used to investigate the literary (re)conceptions
of the island spaces of H. G. Wells’s short story “Aepyornis Island”, Derek Walcott’s play Pantomime,
and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park films. This part will not only investigate the nature of the spatial
practices and their relevance for the conception of island space, but will also address their
(under)fulfilment of, or deviation from, other (pre)conceptions of island space within the narrative.
Finally, the third part of the paper will use the findings of the close readings to ask whether any
generalisations can be drawn about the spatial practice of insularity, islandness and archipelagicity.
4:00 PM - Island Meta-Poiesis in Contemporary Island Fictions
Kinane, Ian (Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland)
This paper will examine the ways in which desert island topographies are (re)conceptualised for the
reader/viewer through mediatory technologies in several contemporary examples of island literature
and film. Focussing both on the mediatisation of the island trope within the cultural imagination and
on the tendency of authors/directors working within the island genre to rely heavily on
transmediality in bringing the desert-island image to life, this paper will examine how island spaces
are reconceptualised through the palimpsestic layering of various forms of media. Texts to be
discussed are Adolfo Bioy Casares’s The Invention of Morel, Michael Bay’s film The Island, and Steven
Spielberg’s Jurassic Park trilogy. By highlighting the self-reflexivity and transmediality of the island
topographies of these texts, this paper will explore the contemporary shift within island fictions
towards constructing meta-islands, or fictional islands that engage with their own poiesis through
literary and filmic mediation.
5:00 PM - Beyond Island Conception: Questioning Islandness through Fiction
Riquet, Johannes (University of Zurich, 8032, Switzerland)
The fourth paper of the proposed panel reconsiders and challenges the categories of island
conception and reconception developed in the previous three papers by discussing a set of texts that
do not allow any stable island concept to arise. If the previous papers all emphasised the layered
construction of islands through multiple conceptions and reconceptions, this paper engages with
fictional islands whose spatiality perpetually withdraws from the grasp of protagonists, readers and
viewers. Thus, in J. M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan, the island is conceived as a non-Euclidean space which
perpetually reconfigures itself according to the needs of the narrative and the reader’s/viewer’s
imagination; or put differently, the conception of the island resides precisely in its unceasing spatial
reconception. In Patrick Chamoiseau’s postcolonial critique of island fictions, L’empreinte a Crusoe,
the conception of the colonial island is deferred in that no conception, colonial or otherwise, is
accepted. Finally, the recent television series Lost can be understood as an exploration of island
re/conception which presents the ultimate refusal of island conception. The island of Lost is endlessly
deferred and remains a potentiality; its visual (de)construction of island space teases and frustrates
the (Western) viewer’s desire to view and understand islands, and thus constitutes a powerful
response to a long tradition of fictional island-making.
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Re/conceiving Islands: Media, Perception, and Spatial Practice
Riquet, Johannes (University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland); Kinane, Ian (Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland); Hartmann,
Britta (University of Tasmania, Abels Bay, Tasmania, Australia); Samson, Barney (University of Essex, London, United
Kingdom); Graziadei, Daniel (Universität München, München, Germany)
This conference panel, proposed by the Island Poetics Research Group, is part of a project on the
poetic construction of islands in popular island fictions across media, genres, and geographical
regions. While traditional island scholarship tends to discuss islands as tropes for a set of often
preconceived and fixed meanings (such as isolation, imprisonment, paradise, remoteness, etc.) and
thus often bypasses the complex poetic processes through which islands come to be in literary texts,
our intervention in the debate seeks to offer a precise analysis of the practices and operations
through which islands are spatially conceived and reconceived.
The four papers of the panel examine different modes of island (re)conception in twentieth- and
twenty-first-century island fiction. They discuss fictional islands as particularly mobile spatial figures
that raise the question of what an island is, refusing to offer easy answers and allowing for a
reconsideration of the role of islands in contemporary discourse. Against essentialist accounts of
what islands ‘are’ and ‘mean’, our close readings of key moments within island fictions engage with
the processes through which island spaces are constructed in different media.
The three modes of island (re)conception that will be discussed are mediation, perception, and
spatial practice. Thus, the first paper will focus on the conception and reconception of islands
through multimedial layering in island fictions like Alex Garland’s The Beach and Michael Bay’s The
Island. The second paper will examine how a sense of islandness emerges through sensory
perception and mental operations in texts like Henry de Vere Stacpoole’s novel The Blue Lagoon and
the Mutiny on the Bounty films. The third paper focuses on spatial practice in H. G. Wells’s short
story “Aepyornis Island”, Derek Walcott’s play Pantomime, and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park
trilogy. Finally, the fourth paper discusses a set of texts which complicate the difference between
island conception and island reconception either by conceiving their islands as spaces in perpetual
reconfiguration, or by refusing island conception altogether.
Please note that this is the general abstract for a panel consisting of four papers individually
submitted by the authors. The papers build on each other.
17228 - Indian Theatre, Ritual and Drama: Towards an Intercultural
Understanding of the Dramatic Mode
Date: Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th // Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Hs 24
Chair: MAUFORT, MARC
2:00 PM - Versions of History: Girish Karnad's Play The Dreams of Tipu Sultan
Davis, Geoffrey (Institut für Anglistik, Aachen, Germany)
Girish Karnad’s play The Dreams of Tipu Sultan, commissioned by the BBC as a radio play to mark the
50th anniversary of Indian independence, offers a fascinating introduction to his work especially for
the British because it sets out to reinterpret aspects of the colonial history of India under British rule.
As such it is an eminently post-colonial work.
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Speaking of the development of theatre in India Karnad has remarked: “independence had made
history suddenly important to us; we were acutely conscious of living in a historically important era.
Indian history as written by the British was automatically suspect.” Accordingly history and
historiography are central to the concerns of the play. As in his previous play Tughlaq it features an
Indian historian whose function is to provoke a debate on the very nature of historiography and to
confront the British account. In its thematisation of the lack of unity of Hindu and Muslim at the end
of the 18th century it also provides material for reflection on their fraught relationship at the time of
the play’s composition in the late 1990s. It is an oblique reflection typical of Karnad on contemporary
Indian politics.
A further interest of the play lies in its exploration of historical sources including the journal Tipu
Sultan kept of his dreams. Tipu Sultan, who was both a fierce opponent of the British and a ruler
fascinated by modern Western technological progress, was a complex figure and is still regarded as
controversial in India.
The Dreams of Tipu Sultan is an intricately structured memory play which interweaves present and
past, deploys history and legend, explores Western modes of thought and Indian tradition, and has
recourse to both naturalistic and non-naturalistic staging techniques.
It is the aim of the present paper to examine the means by which Karnad has constructed a modern
Indian history play and in so doing has contributed to the revitalization of theatre in India.
2:20 PM - The Absurd and the Classical Theory of Drama: A comparative study of the plays of Girish
Karnad and Samuel Beckett
Chatterjee, Abhinaba (DPO-1 (G), Air HQ (VB), Delhi, India)
Contemporary Indian drama has made use of bold innovations and daring experiments both in terms
of themes and techniques. On the one hand, it has used history, myth, folklore and philosophies
(such as existentialism and absurdity).
The present research project undertakes a study of the plays of Karnad and Beckett in order to
explore the emergence of a composite conception of postmodern subjectivity in light of existential
and absurd philosophies. The project also examines the nature of this subjectivity and its culturalpolitical implications. The rise of global metropolises in different continents and the necessity of
multiple and often incompatible subject positions in a period of unprecedented speed of cultural
changes has made the question of subjectivity extremely important.
Girish Karnad addresses the problematic of this subjectivity by employing the devices of myth,
folklore and history. He uses these devices not just to visit the past but to look at the present and
also to foreshadow the future. He uses myth and history to create a new consciousness of the
absurdity of human life with all its passions and conflicts. In Hayavadana, Karnad uses myth and
folklore to articulate the urge for completeness and to show how this urge leaves a wound in the
subject. Karnad’s interspersing the absurdity in historical and mythical figures and their resemblance
with the modern man’s alienation and frustration establishes the newness of his dramas and
dramatic art.
This cosmic anguish and wonder for the ultimate realities of its condition is also aptly dramatized in
the plays of Samuel Beckett, in their depiction of the human condition itself in a world where the
decline of religious belief has deprived man of certainties. In Waiting for Godot, Waiting is the theme
throughout the play. Although Godot breaks his promise, the two tramps have shown perseverance.
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Despite the heavy blow of painfulness, frustration and disappointment, they still keep on waiting
because that is their only hope for they believe only Godot can save them.
2:40 PM - Twice-born Theatrical Sensibility¿ of east and west in Girish Karnad¿s Hayavadana
Trikha, Manorama (CCS University, Meerut, Meerut, India)
Indian theatre has made a major contribution to solidify the national history, cultural and linguistic
identity. European colonialism contributed significantly to the Indian theatre in English which is
“twice born.” The idea of theatre as an expression of national culture and identity is mingled with the
regional and folk theatre which brought along with it the Indian ethnicity also. The new national
theatre is the “environmental theatre” as it blurs the gaps between life and theatre. It is not an
isolated art form but is what Peter Brook claimed in The Empty Space that any “empty space” that
could be taken as a theatre, simply by calling it a stage, This notion was practiced in Indian history
and culture since ages when the episodes from Mahabharata and Ramayana were staged during the
festival seasons.
If one attempt to include a play that brings out a unique amalgamation of the east and the west, one
could discuss Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana, the horse-headed man which draws upon the traditional
theatre with all its paraphernalia of masks, mime, half-curtain, dance and music in the concentric
circles to hold the central story of two friends. The story- line is based on a folk tale from
Kathasaritsagra but has drawn heavily from Thomas Mann’s reworking on the tale of Vetala
Panchavimsati entitled The Transposed Heads also. The play contains all the features of
contemporary India Drama. Its political undertones influence the whole scenario and exposes the
reality of the immoderate demonstration of the national enthusiasm.
Karnad succeeds in creating a new form of play based on his theatrical perceptions adopting the
techniques of the classical Sanskrit drama, Western drama and the performing traditional Folk art of
India. The distance between the actors and spectators is reduced and “connectedness” reveals the
basic human spirit claiming loudly that “The play is the thing” to quote of Shakespeare.
3:00 PM - Hayavadana:-- Interfacing Performance and Philosophy by yoking Epic Theatre and
Yakshagana
James, Jancy (CLAI, Trivandrum, India)
The alienation techniques of Brechtian theatre are intrinsic to Indian theatre from very ancient times.
The audience is not expected to be lost to the play's emotion according to the Indian theatrical
sensibility. Cautious introduction and intervention through a Sutradhara (a kind of narrator)cleverly
prevented the viewers from emotional identification with what was performed on the stage.
Naturally, the Epic theatre made its way into the works of many modern dramatists who wished to
address the intellect of the audience with path breaking ideological or philosophical themes. The
relevant indigenous performance styles or theatre forms of India were either improvised or merged
with epic theatre techniques in order to achieve the cerebration/visionary indoctrination on the
audience. When Girish Karnad used the story of Thomas Mann's novel The Transposed Heads in his
play Hayavadana, and organised its structure and performance style heavily based on Yakshagana, he
accomplished the distanciation and resultant thinking of the audience away from the bhava of the
play and that of its source. Its spirit was Brechtian, though attired in the popular Indian dance drama
style. I wish to present this paper with clippings of the scenes of the play. The interweaving of
cultures, philosophical stances and theatre forms of India and the west contributes to the evolution
of a new relevant theatre mode in India that not only responds to the artistic aspirations but also
provides an appropriate idiom and medium for the effective articulation of postcolonial\decolonised
India.
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11:00 AM - Traditional Indian Theatre and Kabuki: A Passage Towards a Total Theatre
Choudhuri, indra Nath (Millennium Trust, Kent, UK, Delhi, India)
Traditional Indian Theatre (TIT) like Kootiyatam, Katthakali, Yakshagana, Jatra etc, have a classical
(margi) structure with regional (loka) variations having folk as well as urban patronage. Swang,
Nautanki, Maach, Tamasha etc are typical folk and different from TIT. TIT has inherited many classical
conventions like sandhis (spans of the plot or ittivrita,) rasa i.e. art-activity as well as theatric
experience, multiple interpretative acting or abhinaya . These regional variants, developed in a
framework of continual communication, are recognized in the first book of Indian dramaturgy by
Bharata (between 1st Cen BC and 1st Cen AD) as Pravrittis. Though TIT accepts the stylized
conventions (natyadharmi) more than the naturalistic (lokadharmi) conventions of theatre yet the
TIT has always remained a vehicle of expression of protest, dissent and reform and thereby induced,
at one level, emotional enjoyment and, on another level, rational judgment. Kabuki, like TIT, can be
termed as the popular live drama of Japan to distinguish it from the puppet drama or Joruri and Noh
plays, which from its fixed repertory and partial simplicity might well be called the classical drama of
Japan. Like TIT, Kabuki has taken many of its subjects and conventions from classical theatre, Noh but
in a modified form. Kata style of acting which includes exaggerated pose miye, frozen appearances
serideshi, appearing in a new costume hikkinuki and many other new and modified conventions.
Both these theatres have their own complex history, their own traditional audience and their own
social role but certain under lying theatric conventions and aesthetic factors make comparison
between them of the greatest interest. This paper deals with three aspects of these two theatres: i)
stylization which is not grafted from outside but grows within and lies in the slender margin between
the real and the unreal; ii) participative theatre affording the double awareness of illusion and nonillusion and iii) total theatre not in the same way as Jean –Louis Barrault has used this concept but in
Indian and Japanese terms.
11:30 AM - The Brechtian Specters of Other Modern Theatres: Comparing Habib Tanvir and Wole
Soyinka's Visions of Dramatic/Theatrical Art
Kumar, S Satish (University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
Performative arts are imbued with a quality of immediacy unlike others, they are in every sense of
the term “live.” Soyinka recognizes the power of this quality of the dramatic mode and theatrical art
in his essay ‘The Fourth Stage’, and it is based upon this power that he defines theatrical art as
moving towards an idea of communion- a form that facilitates the coming together of individuals to
form a collective. In doing so, Soyinka, draws upon the Dionysiac origins of theatre and the mysteries
of Ogun in Yoruba performative traditions. For the Indian dramatist, Habib Tanvir, on the other hand,
theatre is a community art. In his essay, ‘Theatre is in The Villages’, he argues for an Indian theatre
that is based on the “folk” performative traditions as opposed to urban Indian theatres that were
based on western models. What connects these two playwrights, as culturally and geographically far
removed from one another, is their vision of dramatic art. Both view Theatre as a communal art- an
expression that is inextricably linked to the people whose collective consciousness it manifests. They
are kindred souls in that they both seem to be articulating the need for a radically new form for
modern Theatre, specific to the needs of their respective contexts. Both Soyinka and Tanvir recognise
the living nature of theatrical art, and its immense potential- political and otherwise- as communal
expression. In this paper I seek to explore, the Brechtian origins of these formulations and its
implications for Soyinka’s and Tanvir’s artistic visions in their immediate contexts.
12:00 PM - Fear in Indian and Greek Drama
Figueira, Dorothy (University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA)
169
Aristotle defined tragedy as the imitation of a good action which is complete and of a certain length,
by means of language made pleasing for each part separately; if relies in its various elements not on
narrative but on acting. Through pity and fear drama achieves purgation (catharsis) of emotions.
The pity and fear created through imitation brings about the pleasure that is proper to tragedy. This
insistance that the genre is concerned with the representation of the pitiable and fearful rather than
other emotions is one of Aristotle's major contributions to the theory of tragedy. Sanskrit drama is
not limited to the tragic. Ther are comic forms among the ten acknowledged types of plays written
during the classical period, although the heroic and the erotic are the most prevalent. Tragedy, as
we understand it in the Greek context does not exist in ancient India. While there is always an
element of fear in the principle forms of Sanskrit drama, the crisis is always resolved by the end of
the play. Indian dramatic theory, particularly as codified by Bharata, Abhinavagupta and
Anandavardhana also speak of fear but unlike Aristotle, fear is always seen in the context of other
emotions that ib the dramatic process become universalized as moods (rasas). This paper will
compare the use of fear in the Greek and Indian traditions
2:00 PM - Performance in Plays: The Modern Metaphysical Mentality of Indian Playwrights
Singh, Jayshree (Bhupal Nobles University, Rajasthan, India)
The emancipation objectifies reason, hope, and application of imaginary escape, social disciplining
and calculative humanization of repression. The plays of Manjula Padmanabhan’s Harvest, Vijay
Tendulkar’s Ghasiram Kotwal and Sakharam Binder and Mahesh Dattani’ Final Solutions and Girish
Karnard’s Tughlaq have presented an imperfect world where the working classes, women and the
margins socio-economic background is a challenge to face political, social, artistically and cultural
difference. The manuscripts reflect the performance of characters on a makeshift stage on one hand,
while at the same time the characters point out an assumed sense of self-importance and selfpreservation. The playwrights’ passion, knowledge and the purpose not only reinvigorate the waning
democratic spirit of the citizenry but these posit twenty-first century socialistic future ideals of a civil
society in India. The playwrights’ theatrical insights portray not only human beings suffering from
intense mental crisis, but they manifest potentially progressive temporality and a rational positive
determination what a character wants and what he/she does not want.
2:30 PM - Performance and Literary Studies:Indian Context
Literature and performance have never really been separate concepts in India.
Natyasastra has formed the basis, rather an eclectic basis, for all future works in specific fields of
performance art in the classical stream. There have been works on the alamkaras, the ten rupakas,
music etc, all of which are based on the slokas of Natyasastra by Bharata.
Be it the Mahakavya of the ancient times or the Keertana, Bhajan and Mangalkavyas
of the medieval period, either Literature has been performed or performance has given birth to
Literature. In fact, it is wise to state that performance and literature has been a complex whole, most
of the times mutually constitutive, in both classical and folk-art. Thus the study of literature remains
incomplete, without a study of performance. In order to understand the rhyming pattern of
Mahakavya the study of the performance of Mahakavya is inevitable, as the rhyming pattern had
originated from the way it was performed. In the same way several ritualistic and folk repertoire
have given rise to literature, and in order to study those literatures, a study of performance becomes
inevitable.
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Rabindranath Tagore talked about the importance of the ‘play-text’ in
‘Rangamancha’, whereas Badal Sircar’s ‘Third Theatre’ did away with any kind of externality of
artifacts/pros/light/costume and relied solely on the performance of the body. Both, however, talked
about the importance of imagination and interpretation in theatre from the perspective of the
performer and audience. The traditional idea of the single and singular discipline is collapsing with
the interdisciplinary approaches to understand both performance and literature.
This paper aims to study performance in consonance with literary studies in the
Indian context and will explore some of the folk, traditional, ritual and popular forms of performance.
In recent times, the differences between the disciplinary investments of literary studies and
performance studies have been debated. A section of academicians are uncomfortable with the idea
of performance studies, while rigidly distinguishing between ‘scholarship’ and ‘creative processes’
and ‘art making’. However, the paper will try to explore how an eclectic study involves the study of
ritual, social events, visual arts, dance, theatre, architecture or any other artifact of culture as
‘performances’, that is, they are regarded as ‘practices,‘behaviour’, ’events’ by dismantling the sole
authority of the written/oral text.
3:00 PM - "Staging Coyote's Dream": Reading the performance texts of Budhan Theatre, Gujarat,
India and Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada.
Bhattacharyya, Dheeman (Centre for Comparative Literature, Bhasa Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Birbhum, West Bengal, India)
According to Professor Ganesh Devy ( Writer, activist who is working with the Denotified Tribes and
the founder member of Tejgadh Tribal Academy, Gujarat) since the British did not understand the
nature of the Indian economy properly and they wanted to turn citizenship into a revenue based
contract, the communities who were service providers in traditional villages were ignored resulting
into the segregation of such communities in a big way . The communities that have been identify as
the Denotified Tribes (DNTs) are apparently the victims of the Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and
subsequent policies that invaded their occupation post ndependence. These people have maintained
cultural and occupational diversity in India despite legislative atrocities. The non-sedentary tribes
have an enormous amount of knowledge of ecology, of psychology, of song and story, arts, painting,
dance, magic, music and number of things. Representation of these voices in the street plays of
Budhan Theatre (formed by the Chhara Tribes in the city of Ahmedabad, India) is a pedagogic shift
(how things were perceived and how they are being received now) and needs to be carefully
documented which contests academic Historiographies. In the present context of the proposed
panel/Workshop the point of departure can be the idea of what happens when ‘they’ participate in
the process of ‘meaning making’ and contest the schooling of minds, bodies and souls? This will also
enable us to question the construct called “India”... whose India, which India are we addressing.
Through the cultural productions of Budhan Theatre, Gujarat I shall explore several questions
pertaining to the negotiations of the tribes in question within the Neo-Liberal space in two forms of
Colonies (India and Canada).
[i] The title of this paper has direct reference to Knowles, Richard Paul, and Monique Mojica (eds).
Staging Coyote's Dream: An Anthology of First Nations Drama in English. Canada: Playwrights Canada
Press, 2003. (Print). I have closely worked with Monique and will share several anecdotes she shared
during workshops or shows during July 2010 to Jan 2011.
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9:00 AM - Ritual as Protest: Street Theatre in Contemporary India
Mukherjee, Tutun (Centre for Comparative Literature, Hyderabad, India)
‘Ritual’ is a multifaceted term suggesting metaphysical connotation with moral, religious, mythical, or
psychological significance. Yet it doesn’t happen for its own sake, is performed for a specific human
need. Hence ‘ritual’ has been discussed in relation to political organization, identity formation and
other dimensions of social life. Post-Durkheimian anthropologists went beyond sacred-profane
binary towards more technical and expressive/symbolical understanding of ‘ritual’ as denoting
contemporaneous coexisting aspects of expressive forms. The term will be explored this way in the
paper through the study of theatrical representation. The thrust question is how ‘ritual’ operates in a
nuanced manner in performances today which seek to address larger questions of identity,
community, cultural-social-political problems of discrimination and oppression. The paper adopts the
avant-garde use of the term as practiced by Pinter, Artaud, Grotowski, Dario Fo, Wole Soyinka, Badal
Sircar and others and theorized by Schechner as a set of patterned gestures and acts to establish a
‘communion’ between the spectators and performers with the shared belief in the efficacy of the
cultural form being presented: "the move from theatre to ritual happens when the audience as a
separate entity is dissolved into the performance as participants”, as also the theatrical limitations of
the ‘ritual’ event. The focus will be on Street Theatre as performed by Jana Natyamanch, Kerala
Sastra Sahitya Parishad and Budhan Theatre that, inspired by the avant-garde experiments, sought to
recover the function of theatre as socio-political intervention via multidomain meaning system
comprising symbolism, gesture and language, social and political critique.
9:30 AM - Just the King's Postman? Re-Viewing Tagore's English Plays
Ghosh-Schellhorn, Martina (TAS, Saarland U, Saarbrücken, Germany)
Just the King's Postman? Re-Viewing Tagore's English Plays
Martina Ghosh-Schellhorn, Saarland U, Germany.
Contemporary reviews of Tagore's English plays, with the notable exception of W.B. Yeats's and T.S.
Eliot's adulation, tended to be less than enthusiastic. By meanwhile common critical consent in India,
these plays of Tagore's are deemed to be unstageable. Apparently made up of nothing but "ideas"
(whatever that is meant to be), his English plays have, unlike the Bangla ones, been increasingly
neglected. This could be partly explicable by Tagore never having achieved the status of an 'Indian
Shakespeare', and partly perhaps by his ousting from the limelight by prominent dramatists whose
urban and urbane plays nowadays occupy center-stage. What is about Tagore's English plays that
preclude appreciation? Is it the type of English into which he, and others, have translated these
texts? Is it traceable to the plays unsuitability for the stage? Is it perhaps that Tagore's ideas are
meanwhile rather outdated? Or is it something else altogether? In attempting to find answers, my
paper will focus on some of his most well-known as well as meanwhile forgotten plays, in order to
engage with the transcultural aspects of his achievement.
10:00 AM - Pava Kathakali : The Puppet Folk Theatre of India Akin to the Classical Kathakali
Bhela, Dr. Anita (University of Delhi, New Delhi, India)
The culture of mythic storytelling in the varied forms of dance, drama, puppet theatre, song, and
scroll painting has remained vital to the people of India throughout its history and this tradition is still
a vibrant and vital living part of Indian culture. Puppetry is a popular folk theatre form in many
regions of India. Four kinds of puppet theatre are popular – string puppetry, rod puppetry, shadow
puppetry and hand/glove puppetry. The tradition, however, is distinct in each region. Puppets in
each region are made from different materials - deerskin, cloth, or wood. The making and performing
of the puppets is a sacred ritual. The puppets are assumed to have been infused with life by the
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puppeteer, hence, the discarding of the worn out puppets is a ritualistic ceremony. Usha Malik’s
observation that most puppetry traditions are linked to and almost parallel to the classical traditions
of each region is interesting. This presentation deals with Pava Kathakali (pava means puppet, katha
means story and kali means play) so it is a puppet story play.The interesting aspect of Pava Kathakali
is that it is a hand/glove puppet theatre form of Kerala based on the classical theatrical form
Kathakali performed by actors using masks. While the classical tradition of Kathakali is more exclusive
and refined, Pava Kathakali is a folk tradition that is more approachable, having a general appeal.
Pava Kathakali uses finely carved puppets made out of wood, decorated, painted, and adorned with
headgear and colorful costumes imitating the classical costumes and headgear of Kathakali actors.
The stories enacted are based on Attakatha, the stories used in classical Kathakali based on the great
Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. While people move to places where Kathakali
performances take place, Pava Kathakali puppeteers traditionally went from house to house putting
up shows for their hosts. Almost a lost art form, it was revived by G.Venu at the instance of Kamala
Devi Chattopadhyay.
17229 - The Rhetorics of the Anthropocene
Room: Seminarraum Nederlandistik
Chair: Dürbeck, Gabriele
4:00 PM - The Rhetoric of the Anthropocene - Introduction
Dürbeck, Gabriele (Universität Vechta, Vechta, Germany); Nesselhauf, Jonas (Universität Vechta, Vechta, Germany)
The concept of the ‘Anthropocene’ (Crutzen/Stoermer 2000) suggests a sustainable human impact
on biological and geological processes of the earth and the earth’s atmosphere. Originating from the
natural sciences, during the last years, the Anthropocene has become an interdisciplinary discourse
in cultural sciences, literary studies, and the Arts. We suggest the combination of three aspects to
explore the rhetorical and narrative strategies of a 'poetics' of the Anthropocene in literary works.
(a) A re-reading and thus a re-evaluation of literary texts written before the ‘invention’ of the
Anthropocene concept—from the science fiction genre (e.g. post apocalyptic novels) to poems
influenced by the 1960s and 1970s environmental movement (e.g. poetry by Gary Snyder or Erich
Fried).
(b) The literary representation of (elements of) the Anthropocene concept in works of fiction
(including film, television series, graphic novels and video games) of the past decade—for example in
order to raise ecological awareness or ethical concerns (e.g. in the second season of the TV series
Damages, in children's and youth literature, or educational comics) or to represent natural
catastrophes and climate-related disasters (e.g. the ‘post-Katrina Literature’).
(c) The topic of posthumanism and the rejection of anthropocentrism in literary texts, replacing
human beings as the narrative voice or the main character (e.g. in Frank Schätzing’s Der Schwarm).
4:30 PM - Anthropocene Temporalities
Kost, Kiley (Dept. of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, USA)
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The Anthropocene is particularly troubling, not only for the
ecological damage and uncertainties it represents, but also for the concepts of space and time it
disrupts. Despite being proposed as a new geologic epoch, the scholarship and debate surrounding
the Anthropocene too often neglect its temporal dimensions and their consequences for the
discourse. The ecological impact, while of great concern, cannot be grasped without considering the
accompanying shifts in concepts of time. In addition to the notions of finitude that surface when
regarding “the sixth extinction” and the collapse of human and natural history, as notably detailed by
Dipesh Chakrabarty, the Anthropocene also requires reflection on extremely large time scales.
The humanities in general and Ecocriticism in particular are well
suited for an investigation into the new temporalities of the Anthropocene and the consequences of
living alongside exceptionally large finitudes through their materialization in literature. In this paper, I
ask what temporalities emerge and which are foreclosed in the Anthropocene. Using theories of new
materialist ecocriticism and object-oriented ontology, I will analyze how new temporalities manifest
themselves in literature along with their effect on textual and narrative structures. I will focus on
German-language literature written before the term was coined, including works by Peter Handke
and Max Frisch, which nonetheless resonate with the current discourse of the Anthropocene.
(presentation and paper can be in English or German)
5:00 PM - Performative Aufarbeitung von ökologisch verorteten Weltuntergangszenarien in der
etwas älteren deutschsprachigen Literatur
Ohnesorg, Stefanie (University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA)
(Literarische) Texte, in denen ökologische Fragestellungen zentral verhandelt werden, werden kaum
– und wenn, dann nur sehr kursorisch -- in Überblicksdarstellungen und Einzelstudien zur Geschichte
und von Ecocriticsm in der Literatur erwähnt und analysiert, wenn diese Texte vor den 70er Jahren
des 20. Jahrhunderts entstanden sind. Ich sehe hier einen größeren Nachholbedarf und begrüße es,
dass sich ein Schwerpunkt des Workshops zum Themenschwerpunkt „The Rhetorics of the
Anthropocene“ darauf konzentrieren wird, eine Neulektüre und damit eine Neubewertung von
Texten, die vor der Einführung des Begriffs 'Anthropozän' entstanden sind, vorzunehmen.
Ich versuche in meinen Lehrveranstaltungen zum Thema Nachhaltigkeit (mit Fokus auf den
deutschsprachigen Kulturraum) die Entwicklungen der letzten 50 Jahre immer in einen historischen
und interkulturellen Rahmen einzubetten und greife dabei sehr oft auf ‚etwas ältere‘ kulturelle
Artifakte (Texte, Kunst, Musik, usw.) zurück, um Entwicklungs- und Verwerfungslinien zu zeigen, und
um damit einhergehend jüngste Entwicklungen in Theorie, Praxis und Kunst/Literatur auch historisch
einbetten zu können.
Ich möchte aus der Vielfalt der ‚etwas‚älteren‘ Texte, mit denen ich mich in diesem Zusammenhang
beschäftige, insbesondere die folgenden 5 Texte im Rahmen dieses Workshops einer Neulektüre und
damit einhergehend einer theoretischen Neuverortung unterziehen: Theodor Storms „Regentrude“
(1863), Günter Eichs „Träume“ (1951), Marlen Haushofers „Die Wand“ (1963), Franz Hohlers
„Weltuntergang“ (1974) und Max Frisch „Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän“ (1979). Der hier
gespannte zeitliche Rahmen umfasst mehr als ein Jahrhundert, so dass es auf den ersten Blick
erstaunen mag, dass gerade diese 5 Texte gemeinsam (examplarisch) diskutiert und im im gegebenen
Rahmen (Ecocriticsm / Rhetorik des Anthropozän) neubewertet werden sollen. Was diese Texte
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allerdings vereint, ist ihr „Performanz-Potential,“ und insbesondere die vielfachen medialen Auf- und
Überarbeitungen dieser Texte (Märchenstück, Puppenspiel, Kindertheater, Autorenlesung/szenische
Aufarbeitung für Lesungen, Hörspiel, Film, usw.) erlauben es übergreifende Aussagen und
theoretische Verortungen dahingehend vorzunehmen, wie hier die Thematik „Weltuntergang“ hier
verhandelt und perforativ umgesetzt wird, und inwiefern diese (etwas älteren) Texte samt ihrer
jeweiligen Um- und Überarbeitungen schon jene Fragen verhandeln, die im Zentrum des
Anthropozän-Diskurses stehen.
9:00 AM - Eine Poetik für das Anthropozoikum? Naturgewalt, tellurische Macht und anorganische
Materie bei Adalbert Stifter
Schuster, Jana (universität bonn, bonn, Germany)
Als der italienische Geologie Antonio Stoppani 1873 das Erdzeitalter des "Anthropozoikums" ins Auge
fasst, mutmaßt er, der Mensch könne es als "neue tellurische Macht" mit der "Kraft und Universalität
der großen Naturgewalten" aufnehmen. Die Erzählungen des Naturwissenschaftlers Adalbert Stifter
(1805-68) hingegen stellen das Wechselverhältnis von Mensch und Natur als zutiefst problematisch
dar: Die Figuren, die hier an der Domestizierung und Kultivierung der Natur arbeiten, reflektieren ihr
Unternehmen selbstkritisch als unabsehbar folgenreiche Einflussnahme auf den geobiologischen
Lebensraum. Dem ambivalenten humanen Machtfaktor stehen in Stifters Prosa zwei Naturmächte
gegenüber, die unter- bzw. oberhalb der wohltemperierten Mittelzone menschlicher Kultur auf der
Erdoberfläche walten: die unvordenkliche geologische Tiefenzeit des Planeten, die menschliches
Wirken zur erdgeschichtlichen Episode depotenziert, sowie die unsichtbaren Kräfte der
Erdatmosphäre, die Stifter als schicksalsträchtige Geschehensmacht einsetzt. Indem Stifters
Erzählungen die geologische Machtausübung des Menschen problematisieren und gezielt mit den
raumzeitlichen Naturgewalten konfrontieren, entwickeln sie bereits eine kritische Poetik jener
'anthropozoischen' Epoche, die Stoppani fünf Jahre nach Stifters Tod optimistisch avisieren wird. Der
Tagungsbeitrag soll diese These an Textbeispielen darlegen und aufzeigen, wie Stifters Erzählen in
Abkehr vom Subjektiven nicht-menschliche Agenzien zu Handlungsträgern aufwertet: Sand in
"Kalkstein" von 1853 und die Aggregate des Wassers in "Bergkristall" von 1853 oder "Aus dem
bairischen Walde" von 1867. Mit der Eigengesetzlichkeit der anorganischen Materie zielen diese
geologischen und meteorologischen Szenarien letztlich auf ein Nicht- bzw. Posthumanes, in dem sich
Anfang und Ende des Universums vergegenständlichen.
9:30 AM - Vom Globus und Planeten: Zum Denken des Anthropozäns bei Alexander Kluge, Sebastião
Salgado und Anselm Kiefer
Radisoglou, Alexis (Columbia University, New York, USA)
In meinem komparativ und intermedial angelegten Vortrag “Vom Globus und Planeten: Zum Denken
des Anthropozäns bei Alexander Kluge, Sebastião Salgado und Anselm Kiefer” setze ich mich kritisch
mit Figurationen des Anthropozäns im erzählerischen Werk Kluges, der Photographie Salgados sowie
der Malerei und Installationskunst Kiefers auseinander. Im Zentrum meiner Beobachtungen steht
eine Verzahnung bzw. Konfrontation globalen Denkens mit einem Denken des Planeten: Im Werk
aller drei Autoren und Künstler wird die Darstellung einer als global begriffenen Geschichte artikuliert
mit Diskursen, die man als planetarisch oder kosmologisch bezeichnen könnte. Eine thematische und
formal-ästhetische Auseinandersetzung mit unter dem Banner der Globalisierung firmierenden
sozialen, historischen und politischen Prozessen sowie mit einer weitgehend als katastrophisch
empfundenen Universalgeschichte vollzieht sich dabei vor dem Hintergrund einer weiter gefassten
Konzeption menschlichen Daseins in der longue durée des planetarischen Lebens. Das Planetarische
manifestiert sich als Kritik des Globalen, der Planet als epistemologische Gegenfigur zum Globus.
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Ausgehend von den äußerst heterogenen künstlerischen Praktiken Kluges, Salgados und Kiefers
präsentiere ich verschiedene Spielformen von “Rhetorics of the Anthropocene” und setze dabei die
Frage nach ästhetischen Auseinandersetzungen mit dem Anthropozän in Verbindung zu verwandten
geisteswissenschaftlichen Diskursen wie etwa dem Planetarischen bzw. der “planetarity” oder der
Zukünftigkeit bzw. “futurity”. Von besonderer Bedeutung ist für mich die Frage, inwiefern Rhetoriken
des Anthropozäns auch als zeitgenössische Form einer politischen Ästhetik begriffen werden können.
“Rhetorics of the Anthropocene”, so argumentiere ich anhand meiner Fallstudien, sind plural und
heterogen und können verschiedenartigste politische Schlagrichtungen einnehmen. So lässt sich eine
Ästhetik des Anthropozäns unter ein Projekt radikaler Demokratie im planetarischen Maßstab
subsumieren, zeigt in anderer Form häufig aber auch eine Tendenz zu einem gleichsam
kosmologischen Apolitizismus. Stets jedoch weist die Frage nach dem Anthropozän über die
zeitgenössische sozial-historische Formation der Globalität – der Globus als Eines – hinaus und
verhandelt somit als transzendentales Problem die Bedingung der Möglichkeit für eine andere
Vorstellung von menschlichem In-der-Welt-sein.
Der Vortrag kann je nach Bedarf auf Deutsch oder Englisch gegeben werden.
10:00 AM - "Die Enteisung Grönlands": Vorboten einer Poetik des Anthropozäns in Döblins Berge
Meere und Giganten
Völker, Oliver (Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt a/M, Germany)
Der Vortrag argumentiert für die These, dass sich in Alfred Döblins Roman Berge Meere und
Giganten (1924) eine Poetik ausmachen lässt, die wesentliche Bestandteile von gegenwärtigen
Debatten zu einer erdgeschichtlichen Epoche des Anthropozäns vorweg nimmt.
In einem ersten Schritt zeigt der Vortrag, inwieweit Döblins poetologische Texte durch eine
Leitmetapher bestimmt werden, deren Bildspender dem semantischen Feld der Geologie entstammt.
Gegen eine Form des Erzählens, die das einzelne Individuum in das Zentrum stellt und den Eindruck
einer zeitlichen Sequenz erzeugt, verwendet Döblin eine räumliche, ja stratigraphische Metaphorik,
die eher zur Beschreibung von geologischen Formationen und Schichtfolgen zu passen scheint. In
Bemerkungen zum Roman (1917) skizziert er den Prozess des Erzählens als ein „schichten, häufen,
wälzen und schieben“; Sprache als Medium des Erzählens wird zu einer Abfolge von
unterschiedlichen materiellen Schichten, einzelne Erzählstränge entsprechend zu „Anlagerungen“,
sodass die Grenze zwischen Sprache und dem Raum einer nicht-humanen Natur nicht eindeutig
bestimmt werden kann.
In einem zweiten Schritt wird rekonstruiert, wie sich diese Poetik in Berge Meere und Giganten
niederschlägt. Der Roman rückt natürliche Prozesse in den Vordergrund, die normalerweise als
Hintergrundphänomene der Wahrnehmung entgleiten, mithin auf Grund ihrer zeitlichen Dauer nicht
zum Gegenstand einer Erfahrung einzelner Subjekte werden können: „Die Erde drehte sich Tag und
Nacht. Trug Erdteile Meere Gebirge Flüsse mit sich. Gab von Jahr zu Jahr neuen Sommer und Winter
von sich.“ Zudem umfasst der Roman nicht allein mehrere Jahrhunderte auf der Handlungsebene,
sondern erzeugt durch seine enzyklopädische, nicht-lineare Struktur einen Effekt der zeitlichen
Verlangsamung, sodass die gedehnten Räume erdgeschichtlicher Zeitepochen über die formale
Gestaltung des Romans ästhetisch erfahrbar werden.
Die damit einhergehende Vertauschung zwischen Vorder- und Hintergrund erfolgt zusätzlich über die
besondere Ästhetik der Romansprache. Durch die Nichtbeachtung orthographischer Regeln und die
Enumeration von Nomina wird die Sprache in ihrer materialen und ästhetischen Präsenz auffällig und
erhält dadurch die gegenständliche Erscheinungsform, die Döblin ihr in seinen poetologischen Texten
zuschreibt.
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Berge Meere und Giganten erzeugt damit eine Erzählform und sprachliche Ästhetik, die eine Grenze
zwischen Mensch und und Natur undeutlich werden lässt.
11:00 AM - Anticipating the Anthropocene: "Classical" and "Popular" Science Fiction
Chattopadhyay, Kunal (Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India)
The concept of the anthropocene has been around only from around the turn of the century. But it
can be fruitfully applied to reading Science Fiction both synchronically and diachronically.
The classical/canonical texts include Frankenstein, Wells’ When the Sleeper Wakes, and Capek’s RUR.
All three have to be read today in the context of the anthropocene.
The dominant strain of popular (or pulp) US SF in the 1930s and 1940s, tended to ignore human
impact on the ecology. But some fiction would be written against the grain. Two ecological issues
that took precedence in US SF of the Campbell era were the threat of nuclear devastation, and
population problems.
One could argue that Marx-Engels versus Malthus form a core opposition on the issue of population.
We should keep these opposite positions on population when looking at SF novels on population.
The highly popular novels where human action and its (often unintended) consequences are
examined include novels by Isaac Asimov (Pebble in the Sky, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun) in
the Campbell and immediate post-Campbell era, and John Brunner from the New Wave era. The
most popular and powerful SF novel of nuclear devastation was Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz.
Human ecocide replaced the nuclear threat in Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up.
Another fundamental question to be examined was, whether humans, because they have
intelligence, can ethically dominate over all other species. Two authors to be discussed will be
Cordwainer Smith, (Instrumentality of mankind) and Paolo Bacigalupi (The Windup Girl), written as
notions of the Anthropocene begin to percolate.
Explorations of the problems involved in creating alternative ecosystems are done by Frank Herbert
(Dune) and Anne McCaffrey (Pern).
This paper will argue that these authors consciously and sometimes quite systematically developed
perspectives that are better understood today, because we are armed with the concept of the
anthropocene.
11:30 AM - Der Planet der Affen im Anthropozän
Shah, Mira (Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
Wenig bringt die Verzweiflung über die (Selbst-)Zerstörungskraft der Menschheit pointierter ins Bild
als die Schlussszene von Planet of the Apes (1968), in welcher der Astronaut Taylor an der im Sand
versunkenen Freiheitsstatue erkennt, dass er nicht auf einem fremden Planeten war, sondern die
Zukunft der Menschheit erlebt hat: „We finally really did it. [...] damn you! God, damn you all to
hell!“ ist eine Botschaft, die sich aus dem postapokalyptischen Szenario zurück in die Vergangenheit
richtet; es ist eine Botschaft an das zeitgenössische Publikum im Kinosaal.
Seit Pierre Boulles Roman La Planète des Singes (1963) zeigt der Planet der Affen-Stoff, der von einer
Welt erzählt, in der der Mensch das Primat zugunsten der Menschenaffen verloren hat und auf
seinen tierischen Zustand reduziert wird, die Ängste angesichts der Entwicklung und des Einflusses
der Menschheit auf ‚ihrem‘ Planeten. Dabei offenbart er auch eine Faszination für die Mit-Primaten,
die gleichzeitig öffentlichkeitswirksam von einer neuen Feldprimatologie erforscht werden. Diese
stellt nicht nur menschliche Alleinstellungsmerkmale durch neue Erkenntnisse über Affen in Frage,
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sondern warnt auch vor der fatalen Wirkung menschlicher Eingriffe ins Ökosystem (vgl. die
Feldberichte von Goodall, Fossey, Galdikas oder Strum). Lange vor der Begriffsschöpfung des
Anthropozäns zeigt diese Science/Fiction bereits eine affektive Auseinandersetzung mit dessen
Charakteristika und bezieht die befürchtete Apokalypse explizit auf die biologische Gattung Mensch
in Abgrenzung von ihren engsten Verwandten.
Wie zeitgeistig am Verhältnis Mensch-Affe der Albdruck des Anthropozäns verhandelt wird, zeigt sich
im 21. Jhdt. mit den ‚Prequels‘ Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) und Dawn of the Planet of the
Apes (2014). Diese beschäftigen sich noch intensiver mit der Selbstzerstörung des Anthropozäns,
indem sie die Entwicklung hin zum Untergang aus den gegenwärtigen transgressiven Eingriffen des
Menschen in seine Umwelt – und seine Mitwesen – heraus imaginieren.
Es bietet sich daher eine Relektüre des Stoffes unter zwei Blickwinkeln an: Erstens lässt sich der
Einfluss der Erkenntnisse und Befürchtungen der Primatologie als Leitdiskurs der Anthropologie für
die Selbstwahrnehmung des Menschen im Anthropozän an ihnen diskutieren, zweitens die
zunehmenden Realisierung der Bedeutung dieses Anthropozäns in der Science/Fiction als
Äußerungsmedium kultureller und wissenschaftlicher Diskurse nachvollziehen.
12:00 PM - Dawn of the Zoocene? Or: Humanity vs. the Rest of the Animal World in Recent SFF Film
& Television
Fuchs, Michael (Uni Graz, Graz, Austria)
The CBS show Zoo, which premiered earlier this summer, opens with the following voiceover, which
explains the show's premise: "For centuries, mankind has been the dominant species. We
domesticated animals, locked them up, killed them for sport. But what if all across the globe, the
animals decided no more? What if they finally decided to fight back?" In the show, non-human
animals across the planet start attacking humans and apparently turn into monstrous creatures.
Unlike the vast majority of representations of animals, monstrous animals, Julie Urbanik argues in
her book Placing Animals (2012), "serve to do the opposite of anthropomorphizing [non-human]
animals" (66), for, as Elisa Aaltola notes in her contribution to the Encyclopedia of Human-Animal
Relationships (2007), representations of monstrous animals depict "animals as 'others,' as beings
who are opposites of humans" (1199). Yet even though non-human animals attack human beings in
Zoo, the non-human turns into a canvas onto which various fears related to globalization and the
anthropocene are projected: The animals apparently evolved faster than usual because of food
produced by the multinational corporation Reiden Global, making not the mere merging between
humanity and nature, but humanity's control of nature in the current age explicit.
Despite all the attempts to critique the status quo, Zoo remains fully entrenched in anthropocentric
discourses by, for example, embracing digital effects to subdue nature to human control (thus
countering the overstated de-anthropocentering functions of digital cinema, proclaimed in William
Brown's Supercinema, for example) and hammering home an overly didactic message (apparently
intended for humans). In that regard, I will argue, Zoo is similar to the "natural nasties" (Tudor 1989)
which emerged in the 1970s (e.g. Piranha, Frogs, and Grizzly), whose ecological didacticism
demonstrates how animal Others are embedded in anthropocentric discourses, as the non-human is
first and foremost a function of the human. The animal monsters in these movies are afforded no
autonomous role, but merely function as vehicles for conceptualizing, understanding, and knowing
the human. However, some more recent horror movies, I will show, are more aggressive and
progressive in their challenging of human dominance by casting off animal monsters' semantic layers
and thus liberating non-human species from their imprisonment in anthropocentric discourses.
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17234 - Language Policy and Literary Evolution
Chair: Wang, Hongzhang; Zhou, Qichao; Chu, Xiaoquan; Wei, Yuqing; Li, Zhen; Wang, Jiaxing; Xia,
Zhongxian; Chen, Tao; Dang, Shengyuan
2:00 PM - Roman Jakobson, J. Mukarzhovsky, Roman Ingarden and ¡°Literariness¡±
ZHOU, Qichao (CHINA ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, BEIJING, China)
¡°Literariness¡± is a key concept affecting the destiny and the development of literary theory.
Exploration of ¡°Literariness¡± by Roman Jakobson, J. Mukarzhovsky, and Roman Ingarden are
believed to be the three milestones of ¡°literariness¡± in modern Slavic literary theory. Jakobson,
advocate of ¡°trait theory¡±, develops ¡°literariness¡± in terms of the ¡°formalization¡±. Upholding
function theory, Mukarzhovsky, expands ¡°literariness¡± space in the horizon of the
¡°semantization¡±. Ingarden, observer of composition theory, delves into generative mechanism of
¡°literariness¡± under the perspective of the ¡°intentionality¡±. They share in common on how the
¡°literariness¡± comes into being and on the scientificized approach to the literary research.
2:30 PM - TAO (¡°µÀ¡±) AND CHING (¡°Ÿ³¡±)
DANG, Shengyuan (CHINA ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, BEIJING, China)
Chinese literary ontology is based on ¡°syncretism between heaven and man¡±, emphasizing
integration of art and Tao(¡°µÀ¡±). This creative thought of ¡°syncretism between heaven and man¡±
essentially implies that the artist in the creation and the created artworks should realize their own
life value, universal life beauty and the ontology¡¯s metaphorical return of Tao(¡°µÀ¡±), to which
Chinese artistic conception gives full expression. Chinese artistic creation highlights ¡°Tao (¡®µÀ¡¯)
expressed by Ching (¡®¾³¡¯)¡±, which synthetically embodies the generative and cognitive meaning
producing. In the aspect of its thinking mode and history, ¡°Tao (¡®µÀ¡¯) expressed by Ching
(¡®¾³¡¯)¡± is closely connected with Chinese ancient ideographical mode. In Chinese traditional
culture, vivid figuration (¡°ÏóÓ÷¡±) and its expressing way deeply influence and determine the
existence of Ching (¡°¾³¡±) in Chinese traditional art. Ching (¡°¾³¡±) can be considered as the natural
artistic coherence of Chinese cultural and artistic aestheticization of nature and life, i.e. ¡°syncretism
between heaven and heaven¡±. Tao (¡°µÀ¡±) communicates with Ching (¡°¾³¡±) and vivid figuration
(¡°ÏóÓ÷¡±) is under the perspective of ¡°Tao (¡®µÀ¡¯) expressed by Ching (¡®¾³¡¯)¡± , which pursuits a
more harmonious and more organic artistic cognitive manner instead of the scientificized thinking
logic.
3:00 PM - Liu Xie's Conception of Literary Evolution: A Functionalist View
Wang, Hongzhang (College of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Fudan University , Shanghai, China)
In light of relevant theoretical and critical principles established in Russian Formalism, linguistic and
literary, the present paper attempts to reconstruct the functionalist point of view of the evolution of
literary genres and practical criticism of literature Liu Xie, the 5-6th century Chinese critic, implied in
his The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, intending to remove the stereotypical stamp
imposed on Liu Xie as a classically conservative critic. The author of this paper argues that Liu Xie’s
so-called “six points [aspects]” (“Liu guan” 六观) put forward succinctly in “An Understanding Critic”
(“Zhi yin” 知音) constitutes a comprehensive and systematic methodology of practical criticism,
regarding respectively the genre and style (Wei ti 观位体), the diction and rhetoric (Zhi ci 观置辞),
the flexible adaptability (Tong bian 观通变), the application of traditional and newly emerged
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techniques (Qi zheng 观奇正), the use of historical and literary allusions (Shi yi 观事义), and the
musical pattern (Gong shang 观宫商) of a given piece of literary composition, and that any discussion
of this methodology must take into account theoretical and critical ideas Liu Xie expressed in
different chapters of his whole book.
“Flexible Adaptability to Varying Situations” (Tong bian” 通变) forms a separate chapter of Liu’s
book, in which we find a clearly formulated conception of the laws of literary evolution that are
primarily intended for the education of creative writers still in the making. But this historicodiachronic concept, as a critical one, also appears among the “six aspects”, taking on a synchronic
dimension, by which we can judge the closed structure of a given work. On the one hand, it serves as
a standard for critics to locate a specific work of literature in the total historical continuum of a given
genre to which the work belongs. On the other hand, successful “flexibility to changing situations and
contexts” within a work constitutes a self-sufficient micro-literary system whose constitutive
elements follow their own natural tendencies.
4:00 PM - The Production of the Novel Doctor Zhivago and Its Reception in China
WANG, Jiaxing (NANJING UNIVERSITY, NANJING, China)
The predominant idea of art Boris Pasternak displayed throughout the process of his creation of
Doctor Zhivago is his so-called penetration of the light of force into life. Doctor Zhivago represents
the reality affected by force, that is, the reality dislocated by emotion. The revolutionary era in which
lived and the historical sense of his contemporaries were both represented under the impact of his
extremely personal experience and emotion.
¡¡¡¡The author of the current paper argues that related issues concerning the genre of the novel can
be looked at from what Pasternak called ¡°plant thinking¡±. Pasternak¡¯s talent and professional
training in music, painting, and philosophy constitutes his unique idea of art. His poetic composition
serves as a blueprint for his novelistic production. Dramatic monologues, dialogues and deployment
of different kinds of characters are everywhere to be found in his novels. He constantly transgresses
generic boundaries, resulting in his creative mixture of genres. Pasternak was trying to get a way out
of the confusion of his day caused by the fragmentation of the literary form. For Pasternak, putting
his own speech in the mouth of the characters he created is much safer than directly addressing it to
the People. Compared to the poetic space which is full of gaps, the novel as a genre is more of vitality
and substantiality.
¡¡¡¡Chinese reception of Pasternak¡¯s Doctor Zhivago has experienced three stages. Political and
critical censure directed to the writer began in 1958. From the middle of the 1980s to the middle of
the 1990s, increasingly heated discussions were done of the relationships between history and the
individual, intelligentsia and revolution, social transformation and the survival of individuality, power
and the free spirit. Meanwhile, related humanist issues also began to receive wide attention from the
Chinese readers as well as academics. From then on, most of the Chinese writers who had had the
opportunity to read Doctor Zhivago began to take it as a classic to be emulated in their own literary
creation. The past two decades have seen Chinese literary academics doing aesthetic criticism of
Doctor Zhivago.
4:30 PM - A DREAM OF RED MANSIONS AND ITS RELATION TO CARNIVALIZATION AND FOLK
HUMOUR
XIA, Zhongxian (BEIJING NORMAL UNIVERSITY, BEIJING, China)
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The carnivalization poetics which Bakhtin devoted himself to and elaborately designed for years is a
broad and profound system, which covers such disciplines as mythology, folklore, cultural
anthropology, linguistic, literary theory, etc. It advocates thinking modes with carnival spirit, new
literary conception, and subversion and construction strategies and methodology, and greatly
broadens the domain of literature research.
In recent years, there have been a lot of studies about A Dream of Red Mansions in the Chinese
literary circles. There has existed an enormous literature on such studies. Different scholars at
different times have made different comments. A reinterpretation of A Dream of Red Mansions with
the help of the numerous achievements made in different disciplines is undoubtedly a new attempt
and approach. Based on Bakhtin¡¯s theory of carnivalization, this paper attempts to give A Dream of
Red Mansions ¡°a reexamination from the perspective of folk festivals and carnivals in the world of
literature¡±, investigates into the memories in the novel genre, explores the writers¡¯ innovation
strategies, and tries to offer a new perspective and method for the studies on A Dream of Red
Mansions.
5:00 PM - Chung-shu Chien¡¯s Sublimation Theory (¡°»¯Ÿ³Ëµ¡±) From the Perspective of Bakhtin¡¯s
Dialogism
Tao, Chen (CHINA WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY, BEIJING, China)
Translation is de facto a process of using one language to express another one. It is a linguistic
transfer, a cognitive process of trans-context, trans-cultural exchange expressing different cultural
implications and an interactive process of different translation subjects which coincides with
intersubjectivity of Bakhtin¡¯s dialogism. Sublimation theory (¡°»¯¾³Ëµ¡±) reflects the dialogue
between subjects which hints that single subjectivity (i.e. translator-centre, original-writer-centre
and reader-centre) should be avoided in the literary translation. Literary translator undertakes
multiple tasks and needs to coordinate them harmoniously in the interactive process of self and
other, of which Bakhtin¡¯s dialogism could better our understanding.
17248 - Embracing the Other
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th //
Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Hs 23
Chair: Kostova, Raina; Schweitzer, Petra
Opening Remarks
Kostova, Raina ; Petra Schweitzer
…
9:00 AM - EmPlacing the Other
Romm, Stuart (Praxis3 - architecture and multidisciplinary design, Atlanta, USA)
The seeming keyboard slip in muddling the title of this seminar is intended as a useful provocation to
those gathered at ICLA across many disciplines, from the literary arts to the plastic arts. In educating
architects, the initiation into its very definition was historically proselytized in Bruno Zevi’s classic
book title, Architecture as Space. Although in the cause of progressive modernism, a reductive
implication of the text tended to draw an oppositional line across the space-time continuum; a
separation between the timeless stasis of painting and architecture and the kinetics of theatre,
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literature, and music (but note Von Schelling’s attempt at a bridging definition, in Philosophie der
Kunst: “[Architecture] is music in space, as it were a frozen music.”)
The political dimensions of this opposition between the arts, their operating priorities of space vs.
time, were illuminated in Margaret Crawford’s book Everyday Urbanism. Her following analysis both
cites Michel de Certeau’s evocations of the practices of everyday life and indirectly the critique of
Michel Foucault: "De Certeau drew a distinction between two modes of operation: strategies, based
on place, and tactics, based on time. Strategies represent the practices of those in power, postulating
'a place that can be delimited as its own and serves as the base from which relations with an
exteriority composed of targets or threats can be managed.' Strategies establish a ‘proper’ place,
either spatial or institutional, such that place triumphs over time. In contrast, a tactic is a way of
operating without a proper place, and so depends on time. As a result, tactics lack the borders
necessary for designation as visible totalities: 'The place of a tactic belongs to the other.'"
Hence the provocation of the mistyped title: is place-ness + otherness an intrinsic paradox or an
intersection awaiting new conceptualizations?
9:20 AM - Expanding Identities: Social and Environmental Justice in Indigenous American Literature
Lobnik, Mirja (Oxford College of Emory University, Oxford, USA)
In the wake of large-scale events such as Hurricane Katrina, there is an increasing
attention to racial bias in political systems and economies—from de facto segregation to toxic waste,
food, and trade policies. What is more, social and environmental issues can no longer be separated in
a world marked by the impact of colonial legacies and the effects of climate change on human
migration and displacement. Featuring work from contributors of widely diverse backgrounds, Alison
H. Deming’s and Lauret E. Savoy’s The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World
addresses the gaps in environmental literature by revealing how a wealth of cultural perspectives is
essential to creating a more textured understanding of histories and identities that may seem strange
and unfamiliar. Informed by ecocritical theory and indigenous philosophy, this paper examines the
work of indigenous writers such as Pauline Melville and Joseph Bruchac through a close engagement
with the intersection of cultural diversity and ecological awareness, more specifically, with the ways
in which these authors expand their audiences’ identifications to include both the human and the
nonhuman. In doing so, it shows how an expanded circumference of “Self” incites and reinforces ecocentric perspectives that reflect a fuller range of human experience. Offering grounds for an
aesthetics that expands identities, the paper argues for a reconfiguration of culture and place in ways
that may help us embrace the “Other.”
9:40 AM - Migrants as Other: Xenophobia and Racism
Schweitzer, Petra (Shenandoah University, Winchester, USA)
Migrants as Other: Xenophobia and Racism The paper addresses the refugee chaos across European
countries and a new movement that takes place in Germany to aid asylum seekers, refugees and
migrants. As reported in “The Spiegel,” the University Siegen has become an example of a national
movement that is taking place in Germany. Anja Damerius, is one of the dozen volunteers at the
University Siegen who are working with new arrivals. When the regional government placed
approximately 200 seekers at the Gymnasium, they promised to find a shelter within days. Despite
official promises, the asylum seekers were still on campus after one month. Among the details that
identify the need for a solution, everyone at the university has no hope that anyone of the people
present on campus can be placed anywhere else even though the university starts at mid –October.
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Paradoxically, a student initiative and not the state has launched a program that supports the needs
of people not only organizing primary medical care but also offering courses that will help the
refugees to integrate into Germany’s social life. Like the University Siegen, other cities, regions and
countries embody a different movement contrary to that of many states or racist attacks. How do
we understand this new communal regional movement in relation to xenophobia and racist violence
against asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in Western Europe? What distinguishes the
relationship between the new measures of discrimination and intolerance of European Union
countries against asylum seekers, refugees and migrants? Fundamental questions such as “What is
xenophobia?” continue to evoke alternative discourse. I suggest that the fundamental question of
“What is xenophobia” must be rethought in relation to economic globalization, as it operated toward
an increasingly international labor force. We have to go beyond traditional cultural and xenophobia
significations and start with the question: What was it like to be Other? It is within that framework
Emmanuel Levinas’s expression Other (“autrui”/the other person) that I will explore the relation
between the physical and psychological abuse against a vulnerable group of people and the
responses of activists to “Embrace the Other.”
10:00 AM - Jelinek's Vienna: Cultural Elitism and Xenophobia
Kostova, Raina (Jacksonville State University, Powder Springs, Georgia, USA)
“Vienna, the city of music! Only the things that have proven their worth will continue to do so in this
city. Its buttons are bursting from the fat white paunch of culture, which like any drowned corpse
that is not fished from the water, bloats up more and more.” This is the sarcastic portrait of Vienna
that Elfriede Jelinek presents in her Nobel winning novel The Piano Teacher (1989), which has gained
notoriety because of its explicit discussion of sadomasochism, sexual perversity, and violence. Behind
its glaring depiction of the main character, Erika Kohut’s, socially unacceptable behavior, however,
the novel resonates with a much more subtle allusion to the historical forces that have shaped
contemporary Viennese culture, which will be the focus of my presentation. In the 1980s, the
Viennese are immersed in a sensibility of hatred, violence, and exclusion reminiscent of the extreme
nationalism and ethnocentrism of Nazi ideology. Ironically, it is classical music—the epitome of
cultivation, freedom, and spirituality—that becomes the vehicle for segregation, expulsion, and
cruelty. I will examine the power relations in the novel in view of Michel Foucault’s understanding of
power as a network of nonsubjective mobile forces that “come into play in the machinery of
production, in families, limited groups, and institutions.” From this perspective, the defeat of Nazi
ideology at the end of WWII appears to be only nominal, as principles of exclusion and segregation
thrive in the networks of private relationships in smaller groups and institutions protected by the
law.
9:00 AM - Mainstreamed and Marginalized: Female Athletes as the "Other" in Sport Media
Coverage
Daddario, Gina (Shenandoah University, Wiinchester, USA)
Western media critics have long observed that female athletes seldom receive more than a minimal
amount of the media coverage devoted to sport due, in large part, to the masculine hegemony that
pervades sport and sport coverage. In the U.S. and other Western countries, men’s sports are
overwhelmingly privileged in nearly all mediated contexts.
Consequently, female athletes have
been accustomed to being marginalized, sexualized and, in some cases, rendered invisible by media
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outlets as they are situated as the “other“ in sport. Their otherness is manifested in the qualifiers
used to talk about sports, as in “women’s” sport, and in the descriptors used to comment on
athletes, such as “the girl next door.”
According to feminist critics, sport normalizes men’s power
and privilege as evidenced by the media’s tendency to highlight women’s physical attractiveness and
psychological vulnerabilities rather than their athletic skills. Typically, gender bias in sport is
manifested through differential commentary used to characterize male and female athletes rather
than through blatant gendered stereotypes.
This status quo has not gone unchallenged, however,
as women’s participation in the Olympic Games has not only increased over time but, at present, is
comparable to men’s. (In fact, women were not excluded from any events at the 2012 London
Games and represented just under half of all athletes.) Similarly, the 2015 World Cup, by Western
standards, enjoyed unprecedented media coverage and audience interest. In fact, the U.S. telecast of
the Women's World Cup championship was the ‘most watched’ soccer game ever.
However,
despite the increased attention devoted to women’s sport, audience-driven spectacles like the
Olympics, the World Cup and professional tennis and golf are the exceptions. This paper will explore
the sometimes paradoxical relationship between women’s sport and “otherness,” where women can
be both mainstreamed and marginalized in contemporary popular media.
9:30 AM - Agents, Orcs and Militant Mutants: Sameness as Otherness in Western Popular Culture
Argiro, Thomas (Tunghai U., Dept. of Foreign Languages & Literature, Taichung)
Popular films and literature are often transmitters of ideology related to the discourses and issues
informing difference and otherness. Yet the radical difference and otherness displayed by various
fantastical characters and creatures in certain popular works more generally functions in
juxtaposition to an undesirable sameness, presented as the prime catalyst of their stories’ agons,
essential to the social and political messages of these works. For example, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the
Rings film series, based on J.RR. Tolkien’s fantasy tales, the sci-fi dramas of The Matrix series, and the
X-Men films derived from Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics all feature figures representative of an
immovable sameness. These characters are generally cast as relentless villains and monsters arrayed
against a variety of heroes and opponents, whose outstanding differences stand in sharp contrast to
the entrenched herd mentalities, ideological dogmas and/or ontological inalterability of their
respective antagonists.
Comprehending the ways that difference and otherness are perceived and purveyed in a larger
socio-political context is of paramount concern in the practice of everyday life. Ergo, these works are
important in that all mark out fictional territories wherein forms of difference and otherness are less
problematical to the social stability of their various life-worlds than is a mandate for sameness
disregarding the freedoms and rights of anyone not a part of their antagonists’ fixed agendas. This
paper will illustrate how the treatment of unbearable sameness in these works constitutes a strong
response to untenable political and cultural intolerance and its manifestations in the real world. Their
culturally informed rhetoric demands vigilance toward agents, Orcs and militant mutants, whose
intransigent sameness is the true otherness that unsettles the social, everywhere.
10:00 AM - THE OTHERNESS OF THE SIMILAR: UNCOVERING THE FACE OF THE MARROKAI SAKIN
("MOROCCAN KNIFE") IN THE FALAFEL KING IS DEAD, by SARA SHILÓ
Oliveira, Leopoldo (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Published in Israel in 2005, Shum Gamadim Lo Yavo’u (literally meaning No Dwarves Are Coming,
translated into English as The Falafel King Is Dead) is the first novel by Sara Shiló, and since then it has
been awarded several prizes, even the Sapir Prize in 2007. Shiló (whose maiden name was Bavli) was
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born in Jerusalem in 1958 and, after having married and graduated, went to live in the North of
Israel, in the town of Ma’alot, close to the Lebanon border. And it is exactly the experience of living in
the social milieu of these developing villages (ayarot hapituach in Hebrew) [1] what provides material
for her novel. The narrative of Shum Gamadim comprises four interior monologues of the Dadon
family members, on a night in which the village is attacked by Katyusha rockets, during the Lebanon
war in 1982. Through the rebuilding of daily life in this family, of its innermost thoughts and desires,
and by recreating its peculiar language, the author finally unveils to the Israeli the true face of the
marrokai sakin (“The Moroccan knife”) [2] , the Jewish-Moroccan immigrant, victim of stereotypes
and prejudices. Through the analysis of this poignant and thought-provoking novel, this work aims to
examine the mishaps and biases of the insertion of Moroccan-Jewish immigrants in the Israeli
society, as well as the impact this peculiar novel caused in debates on literature, its feature and
function to Judaism as a whole, and for the Israeli society in particular.
[1] Small towns planned to receive immigrants in the inland areas of the country in order to populate
the region and ensure a majority Jewish population in the area.
[2] A Jewish-Moroccan cultural trait is that men walk armed with a knife, which created in the Israeli
society the stereotype that these immigrants supposedly would have violent behavior
9:00 AM - One Between Two: Godard's Goodbye to Language (2014)
Choe, Steve (San Francisco State University, San Francisco, USA)
This paper reads Jean-Luc Godard’s 3D digital video, Goodbye to Language (2014), as proposing a
model for non-human otherness. Drawing from close readings of the work, as well as writings by
Rilke, Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, Stiegler and others, this paper attempts to elucidate an ontological
form that extends beyond our global, quantified notions of the human being. Goodbye to Language
tells two loose narratives of two couples separating, both mingled with images of a stray dog. As the
couples come to realize the limits of human language to consolidate relations with their ostensibly
loved other, Godard seems to propose animal being as key to thinking otherness beyond language,
beyond the mere givenness of human discourse. To think the animal, specifically to think how
animals perceive and experience the world, is to love in a manner that does not conform to a
humanistic, narcissistic form of loving. Godard seems to aspire toward this impossible alternative,
toward becoming-animal, through the non-human means of the cinema. Throughout his career,
Godard has explored the heterosexual couple as a model for thinking ontologically beyond binaries.
In Goodbye to Language, Godard works with 3D cinematography and the binary between left and
right (eyes and ears) to continue his inquiry into themes of difference and non-uniformity.
9:30 AM - Playing Deaf and Dumb: Disability and the Theatre World
DiQuattro, Marianne (Rollins College, Maitland, USA)
This paper will explore how the “otherness” of disability continues to dwell at the periphery of
theatre internationally, due in part to the movement of the “otherness” of race and nationality to the
center as dramatic fodder. This paper will explore how in an age of gender and race requirements in
casting, similar requirements are markedly absent or impossible as regards disability. Some plays,
such as Martin McDonagh’s internationally successful drama, The Cripple of Inishmaan, comment
explicitly on the presence of the double standard, as for instance when “Cripple Billy” Claven returns
from his failed Hollywood screen test and quotes the film director as having wanted “a normal fella
who can act crippled [rather] than a crippled fella who can’t fecking act at all.” This paper will argue
that from theatre structures (the very danger of the backstage area) to the dramas themselves, the
theatre remains an exclusionary art form in which the “otherness” of disability is forbidden from
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making a move to “center” stage as anything other than a plot device to be played by able-bodied
actors. Even in dramas that feature disabled characters, the dramatic structure itself can make the
participation of a disabled actor impossible. For example, in Act I of Bruce Norris’s Tony and Pulitzer
Prize-winning drama Clybourne Park a featured character is a deaf young woman. The requirements
of staging seem to offer no barriers to the participation of a deaf actress. And yet, as Act II begins,
the dramatic requirement that the same actress double a non-deaf role illustrates how the drama
relies on able-bodied representations of disability. As the actress appears in the second role, the
audience can indulge in a moment of aesthetic distancing, “ah, she was playing deaf,” to marvel in
adopting the “otherness” of a group whose “otherness” can still be represented theatrically rather
than included as a casting restriction.
10:00 AM - (Em)bracing Migrant Women as Others in Korean Cinema
Chung, Moonyoung (Keimyung University, Daegu, South Korea)
Since the late 1990s, Korean cinema and other cultural products, broadly known as hallyu (Korean
wave), have gained unprecedented international popularity. Recently Korean cinema becomes a
major player in global film culture on the world stage. As we can see in cases of popular films made
during the renaissance of Korean cinema for the past decade, both Korean cinema industry and
discourse have sought for a new dynamic power by dealing with the issues of migrants, especially
exploiting the roles of marriage migrant women as others. Thus this paper maintains that new
Korean cinema can obtain its status as a major player paradoxically by bringing center stage
obliterated minor characters who are repressed as others in margins of Korea ’ s socio-cultural
context, such as marriage migration wives and maids. But it is also true that the migrant women do
not exist yet and they are still missing in Korean films, although they are placed in the absolute
foreground.
There are some Korean films which make them subjected instead of making them true subjects and
at the same time show how they are what is missing. We can find Korean cinema ’ s true potentiality
in these films. Thus this paper reads Failan (2001), Innocent Steps (Daenseo-ui sunjeong, 2005) The
Yellow Sea (Hwanghae, 2010), The Taste of Money (Do-nui mat, 2012), and Mai Ratima (2013),
searching for missing migrant women and analyzing their roles both as absent subjects and others in
the mechanisms of Korean cinematic system. This study can provide a useful material for
understanding otherness and Korean social and cultural context out of which these popular films
arose and are consumed in the era of globalization.
9:00 AM - The Moors in George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar
Barbouchi, Limame (Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Oujda, Marocco); El Maghnougi, Naima (Faculty of Letters and
Humanities, Oujda, Marocco)
For almost the last three decades, much ink has been spilt upon the issue of the presence of the
Moorish villains in the European literary canon. In this regard, many post-colonial writers and critics
have endeavored to delve into this canonical river so as to underscore the misrepresentation of the
Moors in such texts. Their attempts have always been based on a discursive strategy. The laudable
aim of this strategy has purportedly been to dismantle the European discourse on race. This
discourse has indubitably been believed to be based on Eurocentrism. However, only few attempts
have been made to explore the European - historically as well as canonically- marginalized texts
which embrace the Moors positively. Believing that these texts inhabit an overlooked European
literary discourse about the Other, This paper explores the province of a repressed literary history
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that accommodates a rather different image about the Moors. In this discourse, unlike in Orientalist
discourses, the Moor is branded as courageous, heroic and generous human being. In addition, this
paper offers an account of the historical forces standing behind the reign of this ‘positive’ image. By
doing so, this paper questions the homogeneity of the European literary discourse on race. As a
roadmap, this paper structures its line of analysis around two major moments. Where primacy is, at
the first level, accorded to providing a theoretical framework for this study, focus is, at the second
level, placed on analyzing George Peele’s The Battle of Alcazar.
9:20 AM - Language of Nationalism and Martial Identity in the Muluk of Bir (brave) Gurkhas
Sharma, Priyanka (Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India)
The non convergence of nation and state in South Asia creates a fertile breeding ground for various
conflicting, co-existing and complicated regimes of truth. In 1815 the king of Gorkha came into direct
conflict with the ‘British India’ (The East India Company) in the Anglo- Nepal war (1814- 1816). It was
not merely a physical conflict. It was a conflict of ideologies, a conflict of two different languages: The
language of fixed, well demarcated borderlines of the British colonial ideology and the language of
shifting frontiers and changing membership of a subject in the Gorkha ‘muluk’.The Gorkha rulers
referred to their territorial possessions as muluk. The king who was a malik (landlord) to his muluk
assigned tenurial duties over the lands to his subjects who were free to change their political
affiliation as the tenurial scheme was applied exclusively to the land not to the subjects of the king.
My paper will trace the formation of the nation- state in Nepal which was initiated during this conflict
that also marked the anthropological moment of the British ‘discovery’ of the Gurkhas: ‘the martial
race’. I will further investigate the discourse of colonial project which built the foundation for the
famed idea of Bir Gurkha in the British military history and anthropological writings. Taking this as my
point of entry, I shall go on to investigate how the dynamics of nationalism engage with discourses of
martiality in the body of literature I am investigating and look into the “problem of double
consciousness of the deterritorialised Gorkha subjectivity that is torn between two seemingly
conflictual impulses of a primordially constructed notion of the Gorkha jati (community) and the
demands of a modern nation-state” .Among the writers I have already identified are Agam Singh Giri
(1928- 1971), Bhupi Sherchan ( 1937-1990) Haribhakta Katuwal( 1935-1980 ), Indra Bahadur Rai(b.
1927 )and Lil Bahadur Chhetri(b.1923 ).
9:40 AM - Embracing the Other: Imaginary Freedom
Brinkley, Tony (University of Maine, Bangor, Maine, USA)
To study Virginia Woolf's writing is to discover a freedom in writing. With the Berg manuscripts for
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE as a point of departure, the paper I am proposing will attempt to theorize this
freedom as a way pragmatic way of embracing the other. The theorizing will work from: 1.) Lacan's
reading of the imaginary (with a particular concern for the moment--almost unmarked in Lacan's
discussion--when the child discovers the image in the mirror as image but does not yet identify with
the image as self); 2.) Bakhtin's understanding of the dialogic otherness of speech genres (where
Dostoevsky's novels offer the paradigmatic examples); 3.) Peirce's sense of a complementarity
between what he called "firstness" and "secondness"; 4.) Levinas and Irigaray's articulations of an
ethics of otherness. A tentative hypothesis: Woolf responds in her writing to the freedom of her
characters--not as she wishes them to be but as they find themselves to be (in Perice's terms to their
"secondness"). In doing so, the writing joins in that freedom, the writer joins, the reader joins by
embracing the other.
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10:00 AM - Afro-Caribbean Womanhood in Literature
Harris, Ashley (Shenandoah University, Winchester, USA)
The notion of “Africanness” incorporated into the sense of self by a Diasporic African woman who
has been separated from her motherland for countless generations creates various complex
identities. To reclaim and understand their heritage transforms into numerous questions. Due to the
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, that individual may have ancestry from any of the 18 countries that now
make up West Africa. Even within those 18 countries there are countless ethnicities, language,
religions, and tribes. Specifically in my essay I will be focusing on several literary pieces by AfroCaribbean women such as: Edwidge Danticat, Beryl Gilroy, Nalo Hopkinson, Merle Hodge, and Jamica
Kincaid. Throughout my essay I will portray not only the complexities of Afro-Caribbean womanhood
but also the similarities between the islands and West Africa. Antiguan-American author, Jamaica
Kincaid illustrates the struggles of a young girl who tries to thread together her racial identity,
national identity, her sexuality but also her notion of womanhood in Annie John. Afro-Trinidadian
novelist Merle Hodge also wrote of a teenage girl who was in the midst of understanding her
womanhood in her book, Crick Crack, Monkey. In Sunlight on Sweet Water, Guyanese author Beryl
Gilroy portrays life not too long after slavery and incorporates characters who remember West
Africa. Jamaican author Nalo Hopkinson elaborates on identity within the Afro-Caribbean community
within and outside of the West Indies in her compilation of short stories in Skin Folk. Lastly, Haitian
author Edwidge Danticat’s Breath, Eyes, Memory demonstrates cultural notions of womanhood in
comparison to that of American perceptions of womanhood through the eyes of Sophie Caco. Each
of these novels allude to Pan-Africanism and give voices to identities within the African Diaspora that
tend to go unheard of in Western Society.
10:20 AM - Embracing the Black Female Other through Feminine Writing in Toni Morrison's The
Bluest Eye: A Study of Colors, Sounds and Shapes
Hammami, Nodhar (University of kairouan, Tunisia, Kairouan, Tunisia)
In her novel The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison reacts against the racist and sexist white society which
sets the black race and the female sex as “other”. She attempts to embrace the black female other
through the inclusion of a new linguistic mode, a new feminine style of writing which subverts the
social and linguistic conventions. She questions both the bases of beauty and the standards of
writing, revealing that they are grounded in a subjective standardization. Morrison proves to be
subversive both in theme and style. She cries out for a room for the Afro-American culture within the
white hegemony while asking blacks to stick to their communal ties, preserve their racial belonging,
and hold to their cultural identity as a way to overcome their otherness. Stylistically speaking,
Morrison shows a break with the traditional literary canon and uses a new feminine mode of writing
where the liberation of language goes hand in hand with the writer’s desire to liberate her own race
and sex.
The concern of the paper is to show how Morrison transcends the traditional literary discourse by
embracing a new feminine writing, a mode in which an excessive and unconventional use of colors,
sounds and shapes attempts to instill a new social and sexual order. The writer’s Break with the rules
of the old linguistic game and creation of a feminine language aim at embracing the other, including
the excluded and centralizing the marginal.
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17252 - Hybridisierung literarischer Sprachen und Ausdrucksformen als
Innovationsmodus
Room: Hs 34
Chair: Hintereder-Emde, Franz
9:00 AM - Ausgangspunkt Robert Walser: das Innovative hybrider Literatur
Hintereder-Emde, Franz (Universität Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan)
Ein zentraler Ausgangspunkt dieses Workshops liegt in der Beschaeftigung mit dem
Werk Robert Walsers. Inzwischen eine feste Groesse in der Literatur der Moderne, galt Walser lange
als wenig ernst zu nehmender Einzelgaenger. Walsers Schreiben zeigt in verschiedener Hinsicht
hybride Zuege, sei es in der Kombination von verschiedenen Gattungsformen, die Maerchen, Briefe
und Szenisches verbindet, sei es in der Verknuepfung von ernsten und trivialen Stoffen. Demzufolge
wurde der Autor in der Literaturkritik lange Zeit aus dem Bereich der "hohen" Literatur ausgegrenzt.
Walsers scheinbar verspielt naive Diktion mit seiner Naehe zur Neuromantik und zum literarischem
Jugendstil verdeckten fuer viele Leser den Blick auf die originaere literarische Qualitaet seiner Texte.
Hybrides Schreiben, also etwa die Vermischung und Kombination verschiedener Stile
und Ebenen zwischen Trivialem, Abstraktem und Schoengeistigem duerfte in der Literaturgeschichte,
etwa in der Fruehzeit des Romans, die ueberwiegendere Form gewesen sein. Erst eine staerkere
Ausdifferenzierung und Hierarchisierung literarischer Gattungen schaerfte das Bewusstsein fuer
"reine" Formen. Die Romantik hingegen amalgamisierte wiederum die Genres, und nicht zuletzt
deshalb wurde Walser oft mit ihr in Beziehung gesetzt.
Walser war kritischer Leser und Beobachter des Literaturmarktes. Gegen
Anmutungen, sich dem Stil renommierter Autoren anzupassen, hat er sich verwahrt, zudem stand er
dem Zeitgeschmack durchaus kritisch gegenueber. Er nutzte Trivialliteratur ebenso wie Klassiker,
etwa die von ihm geschaetzten Schillerschen "Raeuber" als Inspiration fuer seine spaete Kurzprosa,
in der er diese kongenial extrahierte und verfremdete. Mittlerweile wird auch Walsers Person und
Werk Objekt einer adaptierenden Neuinterpretation, die seine Literatur fortschreibt.
In meinem Referat will ich von Walser ausgehend das spezifisch Innovative hybrider
Schreibweise in unterschiedlichen Perspektiven herausarbeiten.
9:30 AM - Darstellung und Zeitlichkeit. Zu Gotthold Ephraim Lessings gattungstheoretischem
Vermächtnis
Takeda, Arata (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
Goethe und Schiller erklären in ihrer Programmschrift Über epische und dramatische Dichtung
(1797) den wesentlichen Unterschied zwischen epischer und dramatischer Dichtung dadurch, „daß
der Epiker die Begebenheit als vollkommen vergangen vorträgt, und der Dramatiker sie als
vollkommen gegenwärtig darstellt“. Der Gedanke, Modi der Darstellung und Aspekte der Zeitlichkeit
miteinander in Bezug zu setzen, stammt, wie eine sorgfältige Quellenforschung aufzuzeigen vermag,
von Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. In der Hamburgischen Dramaturgie (1767–1769) versucht Lessing,
eine kryptisch anmutende Stelle aus Aristoteles’ Poetik über Modus und Mittel der Darstellung in
der Tragödie mit großem hermeneutischem – aber wenig philologischem – Aufwand auszulegen. Eine
interessante Auslegung gelingt ihm dadurch, dass er den narrativen Modus mit dem Aspekt des
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Vergangenen, den dramatischen Modus mit dem Aspekt des Gegenwärtigen verknüpft. Spätestens
seit Thomas Twinings Poetik -Übersetzung (1789) indes gilt es als philologisch unstrittig, dass die
Kryptizität der betreffenden Stelle auf eine korrumpierte Textüberlieferung zurückzuführen ist. Nach
der berichtigten Textauffassung stellt sich die Stelle als überaus einleuchtend dar. Gleichwohl bleibt
diese Erkenntnis ohne Folgen für Goethes und Schillers spezifische Unterscheidung von epischer und
dramatischer Dichtung, die ohne weiteres – und auch ohne Verweis – auf Lessings Gedanken
zurückgreift. Der vorliegende Beitrag hinterfragt den Stellenwert von Goethes und Schillers
zeitbezogener Unterscheidung von epischer und dramatischer Dichtung, die bei genauester
Betrachtung auf einem Gedanken aufbaut, dessen Prämissen auf einer Fehlauslegung beruhen. Die
Übernahme dieser Unterscheidung bis in die neueste Forschungsliteratur hinein und die damit
einhergehende Auffassung von episch-dramatischer Gattungsmischung als Hybridisierung
dargestellter Zeitlichkeit erscheinen aufgrund von Lessings produktiver Missdeutung in einem
problematischen Licht.
10:00 AM - Dante-Comics zwischen Kanonischem und Populärkultur: Spielformen der Hybridisierung
und Strategien der Selbstreferenz
Wie wenige andere Werke wird Dantes „Commedia“ zu den Gipfelleistungen des weltliterarischen
Kanons gezählt. Der Comic gilt demgegenüber als populärkulturell geprägte Gattung, schon aus
historischen Gründen, auch wenn er mittlerweile weitgehend als ‚neunte Kunst’ betrachtet wird und
es hochkomplexe Comics gibt, die ihren Kunstcharakter ostentativ zur Schau stellen. Um
Brückenschläge zwischen kanonisierter ‚Weltliteratur’ und Populärkultur haben sich seit den 1940er
Jahren insbesondere Literaturcomics bemüht, also Adaptationen weltliterarischer Werke im Medium
des Comics und seiner spezifischen Codes. Zu Dantes „Commedia“ sind seit der Mitte des 20.
Jahrhunderts unterschiedliche Arten von Comics entstanden. Vorzustellen sind neuere Beispiele:
Seymour Chwasts Comic-Band „Dante’s Divine Comedy“ (London 2010), Michael Meiers Graphic
Novel „Das Inferno“ (Kassel 2010-2012) und Joseph Lanzaras „Dante’s Inferno – The Graphic Novel“
(2012). Die Zeichner verfolgen unterschiedliche Intentionen: Zielt Chwasts Paraphrase zur Commedia
(unbeschadet mancher Einschränkungen) darauf ab, durch eine Dante-Parphrase Wissen über die
Commedia zu vermitteln, setzt Meier – vereinfachend gesagt – ein Wissen über die Commedia beim
Leser schon voraus. Zu vergleichen sind diese beiden beide Dante-Comics im übrigen unter
verschiedenen Aspekten: Beide arbeiten nicht allein mit einem zitierten Text (dem der Commedia),
sondern auch mit Bildzitaten; beide entwickeln unterschiedliche Strategien der Hybridisierung von
Text und Bild; bei beiden sind Formen der Selbstreferenz zu beobachten, mit denen der
Literaturcomic unter anderem seinen Kunstcharakter betont. Lanzaras „Inferno“-Version beruht auf
einer Hybridisierung besonderer Art: Um das „Inferno“ im Comicstil nachzuerzählen, collagiert er
Bilder aus Gustave Dorés Illustrationen zu dantes Werk – und integriert insofern neben einem Werk
der kanonischen Literatur auch ein kanonisiertes graphisches Oeuvre in seine Bildgeschichte.
2:00 PM - The Seeds of Young Werther: Japanese and Chinese Translations and Adaptations
Kaminski, Johannes (Academica Sinica, Taipei)
The Seeds of Young Werther: Japanese and Chinese Translations and Adaptations
This paper traces the dissemination of Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther in the Far East during the
early twentieth century. After its original publication in 1774, it took late-Meji-era Japan and
Republican China by storm. Its translations coincided with a period of radical linguistic changes in
both countries, which saw the advent of vernacular languages: genbun icchi and baihua. During this
process, both languages received important impulses from popular literatures – as exemplified by
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foreign fiction. (Cf. Indra Levy, Sirens of the Western Shore (New York: Columbia UP, 2006), pp. 39-40
and Michael Gibbs Hill, Lin Shu, Inc. (Oxford: OUP, 2012), pp. 54-70.)
While Japanese Werther-translations abound,* their linguistic features merely reproduced general
trends of the gradual tradition between kanbun and genbun icchi. Important Werther-inspired texts,
most notably Natsume Soseki’s Kokoro (1914), mirror this trend by focussing on the tragic love story.
In China, meanwhile, the original’s linguistic particularities attracted special attention. Guo Moruo’s
seminal 1922-translation paved the way by rendering whole sections of the German original word by
word and overriding literary conventions. As a consequence, conservative critics dismissed it as pulp;
nevertheless, the book market soon saw the advent of many prose adaption which also reproduced
Guo’s linguistic oddities. Particularly its exclamatory style, formerly unseen in Chinese fiction, was
quickly adopted as a dignified rhetorical device in high literature.**
* The translators are: Takayama Chogy?? (1891), Ryokudo Yashi (1893/94), Kubo Tenzui (1904), Hata
Toyokichi (1914), ??no Hideo (1920), Tsuzumi Tsuneyoshi (1925), Takahashi Kenji (1928), Chino
Shoyo (1928), Abe Rokuro (1935), Nakajima Ky??shi (1936) and Kimura Kinji (1938).
** Sinking (Chenlun) by Yu Dafu, Suicide Letter (Yishu) by Bing Xin, A Letter (Yi feng xin) and
Everyman’s Sorrow (Huoren de bei’ai) by Lu Yin, Vagrant Girl (Liuniang) by Wang Yiren, The
Undelivered Letter (Wufa toudi zhi youjian) by Xu Dishan and The Young Wanderer (Shaonian
piaobozhe) and An Unsent Letter (Yi feng weiji de xin) by Jiang Guang Ci.
2:30 PM - Goethes "Faust" und seine Hybridisierungen
de Boissieu, Michel (Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi, Japan)
In unserem Referat wollen wir zeigen, wie Uebersetzer oder Filmregisseure in Goethes Faust fremde
Elemente hineinfuehren, und wie diese Elemente den Sinn des Stueckes bedeutsam veraendern. Aus
diesen unreinen Hybridisierungen werden wir besonders drei analysieren: Nervals franzoesische
Uebersetzung, das franzoesische Oper Faust von Gounod, und F. W. Murnaus Verfilmung.
3:00 PM - Schulromane von Robert Walser und Soseki Natsume: hybride Darstellungsformen
zwischen "hoch und niedrig"
Wakabayashi, Megumi (Tokyo Gakugei Uni, Tokyo, Japan)
Robert Walsers Roman Jakob von Gunten (1909) spielt in einer Dienerschule. Um
1900 schrieben auch Autoren wie Hesse und Musil Schulromane, in denen die Qualen junger Schüler
dargestellt werden, die sich durch die bürgerliche Gesellschaft unterdrückt fühlen. Während z.B.
Hans in Unterm Rad in der elitären Klosterschule stufenweise „von gut […] auf Null“ herabsinkt, ist
es erklärtes Ziel von Walsers Helden, „eine reizende, kugelrunde Null“ zu werden. Hier steht statt
hoher Bildung und Wissenschaft die Niedrigkeit auf dem Lehrplan. Jakob von Gunten ist eine
Parodie des Bildungsromans, mit der Walser die Ideale traditioneller Bildung ironisch unterläuft.
Zur gleichen Zeit schrieb auch Soseki Natsume in Japan den Schulroman Botchan
(Der Tor aus Tokio) (1906). Anders als in den deutsch-schweizerischen Werken spielt hier ein Lehrer
die Hauptrolle und mit humorvoller Komik werden die Beziehungen der Kollegen untereinander und
tägliche Geschehnisse dargestellt. Im Vergleich zu seinen anderen Romanen ist Botchan eher triviale
Unterhaltungsliteratur, bei der in populärer Naivität das Gute gewinnt und das Böse unterliegt.
Hinter dieser Naivität verbirgt sich aber Sosekis kulturkritischer Blick auf die durch den jähen und
drastischen Übergang zur modernen Zeit verzerrte Bildung in Japan. Hier wird also der Prozess der
Europäisierung Japans um die Jahrhundertwende problematisiert. Damit würde der Roman die
Grenze der Unterhaltungsliteratur überschreiten.
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In diesem Beitrag soll gezeigt werden, warum Schulromane gerade um 1900 sowohl
im deutschsprachig-europäischen als auch im japanischen Kulturraum entstanden und auf welche
Weise sie jenseits des Schemas „hoch und niedrig“ durch ihren hybriden Schreibstil neue
Ausdrucksformen entwickeln.
4:00 PM - Parodie als Spiegel ? Zum Umgang mit nicht-literarischen Fach-, Trivial- oder
Modesprachen in einigen Romanen von Erlend Loe.
BOURGUIGNON, Annie (Université de Lorraine, PARIS, France)
Der 1996 erschienene Roman des norwegischen Autors Erlend Loe Naiv. Super ahmte zum Teil durch
Vokabular, Syntax, rhetorische Mittel, Aufbau und Lay-out den Ratgebern der Vulgärpsychologie
nach. Diese Schreibstrategie war bereits aus dem Titel ersichtlich, der eher an einen Werbeslogan
oder an nichtssagende Ausrufe erinnerte als an ein schönliterarisches Werk. Ähnliches lässt sich bei
dem Roman Fakta om Finland (2001, „Informationen über Finland“) feststellen, der sich für ein
Sachbuch oder einen Reiseführer ausgibt.
Loe wird meistens zu den Schriftstellern gezählt, die die heutige skandinavische Gesellschaft
darstellen, ihre Wandlungen und Ängste beleuchten. Im Gegensatz aber zu anderen Autoren, dessen
Texte die veränderte Wirklichkeit mit Stilmitteln beschreiben, die noch weitgehend im
herkömmlichen – also aus der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts stammenden – Realismus und
Naturalismus verankert sind, gebraucht Loe in seinen Erzählungen, die keine Collagen sind, nicht
selten Fachsprachen und Soziolekte. Statt unsere Welt zu fotografieren, gibt er vielmehr ihre
Selbstdarstellungen wieder. Indem diese aber als solche erscheinen, werden ihre sonst versteckten
gesellschaftlichen und ideologischen Dimensionen bloßgelegt.
In meinem Beitrag habe ich vor, die Mehrsprachigkeit – im Sinne Bachtins – in Erlend Loes Romanen
deutlich zu machen und ihre Funktionen zu untersuchen. Die Verwendung einer bestimmten Sprache
in einem ihr fremden Zusammenhang wirkt oft parodistisch. Die Parodie wirft ein besonders grelles
Licht auf ihren Gegenstand und lässt ihn deutlicher hervortreten als die scheinbar neutrale
Beschreibung. Bei Loe wird die Wirklichkeit in erster Linie von der Parodie gespiegelt. Wobei die
Frage entsteht, ob es sich um einen Zerrspiegel oder einen Vergrößerungsspiegel handelt.
4:30 PM - < das junge jakobli läßt den alten jakob grüßen > - Verdoppelung, Verstellung und
Grenzüberschreitung in Friedrich Glausers Kriminalroman Die Fieberkurve
Niimoto, Fuminari (Tsuda College, Tokyo, Japan)
Friedrich Glauser (1896-1938) ist heute noch als geistiger Vater der WachtmeisterFigur Studer einem größeren Publikum bekannt und als Begründer der deutschsprachigen
Kriminalliteratur geachtet. Glausers Beziehung zu dieser zeittypischen „niederen“ Literarturgattung
war jedoch keineswegs exemplarisch. Eigentlich wollte er sich nicht als Kriminalautor definieren,
auch von der Tendenz der zeitgenössischen Autoren, Genrenormen zu stiften und dadurch die
„schlechten“ Genres auszugrenzen, distanzierte er sich ganz bewusst. In seinem Essay, Offener Brief
über die Zehn Gebote für den Kriminalroman (1937) , widerlegt er den Normierungsversuch eines
Kollegen und definierte sein gewagtes Krimiverständnis: es gehe ihm nicht um die Aufklärung der
Wahrheit, sondern um die kleinen Wahrheiten im Rest der Seiten, um das Darstellen von „Menschen,
ihrem Kampf mit dem Schicksal“ und „der Atmosphäre, in der sie sich bewegen“. Genau das war es,
was Glauser sowohl bei der „niederen“ als auch bei der „hohen“ Literatur seiner Zeit vermisste . Was
er theoretisch formulierte, praktizierte Glauser noch radikaler in seinen Kriminalromanen. In Matto
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regiert (1937) beschrieb Glauser seinen Schicksalsort der Psychiatrie in allen Details und legte ihre
Machtverhältnisse bloß. In Die Fieberkurve (1938) sprengte der Autor nicht nur die geforderte
Einheit von Zeit, Ort und Handlung. Er bringt sogar die Identität der Figuren in Gefahr: Es wimmelt im
Roman von Gebrüdern und Doppelgängern. Auf der Suche nach der Wahrheit wird der Wachtmeister
von der Polizei überwacht , er verstellt sich, fährt unter falschem Namen nach Afrika, um dort den
Haschischrausch zu erleben, auf dem Eselrücken zu frieren und schließlich in der Fremdenlegion
arretiert und vor ein Gericht geführt zu werden. Unter der „Tarnkappe“ des Kriminalromans und vom
Gesichtspunkt des grenzüberschreitenden träumerischen Wachtmeisters aus reflektiert Glauser
seine Lebensetappen und verteidigt so deren kleinen Wahrheiten.
5:00 PM - Grimm 2.0 Die Brüder Grimm in der Postmoderne
Jakli, Timon (Universität Wien, Wien, Austria)
In meinem ersten Beitrag im Rahmen des Tagungsnetzwerkes „Hohe und niedere Literatur“ bin ich
auf die kollektive Identitätsstiftung durch Erzählungen am Beispiel des Diskurses um Volksmärchen
der Brüder Grimm eingegangen. Mein zweiter Beitrag ging auf autoreflexives Erzählen in Graphiv
Novels ein und zeigt, wie ein graphischer Text sich im literarischen Feld verortet. Nunmehr möchte
ich im Rahmen des Panels „Hybridisierung literarischer Sprachen und Ausdrucksformen als
Innovationsmodus“ diese beiden Ansätze zusammenführen.
Die Märchen der Brüder Grimm waren ab der Mitte des 19 . Jahrhunderts zum literarischen
Allgemeingut geworden und international höchst wirkmächtig. Ihre Märchensammlung wurde in
zahlreiche Sprachen übersetzt und Grimms Märchen gingen in das traditionelle Erzählgut vieler
Kulturen ein. Im gegenständlichen Beitrag wird untersucht, wie das Erzählinventar der Grimms in der
Postmoderne angekommen ist und wie durch die Hybridisierung literarischer Erzählformen der
ursprüngliche Stoff verändert, aber auch neue Erzählräume geöffnet werden. Konkret wird die
Comicserie Fables (Bill Willingham, 2002ff.) untersucht. Die Comicserie erzählt von Figuren aus
Märchen und Sagen, die von einem „Widersacher“ aus ihrer Heimat vertrieben wurden und in der
„realen“ Welt in Fabletown (bei New York) Zuflucht finden. Eine ähnliche Geschichte erzählt auch die
Fernsehserie Once upon a time (Kitsis/Horowitz, 2011ff.) – hier wird Emma Swan in die Stadt
Storybrooke geführt, in der ebenfalls Figuren bekannter Fabeln leben, sich aber an ihre Existenz als
fiktionale Figuren nicht mehr erinnern können. Beide Produktionen siedeln sich im low brow Bereich
an und bedienen sich an Versatzstücken traditioneller Erzählungen. Mit den Mitteln der Fantasy
eröffnen sie jedoch eine Frage, die jedoch an den Anfang derselben Erzählstoffe zurückführt:
Inwieweit ist der narrative Gehalt märchenhafter Erzählungen realitätsstiftend? In welchem
Verhältnis stehen Realität und Erzählung? Inwieweit sind die Märchenfiguren archetypische
Charaktere und wie verändern sie sich in einer postmodern gestalteten Erzählumgebung? Diesem
Grenzphänomen geht der Beitrag nach.
9:00 AM - Emanzipation im Abendlicht. Vampirische Textausgeburten und Weiblichkeitsentwürfe in
Elfriede Jelineks „Krankheit oder moderne Frauen‟
Zerovnik, Martina (Universität Wien, Wien, Austria)
Elfriede Jelinek arbeitet mit einer Vielzahl an Äußerungen literarischer wie außerliterarischer
kultureller Praktiken und Medien. Hohe und niedere Elemente – würde solch eine Differenzierung
verfolgt – lassen sich in ihren Texten nicht voneinander trennen. Sie gehen vielmehr symbiotische
Verbindungen ein und schaffen ein dichtes, eigensinniges Textgewebe. Die Verbindung von
Vampirismus und Geschlechtlichkeit, insbesondere die Thematisierung der Transgression der
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Geschlechterrollen, war in der Vampirfigur von Anbeginn ihrer modernen literarischen Ausformung
vorhanden. In ihrem Theaterstück „Krankheit oder moderne Frauen‟ (1987) verbindet auch Jelinek
beide Aspekte miteinander und knüpft an vorangegangene Vampirerzählungen an, wie die Novelle
„Carmilla‟ (1872), in der eine lesbische Vampirin die Protagonistin ist, und der Roman „Dracula‟
(1897), in dem ein Frauenpaar in einen Antagonismus von Gut und Böse der Emanzipation
eingebettet ist. In allen Werken ist das Referenzsystem eine patriarchale Werte- und
Normenordnung, die sich auf Dichotomien gründet und der Frau (wie der Vampirfigur) als das
Andere des Mannes (Menschen) eine gesellschaftliche Außenseiter- und Grenzsituation zuweist,
wodurch sowohl Weiblichkeit als auch der feministische Ausbruch aus der herrschenden Ordnung als
Krankheit (vampirischer Art) dargestellt werden können. Im Beitrag soll untersucht werden, in
welcher Weise Jelinek sich die literarischen Vorgängerwerke aneignet und ob die Autorin dem
Vampirmotiv im Allgemeinen und der weiblichen Variante des Vampirismus im Speziellen – insofern
eine solche festgestellt werden kann – weitere Perspektiven oder Neuerungen hinzufügt. Hierbei
wird ein Hauptaugenmerk auf die Frage gelegt, inwieweit Jelineks Textherstellungsprozess selbst als
vampirisch, im Sinne der Überschreitung, gewaltsamen Aneignung und eines möglichen
Wiedergängermechanismus‛ von Sprache und Texten, verstanden werden kann.
9:30 AM - "Gossen-Orpheus" Jean Genet: deutsche Übersetzungs- und Rezeptionsschwierigkeiten
eines poetisch-derben Stils
Gay, Marie-Christine (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense / Universität zu Köln, Berlin, Germany)
Das Werk Jean Genets (1910-1986) sorgte in Frankreich und im Ausland für großen Aufruhr und
wurde aufgrund des ungewöhnlichen Werdegangs des Dichters, dem Erziehungsanstalten und
Gefängnisse nicht fremd waren, oftmals in die Tradition von François Villon gestellt. In der BRD
genoss der skandalumwitterte Autor einen zunächst schüchternen, später etablierten Erfolg. Sein
hybrider, oft schockierender Stil führte zu erheblichen Übersetzungsschwierigkeiten und löste heftige
Debatten um die Rezeption dieses „Gossen-Orpheus “[1] aus.
Genets Werke schwanken stets zwischen poetisch anmutenden Passagen und derben, dem
Volksmund entnommenen Redearten. Edle Wendungen werden abrupt unterbrochen und mit
saloppen oder obszönen Ausdrücken versehrt oder gar von einem anderen Sprachniveau abgelöst:
dem „Argot“ der Gaunersprache oder des Prostitutions- und Militärjargons. Darüber hinaus schöpft
der Autor gelegentlich aus dem Wortschatz der ehemaligen französischen Kolonialsprachen Nordoder Schwarzafrikas.
Es bietet sich an, den Transfer eines von solch vielfältigen kulturellen Einflüssen geprägten Stils in ein
anderes sprachliches Umfeld zu untersuchen. Als Analysegegenstand des vorliegenden Vortrags wird
beispielhaft das Algeriendrama Die Wände (1961) herangezogen, das in Frankreich zensiert war und
am 19. Mai 1962 im Westberliner Schlosspark-Theater welturaufgeführt wurde. Der stilistische
Vergleich des Originaltextes mit der ersten deutschsprachigen Übersetzung von Hans Georg Brenner
(1961) weist zunächst auf die Schwierigkeit der Transposition hin: Die deutsche Fassung grenzt an
Adaption. In einer rezeptionsästhetischen Perspektive stellt sich abschließend die Frage des
Adressaten und der Aufnahme dieses stark umgearbeiteten Stückes durch das deutsche
Zielpublikum.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------[1] Stiftung Akademie der Künste Berlin, Hans-Lietzau-Archiv 133. Herbert Pfeiffer : „ Orpheus aus
der Gosse “ , Berliner Morgenpost, 21.05.1961.
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10:00 AM - Zur englischsprachigen Sebald-Rezeption in der populären Musik
Schwabel, Friederike (Universität Wien (Dissertandin), 1090, Austria)
War W. G. Sebald im deutschsprachigen Raum vorerst weniger „breit” bekannt und seine Literatur
wurde in Einzelfällen sogar pejorativ als „Trivialliteratur“ bewertet, wurden die Übersetzungen seiner
Werke in den USA und Großbritannien von Anfang an mit Begeisterung im Kontext „hoher” Literatur
rezipiert. Mit diesen speziellen Aspekten aus Sebalds Rezeptionsgeschichte vor Augen sollen
Rezeptionsformen in der populären Musik, die durch englischsprachige Übersetzungen seiner Werke
evoziert wurden, untersucht werden. Sebalds Schreibtechnik des Verwebens von Text und
Bildmaterial, das Hybride und (Post)moderne seines Schreibens, der „Hang“ zur Intertextualität und
Intermedialität insgesamt, scheint die Öffnung zu anderen Medien wachzurufen. In diesem Vortrag
werden musikalische Auseinandersetzungen untersucht, in denen Grenz- und
Genreüberschreitungen wiederum eine Rolle spielen. So wie bei Patti Smith, die „alles von Sebald“
auf ihrer „Literaturliste” hat und sich etwa mit „After Nature“ bei einem Konzert auseinandersetzte.
Der britische Filmemacher Grant Gee, bekannt etwa durch seine Dokumentation über die Band „Joy
Division“, begibt sich in seinem essayartigen Film „Patience (After Sebald)“ auf die Spuren von „The
Rings of Saturn”. Untermalt wird dies vom Experimentalmusiker James Leyland Kirby („The
Caretaker“) mit einem Soundtrack, der Schuberts „Winterreise” stark verfremdet. Bezüge zu Sebald
finden sich auch in anderen Musikstücken, so in Titel („Rings of Saturn“) und Songtext des
Musikprojekts „Sleeping States“. Durch Einblicke in diese intermedialen Rezeptionsvorgänge soll
sichtbar gemacht werden, wie Sebald die Arbeiten von Musikschaffenden im anglo-amerikanischen
Raum stimuliert, die als „GrenzgängerInnen“ zwischen Genres agieren, wobei die Betrachtung dieser
Werke im Spannungsfeld „hoher” und „niederer”, „ernster” und “unterhaltender” Musik und
Literatur unter Berücksichtigung neuerer Wertungskategorien erörtert wird.
17254 - Wer spricht im Gedicht?
Chair: Klimek, Sonja
9:00 AM - The Voice in the Poem: Triggering Specificity, Performing Embodiedness
Zettelmann, Eva (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Wien, Austria)
Within narratology, Lanser’s law (Lanser 1981) is assumed to guide readers in their quest for fleshing
out a novel’s narrator-character with three-dimensional detail. In cases where the narrator’s sex is
left indeterminate, readers are thought to invest the fictional narrator with the author’s sex as a
default value. With poetry, which routinely omits even that most basic trait of personal identity, the
lyric speaker’s sex, both theoreticians and critics of poetry tend to apply a radicalised version of
Lanser’s law: Ignoring the ontological borderline between the autobiographical and the aesthetic,
speaker and author are treated as one.
This paper focuses on the textual triggers and readerly projections of the agent behind the lyric
discourse. It examines the shortcomings of a simplistic autobiographical reading and, drawing on
cognition studies and cognitive narratology, investigates the cognitive parameters of the lyric
persona and its reconstruction by the reader.
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9:15 AM - Figur und Person in lyrischen Gebilden
Hillebrandt, Claudia (Universität Jena, Jena, Germany)
Die literaturwissenschaftliche Figurenforschung ist in starkem Maße von der Narratologie geprägt.
Und diese analysiert Figuren selbstverständlich im Kontext von Erzählungen, zum Beispiel als
Handlungsträger oder als wiedererkennbare, im Erzählgang aber auch veränderliche Textelemente.
Um nur zwei Beispiele zu nennen: In Algirdas J. Greimas' Aktantenmodell werden Figuren in enger
Abhängigkeit von der Erzählhandlung als Realisationen bestimmter Handlungsrollen konzipiert; die
neuere kognitiv orientierte Narratologie nimmt an, dass Rezipienten mentale Modelle von Figuren
entwerfen, und betont v.a. die Dynamik dieser Modelle.
Figuren finden sich aber nicht nur in erzählenden (oder dramatischen) Texten, sondern auch in
lyrischen Gebilden. Wie Figuren in diesen Gebilden konstituiert werden und welche Funktionen sie
dort erfüllen, diese Fragen sind in der Figurenforschung bisher nur in Ansätzen gestellt und kaum
breiter diskutiert worden. Im Beitrag werden einige Überlegungen zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen
mit Blick auf fiktionstheoretische, textanalytische und wirkungsästhetische Aspekte der
Figurenkonstitution in lyrischen Gebilden zur Diskussion gestellt, die sich als Beitrag zu einer
lyrikologischen Ergänzung der literaturwissenschaftlichen Figurenforschung verstehen.
9:30 AM - Der Publikationskontext in der Lyrikrezeption
Syrovy, Daniel (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Wien, Austria)
Eine Antwort auf die Frage, wen wir im Gedicht sprechen hören, kann nicht vernachlässigen, was
bereits ein kurzer Blick auf die Literaturgeschichte zeigt: nämlich, dass einzelne Gedichte kaum
jemals als selbständige Texte überliefert sind. Dass solche Publikationskontexte für die Rezeption von
Gedichten nicht bedeutungslos sein können, liegt auf der Hand. Es ist verlockend, gleich systematisch
die verschiedenen Pole der Rezeption zu verorten, das Persönlich-Biographische, die formale
Kanonisierung (in kommentierten Anthologien), die wissenschaftliche Dechiffrierung (durch den
Werkkontext und die Selbstexegese von Dichtern), die Konventionen verschiedener Formen und
Gattungen (Liebessonette im Petrarkismus, Epithalamien) usw.
Ohne dies ganz außer Acht zu lassen, will der Beitrag jedoch zunächst einmal Daten dazu liefern, wie
die Überlieferungsformen historisch aussehen (und sich verändern), von den antiken Dichtern bis zu
Singer-Songwritern (Single; Album; Best-of-CD; iTunes-Playlist). Dabei ergeben sich eine Reihe von
Fragen: Bis zu welchem Grad existieren die verschiedenen Kontexte parallel zur selben Zeit? Gibt es
auch in der Kontextvielfalt historische Unterschiede? Suggerieren die Veränderungen (auch in der
Präsentation konkreter Einzeltexte), dass bei Lyrik ein enger Zusammenhang zwischen
Publikationskontext und Rezeptionsform steht, oder verweist die Austauschbarkeit der (mancher)
Kontexte im Gegenteil auf eine relative Autonomie der Einzeltexte? Ohne für alles Antworten parat
zu haben, handelt es sich dabei jedenfalls um einen Aspekt, der mir für die umfassendere
Theoretisierung, etwa für die Erstellung eines (statischen, dynamischen) Schemas der
Gedichtrezeption/ -interpretation, grundlegend scheint.
9:45 AM - Poet and Object of Poetry: The Voice of Mararetha Susanna von Kuntsch (1654-1717)
Pailer, Gaby (University of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C., Canada)
Unter den Dichterinnen des deutschsprachigen Barock nimmt Margaretha Susanna von Kuntsch eine
Sonderstellung ein, durch ihre Vernetzung frühneuzeitlicher Autorinnen und mehr noch den
autopoetischen Impetus ihrer Poesie. In ihrer Ode angesichts des Verlusts ihres fünftgeborenen
Sohnes (und neunten Kindes), beginnend "Alß dort Timantes Agamemnons Schmertz / Da Iphigenien
man opfern wolte /...", zieht sie einen Vergleich männlicher und weiblicher Elternschaft und
Kunstproduktion und schließt pointiert mit einem Topos der Unsagbarkeit, "Die ich ein Weib nur bin
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/ Ach! hier erstarrt mein Sinn". Geht es hier zum einen um die Frage des Schmerzes und seiner
Darstellbarkeit (wie sie Lessing siebzig Jahre später im Laokoon behandeln wird), so mehr noch um
die Evokation der "weiblichen Stimme" im Medium des frühmodernen Gelegenheitsgedichts.
10:00 AM - Autorschaft und Peritext - Werkpolitische Lenkung der Sprechinstanzen von IchGedichten
Klimek, Sonja (Universität Freiburg/CH, Freiburg, Switzerland)
Lyrik gilt nicht erst seit der Romantik als DIE Gattung für einen authentischen Ausdruck des DichterIchs. Der Topos vom Dichter als demjenigen, der sich mit seiner ganzen Person für die Authentizität
der Aussagen der Sprechinstanz im lyrischen Gebilde verbürgt, lässt sich über den Petrarkismus und
die Renaissance bis in die antike Liebesdichtung zurückverfolgen (vgl. dazu Carolin Fischer: Der
poetische Pakt. Heidelberg 2007). Interessant ist dabei, wie Autor/innen bereits vor der Romantik die
Peritexte ihrer Gedicht-Veröffentlichungen nutzten, um ein bestimmtes Bild von der gedichtinternen
Sprechinstanz zu erzeugen und bei den Rezipienten jene Vorstellung der Identität von
gedichtinterner Sprechinstanz und empirischem Autor herzustellen. Eine Strategie dafür ist z.B. die
Verwendung von Biochronotopen. Das sind, in Anlehnung an Bachtin, Orts- und Zeitangaben, die - als
Formzitat aus Tagebucheintrag oder Brief - auf die (teilweise auch nur vermeintliche)
Entstehungssituation des Gedichtes hinweisen und dieses in der Biographie des Dichters verankern.
Der Vortrag wird anhand von kurzen Beispielen verschiedene formale Mittel dieser
Rezeptionslenkung vorstellen und durch eine historische Situierung der Beispiele darlegen, wie sich
bei veränderten Rahmenbedingung von Dichterschaft zwischen 1700 und 1800 auch eine
Veränderung im Gebrauch der Biochronotopoi in den Peritexten der Lyrik niederschlägt.
17255 - Comparing the arts: art as a universal language
Chair: Oliveira, Solange
9:00 AM - Towards the Universal Language of a People's Art : A Study of the Odessa Collective and
the Third Theatre
Very few art movements in the world are directed towards the economically poor
and illiterate masses and address their artistic and cultural needs. Historical materialism attempts to
relate the production and reproduction of culture to the organization of the material conditions of
life. From the Marxist viewpoint, can it be said that a market-made culture is being sold to an
audience who are compelled to buy it? In order to address this question among others, this paper
will try to study The Odessa Collective of Kerala, and The Third Theatre of Badal Sircar (West Bengal)
as two significant examples, which brought about socio-cultural awakenings in the fields of cinema
and theatre in India.
The Odessa collective was a socialist group started by filmmaker John Abraham in
Calicut in 1984, which transformed the process of film production and distribution into a
collaborative effort of independent filmmaking, whereas Sircar in the 1970s made the revolutionary
move of distancing theatre from the structure of the Western proscenium. He developed a theatre
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that would rely on the human body where primacy would be given to the power of physical
performance without relying on any external embellishments. Various forms of ‘dominant’ or
‘popular’ ideologies have tried to shape the ‘rural’ and ‘subaltern’ consciousness through the
medium of art and culture, and by studying some of the most eminent plays of Sircar and films of
Abraham as texts, this paper will try to raise and answer the above questions.
Both the artists envisioned art for the common people through a universal
language: a people’s cinema and a people’s theatre. The unconventional screenings of both the
Odessa Collective and Third Theatre relocated the audience from the enclosed space of the theatre
to the outside world, made the performance accessible to the public, granted the audience greater
agency by enabling it to participate rather than merely view the spectacle and facilitated a ruralurban synthesis through two different artistic mediums.
9:15 AM - Universality in Shakespeare's The Tempest : re-creations
Diniz, Thaïs (ufmg, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Based on the argument that Shakespeare’s plays are considered as carriers of universal meanings
and have been translated into different languages and cultures and expressed in different media
and arts as well, this texts aims at analyzing how different universal elements like repetence, power ,
revenge and justice involved in The Tempest are expressed/translated into some of the artistic and
literary recreations of the play. These archetypal elements will be analysed in films, short stories and
paintings inspired by the play.
9:30 AM - The exploration of the encyclopaedic desire to absorb all knowledge as a search for
universal knowledge
Veneroso, Maria do Carmo de Freitas (Federal University of Minas Gerais - Brazil, Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
In accordance with the purpose of this Symposium, of discussing the universal linked to art, this
communication has as its theme the exploration, by some artists, of the encyclopaedic desire to
absorb all the knowledge in the world as a search for universal knowledge. This theme is approached
through the establishment of dialogues and cross referencing between artists’ books, such as the
Visual Encyclopaedia, of Wlademir Dias Pino and João Felício dos Santos, in the Special Collection of
Artists’ Books of the Library of the Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG, and antique books,
considered “rare” or “special”, such as the Encyclopédie of Diderot and d’Alembert, belonging to the
Collection of Rare and Special Works housed in the same Library. The encyclopaedic desire to absorb
the entire knowledge in the world can be considered similar to the unachieved ambition of
Mallarmé, to produce an absolute book. The poet believed “that everything in the world exists in
order to end up in a book”. This desire to subsume the whole of knowledge however brings with it a
realization of the impossibility of so doing. This text will focus on encyclopaedism in artists’ books, by
artists that create encyclopaedias to fulfil a utopic desire to embrace universal knowledge, the case
of Dias Pino, as also by those that, on the contrary, question this possibility. Relations between the
arts will have pride of place, transdisciplinary connections between the arts and other disciplines also
being covered, within the artistic/literary archive as theme axis, the main reference being the
relations between words and images. Dialogues will be established with the authors: Peter Burke,
Michel Foucault, Paulo Pires do Vale, Stéphane Mallarmé.
9:45 AM - Picasso's and Ortiz's Guernica: a study on the archetypal representations of the tragic
Alvarez, Aurora (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil)
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The arts can convey feelings and human experiences at a universal level when the subject at issue
ignores temporal limitations and overcomes cultural borders. Aware of the universality feature
inscribed in some artistic objects, the code employed by the arts helps overcome communication
barriers, once it can visually translate common experiences not only related to mankind’s collective
memory, but also to contemporaneity, especially in a globalized world where individuals from
different cultures can have similar and/or different experiences. In this work, I intend to reflect
particularly on the intertextual relations between two artistic creations addressing the tragic. Based
on a study of this concept, rooted in Aristotle’s understanding of tragedy, I will analyze the tragic
element in Guernica, a painting by Pablo Picasso, and in the homonymous animation by Marcelo
Ricardo Ortiz. My purpose here is to discuss how these two artists borrow that concept and how they
interpret the archetypal representation of the tragic. As a complement to the Aristotelian support,
the work of Albin Lesky e Peter Szondi, among others, will be of great importance to this
investigation. Also necessary to analyze the characteristics of those artistic manifestations is the
theoretical understructure provided by studies in Intermediality. Such theories and foundations will
be compared and articulated with the examined texts in order to show how different authors and
media represent tragedy as an archetype and their personal view on the matter.
17256 - France - Russie: Littératures croisées. Présences et représentations de la
langue de l'autre
Room: IOeG
Chair: Stemberger, Martina; Chvedova, Lioudmila
11:00 AM - Introduction
Chvedova, Lioudmila ; Martina Stemberger
…
11:30 AM - Dialogue interculturel entre la France et la Belgique autour de "l'inconnue russe"
pendant l'entre-deux-guerres
Cecovic, Svetlana (Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium)
En analysant les transferts culturels entre la Belgique francophone, la France et la Russie pendant
l’entre-deux-guerres, nous avons constaté une forte interaction entre les transferts et les images,
voire une pression des images sur les transferts. Les transferts accomplis par le biais des médiateurs
interculturels créent les images mais la pérennité des images peut également déterminer la genèse
des transferts. Après la révolution de 1917, les auteurs belges et français se positionnaient
constamment vis-à-vis du régime communiste perçu comme un phénomène russe relatif à la
mystérieuse «âme slave». En outre, dans le dialogue avec les cultures étrangères, la situation de la
culture belge se complexifie davantage par sa position périphérique par rapport à Paris. (Denis &
Klinkenberg). La littérature russe devient ainsi « le remède à la dépendance morale et intellectuelle »
dans laquelle la Belgique s’est trouvée à l’égard des modes parisiennes (Cecovic & Béghin). Nous
nous proposons de présenter un ensemble des images de la Russie en Belgique francophone à partir
des récits de voyage (J.Destrée, P.Daye, M.Thiry), des représentations théâtrales (L.Dumont-Wilden),
de l’œuvre de fiction (Ch.Plisnier) et d’une vision religieuse (M.D’Herbigny). En construisant l’image
de la Russie la plupart des auteurs belges mènent un dialogue explicite ou implicite avec la culture
parisienne. Nous analyserons une tension entre les « archétypes schématiques » voire les images
stéréotypées dans lesquelles la Russie apparaît comme « fundamental other» (E. Adamovsky) et une
multitude d’images particulières issues de l’œuvre des médiateurs interculturels. Nous éclairerons
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aussi un certain « contre-processus» (H.J. Lüsebrink), voire une forme de médiation focalisée sur la
déstabilisation, voire la désintégration des images existantes. La meilleure représentante de ce type
de médiation est la princesse russe Z. Schakhovskoy qui a réuni Bruxelles et Paris autour de la
question russe.
12:00 PM - Images de la Russie et usages du russe dans Les Jardins de Tauride, une nouvelle inédite
d'Irène Némirovsky
Quaglia, Elena (Università degli Studi di Verona/Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, Milano, Italy)
« Il y avait encore, avec la caravane, qui de Pétersbourg à la Mer Noire, cheminait au hasard des
auberges et des routes, l’espoir de s’embarquer sur un bateau français et de fuir la Russie » : Les
Jardins de Tauride est une histoire d’exilés. Cette nouvelle inédite datant de 1934, que nous avons
retrouvée à l’IMEC et dont nous allons bientôt publier une transcription, nous offre une perspective
nouvelle sur ce thème, maintes fois repris dans l’œuvre d’Irène Némirovsky. Née à Kiev et ayant vécu
à Saint Pétersbourg et à Moscou, elle a dû fuir la Russie avec sa famille à quatorze ans, lors de la
Révolution.
Tout en voulant retracer ses souvenirs personnels, Némirovsky accomplit un travail littéraire sur son
texte, surtout en ce qui concerne la représentation des lieux, teintée d’une atmosphère magique tant
par les songeries enfantines, que par la réélaboration qui en est faite à la lumière de ses lectures.
Dans sa description de la Crimée, l’écrivaine emprunte, d’un côté, à la littérature de son pays
d’origine et, de l’autre, à une tradition de l’exotisme « à la française », dont elle reprend, de manière
consciente, certains clichés, tout au long de son œuvre.
Dans un deuxième temps, nous allons montrer comment l’emploi du russe, qui surgit dans les
brouillons de la nouvelle dans un passage méta-textuel, témoigne d’un usage naturel et instinctif de
cette langue, bien différent de celui un peu construit des romans achevés, où, selon Martina
Stemberger, l’auteur « trouve […] une possibilité de manifester sa double compétence culturelle,
tout en sacrifiant à la « mode russe » de son temps ».
L’étude de la nouvelle nous permet ainsi d’entrer dans le laboratoire narratif de l’écrivaine et de voir
comment dans ses références multiculturelles et dans son plurilinguisme agissent d’un côté un
mouvement instinctif et autobiographique et, de l’autre côté, une construction plus réfléchie qui se
sert de la fonction cognitive du stéréotype.
2:00 PM - Marina Tsvetaeva - l'obstination de l'étranger
Leclerc, Natalia (université de Bretagne occidentale, Brest, France)
"(...) à l'étranger - 'la Russe', en Russie - 'l'étrangère' (...). Absolument seule - avec ma voix" écrit
Marina Tsvetaeva le 17 octobre 1930 dans une lettre à Nanny Wunderly-Volkart, alors qu'elle est en
exil, réfugiée en France. Je me propose d'étudier la singularité de la situation de Marina Tsvetaeva,
exilée loin de son pays d'origine, après l'avoir fui par impossibilité d'y vivre, mais ne trouvant pas non
plus sa place à Prague puis à Paris. Toute sa vie, Tsvetaeva fut donc une marginale,
géographiquement, socialement, politiquement, et poétiquement bien sûr - elle qui a été contrainte
d'"écrire dans la langue de l'ennemi", après une révolution politique et poétique dans laquelle elle ne
se reconnaît pas - , d'une marginalité revendiquée, par refus de se sacrifier en tant qu'individu au
nom d'une idéologie de la collectivité. Son exil est donc à la fois une source de souffrance et un choix
délibéré et assumé, jusqu'à l'exil définitif hors du monde. Cette marginalité se traduit aussi sur le
plan linguistique. Dans ses carnets, les textes en français se multiplient au fil des années - en effet,
elle parle français et allemand depuis l'enfance. Par ailleurs, elle traduit des textes, notamment les
siens, du russe au français, essaie de publier des textes écrits en français dans des revues françaises.
Mais comme elle ne fait aucun compromis, en particulier au plan idéologique, elle n'est acceptée
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nulle part. Elle vit dans la misère et ne fait rien pour "s'intégrer", pour rester l'étrangère, alors même
que la Russie qu'elle a quitté ne lui est plus rien. Je souhaiterais donc étudier la manière dont cette
posture singulière d'apatride, de Russe à l'étranger et d'étrangère en Russie, se manifeste dans ses
carnets, dans son écriture intime, qui est aussi un laboratoire de sa poésie.
2:30 PM - Arthur Adamov : à la recherche de l'identité nationale, culturelle, créatrice.
Dubrovina, Svetlana (House of Russian Emigration, Moscow, Russian Federation)
Arthur Adamov : à la recherche de l’identité nationale, culturelle, créatrice.
Né à Kislovodsk en 1908 dans la famille riche arménienne, élevé dans les traditions d’aristocratie
russe, émigré après la Révolution russe en Suisse, en Allemagne, en France, Arthur Adamov a
approuvé un état d’«exilé de partout » (L’Aveu) pendant toute sa vie. On peut trouver la réflexion de
la situation d’émigration dans sa prose autobiographique, dans son théâtre (Tous contre tous, Je ne
suis pas français). Jusqu’au début des années 1950e, Adamov se sentait « apatride » (le mot utilisé à
propos d’Adamov par Gabriel Marcel lors des débats autour de Paolo Paoli). Sa position sociale
d’intellectuel gauche a trouvé aussi l’expression dans son œuvre (hypocrisie du pouvoir dans Tous
contre tous, racisme dans La politique des restes , régimes totalitaires dans La Grande et la petite
manœuvre).
L’œuvre d’Arthur Adamov a éprouvé l’influence de la littérature allemande ( Heinrich von Kleist ,
Büchner , Rilke, Kafka), scandinave (Strindberg), russe (Tchekhov tout d’abord). Mais la présence de
la culture russe dans son œuvre ne revient exclusivement à Tchekhov. L’épreuve aigue de l’inégalité
sociale, la pitié pour « un petit homme », la force perçante de l’aspiration vers l’idéal rapprochent
Adamov à la tradition russe métaphysique. De cette conception du monde, vient le procédé
adamovien de montrer le destin de son héros non pas au moment singulier mais dans son évolution,
sa durée. On pourrait faire des analogies entre le « je » des livres autobiographiques d’Adamov
(L’Aveu, L’Homme et l’enfant) et les héros de Dostoïevski avec leurs recherches morales, étiques, le
sens de la faute, la disposition pour la flagellation et, en même temps, l’aspiration vers le sacré.
Adamov a été l’intermédiaire brillant entre la culture russe et française : ses traductions et
adaptations pour la scène, la radio et la télévision des œuvres de Tchekhov, Gorki, Dostoïevski,
Gogol, méritent d’analyse particulière.
3:00 PM - Les interactions entre le russe et le français : la langue et l'identité dans la nouvelle de
Vladimir Nabokov "Mademoiselle O "
Chvedova, Lioudmila (Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France)
La nouvelle « Mademoiselle O » publiée par Vladimir Nabokov en 1936 a été initialement sousestimée par l’auteur, mais elle est pourtant devenue un grand succès. C’est la seule œuvre de
l’écrivain rédigée en français et écrite en trois jours, ce qui la distingue particulièrement des autres
ouvrages de Nabokov. Dans le cadre de cette communication, nous nous intéresserons tout d’abord
aux réflexions de Nabokov sur la situation identitaire des émigrés en Russie au XIX e et au début du
XX e siècle, liée à leur altérité linguistique, que l’écrivain présente dans cette nouvelle
autobiographique. Essaient-ils de s’adapter à leur milieu d’accueil ou bien restent-ils attachés à leurs
origines au point de refuser d’assimiler la langue du pays d’accueil ? Les voit-on se replier dans leur
altérité ou bien arrivent-ils parfois à atteindre un bilinguisme parfait? D’autre part, nous nous
intéresserons aux idées de l’auteur concernant les influences d’une langue étrangère (le français),
utilisée par la noblesse russe du XIX e siècle comme deuxième langue de communication, à la
mentalité et à la façon de s’exprimer dans les milieux aristocratiques de la « Russie d’antan ».
L’objectif de notre communication sera également d’étudier les personnages principaux de cette
nouvelle de Nabokov du point de vue linguistique et identitaire et de comparer l’ouvrage examiné de
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Nabokov avec un extrait de son roman autobiographique Autres rivages, qui présente une version
russe de cette nouvelle et comporte des modifications considérables par rapport à sa version
française. Cette comparaison nous aidera à analyser les interactions entre les deux langues, le russe
et le français.
4:00 PM - Traductions de soi-même (plurilinguisme et autotraduction)
Lushenkova, Anna (Université Paris 4-Sorbonne, Villeurbanne, France)
La position de l’autotraducteur est double : il est à la fois l’auteur et le traducteur.
Les problematiques propres à la traduction de ce type s’en trouvent affectées : certaines relevent des
poetiques de l’ecriture, d’autres rejoignent les problemes inherents à tout acte de traduire. A partir
du corpus des écrivains bilingues franco-russes des XXe et XXIe siècles, et à la lumiere des theories
recentes du bilinguisme et de la traduction, j’explorerai en particulier les problematiques identitaires.
Pour un écrivain plurilingue, l’identité est un concept encore plus mouvant que pour d’autres. Dans
leur travail sociolinguistique sur l’implication de l’acquisition linguistique dans la formation
identitaire, Pavlenko et Lantolf montrent que l’autotraduction permet aux migrants de donner une
interprétation nouvelle à leur experience subjective, et d’avoir un effet unificateur au sein du « moi
», depassant l’eclatement identitaire et devenant le lieu de rencontre des deux parts identitaires
jusqu’alors perçus comme etant separes. Mais l’autotraduction peut egalement recouvrir une
expérience de l’inquiétante étrangeté, étrangeté à soi-même, devenir une experience depaysante –
deplaçant hors des coordonnées familieres, ce que Freud désigne comme « heimat ». La dialectique
du Même et de l’Autre, impliquee dans toute traduction et expliquee par J.R. Ladmiral comme la
propension de « l’alterite des signifiants de la langue-source, pour rejoindre le propre de la languecible », s’en trouve affectee. Elle est decuplee s’il s’agit d’une traduction des ecrits à composante
autobiographique. Il s’agit de traduire une deuxieme facette de sa propre identite aux expressions
variables, ce qui amene dans certains cas à exprimer ce qui n’a pas pu etre dit dans la premiere
version. Dans ce cas de figure, l’autotraduction donne parfois lieu à un ouvrage inédit, comme c’est
le cas pour les autotraductions successives du roman autobiographique de Vladimir Nabokov. De
nombreuses problematiques metatheoriques relatives aux raisons et aux résultats de ces reecritures
successives peuvent être soulevées ; la réflexion autour des traductions hypertextuelles s’en trouve
ravivée, et projette une nouvelle lumière sur la pensée de la traduction.
4:30 PM - Les mots des autres - en d'autres mots. (In)traductibilité, identité et altérité dans le
dialogue franco-russe de l'entre-deux-guerres
Stemberger, Martina (Institut für Romanistik, Wien, Austria)
Cette communication sera consacrée à la réflexion – littéraire et philosophique – sur la notion de l’«
intraduisible », la construction d’« intraductibilités » dans le dialogue – polylogue – franco-russe de
l’entre-deux-guerres ; ceci à partir d’un corpus constitué de textes d’écrivains d’origine russe émigrés
en France, d’écrivains « franco-russes » et d’auteurs français écrivant sur les « deux Russies » de
l’époque, la nouvelle Russie soviétique – défi à l’autodéfinition de l’Europe, à l’affirmation d’une
identité occidentale – et la Russie déterritorialisée en exil.
Les termes et tournures (prétendument ? réellement ?) « intraduisibles » – très souvent en même
temps des termes-clés de l’auto/hétéro-stéréotypie – renvoient à la dynamique complexe de
l’identification et de l’altérisation ; la traduction – ou plutôt son refus : mécanisme puissant de
l’othering – joue un rôle crucial dans la construction d’un autre exotisé et essentialisé : « […] culture
becomes essentialised in cases when translation is not attempted » (R. Iveković). Si traduire, c’est
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toujours déjà trahir, la revendication de telle ou telle zone d’« intraductibilité » interculturelle trahit
aussi le fantasme d’une identité « propre » mise à l’abri des hybridations, inévitablement « lost in
translation » (ainsi, N. Tėffi plaisante sur la difficulté de « traduire l’âme russe en français »).
À partir du vocabulaire intraduit et du discours sur l’« intraduisible » – concept, dans ce sens, non
seulement linguistique, mais éminemment idéologique –, il semble donc possible d’identifier des
éléments d’une mythologie de l’autre (dans ce cas-ci, tout un imaginaire de la « francité »
respectivement de la « russité » plus ou moins stéréotypée). Mais il s’agira aussi de montrer
comment maints textes littéraires – écrits entre les langues, entre les cultures – mettent en question,
d’une manière ludique, ces mêmes stéréotypes ainsi que le « dogme de l’intraductibilité » (R.
Jakobson).
5:00 PM - La figure de la traductrice comme terme médiateur dans « Malentendu à Moscou » de
Simone de Beauvoir
Landry, Iraïs (Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Canada); Leguerrier, Louis-Thomas (Université de Montréal,
Montreal, Canada)
« C’est à travers la littérature qu’on apprend le mieux un pays étranger; celui qui nous intéressait et
qui nous intriguait le plus, c’était l’URSS, nous lisions tous les jeunes auteurs russes qui étaient
traduits en français. » Cette citation, tirée des mémoires de Simone de Beauvoir, fournit une clé de
lecture de sa nouvelle « Malentendu à Moscou », rédigée en 1966-67, mais parue seulement en
1992, soit peu de temps après la chute de l’U.R.S.S. Peu étudiée dans l’œuvre de de Beauvoir, cette
nouvelle relate un malentendu s’exprimant sur deux plans et s’enracinant dans la rencontre des
visions française et russe de l’avenir du communisme international : un malentendu intime, d’abord,
entre André et Nicole, un couple français en visite chez la fille d’André, Macha, qui vit à Moscou
depuis plusieurs années; un malentendu politique, ensuite, entre Macha et André, à propos de la
situation qui se dessine en U.R.S.S. suite à la mort de Staline. La problématique qui sous-tendra cette
communication est que Macha, traductrice de textes littéraires du russe au français, fait office de
figure médiatrice se situant au cœur des malentendus en question. Ainsi, la traduction dans la
nouvelle a pour fonction de dialectiser l’intime et le politique à travers une déconstruction à la fois
de l’image que les intellectuels de gauche français ont de la Russie et de celle qu’André et Nicole se
font l’un de l’autre. Dans un premier temps, nous nous intéresserons à l’opacité découlant de
l’unilinguisme d’André et Nicole, source de leur incompréhension du pays, mais paradoxalement
propice au règlement de leur malentendu personnel. Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous
attaquerons plus directement à notre problématique et montrerons comment le bilinguisme de
Macha la constitue en pivot narratif de la nouvelle. Il nous sera alors permis de conclure en reliant la
dialectique du privé et du politique, un thème cher à de Beauvoir, à celle de l’exotisation et de la
familiarisation.
11:00 AM - Transpositions « révolutionnaires » du drame catholique : autour de la tragédie "La Tiare
du siècle" de Paul Claudel et Ivan Axionov
Galtsova, Elena (Gorky Institute of Word literature, Moscow, Russian Federation)
Nous proposons une analyse linguistique et idéologique de la traduction de Claudel
dans les premières années après la révolution de 1917 dans le contexte de la réception paradoxale
de son oeuvre en Russe (commencée durant le « siècle d’argent » elle ne se réalisera qu’en 19181923 ayant contribué au développement du théâtre de metteur en scène) et des recherches sur la
traduction au premier quart du XX-e s. Nous avons choisi une traduction russe inédite de deux
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drames de Claudel "L’Otage" et le "Pain dur" qui traduits ensemble sous le titre 'La tiare du siècle',
faite en 1922-1923 par Ivan Axionov et jouée en partie par les étudiants de Meyerkhold. Il s’agit
d’analyser les fidélités et les écarts dans la traduction, les transpositions langagières du « verset
biblique » de Claudel en prose rythmée de la « tragédie révolutionnaire » d’Axionov. Nous
aborderons le problème du multilinguisme du texte d’Axionov qui garde les mots en latin et en
français ou les translittère en russe, cette tendance étant typique pour d’autres traductions des
pièces de Claudel, celles par exemple, de Cherchenevich ("L’Annonce"), et elle est à l’opposé des
tentatives de la traduction de Claudel d’avant la révolution où l’on perçoit une tendance nette de
l’appropriation par russification parfois même un peu forcée (Thebotarevskaia qui traduit l’Annonce
avec Sologub). Cela permettrai de voir comment ce multilinguisme et l’«étrangéïsation » de Claudel
après la révolution correspondait aux tendances politiques (« mondialisation » de la révolution, la
recherche des « sources » dans la Révolution française, etc.), et à la construction ambigue de l’image
de l’Occident. Nous analyserons aussi la question du sacré et de son langage, les références à la
mémoire du christianisme d’avant la révolution et des tentatives de transposer le sacré en termes
psychologiques, ce qui fut la tendance de l’interprétation de l’"Annonce" et de l’"Echange" la fin des
années 1910-début des années 1920 en Russie.
11:30 AM - Les lectures françaises d'Alexandre Schmemann et leur fonction dans l'architecture de
son Journal
Mikhaylov, Kalin (Sofioter Universität "Hl. Kliment Ohridski", Sofia, Bulgaria)
P. Alexandre Schmemann (1921-1983), un des plus grands théologiens orthodoxes du XXe siècle, n’a
cessé tout au long de sa vie d’émigré russe de montrer un goût prononcé pour les belles-lettres.
Ancien élève du prestigieux lycée Carnot à Paris, il comptait parmi les premiers interprètes et
promoteurs d’Alexandre Soljenitsyne à l’Ouest. Voyageur constant entre les langues et les cultures
russe еt française, Schmemann a laissé, entre autres, une œuvre de diariste remarquable qui
témoigne de son intérêt vif pour un large éventail d'auteurs français. Ma communication se propose
de scruter les empreintes de certains de ces auteurs dans le cogito du diariste pour essayer de
trouver leur place et leur signification propre dans l’ensemble de son Journal.
12:00 PM - Between Petersburg and Paris: the Russian novel as an alternative model for Brazilian
intellectuals.
Gomide, Bruno (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil)
The works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy started to be discussed in Brazil at the end of the 1880s. This
occurred during the wave of international diffusion unleashed by France, especially by the book
manifesto Le Roman Russe (1886) by catholic viscount Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, primus inter pares
in placing the Russians on a different symbolic level. They were transformed together and
posthumously (with the exception of Tolstoy in this last respect) into a compassionate and
humanitarian alternative to the surgical coldness associated with the French naturalist novel. Given
this bipolar argumentation, and helped by a favorable socio-political conjunction, the Russians
entered in a decisive way into debates of fin-de-siècle esthetics and culture. My objective will be,
initially in a brief manner, to present the features of this debate in Brazil and the elements that
contributed to the international critical paradigm. To follow, the more substantial part of the paper
will comment on the peculiarities present in the peripheral point of view of the Brazilian intellectuals.
At first sight, texts such as “Dostoievski – naturalismo russo” (1888) by Clóvis Bevilacqua, the essays
of José Carlos Júnior published between 1887 and 1888, and the texts by Vicente Licinio Cardoso on
Dostoevsky (1924) are variants on the polarization between the “Russian” and “French” models; but
a closer reading reveals that the Brazilian essayists frequently saw in the inception of the novel in
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Russia, and in the type of “alternative literary modernity” that it represented, a possible solution to
the problem that had obsessed generations of Brazilian writers: the creation of a national literature
that was desired to be inspired with authentic traits, possessed of a greater degree of freedom in the
recreation of European genres and, at the same time, esthetically relevant.
2:00 PM - Fonction des gallicismes dans la prose de Sacha Tchorny
KHLOPINA, Oxana (Université Paris X - Nanterre, VIROFLAY, France)
Mises à part son ironie et sa légèreté attirantes, la langue savoureuse et métissée de la prose de
Sacha Tchorny est une mesure juste de la distance que le narrateur crée entre le « moi » et « l’autre
». Or, cette distance existe toujours dans ses récits, qu’ils soient écrits en Russie ou en émigration.
Ainsi, un passage de Verlaine cité en français dans "La Première rencontre", et quelques mots frivoles
lancés dans "Un Ami", ou encore un dialogue entre un policier français et une fillette russe dans "Le
Petit fourgon jaune" (qui inspirera Nabokov), - s’inscrivent dans cette intention de l’auteur. Les
gallicismes présents dans la prose de Sacha Tchorny, ou, bien au contraire, absents là où leur
apparition serait des plus logiques, la fonction et l’évolution de la connotation de ces mots, écrits
souvent en cyrillique avec un accent russe voulu, méritent une attention particulière. Les mots
français, dont l’accent est parfois outré, parfois gommé, qui accrochent l’oreille ou sonnent presque
naturellement dans le langage quotidien, tiennent une place importante dans l’univers de l’écrivain,
avec ses expressions dialectes, sa langue des soldats et des sirènes, ses néologismes et toute cette
matière linguistique et culturelle qui lui sert de mémoire de ses deux patries : « Celle que l’on
nommait la Russie » et la France.
2:30 PM - "La langue de l'autre" - L'expérience d'Andreï Makine
Pinot, Anne (ICES (Vendée) and UBO (Laboratoire HCTI), Angers, France)
Sans négliger Le Testament français , mais en m'appuyant surtout sur des récits moins nettement
autobiographiques, je voudrais montrer comment, chez A. Makine, la langue et la culture française
ne servent pas tant de repoussoir à un passé douloureux, que de passerelle vers un autre soi-même,
avec lequel il convient de se réconcilier. Chez Makine, dans "la langue de l'autre", tout "fait signe" :
non seulement les mots, mais leurs sonorités ou leurs silences, l'émotion dont ils ont été un jour
chargés, l'histoire qu'ils portent avec eux et en eux, et tout cela paraît rencontrer et féconder un
imaginaire qui se structure en prospection (un pas vers l'avenir) et rétrospection (l'apaisement d'un
passé dont les angoisses trouvent une réponse dans l'usage au présent d'une langue qui les nomme).
La langue de l'autre devient ainsi le chant de l'être.
3:00 PM - « ...que nous quittions la douce violence russe, que tu écrives des livres, des livres et des
livres... » (Mathias Énard) : la matière russe et ses enjeux métalittéraires chez Emmanuel Carrère
Absalyamova, Elina (Université Paris 13 (Pléiade EA 7338), Paris, France)
« Cette terre ne m’est rien, seulement la langue qu’on y parle », tranche le narrateur
autobiographique d’Emmanuel Carrère à mi-chemin dans ce parcours existentiel que dessine Un
roman russe (2007). Si à ce moment du récit la Russie ne semble qu’un détour dans la recherche de
soi-même, ce pays constitue pourtant une matière importante de l’œuvre : la vision personnelle de
sa littérature, son passé et son présent peuvent donner lieu à une analyse enrichissante de la
manière dont un écrivain français, petit-fils des émigrés russes, fait face à ce qu’il voit comme
étranger, mais qu’il rêve de s’approprier. À part ce discours sur la Russie, le livre contient surtout de
précieux témoignages et aveux sur la (ré)appropriation de la langue « maternelle » : emploi (parfois
fautif) des mots russes dans le texte français et le retour obsessionnel d’un poème d’un côté,
pratique du journal intime, non-linéarité de l’apprentissage et poids des représentations socio205
culturelles liées aux manières de parler une langue (le « joli russe »), d’un autre. Métalinguistiques,
les remarques du narrateur-écrivain sur le russe prennent également une dimension métalittéraire.
Entre deux citations – « Pour me représenter ma condition, j’ai toujours recouru à ce genre
d’histoires » au début et « Je ne te dis pas que c’est vrai, je te dis juste qu’en Russie c’est un genre
d’histoire qui arrive » vers la fin, – la Russie se présente comme la terre du récit, du récit «
performatif » comme le dirait Carrère lui-même, puisqu’il est en même temps anticipé, voulu, guetté
et créateur de destins et de liens humains. En guise de conclusion et afin d’avoir un échantillon
témoin, il est instructif de comparer les pratiques textuelles de Carrère avec celles de Mathias Énard,
écrivain attiré par d’autres aires culturels, mais faisant son passage par la Russie avec “éclat” : « J’ai
compris que la Russie nous mangeait comme un ogre ».
17257 - Texts with No Words: Communication of Speechlessness
Room: Hs 45
Chair: Knaller, Susanne; Rieger, Rita; Pichler, Doris
9:00 AM - Introduction and Welcome
Knaller, Susanne (Universität Graz)
9:30 AM - "What Speech Conceals and What Silence Reveals": Therapeutic Silence in Theater and
Psychoanalysis
Scheurer, Maren (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
We think of psychoanalysis as the "talking cure," and yet, its process is riddled with silences. On the
one hand, the silence of the analyst, a consequence of the technical requirements of neutrality and
abstinence, has become a topos that inspires awe as much as ridicule. On the other hand, the
analysand’s struggle to find words to express her predicament must often leave her speechless in the
face of traumatic exterior experiences, inexpressible stirrings of the interior self, and intersubjective
frictions. Literary texts have been drawn to psychoanalysis not just for its specific take on dialogue,
but also because of these inevitable silences which reflect productively on the power(lessness) of
language and the interdependence of silence and speech.
This paper seeks to trace this fascination through a comparative reading of the psychoanalytic theory
on the use of silence in the therapist’s office and two theatrical takes on therapeutic silence: Tom
Kempinski’s Duet for One (1980) and Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis (2000). Both plays are focused on
therapeutic encounters, in which the characters fight with each other as much as they fight fatal
illness and suicidal depression. In the written texts, speechlessness must be indicated, through stage
directions such as "silence," or "pause," or through empty space on the page; in a theatrical
production, all of this must be transformed into different forms of silence. A discussion of these texts
thus not only allows for a reflection of the different functions of silence in therapy and their
transposition into the literary realm - as a resistive barrier, as a protective container of words, as an
overdetermined carrier of meaning -, but also allows for an exploration of the transmedial
representation, performance, and reception of silence. These, in turn, are also pressing questions for
psychoanalysis, opening up the possibilities for a much more wide-ranging interdisciplinary debate.
10:00 AM - The 'Sound-Space of Silence' in "Das Schweigen. VOX FEMINARUM" by Elfriede Jelinek,
Ernst M. Binder und Josef Klammer
Fauner, Eva (Universität Graz, Graz, Austria)
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The proposed paper discusses an example of thematized and performed silence as a special case of
speechlessness. An analysis of the audio drama Das Schweigen. VOX FEMINARUM by Elfriede Jelinek,
Ernst M. Binder und Josef Klammer shows that the overlay of diverse linguis-tic and noise levels
combined with quiet sections is one possible aesthetic solution for mak-ing silence tangible in spite
of its originally immaterial communicational sphere. The play performs the narrated process of
breaking up communication confronting the ineffability of the intended content. The idea of
transforming communicational mistakes and silence into noisy and quiet periods correlates with the
play’s plot. It is a monologue on an attempt to compose a work about Robert Schuman, which is
doomed to failure. The problems of speech and the assumed incompatibility of writing and voice
evoke language barriers, speechless-ness and finally they culminate in silence. Silence and its lack of
conceptual clarity open up a scene of inexplicability which reflects individual failure and social
disorder.
I will proceed in three steps: A first step draws on the “Rhetoric of Silence” (Christiaan L. Hart
Nibbrig) as a literary topos. Within this topos the expression of the inexpressible plays an important
role. Grasping the thought of “Lauter Unsägliches” (Rainer Maria Rilke), which addresses the
ambivalence between audible and non-audible speech, VOX FEMINARUM ex-plores whether
speaking or writing is the better way to express the genius of Schumann’s oeuvre. Travestying the
motive of the bigoted adoration of “Geistesgrößen” (Thomas Bern-hard) the play ends with the
incapacity of speech when faced with true artistic creativity.
After highlighting the “Rhetoric of Silence” on the level of story, the second part of my paper focuses
on the structural and poetic elements of creating a ‘Sound-Space of Silence’. There-fore, an
elaboration of aesthetic strategies in Acoustic Literature is necessary. In order to understand the
audiovisual transformations as a crucial point of Acoustic Literature, the concept of “Paramediale
Rahmenanalyse” (Uwe Wirth) is going to be outlined and adapted to VOX FEMINARUM. The analysis
will show that the thematized dichotomy between writing and voice finds expression by realizing not
an orally but a scriptually conceptualized text in acoustic media. Thus the formal constitution of the
play reflects its central statement “Schweigend, indem ich nichts tat, als über meine Schrift zu
sprechen” (Elfriede Jelinek). When it comes to examine the sound and silent passages of the piece,
media-scientific tools like cut, transition, compositing, montage, stereophony, music, noise, digital
processings and manipulation are required.
In a third step the paper illuminates silence as speech-act (Alice Lagaay). Commonly, silence is
understood as stillness and therefore it is not perceived as a specific communicational ac-tion. One
possible clue to leave this presupposition is to draw on the language and the knowledge of the arts.
The efficacy of the arts lies in their capacity to generate spheres which irritate everyday experience in
order to reflect unquestioned perceptional structures. Silence is a kind of speech-act which provides
a minimum of conceivability and a maximum of interpretability. In VOX FEMINARUM the wide range
of possible interpretations is ex-pressed by overlapping diverse semantic and acoustic traces. The
upcoming sound-space allows a hazy notion of meaning, but in the end it will never be clarified.
When realizing this intractability a true scene of silence in the sense of communicational stagnation
is installed.
11:00 AM - Against Speechlessness!
Talking about Silence and Talking instead of Silence in Elfriede Jelinek’s Das schweigende Mädchen
Brod, Anna (Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany)
In her play Das schweigende Mädchen (The Silent Girl, Münchner Kammerspiele 2014), Elfriede
Jelinek refers to Beate Zschäpe’s defense strategy of silence in the trial against the so-called ‘National
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Socialist Underground’ (‘NSU’). Zschäpe’s silence and the concept of speechlessness semantically
share the lack of words, but have a different cause: being speechless means that one is involuntarily
unable to speak; in contrast, Zschäpe’s silence is (more or less) intended and functional.
Jelinek is dealing with Zschäpe’s silence by contrasting it – on a material level – with an abundance of
text (313 pages in the Suhrkamp edition, 2015). By doing so, she’s opposing speechlessness as an
expected reaction to acts of violence as committed by the ‘NSU’. For example, one of the characters
in Jelinek’s play, called “Ich” (and thus potentially to be read in reference to the author), says:
“Schweigen kann ich auch wieder nicht, das ist Ihnen wohl seit Stunden klar geworden. Nicht wie das
Mädchen.” (“But I cannot be silent, as you have probably realized hours ago. Unlike the girl.“).
Zschäpe’s silence and the epistemic void associated with it (e.g., about the motives for the ‘NSU’
killings, but also about how the alleged terrorists lived together in hiding) can be considered as a
trigger for media speculation and probably also for the author’s writing process. At the same time,
the lack of language itself becomes topical in the play: Other characters discuss the effects of the
girl’s silence and speculate about its reasons; the necessity for the accused and for the witnesses to
talk in court is foiled by debates about the right to speak that are extensive, but ultimately without
content; etc.
In my paper, I will describe and discuss these and other functions and layers of silence,
speechlessness and talking about silence as they appear in Jelinek’s play.
11:30 AM - Hermann Broch's thoughts on "das stumme Unmittelbare"
Doutch, Daniela (Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur I, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany)
In his 1932 essay Das Unmittelbare (‘the immediate’), Austrian writer Hermann Broch develops his
thoughts on the state of contemporary literature by pointing out two essential features that
characterize his time: “das Unmittelbare” and “die Stummheit” (‘muteness’). Whereas “Stummheit”
refers ex negativo to language, “Unmittelbarkeit” – according to Broch – points to notions of
presence in either a mystical or sensual way. Out of these two terms he creates the concept my talk
will engage: “das stumme Unmittelbare.” Against the background of Broch’s novel trilogy Die
Schlafwandler, which was published between 1930 and 1932, I want to discuss Broch’s idea of “das
stumme Unmittelbare” as poetological-theoretical reflections on the novel as a literary genre that is
challenged by the cultural conditions of the interwar period. In his lecture on Über die Grundlagen
des Romans ‘Die Schlafwandler’ (1931), Broch raises the following question in consideration of the
difficult economic conditions of the era: “[U]nter welchen Bedingungen hat ein Roman
Daseinsberechtigung? Die nächstliegende Antwort: er hat überhaupt keine Daseinsberechtigung. […]
Oder mit einem Schlagwort: in einer solchen Zeit brauchen wir keine Worte, sondern Taten.” The
very notion of “Taten” (deeds) – the connecting link between “Stummheit” and “Unmittelbarkeit” –
cannot merely be read in an ethical context, as the following remarks in Broch’s lecture illustrate:
“Was heißt nämlich ‘Taten’? sicherlich etwas höchst Unmittelbares, eine unmittelbare Wendung zum
Objekt, eine unmittelbare Verbindung zwischen dem Subjekt und dem Objekt, anders gesprochen,
ein unmittelbarer Kontakt zwischen dem Individuum und seinem Leben, kurz mit der Welt.” From a
media studies perspective, engaging theories of perception (e.g. Martin Heidegger, Michel Serres), I
aim to demonstrate how Die Schlafwandler describes the cultural decay of the Wilhelmine Period as
“ein unmittelbarer Kontakt” between men and material objects, which leads to a ‘communication
breakdown.’ Given the war experiences, e. g. of lieutenant Otto Jaretzki who lost his left arm due to a
gas attack, the “direkte geradezu haptische Berührung mit der Unmittelbarkeit,” as Broch put it in
Das Unmittelbare, becomes even physically destructive, and calls into question hitherto existing
orders of meaning (religious, social, philosophical, etc.).
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12:00 PM - ‘Oublier l’usage des mots’. Speech and speechlessness in First World War poetry
Meidl, Martina (Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria)
The specific role of poetry in ‘translating’ unutterable experience into language has been stressed out
frequently. Certainly, the extraordinary productiveness of poets writing about their front experiences
during the Great War cannot be ascribed exclusively to literary traditions or production-related
circumstances, disregarding the intrinsic properties of the poetical medium.
The role of poetry as preferred genre had been confirmed by the historical avant-garde of prewar
time and its verbal and medial possibilities had been considerably dilated. On the one hand,
vanguard aesthetics such as the cubistic techniques of fragmentation and montage, visual and
acoustical effects of futurist battle representations, condensation and language reduction of
hermetic poetry or expressionist techniques of cross fading may give expression to the experience of
war. On the other hand, instead of intensifying their experimental modes of representation, many
vanguard poets turned to more traditional forms when referring to front experiences.
This contribution is aiming to illustrate certain strategies of verbalization of traumatic war
experiences employed in selected poems by French and Italian writers. Furthermore, it will focus
attention on the issue of speechlessness as addressed by front soldiers.
2:00 PM - How to express ... - Jonathan Safran Foer's punctuation of unspeakable emotions
Grillmayr, Julia (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Austria)
Jonathan Safran Foer’s little-known short story A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease is
actually less a story, but exactly what its title claims it to be: an introduction into a punctuation of
unspeakable truths and facts – like incurable diseases of family members, but also the holocaust, fear
of loss and love. Coping with the deficiency of language, when it comes to strong emotions, the
young American author helps himself with simple symbols which function on a different level of
signification: There are, for example, “Barely Tolerable Substitutes” which can be used in place of the
unbearable expressions like “‘→I←’, which approximates ‘I love you’”. There is ¡, an “unxclamation
point” which, in opposition to the exclamation point, indicates a whisper, as well as ☺, the
“corroboration mark”, which means corroboration, but has a whole different and more subtle usage
than “Yes” or “I agree”. Of course, all the subtle significations of the used symbols cannot in turn be
described in words; you can only learn them in context. Therefore, Foer practices his punctuation in
little, touching dialogues. These furthermore visualise the unspoken dimensions of the conversations
in general and make the speechlessness of the characters explicit – and not only by their heavy usage
of the “silence mark” and the “willed silence mark”.
Foer mentions in the author’s note that A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart Disease is
representative of his “concerns as a writer: the difficulties of expressions, family and love”. My claim
and research question is, that in fact, the here proposed symbol language gets to the core of Foer’s
poetics and can be a highly interesting as well as playful clue to his work. In my presentation, I will
show that Foer’s famous novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
share exactly the same topics and problems of speechlessness as outlined in this short story. As I will
elaborate, a “translation” of the dialogues in the two novels by means of Punctuation of Heart
Disease sheds new light on the problem as well as on Foer’s own, peculiar poetics of emotion.2:30
PM - Breath-Writing: Articulating the Unspeakable (Paul Celan and Herta Müller)
Heine, Stefanie (Universität Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland)
Paul Celan’s poems and Herta Müller’s novel Atemschaukel are informed by cultural and individual
traumata induced by World War II: in Celan’s case the holocaust and in Müller’s the Soviet penal
camps. They both write from a point zero, implying ineffability. In the paradoxical endeavour of
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writing about what cannot be written, circling around traumata that render language inoperative,
breath assumes a central role in both Celan’s and Müller’s poetics beyond representation. In Celan’s
poems, formulations and compounds involving the word “Atem” point to an interval-space where
the texts meet their edge and open to an Other: turning back, traumatic history or turning forward,
an unknown ‘you’. Following his poetological notes and fragments, it can be argued that for Celan,
poems open to possible but never ensured relations that remain as precarious as their (traumatic)
point of reference. Readers might embrace the encounter opened by the poem pervaded by the
author’s mortal being, inscribed in the poem by breath. Herta Müller’s expression “Atemschaukel” in
her eponymous novel designates and actualises what cannot be named, what continually transforms
itself and teeters on the brink. It breaks away from a clear reference, resisting a descriptive approach
to a traumatic past. It is important to know that Atemschaukel is based on and inspired by the
memories of Oskar Pastior, whose camp-words and camp-language Müller ‘borrows’. The words thus
actually ‘come from’ the camps and are taken from the shattered language generated there. Thus
invested with the past but encountered as material present language-blocks in the reading process,
the words haunt the readers’ mind and memory. The novel Atemschaukel is determined by a chain of
transformations and transferences, reaching from the writing to the reading process and the word
“Atemschaukel” – as a stand in for speechlessness – performatively mirrors these.
3:00 PM - The Media-Specific Language of Wordless Graphic Novels and "Woodcut Novels"
Grammatikopoulos, Damianos (Rutgers University, German Department, Brooklyn, USA)
In "Comics & Sequential Art", Will Eisner defines comics as a "montage of word and image" (8), as a
language that requires both "visual and verbal interpretative skills" from the reader's part. The verbal
and pictorial elements of a comic book, according to the author, are the essential elements of the
medium and the success of a story depends on their skillful employment. At the same time, both
Eisner and Scott McCloud acknowledge the possibility of telling a story through imagery alone by
combining elements of pantomime (Eisner, 16) and by exploiting the full potential of the graphic,
narrative tools. Words, as it seems, are an important component of the medium but they are not
indispensable.
Not unlike the distinction between "silent film" and "talking pictures", comics too can be subdivided
into two subcategories. The exaggerated gestures and facial expressions (pantomime), the distinct
arrangement of panels on the surface of the page, and the use of inscriptions are just a small section
of the vocabulary that wordless comics utilize to tell a story. If "woodcut novels" are added to the
equation, a third type of wordless pictorial storytelling has to be taken into consideration.
If the suggested distinction between conventional and wordless comic books appears
unsubstantiated at first glance, the difference between comics in general and woodcut novels is
evident. According to the cartoonist Seth, "woodcut novels are more tied to the silent film than they
are to comic strip." (Graphic Witness, 416) Those picture novels, as Seth underscores, refrain from
the use of two of the most basic elements of the medium: multiple panels and speech balloons.
Splash pages are the predominant means of framing the depicted action. As a consequence, the
function of the "gutter" in woodcut novels is essentially different compared to comics books.
I argue that graphic novels, wordless comic books, and woodcut novels, despite the common
denominators that they share, employ specific narrative devices that are partly unique. While the
sequential nature of the storytelling process is the same in all of them, the techniques and the flow
of narration are not. I my presentation, I will discuss the comics of Peter Kuper, Alan Moore, Shaun
Tan and the woodcut novels of Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel. My main focus is the differences in
terms of narration between conventional and wordless graphic novels on the one hand and between
the latter and woodcut novels on the other.
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4:00 PM - When eating leeds to speech(lessness)
Gillhuber, Eva (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Zentrum für Kulturwissenschaften, Graz, Austria)
Both Eating and speaking pass the mouth in two opposing directions: food is incorporated, whereas
speech is expressed. Similar to literature, eating can be looked at as a strategy to prevent death. It is
undoubtedly linked to vitality and destruction. Therefore, the alimentary opens a grotesque circle of
growth and decay, which especially fantastic narrations exploit in order to create and decompose the
dichotomy real/unreal. As a very extreme alimentary practice cannibalism brings this to an extreme.
In the so called „civilized world“ it is an alimentary taboo and awakens an anthropological fear of the
other and the self. Thereby it figures as an outstanding „event“ worth telling. Its narrations tend to
leave the reader/hearer speechless, but also the one who was eaten as he usually cannot give proof
of what had happened to himself any more. This paper examines the link between anthropophagy
and speechlessness on a functional-narrative level comparing the gastropoetics of Adolfo Bioy
Casares „Invención de Morel“ (1940), Virgilio Piñeras „La Carne“ (1944), and Jorge Luis Borges
„Evangelio según Marcos“ (1970). In these (neo)fantastic stories cannibalism plays a crucial role and
leads to an abrupt ending and/or speechlessness of either the characters or the narrator, while
paradoxically the narration itself keeps on speaking on its own, overcoming death and
speechlessness.
4:30 PM - The “truth” about Auschwitz or: the paradox of criminal procedure
Seewald-Juhasz, Christina (Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria)
Some survivors of the largest Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz, have testified as witnesses in
Court, in the so-called Frankfurt Process, but have also given evidence regarding their experiences by
writing memory texts. This conglomeration composed of both, French and German, legal and literary
documents, allows to "track" elements of the “truth” about Auschwitz. The main question remains
whether it is possible or not to express that "truth" – albeit an objective or a subjective one – by
linguistic means.
Given the dimension of the "inexpressible” the victims have met in Auschwitz, "blind spots" are
perceptible, both in the judicial testimony and in the memory texts. Those spots appear repeatedly,
when the voice fails and the right words are missing. We are going to try to situate these “language
barriers”.
The blind spots of failing language manifest themselves – in the oral testimonies in Court and in the
written personal testimonies – in different rhetorical figures (such as ellipses, metaphors,
paraphrases, etc.). The language barriers will be studied using a combination of legal and literary
research approaches (in particular both methods of interpretation), regarding their causes (internal
and external ones) and their consequences. It will be particularly interesting to analyze the literary
and legal frameworks of the testimonies and the mechanisms applied to avoid blind spots.
The aim of the present research work is to achieve a new "dimension of understanding" with regard
to individual and collective memory, to identity, to “objective” and “subjective truth”, by means of a
trans- and interdisciplinary method. The separate consideration of testimony in a merely legal or a
merely literary context would neglect the significant potential of their combination in order to get
closer to the truth in Leibniz’s sense: by darting “pluri-perspective” looks at it.
5:00 PM - So-Called Speechlessness. Deviant Speech in Thomas Bernhard’s "Walking“.
Ketterl, Anja (University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA)
Karrer ist verrückt geworden. In einer scheinbar endlosen Wiederholung markiert die Formel „diese
schütteren Stellen“ in Bernhards Erzählung Gehen in doppelter Weise eine Grenzüberschreitung.
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Zum einen übertritt Karrer im Rustenschacher’schen Laden genau in dem Moment die Schwelle hin
„zur totalen Verrücktheit“ als er diese Formel ununterbrochen abspult. Zum anderen aber wird
Karrers Sprechen selbst zum Ort der Transgression und zwar nicht nur, weil das wiederholte
Abspulen der immer gleichen Phrase zum Beleg für die Diagnose Wahnsinn wird. In viel
entscheidenderer Weise ist die Grenze zwischen Sprechen und Schweigen, mithin die Überschreitung
eines Sprechens hin zum Nicht-Sprechen betroffen, denn die Grenzüberschreitung ereignet sich im
Moment des Sprachausfalls, in jenem Moment, in dem Karrer hatte noch etwas sagen wollen, es
aber nicht mehr fertig brachte. Karrers Verrücktheit ist nicht so sehr durch die Wiederholung einer
Rede und auch nicht durch den bloβen Mangel an Rede gekennzeichnet, sondern durch einen
Modus, in dem sich das Sprechen gewissermaβen selbst verfehlt. Sprechen und Schweigen fallen hier
zusammen.
Bernhards endlose Tiraden und die bis zur Erschöpfung vorangetriebenen Wiederholungen
dominieren die Sprache seiner früheren Texte und sind nach wie vor ein beliebter
Untersuchungsgegenstand in der Bernhard-Forschung. Für Gehen hat die Forschung überzeugend
herausgearbeitet, inwiefern sich das Erzählverfahren und die Bewegungen des Gehens strukturell
verschränken. Was bisher allerdings weniger fokussiert wird, sind die vielfach produktiven und die
poetologische Anlage der Texte konstituierenden Momente des Nicht- oder vielmehr AndersSprechens.
In Anlehnung an die strukturelle Verzahnung von Gehen/Erzählen und in Auseinandersetzung mit
Michel de Certeaus theoretischem Konzept des Gehens als Praxis der Verfehlung konzentriert sich
mein Beitrag auf eben jene Momente der sogenannten Sprachlosigkeit und entwickelt ein Konzept
des abweichenen Sprechens, das wesentlich durch die Struktur der Verfehlung konstituiert ist.
Bernhards Erzählung, so die These, inszeniert über die spezifische Struktur eines abweichenden
Sprechens die Grenze zwischen Sprechen und Schweigen bzw. Sprechen und Nicht-Sprechen in ihrer
prekären Grundstruktur, als Grenze, die ihre eigene Grenzwerdung permanent verfehlt. Die
Demarkationslinie zwischen Sprechen und Schweigen, so wird der Vortrag zeigen, erweist sich nicht
als lediglich verschobene Grenze, sondern als das, was durch die Praxis des „vorüber“-Gehens
konstituiert ist, das, was sich selbst wesentlich und immer schon als „schüttere Stelle“ ausweist. Es ist
der sogenannte Sprachausfall, nicht als Moment blosser Sprachlosigkeit, sondern in seiner Struktur
als verfehltes Sprechen, der hier Bedeutung konstituiert.
6:00 PM - Autopoietical structures of speechlessness of the dying narrators in Terézia Moras "Das
Ungeheuer" and Franz Kafka's "Ein Traum"
Färber, Christina (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
Which other situation makes a subject more speechless in life than death? Not only is death a
semantic fallout, a mere sign of sense which threatens a representational structure of language – but
also the unavoidable, forecast end of speaking of I. In Terézia Moras Das Ungeheuer (2013) this
metaphysical problem is solved autopoietically: the novel is divided into two plots, separated by a
line in the middle of the pages. The upper plot narrates socially isolated Darius, who is on a restless
mission to bury his wife; the unburied dead is not only disturbing the Diesseits of Darius but is an
autonomous voice itself conveying the diary in the lower part of the book. Flora is once present
consciousness, once a Derridarian absence present, a voice with no words, her part of the book is
blank for several sections.
My approach distincts three levels here: the narrative act (by Darius and Flora, who ended
conversation a long time ago), the body of the text, and the literary as an autopoietical authority.
Flora is a communicative conscious, who entrusted her soul to her very own narration of herself. The
textual body becomes a corpse which paradoxically is being able and unable to speak at the same
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time. The autopoietical structures are complex: Flora’s writing was before death, when she could not
speak, the speaking is after her death – in death she irritates the Diesseits, remains the boundary
(the line) between here and there and refers in the play of those three levels autopoietically to the
literary, which maintains a metaphysical speech – especially in the blank sections of her part. The reordering aim of the burial is accomplished by the body of the text, where the dead has her place and
grave. Franz Kafka’s short novel Ein Traum (1920) shows the speechlessness by a sexton, facing the
empty grave for “K.” while being watched by him; his hesitation to continue carving K.’s name into
the gravestone shows how this textual body, too, becomes the necessary gravestone and rescues the
narration from the speechlessness.
Death as the technically ultimate speechlessness and end of representative semiotics (as we do not
know (what) it is) starts a semantical process. The literacy of Flora’s sections, unlike Darius’ who is
unable to communicate, misunderstands letters not as dead, speechless signs but in fact as the
presence of Flora’s regained ability to speak out; even without words, in speechlessness, there is the
potential of communication in her presence.
17259 - World fantastic literature: multiple languages, multiple perspectives
Room: Hs 23
Chair: Philippov, Renata; Amaral, Gloria
11:00 AM - An Encounter with the Fantastic-Grotesque: A Persian Case
Shahbazimoghadam, Nahid (University of Semnan, Seman, Iran); Ghaderi, Farah (University of Urmia, Urmia, Iran)
An Encounter with the Fantastic-Grotesque: A Persian Case
As a pioneering critic of the fantastic and grotesque style of the Renaissance art and architecture,
John Ruskin asserts that the evolution of these modes partly owe to the East, a major source of
imitation and home to early civilizations. Ruskin refers to two fountainheads of the modes as the
Egyptians, Jews, Arabians, Assyrians, and Persians in the east and south and Scandinavians in the
west and north; which leaves him hesitant “whether most to admire the winged bulls of Nineveh, or
the winged dragons of Verona” (159). Accordingly, despite some contemporary views dealing with
the grotesque and fantastic as purely Western phenomena, this paper discusses the fantasticgrotesque in the transgressive subculture set in some Modern Persian short stories to highlight the
depiction of such modes as a subversive medium for the critique of social issues at a symbolic level.
In this regard, the present work basically draws on Tzvetan Todorov’s study of the fantastic and Ewa
Kuryluk’s notion of the grotesque as an anti-world set against dominant culture as well as Wolfgang
Kayser’s discussion of literary motifs associated with the fantastic and grotesque.
Keywords: fantastic, grotesque, Ewa Kuryluk, Wolfgang Kayser, Tzvetan Todorov, Modern Persian
fiction
11:30 AM - Orphans of Eldorado (Milton Hatoum), otherness and melancholy
TRUSEN, Sylvia (Universidade Federal do Pará, PA, Brazil)
Orphans of Eldorado, the work of Milton Hatoum published in 2008, begins his plot in an unusual
way. The narrative voice recalls a scene: an Indian woman in the Indian language, attracted by her
lover, be enchanted the Amazon, disappears in the river. The strange moment remembered is, in
turn, translated by another voice - the one from “ama tapuia”, narrator of the legends that
accompany the protagonist, Arminto Cordovil, he also charmed by an orphan who dreams of living
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on the river bottom. The novel of Milton Hatoum thus seems to be woven from two large strings otherness and melancholy - that intertwine to merge the mythical plan to the personal story of the
narrator. This paper therefore seeks to examine the unusual character of the work, from the
articulation of these concepts through the contributions of psychoanalytic and literary studies.
2:00 PM - All-Time Sinner or National Hero: Language and Politics of the Ukrainian Gothic
Krys, Svitlana (Lana) (MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada)
Oleksa Storozhenko’s novel Marko prokliatyi [Marko the Cursed, 1870-1879] is often viewed as an
epitome of the Gothic sensibility in Ukrainian Romanticism. It borrows freely from the themes and
aesthetics of the Gothic, including an atmosphere of horror, intensified by the numinous landscapes;
the presence of an evil-doer, cursed by God; the crime and punishment motif, linked to a family
sin/curse; and the theme of incestuous love — all of which are mixed with mythology and folklore.
Some scholars even see links in the plot of Marko the Cursed to the two emblematic works of the
frenetic Gothic: Matthew Lewis’s The Monk (1796) and Charles Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer
(1820). However, what has been left outside the scholarly radar and distinguishes Storozhenko’s
Gothic from his predecessors is the fact that he simultaneously endorses and undermines the horrific
by turning the repulsive into the attractive. This article will examine the novel’s creative engagement
with the Gothic discourse from a postcolonial perspective, aiming to uncover a political message
behind its experiments with horror. Indeed, the novel was produced in the aftermath of the Valuev
Circular (1863) and Ems Decree (1876), which banned the use of Ukrainian in print and served as a
building block of the Russian Empire’s position on the national question. It references the Cossack
era, a period of cultural flowering, viewed as a foundation for the development of the national idea
in nineteenth-century Ukraine. Hence, a transformation of the Gothic sinner, Marko the Cursed, into
a glorious Cossack-knight and a guardian spirit of Ukraine gains special significance. I propose that it
is through the twist that Storozhenko puts on the Gothic aesthetics that his novel is able to promote
the Ukrainian national heroes at a time when it could not do so directly, setting a model for the
Gotho-fantastic discourse that finds its reflection even in twenty-first century Ukraine.
2:30 PM - EDGAR ALLAN POEŽS THE PHILOSOPHIES OF FURNITURE AND COMPOSITION: A SPATIAL
TOPOANALYSIS FOR GOTHIC LITERATURE
Colucci, Dr. Luciana (Universities of Surrey, Sao Paulo and Fed. do Triangulo Mineiro/CAPES, Guildford, Austria)
Luciana COLUCCI
Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM)
Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
University of Surrey (UK)
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes)
Differently from many studies that focus on Edgar Allan Poe´s literary and critical texts, this paper
aims at the analysis of the poetic principle involving the frame of the gothic spatiality in order to
favor Poe as a theoretician of space in literature. Considering that contemporary literary scholars
such as Blanchot (Léspace littéraire, 1955), Bachelard (The Poetics of Space, 1964), Lotman (The
Structure of the Artistic Text, 1977), Tadié (Le Récit Poétique, 1978), Tuan (Landscapes of Fear, 1979),
Botting (Gothic, 1996), Lothe (2000) and Borges Filho (Espaço & Literatura: Introdução à Topoanálise,
2007) have valued the importance of spatial category in fictional texts (a spatial turn), we affirm that
Poe can be considered one of the predecessors of such studies for his “Philosophies”, of Furniture
(1840) and Composition (1846), discuss the locale as something that was accurately planned,
constructed and decorated in a way that “must not be confounded with mere unity of place” (The
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Philosophy of Composition, 1846). Poe´s scope of spatiality is “embroided with a very detailed and
eccentric decoration with a range of interesting objects, furniture, antique since “Gothic fiction is the
fiction of the haunted castle”, as Punter (1996) puts it and, also, as Vasconcelos (2002) and Botting
(2006) highlights, is the fiction of excess. So, f rom the ancient castle to the city moderninsecurities,
from gothic to fantastic mode , Poe presents a homology between space and character, creating a
psychologicalchaos thatis bornof the confrontationbetween reasonandunreason. Summing up, Poe
elaborates a poetics of the space in the gothic mode in a multiple perspective that is not only in
harmony with our times, this so called 21st-century global-village scenario, but also represents a
solid contribution to the spatial and topoanalytical studies in literature, enabling us to understand
why this poèt maudit is so called the arch-priest of gothic fiction and its related modes.
3:00 PM - THE WHITE WHALE, THE DARK HORROR: GOTHIC AS MODERN EPIC IN MOBY DICK AND
HEART OF DARKNESS
Ghirardi, Jose (FGV Direito SP Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
In his classic Tolstoi or Dostoievski, George Steiner argues that the most far-reaching literary works of
19th century literature are to be found at the extremes of the literary galaxy – Russia and the United
States. It is there that one can find what he sees as the epic drive of literary works, a drive that is
significantly linked to qualities usually labeled gothic or fantastic. One of Steiner’s main examples of
this mysterious force of literatures at the far ends of the galaxy is Melville’s Moby Dick (1851). This
presentation discusses Steiner’s proposition and its view on the gothic by contrasting Melville’s work
to Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece Heart of Darkness (1899).
4:00 PM - Edgar Allan Poe, Machado de Assis and the dead beloved woman: a critical reading of the
fantastic.
Bellin, Greicy Pinto (Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil)
The death of the beloved woman is one of the most important and recurrent themes of horror and
fantastic fiction, being thematized in many different ways. In this sense, it is almost impossible not to
remember the name of Edgar Allan Poe, as his famous poem "The Raven" became the paradigm of a
melancholic literary culture associated with the death of young and beautiful women. An author who
also deals with this theme is Machado de Assis, although his so-called affilitation with Realism may
dismiss the fantastic tendency of some of his fictional works. Such an affiliation can be questioned
from the reading of stories like "Um esqueleto" and "Sem olhos", that address the theme of the dead
beloved woman. Therefore, it is possible to establish a relationship between these two authors, in
order to analyze and discuss the ways in which they are going to represent the theme, which seems
to be related to an incorporation of European fantastic models in literatures like the Brazilian and the
American ones. This communication's aim, thus, is to revisit the theme of the dead beloved woman
in the fantastic fiction of Poe and Machado de Assis, perceiving it as a locus for problematizing and
questioning the literary and cultural dependence maintained by both American and Brazilian
literatures in relation to European models, more specifically with the ones represented by the
fantastic. This analysis will focus on a comparison between "Um esqueleto" and "The oblong box", in
which eccentric male figures like dr. Belém and Cornelius Wyatt are so obsessed by their dead wives
that they decide to keep their corpses without entombment, in an attitude that can be interpreted as
a metaphor for the male artist who is imprisioned by European models and is not able to get free of
them. In Machado's case, a strong criticism against romantic stereotypes can be observed, as well as
a parody of the fantastic, especially if we consider the reference to E. T. A. Hoffmann in the beginning
of "Um esqueleto".
5:00 PM - Prosper Mérimée: fantastique et couleur locale
Amaral, Gloria (Universidade São Paulo/Universidade Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil)
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Prosper Mérimée est d’abord connu comme l’auteur de Carmen. Pour les lecteurs du fantastique, il
est surtout l’auteur de La Vénus d’Ille. Il y a aussi des lecteurs qui certainement connaissent Colomba
imprégnée de culture corse dans laquelle il a plongé pendant ses voyages dans le poste d’inspecteur
general des monuments historiques et qui révèle un intérêt pour la couleur locale tant aimée des
romantiques. L’intérêt pour des cultures différentes est un des traits qui le caractérise comme
auteur; c’est peut-être ce goût du différent qui l’a poussé vers le fantastique. Nous allons essayer
dans cette communication de voir comment est-ce que ces deux tendances – couleur locale et
fantastique -se croisent des nouvelles de Mérimée telles que La Vénus d’Ille, Lokis, Djoumane.
11:00 AM - Le paratexte et le texte fantastique
RODRIGUES-ALVES, Maria-Cláudia (IBILCE- Universidade Estadual Paulista, São José do Rio Preto - SP, Brazil)
En tant que paratextes littéraires, les dédicaces et les épigraphes peuvent être considérées les
vestibules des textes qu’elles précèdent. Leurs fonctions varient : elles peuvent tout simplement
rendre hommage, introduire le texte/sujet, mais elles révèlent sûrement une afinité entre l’auteur et
la figure par lui choisie (personne/personnalité, directement, dans le cas de la dédicace, et auteur,
dans le cas d’un extrait littéraire ou autre, pour l’épigraphe). A part l’intention première de l’auteur,
son lecteur peut aussi émettre des hypothèses et attribuer au paratexte une série de fonctions et
sens, selon sa propre lecture, son répertoire personnel. Dans le cas des textes appartenant au genre
fantastique, ce paratextes sont très souvent des éléments mystérieux de plus, qui contribuent à
l’aspect insolite de l’ensemble du texte et qui intriguent le lecteur au lieu de l’éclairer. Il est,
néanmoins, incontestable qu’il s’agit d’une invitation au lecteur à pénétrer le texte proprement dit.
Nous proposons l’analyse de deux nouvelles fantastiques de Julio Cortázar où la dédicace et
l’épigraphe assument divers rôles et nous révèlent un projet littéraire personnel, un réseau
pluriartistique, atemporel et universel : le conte « Graffiti », dédié au plasticien catalan Antoni Tàpies
et « Anneau de Moebius », dont l’épigraphe est extraite de l’oeuvre de la brésilienne Clarice
Lispector.
11:30 AM - Un peaufinage pour le fantastique : la relecture BD
Ramazzina Ghirardi, Ana Luiza (UNIFESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Malrieu (1992) affirme qu’au XIXe siècle le « fantastique a produit ses principaux chefs-d’œuvre » et
« qu’il a rencontré alors son plus grand succès parce qu’il était un monde d’expression
particulièrement bien adapté pour rendre compte des interrogations qui traversent cette période. »
C’est le siècle où la science et la laïcisation s’imposent. Le fantastique apparaît donc comme l’une des
réponses possibles à la sensation diffuse que la vie ne peut pas être expliquée seulement par la
rationalité scientifique. Steinmetz (2008) remarque que « le fantastique s’accorde avec le climat
d’inquiétude ressenti par toute une génération ». Si le fantastique voit son apogée dans un moment
si particulier, comment le considérer dans un nouveau contexte ? Le XXIe siècle selle-t-il la fin du
fantastique ? Aujourd’hui, le fantastique est objet de plusieurs formes de re-signification et de
relecture. Grâce aux nouvelles technologies, le genre retrouve un chemin inattendu à travers un
ancien artifice : l’image. Elle permet au lecteur contemporain de le lire par un autre biais. A travers
un récit séquentiel multimodal, la relecture BD du littéraire se prête à revivre et à immortaliser des
histoires fascinantes en renouvelant ce que le texte monomodal le faisait autrement. Selon Boutin
(2012), la BD conjugue multiples modes (textuel, visuel, gestuel, sonore, etc.) et « ‘lire’ de la bande
dessinée, c’est nécessairement se confronter à un message narratif d’une complexité certaine et
beaucoup plus dense que ne le laissent présager ses apparences. » Cette communication investigue
les atouts dont le langage BD se sert pour saisir le suspens créé par le texte monomodal fantastique.
Pour ce faire, on emprunte deux adaptations BD (Quinquet, 2012 et Rue de Sèvres, 2014) de Le Horla
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de Maupassant pour faire découvrir l’articulation qui achève dans un récit provoquant chez le lecteur
une indécision pour dévoiler « si l’être invisible qui le hante est imaginaire ou réel. » (CASTEX, 2004)
12:00 PM - Dialogues insolites avec Marco Polo: fiction et histoire
Atik, Maria Luiza (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. Prof. Dra. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, São Paulo,
Brazil)
Dans la littérature contemporaine, le processus créateur recherche le nouveau en mettant en
évidence une façon de raconter intrigante, où le regard renouvelle la lecture du monde et unifie la
ficition et l´histoire, le passé et présent. L´Histoire et la Fiction sont des discours. L´Histoire écrit à
propos des faits et des événements. La Fiction recouvre le monde, mais ce nést pas la vérité ,ni la
réalite.
Cést ce qui arrive avec le roman Viagem ao pavio da vela, de Renato Modernell, dans lequel un
voyageur contemporain du temps de l´écriture, Roberto Lira, est poussé par une force étrange dáller
à Venise. Parmi les adversités de voyage on voit sínstaler línsolite, cést-à-dire, au moment de la
traversée dún pont, le touriste Roberto Lira se voit devant Marco Polo. En rompant avec le sens
comum d´ un univers histórico ficctionnel, léxpérience vécue par le personnage met en doute notre
perception du réel, du prévisible, du plausible. La narration circule tout le temps dans cet espacetemps et le personnage se transforme dáuditeur en narrateur. Le dialogue de deux personnages
nous apporte des faits historiques dans un processus continu des juxtaposition des époques.
Lóbjectif du narrateur est celui découter les aventures de Marco Polo, puisque celui-là voudrait
connaître le monde futur lequel il ne vivra pas. Les chemins parcourus par l´humanité lui sont
étrangres, malgré sa connaissance de tant de cultures et,moeurs extraordinaires. Tous les deux ont
du mal à supposer les chemins parcourus par l´humanité aussi bien dans le passé que dans le
présent. Donc, réfléchir sur la construction du discours narratif qui produit sens diferents, dans la
limite de la ficition et de l´histoire, cést lún des défis qui nous propose le roman de Modernell.
2:00 PM - The multiple meanings of the fantastic in Aura, by Carlos Fuentes
TREVISAN, ANA (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil)
The narrative structure of the novel Aura (1962), by Carlos Fuentes, carefully outlines the fantastic as
a literary genre, which broadly corresponds to the traditional fantastic narrative analyzed by T.
Todorov in The fantastic: a structural approach to a literary genre (1970). In this work, the
construction of hesitation and ambiguity, particularly noticeable in the wide spectrum of actions
carried out by the characters Aura, Consuelo and Felipe Monteiro, builds up the narrative tension,
increased along the chronology of events and the detailed description of places. Refined spams of
the grotesque and terror emerge from the second-person point of view, thematically interwoven
with individuals and their voices. The theoretical studies made by Rosalba Campos and Jaime Alazraki
regarding the fantastic narrative shed light on multiple interpretations of the contemporary fantastic
account and, in this study, are used to prompt reflections upon the meanings of the grotesque
nurtured by overlapping time and plural identities. The fantastic puts forward a critical view on the
Mexican culture, paradoxically realistic and dynamically seen as disconcerting, absurd and
transgression-oriented.
2:30 PM - The fantastic in the post-modern South America: frontiers and dialogues
Silva, Adriana (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil)
From the 60’s the magical realism label started to define the narratives of Latin America. In the
magical realism, the regionalism served as the principal element to evoke the phantasy at the same
time that the realistic elements were considered treating the poverty and violence from a esthetic
point of view. This definition, therefore, served to the literature critics, specially for those in the
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centers of the culture industry, as United States and Europe, as a hand in a glove to force a
homogeneity when the subject was the Latin American literature. Nowadays, when even those
centers are problematized as the previous periphery has its own and regional centers of power, a tag
to the Latin America literature, as it had been created by the Latin American Studies, is very
problematic and not convincing. As the literature itself has new supports and a different space in the
culture, the writing in Latin America involves different points of view in which its very complex
scenario is represented. With the context of the mondialism, and the economic growth of the
borders of the economic centers, the representation in Latin America had changed its basement. In
Brazil, from the 70’s to the beginnings of the new century, authors as Sérgio Sant’anna, Caio
Fernando Abreu and Hilda Hilst gave their own impressions about post-modernity. The magic that
could be encountered in João Guimarães Rosa, for example, in his natural landscapes inhabited by
metaphysical creatures is replaced by phantasy in the urban scenario which is more like a nightmare,
an hallucination provoked by the stultifying and entangled routine that the post-modern men and
women have to deal with. In Argentina, names as Juan José Saer, César Aira and Washigton Cucurto
lend their colors to the new fantastic painting in literature. With humor, sometimes, they represent
serious political and social problems through which the country has passed or is passing by. In this
paper, I will analyze which are the possibilities of the post-modern fantastic literature in South
America, specially in Brazil and Argentina, in view of these authors here mentioned, and the relation
between their representation and the historical context in which the works are inserted, without
forgetting the frontiers that separate them, and the possibilities of a transposition of those borders
by literature.
3:00 PM - Ethics and Literature in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
Monteiro, Rosario (CHAM-FCSH-UNL-Ac, Lisboa, Portugal)
In this paper, I propose an analysis of how Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials presents and tries to
solve several fundamental ethical issues, never loosing site of the target audience: adolescents. Two
young characters, sometimes under supervision, face disturbing issues as death, truth, friendship,
war, and love. However, most of the time they have to decide without guidance, relying on their
consciousness, on principles inherited from the cultural milieu, and on their friendship. The two
characters are complementary, and this characteristic allows them to make the right ethical choices,
even the most painful. In their process of growing up, they are learn from their mistakes, but they
also learn that to become full human beings they have to learn that ethical principles are not only
fundamental, but com with a price hard to pay. At the same time, they are confronted with a fictional
universe where ethic seems, most of the times, unimportant or even prejudicial.
Pullman proposes some radical transformations in literature for teenagers and young adults, and he
also paved a road out of formulaic and/or post-Tolkien fantasy while, at the same time, fulfilled the
“mission” of “speaking out of tone”, of contrasting and questioning cultural agendas of mainstream
literature and culture. The possible worlds built by Philip Pullman are, in my opinion, complex and
inspiring fictions that question the frames of the actual world, and this is, definitely, one of the most
important functions of fantasy and fantastic literature, part of its genetic code.
17261 - Languages of Climate - Comparative Approaches to the Environment
Chair: Nitzke, Solvejg Elisabeth; Horn, Eva
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9:00 AM - Comparing Climates, Comparing Cultures
Horn, Eva (Institut für Germanistik, Wien, Austria)
For a long time, climate has not been conceived as "global". On the contrary, climate was that which
defined a specific location and marked its differences to other locations. From antiquity through
Enlightenment, climate was seen as a determining factor of human natural habitats, explaining
differences in culture, political systems, mentality and physical constitution by the forcings of
meteorological conditions, but also the quality of the soil, the water sources, and the forms of
livelyhood in a given location. Climate was a category of difference, yet a category mediating
between man and environment, nature and culture, closely intertwining them. Only in the modern
age, this intertwining between culture and climate has been dismissed as "deterministic". My talk will
give an outline of this long tradition of climate as a category of comparison and as an explanation of
cultural differences, focusing on its implications for the link between culture and climate.
9:30 AM - From Acclimatization to Assisted Migration: Sociobiological Metaphors in the Discourse
on Climate Change
Kranz, Isabel (Graduiertenkolleg Funktionen des Literarischen in Prozessen der Globalisierung LMU München , München,
Germany)
According to Warwick Anderson, the term acclimatization is an invention of the late 18 th century. At
the time, the introduction of hitherto non-native animals and plants to European botanical gardens
was vigorously pursued in both England and France. Whereas the idea of human acclimatization was
also investigated, mostly in the context tropical medicine, it went without saying that humans were
considered the agents of this process and not its objects.
This power relation has been altered in significant ways in the anthropocene, i. e. at a time when
man has been identified as a geological force to reckon with. As Dipesh Chakrabarty has pointed out,
we are now encouraged to think of humanity as a species, therefore giving up the idea of humans
being in control over processes they are, in fact, deeply enmeshed in. This repositioning of mankind
has implications for our understanding of biological concepts such as acclimatization. Whereas to
Linnaeus, Saint-Hilaire and Darwin, to name only a few, acclimatization was mostly a controlled
economic endeavor, we are today increasingly faced with the unintended migration of plants and
animals to new habitats. Humans are agents in these processes, whether directly or by proxy, which
motivates environmental writers like Emma Marris to speak of the need for “assisted migration” and
to consider the ethical problems these transfers entail.
I will investigate how this new configuration of humans in relation to flora and fauna in the
anthropocene is treated in literature. Going back to Rudolf Borchardt’s learned and instructive
thoughts on gardening and climate in Der leidenschaftliche Gärtner (written in 1938, published
posthumously in 1951), I will analyze acclimatization, migration and the ensuing ideas of “invasive
species” in contemporary literary and scientific texts as sociobiological metaphors that propose to
reposition mankind but are nevertheless deeply imbued with a humanistic tradition they are unlikely
to overcome soon.
10:00 AM - Closed System and Terraforming. Artificial Climate in Reinhard Jirgls Nichts von Euch auf
Erden
Bühler, Benjamin (Universität Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany)
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Science Fiction Literature often confronts men with a particular environment: Catastrophes or wars
convert the earth to an uninhabitable place or space travellers are confronted with strange and
hostile worlds. These imaginations of environment refer back to scientific discourses, but they also
include the consequences of an uncommon environment for men and societies.
My talk will examine two scenarios, which are central for climate research: Firstly the making of an
artificial climate in ‘closed systems’; secondly the fabrication of a whole new atmosphere through
the technique ‘terraforming’. Therefore I will analyse Reinhard Jirgls novel Nichts von Euch auf Erden
(2013).
11:00 AM - Émile Zola and the Literary Language of Climate Change
Ungelenk, Johannes (Institut für Romanische Philologie der Universität München, München, Germany)
On February 7 1861, John Tyndall, professor of natural philosophy, delivered a historical lecture: he
could prove that different gases absorb heat to a very different degree, which implies that the
temperate conditions provided for by the earth's atmosphere are dependent on its particular
composition of gases. The theoretical foundation of climate science was laid. However, nobody in the
audience sensed the brewing of catastrophe that was taking place in the everyday reality of galloping
industrialisation, to which this insight could and should have given the key... Ten years later, on the
other side of the Channel, a young and ambitious author is working on a comprehensive literary
analysis of the French Second Empire. Émile Zola has probably not heard or read of Tyndall's
discovery. It is in another language – not Tyndall's scientific one – that the knowledge of climate
speaks to him: in the language of literature. His literary attempts to capture the defining
characteristic of the Second Empire lead him to an insight: its various milieus are all part of the same
'climate', the climate of an all-encompassing warming. Zola exhibits that this climate is men-made:
the economic success of the Second Empire is based on metaphorical and literal heating, on stoking
the steam-engines, on creating the hypertrophic atmosphere of the hothouse that enhances life and
maximises turnover and profit. In contrast to Tyndall and his audience, Zola senses the catastrophic
consequences of this warming: the Second Empire is inevitably moving towards a final débâcle , it is
doomed to perish in local and 'global' climate catastrophes. In my paper I would like to pursue the
supplementary status of Tyndall's physical and Zola's literary knowledge. As Zola's striking intuition
demonstrates, literature appears to have a privileged approach to this phenomenon. It is this literary
privilege for listening to and reconstructing the language of climate change that I would like to
examine.
11:30 AM - Klima(wandel)wissen in den Bildsprachen von Karikatur und Cartoon
Zemanek, Evi (Uni Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany)
Seitdem die gegenwärtige Beobachtung und Prognose eines Klimawandels in Form einer globalen
Erwärmung zunehmend in den journalistischen Massenmedien thematisiert und kontrovers
diskutiert wird, erscheinen dort Klimawandel-Cartoons, die Klimawissen primär visuell
kommunizieren und satirisch kommentieren. Sie entwickeln als Modus der Wissenspopularisierung
eine eigene Bildsprache, die weit hinaus geht über die grafischen Diagramme, derer sich die
Klimatologie bedient, um ihre numerischen Messergebnisse und Extrapolationen zu visualisieren.
Mein Beitrag untersucht diese Bildsprache, die visuellen Metaphern, Topoi und die Text-BildInteraktion im Cartoon auf zwei Vergleichsebenen, diachron und synchron: zum einen mit Blick auf
Darstellungen des Klimas, meist in Form von Extremwetterereignissen, in Karikaturen aus dem 19.
und frühen 20. Jahrhundert – also aus einer Zeit lange vor der Entdeckung des Klimafaktors ‚Mensch’
und der Popularisierung des Klimawandeldiskurses –, um Kontinuitäten und Brüche festzustellen;
zum anderen mit Blick auf Cartoons aus anderen Kulturen hinsichtlich der Frage, inwiefern die
Bildsprache universell oder aber kulturspezifisch ist, ggf. letztlich vom lokal- oder regionaltypischen
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Klima (d.h. vom Wetter, aber auch vom soziopolitischen ‚Klima’) abhängt und einer interkulturellen
Übersetzung bedarf.
12:00 PM - How Not to Speak of Climate: Narrative Gaps in the Dystopian Genre
Fuchs, Susanne (New York University, New York, USA)
The climate narratives implicated in movies depicting “extreme-weather”-scenarios
and their relationship to scientific discourses of climate research are constantly changing. This paper
focuses on a specific narrative technique gaining popularity within the dystopian genre: In movies
like Reynold’s Waterworld (1995), Vinterberg’s It’s All About Love (2003), Hillcoat’s The Road
(2009), and most recently Paltrow’s The Young Ones (2014), the presented chain of events is
informed by a significant decline or rise in temperature. However, the plots set in an exceptional cold
or hot climate do not resort to narratives of cause and effect as they simply leave the inner-diegetic
change of temperature unexplained. According to Genette, such a paralepsis effects a modification
of the narrative’s focalization, its point of view. Benjamin’s essay Der Erzähler emphasizes the
necessity to leave a narration free of explanations. The effect of this limitation can be linked to
Genette’s paralepsis as it is said to stress specific parts of a narrative that make it worth
remembering (“merkwürdig”). Additionally, Benjamin links a loss of narration and a loss of
experience, which is exemplified in the incommensurability of the industrial destruction during WW I,
a devastation that created a landscape "in der nichts unverändert geblieben war als die Wolken [...]".
In times of global warming, even this last fixed point of the story-teller’s world is challenged. Read
with Genette and Benjamin, the omission of scientific discourses in recent dystopian movies enables
a narrative focus on lives lived in a changed climate and thus defies the difficulty of narrating the
complex realities and infinite implications of a changing climate. However, questions regarding the
effects of this narrative trick remain: Do such paralepsis draw a veil over the causes of man-made
climate changes? Or do they rather raise awareness for the causes by depicting possible effects? Is
the audience inspired to fill the narrative gaps in retrospect, as Genette suggests? Or are the viewers
rather led to accept the presented life worlds as an inevitable given?
2:00 PM - Mit dem Steigen des Meeresspiegels
Stoffel, Patrick (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany)
Von einem sintflutartigen Unwetter in einem abgelegenen Bergdorf in den Tessiner Alpen
festgesetzt, zwischen jenen Gesteinsschichten, in deren Faltungen und Verwerfungen die
Naturforscher des 18. Jahrhunderts die Vergangenheit der Erde zu lesen lernten und infolgedessen
die geologische Tiefenzeit entdeckten, bleibt Herrn Geiser, dem Protagonisten von Max Frischs
Erzählung Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän (1979), nichts als lesen, aber keine Romane, die „eignen
sich in diesen Tagen überhaupt nicht“. Zu einem Zeitpunkt, wo nicht einmal die Höhe des
Meeresspiegels ein für allemal geregelt scheint, versucht Herr Geiser – die Collagetechnik der
Erzählung lässt den Leser an seiner Lektüre teilhaben – im Buch der Natur zu lesen.
Angesichts der Jahrmillionen der Erdgeschichte, die Herr Geiser lesend erschließt und auf
Merkzetteln an die Wand heftet, um gegen das Vergessen, sein eigenes und das der Menschheit,
anzuschreiben, stellt sich das Erscheinen des Menschen im Holozän (griech. ὅλος, „völlig“ und καινός,
„neu“) als ein geradezu nichtiges Ereignis dar, auch wenn dieser sich die Erdgeschichte ausgehend
von diesem kurzen Zeitabschnitt als seine Geschichte anzueignen suchte. Das mit dem Erscheinen
des Menschen einsetzende Steigen des Meeresspiegels – damals, am „Ende der Eiszeit“, notiert sich
Herr Geiser, „lag der Meeresspiegel mindestens 100 Meter tiefer“ – ist ihm Anlass, die Zukunft des
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Menschen als (mögliche) Katastrophe zu entwerfen: „wenn das Eis der Arktis schmilzt, so ist New
York unter Wasser, desgleichen Europa, ausgenommen die Alpen“. Eine Katastrophe, so fügt Herr
Geiser hinzu, wäre das allerdings nur, sollte der Mensch überleben, denn „die Natur kennt keine
Katastrophen“.
Der Vortrag thematisiert den Konnex von Mensch und Klima im Holozän und die verschiedenen Modi
des Sprechens über das Klima, wie sie in Max Frischs Erzählung in den Alpen, den Zeugen
vergangener, aktueller und möglicher zukünftiger Sintfluten, erprobt werden.
2:30 PM - Raoul Schrott's Languages of Climate Change and Desertification: Writing and Reading
Climate in the Desert
Küpper, Achim (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
The desert is a central topic in Raoul Schrott’s work that is in many ways linked with climatic issues:
in several texts, the desert is depicted as the result of an ongoing ecological process of desertification
related to natural and anthropogenic phenomena of global warming, it is the zone where the traces
of climate change can best be read and studied. This climatic aspect is combined with a selfreflective, language related one: bringing to mind Derrida’s idea of the desert as the very place of
writing, Schrott’s texts present it as a surface where traces are inscribed, yet only to ultimately
disappear in the desert winds.
This is connected with another observation: Schrott’s deserts stage a conflict between different
scales of space and time. The desert is not only among the places on earth where a geological “deep
time” becomes most manifest, in Schrott’s work, the grains of sands are, in a peculiar shift from a
microscopic to a macroscopic level, recurringly paralleled with orbs in the celestial sphere, with
meteorites, moons, and stars. They thus gain a cosmic dimension which, in comparison, renders any
human act of telling or writing about them infinitely small. The contribution will pursue the idea of a
mineral, geological, or astral space and time in Schrott, which reduces every human language of the
desert to a marginal and short-lived enterprise. The question will arise, then, how the human impact
on or shaping of the environment has to be viewed with regard to this microscopic human scale.
Schrott’s languages of climate are thus essentially desert languages: the desert is the place where
climate is read and written, but it is also a transitory area, where traces (signs) are only temporarily
preserved an where any human articulation vanishes before the cosmic magnitude that is at work,
for instance, in the infinitely slow “becoming” of the desert sands.
The contribution will include comparative perspectives on other works, and it may be presented in
German.
3:00 PM - Climate and Biography - Mountaineering Narratives as Climatological Tales
Nitzke, Solvejg Elisabeth (Institut für Germanistik, Austria)
The question of why one would risk one’s life to summit a mountain is as old as the apparent desire
to do so and has been discussed at length and dismissed many times. Still, mountaineering has never
lost its appeal and although it seems that there could not possibly be any more “firsts” to achieve it
still retains its allure of exploration and adventure. Thus, it has to be more than the urge to prove
one’s masculinity or one’s strength and durability that keeps so many going in their attempts to
reach the highest peaks. When it comes to climbing summits far above an environment that could
sustain life and especially when summiting mountains whose peaks provide climates hostile to any
living thing or being, those who live to tell the tale have reached a climax within their biography.
By comparing fictional and non-fictional accounts of such summits (Christoph Ransmayr’s Der
fliegende Berg, Thomas Glavinic’s Das größere Wunder, Reinhold Messners Der nackte Berg and Jon
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Krakauers Into Thin Air) this paper aims to show that there are not only strong conventions and
traditions in how to tell a summit-story but that the rhetorical strategies of representing a summit
cause the (auto-)biographical narrative to transform into a climatological tale. By organizing stages of
life analogous to the vertical climates/climate zones of the mountain reaching and surviving the
death zone of the mountaintop both biography and climb are told as an adventure that covers the
Earth in its entirety. I will argue that tales of “High Places” (Cosgrove 2009) provide the poetological
means to represent climates and, even more importantly, climate change in a way that provides a
valuable alternative to the disaster-prone so-called Cli-Fi (Climate-Fiction). While being able to cover
extremes these tales are offering ways to connect the unimaginable scale of the world and its
atmosphere to what is humanly possible.
17267 - Translingual entanglements - African francophonie and its "others"
Room: Hs 29
Chair: Moji, Polo; Vassilatos, Alexia; Horne, Fiona
11:00 AM - Entangled Tastes: Gastronomy and Francophone Afropean Subjectivity in Leonora
Miano's Soulfood Équitorial (2009)
Moji, Polo (Univerity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Afropeanism has been presented as a potentially new discursive category in the literary
representation of Africans in Europe (Brancato 2008). Léonora Miano (1973-) a Paris-based
Cameroonian writer is credited with introducing the term “Afropean” into francophone literature
through a collection of short stories entitled Afropean Soul et autres nouvelles (2008) and the novel
Blues pour Elise - séquences afropéenes saison 1 ( 2010).
Miano has written two collections of philosophical essays on Afropean subjectivity, notably the
essay, “Afropea” (Écrits pour la parole, 2012). In this the author employs the gastronomic metaphor
of mixing French and Cameroonian dishes to describe an identity that is composed of “three
languages in echo of four cultures”. This allows me to read the author’s use of culinary language in
Soulfood équitorale (2009) as translingual and transcultural marker of her Afropean subjectivity.
The essay “Habiter la frontière” (Habiter la frontière, 2012) grounds Miano’s Afropean philosophy in
the Glissantian notion of relational, hybrid subjectivities (Glissant, 1993). Although Soulfood
équitoriale is not categorized as a part of Miano’s “Afropean series” of literary texts, I argue that this
ode to the food of her childhood can be read through the lens of her Afro-(Euro)pean subjectivity.
I illustrate how Miano’s gastronomic childhood memories are reactualized as part of her present
transnational consciousness of living in France. Using the notion of “Soulfood” as a marker of
transatlantic Anglophone Afro-diasporic subjectivity, I consider how Miano’s culinary language
subverts conception of Francophonie as a dialectical relation between France and its former colonies.
“Jazz”, as a musical and culinary reference, frames Afropeanism as a rhizomic network of identitarian
affiliations through Afro-American music, Cameroonian cuisine, French and Camfranglais – rendering
Miano’s Francophonie a space of linguistic, cultural and historic entanglements.
11:30 AM - Mapping Francophonie and it "others" in the disciplinary space of French Studies in
South Africa
Horne, Fiona (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
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As highlighted by Emily Apter (2005), the notion of Francophonie lends itself to a multiplicity of
meanings, denoting for example a linguistic platform, or emerging forms of literature in the global
South. In this paper, I will attempt to delineate the symbolic value and discursive functions attributed
to Francophonie in the translingual and transcultural disciplinary space of French Studies in South
Africa. In the South African context, Francophonie has been used to describe the developing role(s)
of French on the African continent within the post-apartheid democratic project, viz. as a language of
diplomacy, economy, politics, development etc. (Peigné & Balladon 2010). It has also been used to
describe the emergence of a locally rooted language identity, that is, of African Francophone
migrants living in South Africa (Vigouroux 2003). In this paper, I explore the ways in which students
and academics symbolically position themselves in relation to “Francophonie” through the
disciplinary poles of language and literature. I will explore the ways in which “Francophonie” is
assigned symbolic value and acts as an identity marker, inviting a reflection on the inclusion of
translingual and transcultural competencies in “foreign” language teaching. In literary studies,
Francophone literature becomes a marker for bridging gaps between local and global, and is
endowed with values which inscribe it within the South African democratic project of nation-building
(Everson 2008; Snyman 2010). This is further evidenced in intercultural approaches to Literature,
where “Francophonie” becomes a transcultural space to reflect on the relationality of Self and Other.
In this regard, over and above the centre-periphery parameter, I will demonstrate how Francophonie
constitutes an intersubjective space of subject positioning and identity construction and plays a
significant discursive role in the historical repositioning of French Studies in South Africa.
12:00 PM - Chaka Zulu in Francophone African literature or the transculturation of Thomas Mofolo's
Chaka: from emerging Sotho literature to Negritude
Vassilatos, Alexia (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Thomas Mofolo’s Chaka was published in 1925. The novel, drawn from oral lore and written in Sotho
by a Sotho writer, is about the life and times of the founder of the Zulu nation, King Chaka. Through
its translations, the impact of Chaka on African literature and ideology has been immeasurable.
Transculturation is a term first coined by Cuban sociologist Fernando Ortiz to encompass and “to
replace the paired concepts of acculturation and deculturation that described the transference of
culture in reductive fashion” between colonies and metropolis (Pratt 1992:228). In the case of
Mofolo’s Chaka, transculturation takes place through its various translations and rewritings. The
transference of culture does not follow a linear path but rather Chaka becomes transcultural through
the variety of cultures it comes into contact with. I postulate that the complexity of Mofolo’s text and
its transculturation stems from the novel’s many forms/(trans)form(ations). I will discuss the
dialogue between the literary cultures from Anglophone Africa and Francophone Africa, which are
traditionally treated as separate intellectual spheres to show that Mofolo’s Chaka is a transcultural
text, which is at the source of a complex intellectual relationship between Southern Africa and
Francophone Africa. This paper will deal with the ways in which an African writer’s ideas about the
Zulu King (Léopold Sédar Senghor) have been shaped by another African writer (Thomas Mofolo)
through its translations, and in particular its translation into French by Swiss missionary Victor
Ellenberger. I will explore how Senghor’s adaptation/interpretation/translation/transposition of
Mofolo’s novel impacted further Francophone writers, mainly by way of the Negritude mouvement,
to create in the figure of Chaka an emissary of black liberation, sparking discussions on modern
African governance across Francophone Africa.
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17268 - Stylistic Phenomena in Multilingual Literature since 1900 (Finno-Ugrian
Studies/ Scandinavia
Chair: Wischmann, Antje; Tischmann, Hannah; Wagner, Philipp; Laakso, Johanna
9:00 AM - Multilingualism in late modern Finland-Swedish prose
Malmio, Kristina (University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland)
From 1990s onwards various kinds of multilingualism have become a frequent and widely used
aesthetic strategy in Finland-Swedish minority literature (Malmio 2011), a literature written in
Swedish in Finland, and “situated” between two national languages, those of Finnish and Swedish. In
this paper I will scrutiny the multilingual style and its functions in three contemporary novels by
Finland-Swedish female authors: Emma Juslin, På barrikader av glas (“On the barricades of glass”,
2006), Marianne Backléns Karma (“Karma”, 2001), and Malin Kiveläs Du eller aldrig (“You or never”,
2006) in order to recognize the diversity and variety of effects of multilingualism as a literary
phenomenon. I will also discuss the novels as approaches to globalization, and the changing position
of the mother tongue and minorities in the world of late modernity. The emphasis will be on two
contradictory “trends”, those of the monolingual paradigm and the multilingual practice, identified
by Yasemin Yildiz in Beyond the Mother Tongue (2012). According to Yildiz, we have entered a
postmonolingual situation. The monolingualizing pressure has slowly started to diminish due to
globalization and the ensuring renegotiation of the place of the nation-state, migration and the
development of new communication technologies. In this current situation, literature can imagine
new formations, and modes of belonging, and offer a critical way of dealing with the monolingual
paradigm, and disrupt the homology between languages and ethno-cultural identity.
A focus on the monolingual paradigm and multilingual practice in these contemporary FinlandSwedish novels exposes various forms of social and ethnic but also poetic and critical uses of
multilingualism. The forms and functions of multilingualism portray in an ambivalent manner the
conditions of a linguistic minority literature in the postmonolingual world.
9:30 AM - "Saatana. Mie se kyllä kiroan". Zur literarischen Funktion finnischer Schimpfwörter in
schwedischer Literatur nach 1970
Wennerscheid, Sophie (Universität Gent, Gent, Belgium)
Anhand ausgewählter schwedischer Romane, in denen ProtagonistInnen eine zentrale Rolle spielen,
die Finnisch als ‘Muttersprache’ haben, soll untersucht werden, welche literarische Funktion der
Gebrauch finnischer Schimpfwörter hat. Wird der spezifische finnische Sprachgebrauch genutzt, um
den ProtagonistInnen eine subversiv-widerständige Stimme zu verleihen, wie es in einigen
Forschungsbeiträgen heißt? Wird ihnen vulgärsprachlich eine besondere emotionale Kraft
zugeschrieben? Oder haben wir es mit einer Stereotypisierung oder einem ‘Othering’ zu tun, das die
entsprechenden Figuren als ungebildet oder ‘unterklassig’ degradiert? Und wenn ja, wird damit der
politische Impuls der Rebellion geschwächt oder gestärkt?
Mit Hilfe eines intersektionalen Zugangs wird nach dem Zusammenspiel verschiedener
Identitätskategorien (Ethnie, Gender, Klasse und vor allem auch Alter) gefragt und die Bedeutung
dieses Zusammenspiels für die poetische Funktion vulgärsprachlicher Ausdrücke untersucht.
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10:00 AM - Real language, real literature. Problems of authenticity in modern Finnic minority
literatures
Laakso, Johanna (Universität Wien, Wien, Austria)
Language culture in Europe has been characterized and shaped by the belief in THE standard
language as an "ideal code" which contains as little variation and as few foreign influences (above all,
loanwords) as possible, corresponding to the folk-linguistic, lexicocentric belief that loanwords are
inherently inferior and an ideal language should use “words of its own”. These ideals of "precision"
and "purity" have also been central in the linguistic emancipation, revitalization and standardization
processes of numerous minority languages. Precision and purity are considered the hallmarks of a
civilized and developed language, or a "real" language in contrast to a "dialect".
Revitalization and linguistic emancipation often involve the creation of literary texts in various
genres. This is not just a practical issue of corpus planning (producing texts for the people to read, for
example in school education) but also important for the image of the language: the existence of
original poetry and prose or translations of canonic European literature (such as Shakespeare or
Goethe) have played an important role in the emancipation of many European languages, “proving”
that the language at issue can act as a vehicle for diverse types of European literary culture.
In young minority-language literatures, these two criteria may clash, especially if expectations are
geared towards authenticity and realistic representation of the multilingual and/or multidialectal
lives and experiences of today's minorities. This paper will analyse a few examples from Finnic
minority literatures, focusing on the problems of reconciling multilingual authenticity and the socialindexical functions of language features with the macrogoals of identity-building and corpus planning
at the service of the ethnocultural identity.
11:00 AM - Das Ende der Mehrsprachigkeit? Sprachbewusstsein in Sami Saids Väldigt sällan fin
(2013) und Neftali Milfuegos Tankar mellan hjärtslag (2015)
Tischmann, Hannah (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Wien, Austria)
„[J]ag [Neftali] är inte som Jonas Hassen Khemiri som skriver på ett språk för att han behärskar en
helhet.“ [ TMH , 111] Dennoch zeigt sich das hohe Sprachbewusstsein von Jonas Hassen Khemiris
Debütroman Ett öga rött (2003) [ EÖR ] in anderer Form auch in Neftali Milfuegos‘ Debüt Tankar
mellan hjärtslag [ TMH ], einem Roman der zu einem großen Teil in schwedischer Umgangssprache
geschrieben ist. Khemiris Halim hat tunesische Wurzeln, Milfuegos Hauptfigur mit Namen Neftali
chilenische. In einem dritten aktuellen schwedischen Debütroman, Sami Saids Väldigt sällan fin [ VSF
], reist die Hauptfigur Noha in das Eritrea seines Vaters. In Khemiris [ EÖR ]versteckt Halim seine
vorhandenen Schwedischkenntnisse hinter einem fiktiven Einwandererslang. In Milfuegos TMH und
Saids VSF hingegen ist die Dominanz der schwedischen Sprache im Leben der kulturellen
Grenzgänger sofort ersichtlich. Ihr Alltag ist also nur äußerlich von Mehrsprachigkeit bestimmt,
Sprachen und Sprachverstehen an sich werden aber regelmäßig thematisiert. Dieses wird der
Ausgangspunkt meines Vortrags sein. Das hohe inhaltliche und stilistische Sprachbewusstsein der
Debütromane von Said und Milfuegos und dessen Bedeutung für die jeweilige Erzählung soll genauer
untersucht werden. Dazu werde ich mich u.a. damit beschäftigen, welche Haltungen die Figuren
gegenüber der Sprache einnehmen und wie diese in der literarischen Schriftsprache „verarbeitet“
werden. Welche Bedeutung erhält der sprachliche Aspekt für die Konstruktion von Identität?
Welcher Anspruch auf Authentizität entsteht durch eine Nicht-Betonung der ursprünglichen
Mehrsprachigkeit? Welche (stilistische) Funktion besitzt die angedeutete Mehrsprachigkeit dann in
so einem Fall?
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11:30 AM - Implizite Mehrsprachigkeit in August Strindbergs "Hemsöborna" (1887) und I
Havsbandet (1890)
Wagner, Philipp (Universität Wien, Mülheim, Germany)
Mehrsprachigkeit in literarischen Texten fällt besonders in ihrer intratextuell-expliziten Variante auf.
Zugleich sind Fälle denkbar, in denen Mehrsprachigkeit auf intertextuell-implizite Weise in
Erzählungen eingebaut werden, z.B. durch direkt übersetzte Redewendungen oder literarische
Motive und Metaphern aus einer anderen Sprache. (Laakso 2011: 31 f.) Im Vortrag soll letzterer Fall
anhand von August Strindbergs Romanen Hemsöborna (1887) und I Havsbandet (1890) näher
analysiert werden. Schauplatz in beiden Fällen ist die Inselwelt des Stockholmer Schärengartens, die
durch ihre Lage zwar internationale Kontakte (z.B. Schiffsverkehr) aufweist, was allerdings nicht
durch intratextuell-expliziten Markierungen, abgesehen von Eigennamen, illustriert wird.
Für beide Romane lassen sich dennoch auf textexterner und -interner Ebene Referenzen auf das
Thema Mehrsprachigkeit finden. So überlegte der mehrsprachige Autor Strindberg während der
Entwicklung von Hemsöborna einen deutschsprachigen Roman abzufassen und die Lektüre des
Protagonisten aus I Havsbandet ist keineswegs monolingual. (1) In einem ersten Analyseschritt gilt es
deshalb die Erwägungen auf der Produktionsebene zu rekonstruieren und diese den Texten
gegenüberzustellen. (2) In einem zweiten Schritt soll die wissenschaftliche Rezeption der Romane
einbezogen werden. So wurde z.b. Hemsöborna aufgrund seiner „Inselterminologie“ bereits als
Quelle von semantischen Übersetzungsproblemen identifiziert (Koller 1972) und I Havsbandet auf die
Auseinandersetzung mit Friedrich Nietzsches Philosophie gelesen (Dahlkvist 2004).
Beide Schritte sollen zum Ausloten des Verhältnisses vom linguistischen Konzept impliziter
Mehrsprachigkeit einerseits und Intertextualität im gängigen literaturwissenschaftlichen Verständnis
andererseits dienen. Dadurch soll ein Beitrag zur theoretischen Diskussion der Kooperation von
Linguistik und Literaturwissenschaft geleistet werden.
11:00 AM - Metapragmatische Positionierungen im Revolutionsdiskurs 1917/18
Spitzmüller, Jürgen (University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria); Leucht, Robert (Zürich, Switzerland)
Der Vortrag bezieht die in der Soziolinguistik und Linguistischen Anthropologie entwickelte Konzepte
stance-taking in discourse und enregisterment auf literarische Texte und ihre heteroglossische
Struktur. Ziel der vorwiegend an Texten Döblins, Landauers und Mühsams durchgeführten
Positionierungsanalyse ist es zu zeigen, wie einerseits konkrete sprachliche/stilistische Praktiken über
die soziale Bedeutung, die den Formen (interdiskursiv) zugeschrieben wird, zur Positionierung von
Akteuren zu Ideen, Gegenständen und Sachverhalten (bspw. den revolutionären Ereignissen in
Hannover, Kiel und München) sowie als Form des „Zueinander-Ausrichtens“ (social alignments)
verwendet wird und wie andererseits durch rekurrente Positionierungs- und Bewertungspraktiken
sprachliche und stilistische Formen in ihrer sozialen Bedeutung und sprachideologischen Indexikalität
weiter verfestigt oder transformiert werden – ein Prozess, der sich in der Literatur bspw. in
Sequenzen gehäufter Figurenrede genau beobachten lässt. Verschiedene „Sprachen“ und „Stile“
dienen dabei aufgrund ihrer jeweiligen sozial registrierten Indexikalität als Positionierungsanker. Sie
sind aber keineswegs einfach nur soziale Ressourcen, deren sich die Akteure bedienen, um sich damit
sozial in einer bestimmten Art und Weise zu positionieren, sondern sie sind, weil jede sprachliche
Handlung auch immer eine reflexive Praxis ist, das (stets transitorische) Ergebnis genau der
Positionierungs- und Registrierungsprozessen, die sich ihrer bedienen. Das heißt, was als distinktive
„Sprache“ oder distinktiver „Stil“ gilt, wird in metapragmatischen Praktiken, nicht zuletzt auch in der
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Literatur, diskursiv bestimmt – und zwar, wie die Analyse zeigen wird, keineswegs nur durch explizite
metasprachliche Bewertung, sondern schon allein durch die stilistische Praxis selbst.
11:30 AM - Deutsche Mütter und deren Diskurs in dänischer Gegenwartsliteratur
Schröder, Stephan Michael (Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany)
Ein auffälliges Phänomen in der dänischen Gegenwartsliteratur ist die Figur der
deutschsprachigen Mutter, so z.B. in Erling Jepsens Kunsten at græde i kor (2002), in Morten
Ramslands Hundehoved (2005) und vor allem in Knud Romers Den som blinker er bange for døden
(2006). In dem Vortrag soll der Diskurs dieser Figuren zunächst – u.a. unter Rückgriff auf die
einschlägige, wenn auch das Problemfeld eher andeutende als aufarbeitende Forschung Vinges,
Holzapfels und Pauls – im Kreuzungspunkt zwischen der Tradition deutschsprachiger Figuren der
Alterität (Soldaten, Kaufleute, Juden, EU-Deutsche – z.B. Holberg, Raage, Rifbjerg –) in der
dänischsprachigen Literatur seit dem 18. Jh. einerseits und den deutschsprachigen Figuren des
Eigenen (Holsteiner zu Gesamtstaatszeiten, deutschsprachige Minderheit nach 1920, jüdischdänische Bevölkerung – z.B. Goldschmidt, Lemche, Nathansen, Levy –) andererseits verhandelt
werden. Dabei muß es auch um die Frage gehen, wie die auffällige Häufung dieser heteroreferentiell
vergleichsweise seltenen Figur vor dem Hintergrund zu erklären ist, daß sich das Dänemark der nuller
Jahre zunehmend als Einwanderungsland reflektierte. In einem zweiten Schritt ist zu analysieren,
welche Stilphänomene in der Diglossie der Texte zu beobachten sind und wie die deutschsprachigen
Passagen narrativ funktionalisiert werden.
12:00 PM - Mehrsprachigkeit in Verfilmungen - funktionale und indexikalische Aspekte
Fredsted, Elin (Europa-Universität Flensburg, Flensburg, Germany)
nDer theoretische Ausgangspunkt des Vortrages ist Asif Aghas Bearbeitung und Nuancierung von
Bakhtins Theorie der Stimmen, die sog. entextualized voicing contrasts (Agha 2005: 39ff), die durch
Gumperz‘ Theorie über die funktionale Bedeutung des Kodewechsels ergänzt wird. Die Hypothese
lautet, dass Mehrsprachigkeit (und damit auch Kodewechsel an sich) eine soziale und indexikalische
Funktion hat, die ein ‚Mehr‘ an Bedeutung signalisiert. Die durch die Mehrsprachigkeit
hervorgehobene Transparenz der Kontraste zwischen Sprachregistern legt nahe, dass
Mehrsprachigkeit einem (Drehbuch)Autor dazu dienen könnte, eine individuelle oder soziale
Typifizierung einer Figur durch als transparent vermittelten Kontrast der Stimmen vorzunehmen, was
dem Bakhtinschen Fall entsprechen würde. Die Analyse widmet sich zwei Beispielen: Der
postmoderne Film The Cuckoo (2002, kymrisch/englisch), in der eine literarische Metasprache
(Englisch) mit einer (mutmaßlich fiktiven) persönlichen Geschichte und popkulturellen Scripts
(Kymrisch) kontrastiert wird. Der Sprachwechsel markiert unterschiedliche Fiktionsebenen, da der
Film zwischen Scripts wechselt, die für den Zuschauer nicht unmittelbar voneinander sind und es
keine auktoriale Erzählposition gibt. Die zweite Analyse widmet sich der Verfilmung des Romans
Kunsten at græde i kor (2002), 2006 in Sønderjysk gedreht, aber doch mehrsprachig, weil Titel,
Untertitel etc. in Standarddänisch gehalten sind. Wie in der deutsch-österreichischen Koproduktion
„Im finsteren Tal“ (2014) sprechen alle Figuren einen für Standardsprecher nicht verständliche
dialektale Sprachvarietät, weshalb die Filme mit Untertiteln versehen sind. Beide Filme behandeln
sexuellen Missbrauch und Gewalt. Es wird untersucht, welche Funktion diese Sprachwahl hat und wie
diese Tendenz zum Gebrauch traditioneller Regionalsprachen im 21. Jahrhundert herzuleiten ist.
2:00 PM - Von der binationalen Verpflichtung zur offenen Diversität?
Wischmann, Antje (Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Wien, Austria)
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In den Institutionen der dänischen Minderheit findet derzeit ein Generationswechsel statt, der
unterschiedliche Phasen der Kulturförderung einschließlich der identitätspolitischen Agenda
hervortreten lässt: Seit den Bonn-Kopenhagener Erklärungen 1955, die eine freie Sprachenwahl und
eine individuell selbsterklärte Zuordnung zur dänischen oder deutschen Minderheit sicherten, sind
Topoi der Bilateralität wie Grenzüberwindung, Ausgleich oder Parallelität gebräuchlich. Die Erfolge
der Partei SSW und der Kulturvereinigung SSF trugen mit dazu bei, dass die neue Generation eine
dynamisierte Figur des Dritten entwickelte, die mit einer Verstärkung der regionalen Selbstdefinition
einhergeht. Aus dem Nebeneinander älterer Anschauungsformen einer Zweiheit und aktueller
Ansätze zur Transnationalität und Diversität ergeben sich interdiskursive Konfliktfelder, die sowohl
Chancen als auch politische Risiken beinhalten. Mit dem semantischen Kampf um Leitkonzepte
setzen sich literarische Texte, Dokumentationen, Informations- und Policy-Materialien auseinander.
Dieser Beitrag widmet sich vorrangig den Strategien der Authentizitätsvergewisserung im
Sprachgebrauch, d.h. konkret vollzogener und dargestellter zwei- bzw. mehrsprachiger
Kommunikation. Hierbei erhalten stilistische Mittel des Code-Switching und die Rhetorik des Idiolekts
besondere Aufmerksamkeit.
2:30 PM - Stylistic aspects of Cia Rinne's multilingual visual poetry
Domokos, Johanna (Universtiy Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany)
In this paper I will look at how multilingualism is formally as well as stylistically modeled in the poetry
of Cia Rinne (b. 1973). My thesis is that Rinne’s different linguistic techniques make the reader reflect
on how verbal and visual signs acquire the power of both the symbolic (cf. Cassirer 1979, Kristeva
1984) and as of poetic (c.f. Jakobson 1959/2000). In order to lend full consideration to the formal and
stylistic aspects of Rinne’s poetry, I will proceed to our examples within the tripartite frame of
intralingual, interlingual and intersemiotic stylistic devices. No matter how random it may appear in
Rinne's case, the texts resulting from multilingual experiments are not accidental or purely
entertaining. They account for an artistic opportunity to look from a new angle at the world, at a new
world, at things not noticed before, at thoughts not thought before, at insights not obtained
otherwise.
3:00 PM - A Screeching of Jackdaws. Sounds, Noises and Incomprehension as Aspects of Literary
Multilingualism
Huss, Markus (Södertörn University, Huddinge, Sweden)
Just as the distinction between what constitutes a sound as opposed to a noise is historically and
contextually determined, so is the distinction between intelligible language and incomprehensible
gibberish. Following theories on literary multilingualism emphasizing incomprehension as an
aesthetic effect of the multilingual literary text (Tidigs 2014, Sommer 2004), my paper will explore
the realm of sounds and noises in multilingual literature, as well as the need to approach these
phenomena as an integral part of literary multilingualism.
I will, in particular, focus on the experience of language or languages perceived as foreign and
opaque, both in terms of aesthetic effect on part of the reader, as well as motif and discourse in the
multilingual literary text itself. In literary accounts of spoken tongues perceived as unintelligible and
foreign, sounds, noises and musical metaphors are often used to illustrate feelings of alienation and
disorientation (as in the title’s Kafka-quote), but also of playfulness and linguistic potentialities.
Readers of sound poetry of the 20th and early 21st century, for example, are confronted with letters
and sounds often inhabiting multiple languages, testifying not only to the contingency of language
borders but also to the potential multilingualism of the monolingual text. The dynamic tension
between written texts, different articulatory possibilities as well as sounds and noises escaping
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linguistic territorialisation points to the need for an interdisciplinary approach to literary
multilingualism, in the intersection of intermedial studies, literary studies and linguistics.
17277 - The Many Languages of Medieval Literature, 4 sessions
Date: Monday, July 25th // Tuesday, July 26th // Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Prominentenzimmer
Chair: Matthias Meyer ; Peggy McCracken
Room: Prominentenzimmer
11:00 AM - The concept of desire in Ruusbroec's texts and its Latin interpretation
Anokhina, Alexandra (Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Vniissok, Russian Federation)
The subject of my report is the concept of desire in Jan van Ruusbroec’s texts and its Latin
interpretation by Jordaens, Grote, Surius. The general term of desire in Ruusbroec’s lexicon is
begherte. It means the passive sense of yearning, which no one can satisfy. Also the begherte
represents the agonizing expectation. This term translated as affectio and desiderium. In the
Ruusbroec’s text there are several alternative forms of desire. The nearest term verlanghen means
the active aspiration and rhythmically united with hanghen, which was translated as inhiare or est
suspensi. Hanghen signifies desire as well as the specific state which is interpreted as presents in God
and this dualism is lost in the Latin text. Thus Ruusbroec’s concept of desire includes the unity of the
passive state and aspiration. Another term of desire is lust. In contrary with Latin “concupiscencia”,
in Ruusbroec’s text this term includes the positive meanings and correlates with weldicheit (bliss),
which was translated as voluptas and thus voluptas finds the highest positive sense. The similar term
is smaec, which means a unity of the corporal and mental sensations and represents the stimulant
element of the “spiritual hunger”. When smaec is interpreted as taste, there are two variants of
translations in Latin (sapor and gustus). However in these translations the main meaning of smaec as
desire is lost. The last term of “desire” is ghevoech which is associated with the sensual perception.
Ruusbroec uses the poetic game to unite the aspiration (ghevoech) and pleasure (ghenoech), which
also shows the dualistic character of desire as the unity of act and result. Thus these characteristics
of desire in vernacular texts show the unity of act (yarning) and result (pleasure): in spiritual and
sensual aspects, which represent the basis of Ruusbroec’s theology. This polysematism is lost in the
scholastic adaptation and provides conflict between the strict Latin terminology and vernacular
variety.
11:30 AM - Perceval und Parzival: Französischer Esprit und Deutscher Geist
Kragl, Florian (Universität Erlangen, Dep. Germanistik, Erlangen, Germany)
Gegenstand des Vortrags ist ein punktueller Vergleich der Figurendarstellung Percevals bei Chrétien
de Troyes und Parzivals bei Wolfram von Eschenbach. Zeigen will ich, dass sich die französische
Vorlage und ihre deutsche Bearbeitung bei aller Ähnlichkeit doch grundlegend darin unterscheiden,
wie Figurenzeichnung und Handlungsmotivation miteinander verschaltet werden. Während Chrétien
seinen Perceval -- nicht nur in der Summe des gesamten Romantorso, sondern in beinahe jeder
einzelnen Szene -- als eine vielschichtige Figur entwirft, entwickelt Wolfram daraus einen Parzival, in
dessen erzähltem Innenleben fast ausschließlich dichotomische Strukturen verbaut sind. In der
Konsequenz wird die mehr oder minder natürlich sich entwickelnde Handlung im 'Perceval' im
deutschen 'Parzival' zu einer mitunter ungelenken, jähen, kantigen Ereignisfolge, der mit Percevals
innerer Vielstimmigkeit gleichsam ihr motivationaler Motor abhanden gekommen ist.
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Szenen, die ich ins Zentrum des Vortrag stellen möchte, sind die Kindheit der Protagonisten, deren
erstes Eintreffen am Artushof und die Frageverweigerung auf der Gralsburg.
12:00 PM - Träume in der deutschen und chinesischen Dichtung der Vormoderne. Ein
interkultureller Vergleich
Benjamin, van Well (Peking University, Berlin, Germany)
Der Traum als menschlich universelles Phänomen hat alle Kulturen fasziniert und wurde daher auch
besonders oft literarisch verarbeitet. Für Traumerzählungen der mittelhochdeutschen Epik und der
erzählenden Dichtung der chinesischen Vormoderne lassen sich dabei bemerkenswerte Parallelen
beobachten. So deutet der Traum nach dem Verständnis beider Kulturen die Zukunft voraus, seine
Quellen können überirdische Mächten sein oder auch Tagesreste. Doch während der Traum in der
mittelhochdeutschen Epik die Seele des Traumempfängers in eine metaphysische Sphäre entrückt,
lässt sich der chinesische Traum nicht klar von der empirisch erfahrbaren Realität trennen. Diese
kulturspezifische Differenz in der Erzählweise soll am Beispiel verschiedener Träume aus der
mittelhochdeutschen Epik und der erzählenden Dichtung der Ming-Dynastie (1368-1644) illustriert
und die Gründe dafür im Rahmen des Vortrags diskutiert werden.
11:00 AM - Alain de Lille, Nature and Fallen Language
Rollo, David (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA)
Early in the De planctu Naturae, Alain de Lille explains how Nature, appearing as a beautiful young
woman, engages the narrator/protagonist in a protracted lament on the ills of humanity (which
include drunkenness, gluttony, greed, pride, envy, flattery and, most notably, sexual irregularity). To
do so, she must assume a human voice. Or, in Alain’s words, “she represented to me the process of
intellection through the medium of a material voice and enacted, as sound, archetypal words that
she had preconceived as ideas” (“mentales intellectus materialis uocis michi depinxit imagine, et
quasi archetipa uerba idealiter preconcepta uocaliter produxit in actum” [6.11–13]).
By her own account, however, by having recourse to a human voice and using it to speak to the
protagonist in the Latin language, Nature is in effect supremely unnatural: as she explains, in being
forced to descend from the innermost sanctum of creation “to the vulgar whorehouses of the Earth,”
Nature has been obliged to speak the fallen language of the sluttish environment she visits.
This concession is also an acknowledgment of some kind of higher “natural” language, certainly preBabelic, perhaps even pre-Edenic. In this paper I shall piece together the clues Alain scatters through
his work in an effort to sketch the identity of this higher discourse: did it have a grammar or, as the
passage quoted above implies, did it function purely through metaphor (if the latter, then, according
to Nature’s remarks on language and sexuality, it would itself already be “unnatural”)?
11:30 AM - Languages of the Human, the Animal, and the Divine: Encounters in the Wilderness in
Medieval French Literature
Griffin, Miranda (St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom)
In the wilderness, language is suspended yet crucial. Medieval texts across various genres often
feature a defining encounter with an ambiguous being whose identity is rendered all the more
difficult to understand by the wild space in which he/she/it is encountered. Is the interdiegetic
spectator (and therefore the extradiegetic reader or listener) beholding an animal or a human? A
saint or a sinner? A woman or a man? Or – perhaps more menacingly – a being which does not fit
clearly into any of these categories? In a courtly or social space, these questions might be easier to
answer, with recourse to the linguistic or symbolic hierarchies and codes familiar to an educated or
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courtly audience. But in the desert, or the forest, in spaces beyond the confines of civilisation, such
codes are unavailable; however (or therefore) they are more necessary to the interpretation of the
unknown. In a space which might be understood as natural (in that it is not cultivated), human and
nonhuman become intertwined, and sometimes indistinguishable. The language we use in order to
distinguish ourselves from the world around us is revealed as incomplete, sometimes in opposition to
the complete understanding afforded by the divine, which does not need to have recourse to flawed
human hermeneutics.
This paper compares such encounters taken from medieval romances, lais and saints’ lives, and
analyses the disparate beings (werewolves, princes, saints) that characters and readers meet in the
medieval wilderness; and the resonances between the languages used to speak to and about them. I
argue that the way in which the human characters in these texts confront that which cannot easily be
framed in language reveals creative exchanges between texts and genres, and also indicates the
limits of human language in an inhuman landscape.
12:00 PM - The Language of Jousting
Hable, Nina (Universität Wien, Wien, Austria)
While reading narrations dating from the Middle Ages, it is very common to encounter a joust – a
duel with lances between two knights on horseback. In Middle High German texts they appear over
and over again, often to the chagrin of the reader. But the description of jousts communicates a lot
more than a battle between two men, if one is willing to overlook its redundant narration and tries to
decipher its actual meanings.
2:00 PM - Can comparative literature be monolingual? French as a supralocal language in the
Middle Ages
Gaunt, Simon (King’s College London)
This paper will take a case study (the so-called second redaction of the Histoire ancienne jusqu'à
César in British Library MS Royal 20 D 1, written by an Italian scribe in Naples in the early fourteenth
century) to show how texts written in a variety of different languages (French, Greek, Italian, Latin)
and in a wide range of different places may converge in translation in a single language (French), but
written in a non-standard and non-native form. What are the values that are instantiated by such a
textual culture and by this kind of language usage? What kind of networks are assumed and brought
into being by the textual practices represented in the Royal manuscript and by the manuscript itself?
2:30 PM - Lyric Alterity: Grammar, Poetics and the Language of Song
Davis, Christopher (Northwestern University, Chicago, USA)
In this paper, I examine the status of medieval vernacular lyric not only as a literary genre, but also as
a distinct category of language during the High Middle Ages. Focusing on poems by the Occitan
troubadours and French trouvères, I argue that the musical and oral rhetoric so characteristic of
these lyric traditions combines with increasingly complex and regulated media of textual
transmission to produce new, hybrid models of lyric language-- at once oral and textual, material and
immaterial. I draw on treatises by Dante Alighieri, Brunetto Latini and Geoffrey de Vinsauf, to show
that debates about lyric aesthetics and poetics during this period hinge on the nature of lyric
language as language. These poets and theorists, most notably Dante, deliberately seek to synthesize
grammar with poetics, linguistic with poetic form in order to promote a vision of the lyric as vehicle
for a kind of higher understanding, a kind of intellectual and aesthetic harmony, which empowers the
lyric poet to erase or transcend actual linguistic differences. Citing examples of multilingual poetry,
translation and barbarolexis, I further argue that the goal of these poetic experiments is to advocate
for a kind of “cosmopolitan lyric vernacular,” which unifies vernacular speakers through a common
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set of poetic practices and aesthetic values. Medieval lyric theory and practice thus became a
significant site for defining vernacular poetic identity in respect to Latin literary culture, and also for
conceptualizing the role of literary texts in the formation of cultural, political and national identities.
3:00 PM - Singing in (Different) Tongues
Gilbert, Jane (University College London, London, United Kingdom)
The context of this paper is the recent renewed interest in literary form which links questions such as
metrics, versification, and prosody, to the large social or cultural forms that structure how we think,
feel, and live (see C. Levine, Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network (Princeton UP, 2015); M.
Levinson, ‘What is New Formalism?’, PMLA, 122 (2007), 558-69). I am particularly interested in what
happens to literary form in translation, especially given that medieval writing and reading took place
in an inherently multilingual and comparative context (since literacy was, primarily, Latin literacy).
‘Trans-formation’ is primary, not secondary. My larger project proposes a literary history of transformation in medieval French, English, and Latin.
In the proposed paper I draw connections between the ways in which critics have talked about the
sophisticated, literary lyrics inset into medieval French courtly narratives; about the learned Latin
form of prosimetrum; and about the ‘political songs’ included in the chronicles by English historians
Pierre de Langtoft and Robert Mannyng. The first two have been discussed principally in literary
terms, the last as a matter of national cultural and linguistic politics. Bringing together these different
kinds of code-switching will allow me to explore how social and aesthetic forms interact.
9:00 AM - The Language of Grief: Philomena and the Erotics of Loss in Medieval Affective Culture
Moore, Megan (University of Missouri, Columbia, USA)
Long lauded by lovers, the nightingale sings a song that haunts the cool breezes of the night, its tune
weaving a complex web of emotions. Sleepless lovers aching for their beloved, couples pausing in
heated embrace, and those who pine at the moon for their perfect love all hear its cry. Yet for
medievals, the song of the nightingale was a language that was not always harmonious, with
undertones of danger, violence, and death. Many different media attest to the curious force of the
nightingale—from sonnets to stained glass, from laïs to manuscript miniatures, from sermons to
bestiaries—yet all remind medievals that they must be wary of the lure of love’s song, for it is a song
whose sweet melody is paradoxically linked to death.
In this paper, I explore how the language of lament that underlines Chrétien de Troyes’s twelfthcentury Old French Philomena reveals a relationship between eroticism and death in medieval
culture. The language of grief is, I claim, the language of medieval love, and nowhere is this better
metonymized than in the fraught depiction of betrayal, rape, infanticide and cannibalism that is the
sad story of Philomena’s rape and subsequent mutilation by her brother-in-law. This tale showcases
not only all the hallmarks of medieval love: distraught lovers’ sleepless soliloquies; laudatory
passages on the whiteness of a virginal beauty; wooing and marriage and nobility; but it also uses the
language of love to showcase a deep and abiding relationship between medieval eroticism and
death, in the form of rape, mutilation, revenge, murder, infanticide, and cannibalism. I read the
language of grief in Philomena in tandem with George Bataille’s Erotism to explore how medieval
texts typify the emotions of desire (erotic love) as twinned to those of death (grief and mourning).
The language of lament that begins with Philomena’s haunting, tongue-less song is woven
throughout the tapestry of desires that engulfs the characters of the tale, and finds, I claim, its
ultimate expression in love-as-revenge, desire-as-death, in the cruel killing of the child, Itys, to
avenge his father’s wayward desires.
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Part of a larger monograph devoted to the medieval erotics of death, this work builds off of recent
interest in medieval emotions, where there is a polarized debate between the
innate/individual/biological nature of feelings and a socialized, community-determined performative
understanding of emotions. In this paper, I claim an alternate space for reading medieval emotion in
the tension between individual feelings and communal regulations, tying the articulation of privilege
to the expression of feelings, what we see in Philomena as noble privilege articulated through the
language of love and death.
9:30 AM - Crusading the Bedroom: Carmina Burana 48 and Otto von Botenlouben's "wie sol ich den
ritter nu gescheiden."
Sager, Alexander (University of Georgia, Athens, USA)
Dieser Vortrag untersucht die Beziehung zwischen dem lateinischen Kreuzlied "Quod Spiritu David
precinuit" und der deutschen Tagelied-Strophe, die ihm in den Carmina Burana angehängt ist. In
traditioneller Sicht (C. v. Kraus, O. Sayce) bestehen keine thematischen, nur prosodische
Verbindungen zwischen den anderssprachigen Liedern (wie allgemein bei den mehrsprachigen
Liedern dieser Handschrift). Die neuere Forschung (U. Müller, V. Mertens) sieht durchaus
thematische Parallelen, wenn eher allgemeine. Darauf aufbauend und mit Blick auf die
"Apellstruktur" des Liedes argumentiere ich für eine strenge und sinnige Konstruktion, wo auch der
Mehrsprachigkeit eine besondere interpretorische Rolle zukommt.
10:00 AM - Languages of Confession
Bowden, Sarah (King's College London, London, United Kingdom)
There are extant German-language confession formulae (‘Beichten’) from the 9th century on. These
formulae are conventionally written in prose and in the first-person voice, contain broad admissions
of sinfulness and are usually shaped by the catalogue of sins of Galatians 5:19–21 – that is, they
admit (in a first person voice) the general sinfulness of mankind, rather than the specific sins of a
single person. This paper will focus on confession formulae from 11th and 12th centuries, which
seem to have been used in church for a public acknowledgement of guilt (known as ‘Offene Schuld’)
in which the congregation would repeat the confession after the priest, after the sermon and in
preparation for communion.
I start with the basic (even obvious) question: why are these formulae in German, not Latin? Then: is
there something specific to the confessional practice that demands the vernacular (that is, is a
different kind of understanding demanded of the congregation in respect to confession than in
respect to other parts of the liturgy, such as the creed?)? I investigate more broadly the vernacularity
of these formulae, which are surrounded by Latin (both in their MS transmission and, it seems, in
their liturgical practice) and consider how a specific ‘language’( which may not necessarily be German
or Latin, but rather a particular way of speaking) may or may not be necessary for a successful
confessional practice. Finally, I draw into consideration the limitations of language when it comes to
confession: how, for instance, can a contrite heart be made linguistically apparent? This will involve
some speculation about internal communication with God vs social practice, as well as the linguistic
presentation of emotion and gesture.
11:00 AM - The Language of Trauma: The Wounded Landscape in Late Medieval Francophone
Poetry
McGrady, Deborah (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA)
This talk puts in dialogue current sociologically-oriented research in Trauma Studies and late
medieval poetry that explores the violence exerted on land and people during the Hundred Years
War. The ideas of Jeffrey Alexander on “cultural trauma” and Kai Erikson’s work on the “traumatized
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community” will inform readings of the Voeux du héron (c. 1346) and the Complainte des bons
François (c. 1426). Special emphasis will be given to the language used to describe trauma avant la
lettre, the symbiotic relationship these poets created between the human body and the landscape,
and the role this discourse played in the construction of an emerging discourse on nationhood.
11:30 AM - Translation as Palimpsest
Ventura, Simone (King's College London, London, United Kingdom)
While working on the first translations canonical works, such as Boccaccio’s Decameron, or on semiobscure pieces of medieval historiography, such as the Histoire Ancienne jusqu’à César, the
researcher deals with a phenomenon only too well known amongst medievalists: the existence,
through time and place, of different versions of the same ‘work’. Different versions that, as with a
palimpsest, represent a ‘second’ inscription, superimposed on a previous first act of writing, with
which they remain in a tense relation. The two objects are inherently linked, and yet they may
oppose each other in such a way that the second inscription denies the ‘original’. In this paper
communication I will focus on two examples: the first versions of the Decameron in French (1411)
and Catalan (1429) and the two redactions of the so called Histoire Ancienne jusqu’à César (c. mid
13th and first half of the 14th century). In the case of the first translations of the Decameron, the
difference in language (source-text versus target-text) is mitigated by the programmatic will of letting
us us ‘see’, en transparence, as in a palimpsest, the ‘original’, both in linguistic and material terms.
On the other hand, the redactors of the Histoire Ancienne play with their sources in order to clear
the traces they have behind: each version of the Histoire Ancienne is, literally, a new beginning.For
this paper I will approach the problem of inter- and intra-linguistic translation (in a broader sense:
translation includes here also the process of transcription) and its relationship with what lies behind
– the ‘original’. Namely I will propose a reflection on the following conceptual (linguistic as well as
cultural) pairs: work/tradition; difference/continuity; convergence/divergence.
12:00 PM - Talking Objects and the Scene of Interpretation
Brown, Catherine (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA)
“‘To me they speak sometimes,’” declares Agatha Christie’s detective Hercule Poirot.
“‘Chairs, tables—they have their message!’” Hearing the mute speech of objects has long stood
metaphorically for the act of interpretation. I’d like to use this talk as an opportunity to think about
objects that take this metaphor as literally as possible. We’ll consider objects made to stage their
own speech, either through inscription (the oggetti parlanti of ancient Greece, the medieval
epitaph) or through visual representation (images of talking books from early medieval Iberia). How
might study of such objects help us understand medieval thinking about language, things, objects,
and interpretation?
17278 - Intermedialität: Konzeptionalisierungen und Methoden. ...
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Tuesday, July 26th
Room: Hs 31
Chair: Bosse, Anke; Paul, Claude
9:00 AM - Einführung - Introduction
Bosse, Anke (Universität Klagenfurt)
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9:30 AM - Let's blow up intermediality! Eine mehrsprachige Annäherung an einen verwirrenden
medienwissenschaftlichen Diskurs
Helbig, Joerg (Universität Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria); Angela Fabris
Das Forschungsfeld der Intermedialität leidet seit jeher unter terminologischen Konfusionen. Weder
im nationalen, schon gar nicht im sprachübergreifenden Kontext existiert ein einheitlicher
Sprachgebrauch, um Intermedialität und die zahlreichen hierunter zu subsumierenden Phänomene
zu beschreiben.
Anknüpfend an bestehende Forschungsansätze versucht unser Beitrag, diesem Mangel
entgegenzuwirken. Zu diesem Zweck wird eine Terminologie in verschiedenen Sprachen (Englisch,
Deutsch, Französisch, Spanisch, Italienisch) vorgestellt und zu einer Systematik der Intermedialität
verbunden.
Die entworfene Nomenklatur soll anschließend an einem signifikanten Beispiel illustriert werden.
Michelangelo Antonionis britisch-italienische Koproduktion Blowup bietet hierfür einen idealen
Ausgangspunkt. Der Film thematisiert nicht nur verschiedene Medien (Fotografie, Musik, Malerei,
Performance), sondern macht vor allem das Phänomen gestörter Kommunikation und die hieraus
resultierende Ratlosigkeit zu einem zentralen Thema.
10:00 AM - De l'ntermédialité comme herméneutique des supports
Mechoulan, Eric (Université de montréal, Montreal, Canada)
Dans mon intervention je voudrais présenter une conception de l'intermédialité qui déplace les
questions habituelles de transfert médiatique ou d'histoire des médias. En comprenant
l'intermédialité comme une herméneutique des supports, on se donne les moyens d'une théorie
générale des effets de sens en rapport avec les matérialités des supports, les mises en jeu
techniques, les types de dispositif et les institutions qui autorisent la circulation des communications.
2:00 PM - Intermedialität im internationalen Wissens- und Kulturtransfer.
Vatter, Christoph (Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany)
Intermedialität im internationalen Wissens- und Kulturtransfer. Zwischen globalen Dynamiken und
kulturellen Aneignungsprozessen. Intermedialität als Konzept und Methode wird in verschiedenen
verschiedenen Wissenschaftskulturen in spezifischer Art und Weise rezipiert und diskutiert.
Gleichzeitig spiegeln sich in intermedialen Verfahren in Literatur und Medien auch globale
Dynamiken des Austauschs und der Medienentwicklung wider. Diese Prozesse werden im Kontext
des Wissens- und Kulturtransfers im deutsch-frankophonen Kontext herausgearbeitet und anhand
von Fallbeispielen aus den frankophonen Kulturen illustriert.
2:30 PM - Intermediality, Media Networks and Media Histories
Mueller, Juergen E. (Uni Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany)
My contribution to intermediality is not so much designed as a meta-element of a ‘closed’ intermedia
theory; it is rather characterized by its opening of the possibility to take a fresh look at media history
or histories. This is because the claim to devise a meta-theory of intermediality would be a rather
naïve endeavour which would fail to do justice to the complexity of intermedia processes and
phenomena—which in turn reveal themselves in the infinite number of possible intermedia
combinations and interactions.
In my paper I will focus on some fundamental relationships and processes between media networks
and media histories in the light of an intermedia research axis. On the basis of a selection of historical
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‘cases’ I shall present a series of theses with regard to the manifold interactions between media
networks and intermedialities.
9:00 AM - Médias, Medien, Medium : pour une approche médiale de la fiction
TANE, Benoît (LLA CREATIS, Université de Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse, France)
La terminologie et les recherches consacrées à l’intermédialité semblent varier selon les aires
culturelles.Peut-être faut-il cependant nuancer, en se projetant vers la fin de l’année 2016 et en
tenant compte des recherches francophones, le retard pris dans ce domaine.Le laboratoire LLACREATIS (Univ. Toulouse Jean-Jaurès) articule par exemple ses programmes, développés à partir du
«dispositif», à l’intermédialité.Surtout, le développement de ce vocabulaire recouvre des approches
différentes; il requiert des mises au point qui pourraient profiter des pratiques dans d’autres
domaines.D’une part, il semble bien que l’intermédialité prenne le relais des études inter-artistiques.
Ce déplacement pose problème et la prise en compte des pratiques anglophones mais aussi
allemandes, moins fréquente, s’impose. Le medium n’est pas une simple généralisation du matériau
artistique; sa prise en compte est un changement de paradigme culturel... et devrait aussi l’être dans
la recherche. Peut-être y a-t-il là une sublimation de l’objet de la recherche, dans lequel la matérialité
est un parent pauvre. On tirerait profit ici d’une exploration du medium en revenant sur l’approche
de McLuhan, la Medienwissenschaft... et la médiologie. Ou comment l’héritage commun latin du
medium a subi des inflexions.D’autre part, les études littéraires ont parfois ouvert la voie. Pour les
dix-huitiémistes par exemple, la prise en compte de la matérialité livresque s’impose et son
articulation avec l’analyse de la fiction est bien reconnue, notamment pour l’illustration (voir mon
livre Avec figures. Roman et illustration au XVIIIe s, PUR, 2014) mais aussi plus largement (voir
Yannick Séité, «Pour une histoire littéraire du livre», Dix-huitième siècle, XXXX). On retournera la
formule en revendiquant une «approche (inter)médiale de la fiction».On se permettra enfin
d’évoquer le domaine hispanophone, bien représenté parmi les chercheurs de notre centre
toulousain.
9:30 AM - Le débat théorique dans les "études de cas" de la revue Intermédialités
Froger, Marion (Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada); Caroline Bem
La revue Intermédialités est née en 2003, à l’initiative du Centre de recherche sur l’intermédialité
de l’Université de Montréal et publie depuis, à raison de deux numéros par an, des textes qui
témoignent de l’approche singulière de « l’école montréalaise » connue pour ses « études de cas ». Il
s’agira tout d’abord de montrer comment l’étude de nouveaux objets considérés sous l’angle de
leurs qualités et de leurs fonctions médiatiques, a favorisé une inventivité méthodologique qui, loin
de « tenir à l’écart de la discussion théorique » ses principaux promoteurs, leur a permis au contraire
d’avancer sur le terrain de l’analyse des médialités, et de la théorisation des dynamiques et des
processus de médiation. De façon collective, à travers les « études de cas » qu’elle a publiées,
Intermédialités s’est aussi souciée de comprendre les articulations entre médias, techniques,
institutions, normes, imaginaires et discours sociaux qui se cristallisent dans des productions
culturelles variées, artistiques ou littéraires. Si Mauss qualifiait de « fait social total » certaines
pratiques artistiques, la revue propose de manière inverse d’appréhender certaines pratiques
sociales comme autant de « faits intermédiaux » en identifiant pour chacune d’elle – désignée par un
verbe : « rythmer », « reproduire », « animer », « bâtir », « inclure (le tiers) », etc. – un faisceau
d’actions, une pluralité de réalisations et autant de configurations singulières qui les actualisent.
L’analyse sémantique et indexicale des textes parus dans la revue nous permettra enfin de
cartographier les cadres conceptuels mobilisés à partir des études de cas, pour les resituer dans les
champs de recherche couverts par la revue – études urbaines ; médiation culturelle ; Memory
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Studies ; etc -. Il s’agira aussi de resituer ces études dans les courants interdisciplinaires qui font
l’actualité de la recherche en sciences humaines et sociales – socio-anthropologie des arts, histoire
culturelle des techniques, analyse des dispositifs énonciatifs et performatifs des œuvres, etc., afin de
mesurer l’apport particulier de l’approche intermédiale défendue par la revue.
17280 - Comparison and Intermediality: The Gesamtkunstwerk
Date: Friday, July 22nd // Saturday, July 23rd // Monday, July 25th // Wednesday, July 27th
Room: Hs 46 / Marietta-Blau-Saal
Chair: Fusillo, MASSIMO; Fischer, Caroline; Grishakova, Marina
Friday, July 22nd
Room: Hs 46
4:00 PM - Graphic Divas: Reframing the Gesamtkunstwerk in Contemporary Italian Graphic Novels
Graphic Divas: Reframing the Gesamtkunstwerk in Contemporary Italian Graphic Novels
Seligardi, Beatrice (University of Parma, Parma, Italy)
The aim of this paper is to reframe the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk by looking at the intermedial
relationship between art, life and cultural phenomena in three recent Italian graphic novels that
sketch the life of historical famous and exceptional women: Superzelda (2011) by Tiziana Lo Porto
and Daniele Marotta about Zelda Fitzgerald, and two works by Vanna Vinci, La Casati: la musa
egoista (2013) about the life of the Marchesa Casati and Tamara de Lempicka. Icona dell'art déco
(2015).
Firstly, the representation of the diva reframes the Gesamtkunstwerk on a thematic level, as it
suggests the idea of making one own’s life like a work of art. The female protagonists, who lived
between the Belle Époque and the Roaring Twenties and who performed extravagant and audacious
styles, became icons of a new upcoming femininity and a new way of considering the relationship
between life and art.
Secondly, the interplay between different media strategies, such as drawing, painting, literature,
history, biography will show the intermedial attitude of graphic novels as new media. On one hand,
as far as the process of composition is concerned, the authors make explicit reference to historical
documents, archives, artistic sources. On the other hand, the reader creates her own personal
references, by recognizing hints to paintings, novels, iconographies.
Thirdly, the relationship between the graphic novels and more general cultural phenomena will be
considered, thus demonstrating the permeability of artistic boundaries and the necessity of looking
at art from an intermedial point of view. As regards Superzelda , the publication of the graphic novel
occurred in a period of revival of the Roaring Twenties and the Fitzgeralds. The publication of La
Casati was immediately followed by a museum exhibition in Venice on the life of the Marchesa,
while the realization of Tamara de Lempicka was specifically commissioned for two museum
exhibitions on the painter’s work in Turin and Verona.
4:30 PM - Interfaces of the literary: Redefining literariness through contemporary narrative media
Caracciolo, Marco (University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany)
In the Wikipedia entry on the American television series The Wire we read that “the show is
recognized for its realistic portrayal of urban life, its literary thematics, and its uncommonly deep
exploration of social and political themes.” In an age when the traditional outlets of the literary—
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fiction and poetry in print—seem to play an increasingly marginal role in cultural dynamics (Birkerts
2006), we may be surprised by this casual use of the word “literary” in relation to a highly acclaimed
television series. But this appeal to literature is hardly exceptional. In talk about contemporary
narrative forms such as comics, television shows, or even videogames (see, e.g., Ensslin 2014), the
adjective “literary” has become synonymous with complexity of storytelling and depth of
engagement with ethical or philosophical issues.
This paper seeks to chart the trajectories of the literary in today’s media landscape, exploring how
different—and sometimes competing—conceptions of literariness are negotiated in and through
interactions across multiple narrative media. I will look not only at attributions of literary value(s) to
non-print-based media, but also at how the novel—a quintessentially literary genre—has attempted
to appropriate aspects of these media through so-called “multimodality” (i.e., the use of visual
strategies such as iconic typography, illustrations, and so on). The contemporary Gesamtkunstwerk,
this paper claims, is to be found in this complex network of intermedial transactions. Ultimately, the
paper suggests that literature—conceived in both its formal and its thematic dimension—remains an
important factor in shaping our appreciation of narratives that strive for seriousness of intent and
comprehensiveness of scope: the notion of Gesamtkunstwerk cannot be revisited without taking into
account the interfaces between literature and other media.
5:00 PM - Immediacy/immersion. An « Immediate Fiction » ?
TANE, Benoît (LLA CREATIS, Université de Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse, France)
The concept of Gesamtkunstwerk put emphasis on the relationship between different media in the
same work of art. But it implicates distinctions between arts (music, visual arts...), between senses
(hearing, sight...), and between media themselves.
But are we aware of the media the fiction uses ? Users, or consumers of fiction, and readers above all
of them of course, accept the « suspension of Disbelief » which makes the illusion possible.
This talk is designed to explore the relationship between fiction and mediation. My thesis is that
although Fiction is a mediated production, it deals with the illusion of immediate relation.
Have users to become aware of the mediation they forgot ? Such a question is perhaps more an
ethical than an aesthetical one. But it is certainly worth asking, when the storytelling uses Fiction as a
political weapon. It’s but quite a vain purpose : the illusion of immediacy should be the sine qua non
condition of fiction. Immediacy is the efficacy.
Is it an historical evolution ? Examples from the past and from the contemporary literature show
alternatively that it is a constant rule. We only have to think of Samuel Richardson’s motto, « writing
to the Moment ».
But how does it work ? For instance, according to Jean-Marie Schaeffer, the « fictional immersion »
(« immersion fictionnelle ») is the « power of imagination » (« puissance imaginative », Pourquoi la
fiction ?, p. 180). Is it possible to compare it to the immediacy ? What I call the « immediate Fiction »
is based on a specific relationship but it tends to become non the less than another name for the
Fiction itself.
Room: Marietta-Blau-Saal
9:00 AM - Creation as a « perpetuum mobile ». Michel Butor's adventures over the « edges » of
narrative
Chiurato, Andrea (Università IULM, Milano, Milano, Italy)
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Michel Butor has been one of the most eclectic artists on the French cultural scene in the last sixty
years. After becoming famous as a successful nouveau romancier, he soon turned his attention to
other artistic codes. In fact, since the beginning of his career, he struggled to break free from a rigid
principle separation that, to him, was an obstacle rather than a spur for creativity. The aim of my
paper is to highlight how this attitude made the author uncomfortable with the traditional critical
taxonomies, besides explaining how it led him to conceive each one of his work as a « stratified
microcosm ».
My ideal premise is based on Butor’s radical redefinition of the techniques of realism, a redefinition
that implies a re-elaboration of the status of the concept of intertextuality. Following the Flaubertian
project of an encyclopedic novel, he has indeed experimented various mixtures of literary genres,
hybridizations between disparate media, not to mention his endless contributions for journals,
catalogues, translations, etc. Never satisfied by the traditional forms inherited from the past, he has
invented new ones, as in the so called « romanesque tetralogy ».
All these works, along with many others, reflect a personal, innovative re-interpretation of the «
encyclopedic paradigm »: on the one hand, crossing over the boundaries between varied fields of
discourse; on the other hand, adopting musical, visual, architectural structures in order to blend
together different discursive forms within the same text.
Thus, according to the fascinating definition proposed by Mary Lydon, Butor’s entire production can
be considered as a « perpetuum mobile »: « a network of trajectories » and an ever-widening archive
similar to the one described in Borges’s tale The Library of Babel; a total work of art or, to be more
precise, an entire world made out of heterogeneous languages and codes.
9:30 AM - The Intermedia Writing (and Rewriting) in the Narrative of the Convergence. The Case of
S. by J.J. Abrams and D. Dorst: A Textual Representation for the Partecipatory Culture.
Lino, Mirko (University of L'Aquila, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy)
My talk focuses on the intermedia dimension in S. (2013) by J.J. Abrams and D. Dorst. This unusual
novel is conceivable as a narrative space through which one can observe the textual dynamics of the
participatory culture within the cultural production of convergence (Jenkins 2006).
S. is an augmented novel in which the virtual and material dimensions blur their edges. It is
composed by three textual levels: an invented book, The Ship of Theseus by the enigmatic V. M.
Straka; the handwritten notes at the margins of the pages by two young scholars who investigate the
real identity of Straka revealing hidden codes of a conspiracy; the intermedia dimension made of
different kind of objects such as postcards, photos, maps etc, physically inserted between the pages
by the scholars.
The marked reference to the mythological Ship of Theseus stresses the relevance of writing and
rewriting processes as fundamental practices in the storytelling of the convergence, and it shows a
mediation between “writable text and readable text” (Barthes 1975): the act of reading and writing is
visible into the text thanks to the handwritten notes of the scholars. Therefore the text is also similar
to an open access software which is always rewritable by the users at every reading or access
(Manovich 2010), and it works like a game in which the readers have to recompose verbal and visual
codes scattered on the three textual levels.
Through examples from postmodern literature (especially Pynchon) my talk aims to demonstrate
how the intermedia dimension produces an antihierarchical knowledge (the two scholars analyse
many time and obsessively the novel to discredit a wrong theory circulating in the academic studies)
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at the same time it generates a playful dimension for the reader through a fragmented hypertextual
structure (Genette 1982; Landow 1992; Bolter & Grusin 1999; Manovich 2001) and it tries to
represent the sensorial complexity of an immersive experience of reading.
10:00 AM - Is there a text in this box set? Dispersion, complexity and totality in contemporary TV
series
Rossini, Gianluigi (University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy)
Like film, Television series con be considered an intermedial form in at least two senses: they are
constituted by a constellation of other media (images, music, written and spoken words, etc.), and
they often embed intermedial references. TV series being collections of separated episodes
produced in the span of many years, though, they usually build a much bigger narrative material and
also allow a wider range of stylistic variations, opening endless possibilities for intermedial and
intertextual references. Mad Men, for example, in 92 episodes and nearly 70 hours of narration,
produced in the span of seven years, was able to describe the evolution of US Sixties culture
referencing anything form movies to literature, from fashion to interior design. In this respect,
contemporary TV series show two contradictory features: on one hand, their omnivorous
intermediality and complex narration tend to disrupt coherence; on the other, there is a recent and
unusual tendency to celebrate the television auteur (from David Chase to Shonda Rhimes) and
stylistic consistency. Some recent experiments with more enclosed and compact narratives, as shown
by the resurgence of the anthology format (American Horror Story, True Detective, Fargo, American
Crime), seem to confirm this tendency towards consistency and closure. Since Raymond William’s
idea of ‘flow’, the nature of television’s text has been widely debated; now, considering the
technological and industrial development of television, contemporary television studies often accept
as a given that a TV series can be studied as a single text. Anyway there still are few attempts to
analyze the entire run of a series as a narrative unity. Given this context and all the questions that
are still open, in this presentation I will address the problematic textual nature of the TV series using
the six seasons of The Sopranos as a case study.
2:00 PM - Pulitzer's Iconic Language. Pulitzer Prize Winning Photographs as Gesamtkunstwerk: from
Narrative to Visual Mythical Status
Pala, Mauro (University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy)
Classical photojournalism à la Robert Capa or Eugene Smith sees pictures as “windows onto the
world”, implying that they could act as prerequisites of citizenship and forms of moral obligations.
And Pulitzer Prize winners certainly serve the historical record. Originally meant to encourage “public
morals, American literature and the advancement of education”, these photographs have everything
of the Gesamtkunstwerk, since each single shot ideally conveys a metonymic and universally shared
perception of the world. Maintaining the inseparability of meaning, duration and mystery, Roland
Barthes, Susan Sontag and John Berger, in line with Walter Benjamin, have argued at different times
against the supposed transparency these images need to attain their iconic status. This paper
reconstructs how Pulitzer winning snapshots have become easily recognizable images, working in
several ritual and response registers, whose initial narrative is eventually transformed into something
that exceeds words. Iconic pictures are today part of a visual rhetoric which, according to W.J.T.
Mitchell, can be likened to the linguistic turn that spread across the human sciences in the late
twentieth century. Exceeding formal borders as Gesamtkunstwerk do, iconic pictures such as Pulitzer
winners provide suitable instruments for exploring how political action – or acquiescence- can be
controlled through visual language, or how public art grounded in shared experience develops.
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Capitalising, among others, on Fred Richtin’s intuitions and expertise, on the enlarging aura of
photography in a digital age, on Henry Jenkins’s scenario of convergent medias and Tod Papageorge’s
analogies between photography and poetry, this work aims at highlighting how these iconic images
assemble a collective memory and shape complex relationships between media producers and
audiences
2:30 PM - Flusser and the city as Gesamtkunstwerk
Seligmann-Silva, Marcio (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas - SP, Brazil)
Vilem Flusser can be considered one of the most creative art theoreticians of the 20th century. But
the reception of his work is still very shy. In this presentation I will show an important aspect of his
art theory: the transformation of the romantic topos of the Gesamtkustwerk into a city political
issue. For Flusser, as we can read in his text “How to explain art”, in connection with the artistic
vanguards, we still should have as our task to change the world using our imagination. Every
inhabitant of the city should become artist and help by creating beautiful cityscapes. Since the
second Industrial Revolution abolished the difference of public and private spheres, now we live in a
post-historical city interconnected by a web. Our aim now is the fight against the transformation of
the city into a closed system that would be equivalent to death. Through ludic strategies we should
keep creating new information and feeding the system with them. From now on art should print its
models on programs and transform the apparatus. Against Walter Benjamin prognosis, that saw in
the contamination of politic by art a symptom of fascism, Flusser, on the opposite, saw in the
construction of this new Gesamtkunstwerk the main way to combat it.
3:00 PM - Computer Games as Gesamtkunstwerk: The case of Dead Space
Backe, Hans-Joachim (IT University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark)
This paper offers a close reading of Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores 2008) to argue that the game is
one of the most accomplished specimens of a recent wave of self-referential, artful AAA computer
games. Existing research has shown how Dead Space has perfected the intradiegetic interface
(Andrews 2010), how it carefully manipulates the player’s agency by withholding agency (Habel and
Kooyman 2014), and how it positions the male, healthy body in a position of discursive power (Carr
2014). The central thesis put forth here is that these dimensions of the game – its audiovisual
presentation, its gameplay, and its cultural subtext – are seamlessly integrated with one another and
central themes of the narrative. The careful composition of integrated components qualifies Dead
Space as a work of art in the sense of a Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk. By outlining how the different
dimensions of Dead Space form an orchestrated whole to strive for a deeper meaning and reflect
upon the conventions of modern action games, I want to expand John Sharp’s (2015) recently
formulated argument for the appreciation of games as art from art games to commercial games.
Compared to the regularly commented upon innovations in interface, audio design, and gameplay,
the game’s narrative might appear as its weakest dimension. Yet the themes of Dead Space can be
shown to not only resonate with each other, but to form a effectively calculated whole with game
mechanics and visuals, layering meaning and meta-discourse in the style of a palimpsest, with the
topmost layer – the sleek accessibility of a polished AAA title – partly, but not completely, obscuring
the intricacies beneath it. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, P.W.S. (dir.) Event Horizon. Paramount, 1997.
Andrews, M. (2010). “Game UI Discoveries: What Players Want.” Gamasutra.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132674/game_ui_discoveries_what_players_.php?page=2
Beil, B. (2012) Avatarbilder. Zur Bildlichkeit des zeitgenössischen Computerspiels. Bielefeld:
Transcript. Carr, D. (2014) “Ability, Disability and Dead Space,” in Game Studies vol. 14, no. 2. EA
Redwood Shores. Dead Space. 2008. Multiplatform. Habel, C. and Kooyman, B. (2014) “Agency
mechanics: gameplay design in survival horror video games,” in Digital Creativity, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 1242
14, DOI: 10.1080/14626268.2013.776971 Irrational Games. System Shock 2. 1999. Windows. Sharp, J.
(2015) Works of Game. On the Aesthetics of Games and Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4:00 PM - The myth of total cinema: aesthetics of the "direct effect"
Grishakova, Marina (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
The myth of total cinema: aesthetics of the “direct effect”
The paper explores the usage of “direct effects” (Plantinga) in the naturalized film aesthetics of
recent decades, their functions in multimodal film textures and the ways in which low-level
perceptions are re-enforced,
flattened or suppressed in various contexts. The direct effects result from technological and
cinematographic manipulations (extremely low- or high-angle shots, close ups and zoom ins, freerange camera, rapid editing, computer generated, “perceptually realistic but ontologically fantastic”
(Stephen Prince) images), draw viewer’s attention to salient environmental features (i.e. extremes of
sound, space, size, time, luminance intensity) and
elicit automatic response (startle, awe, wonder). They often transform objects beyond recognizability
and evoke experiences resistant to conceptualization and interpretation – and, thereby, are felt as
threatening, aggressive or cognitively demanding (suggesting re-conceptualization of previous
experience). These immediate perceptual clues that may appear in-built in film texture as shortcuts
of physical reality, analogues of Barthes’ “reality effect” or mimetic signals, function as selection,
processing, bracketing or priming incentives in film’s aesthetic and narrative structures. Thus,
extremes of rapid editing and cutting in Darren Panofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000) are
perceived as forms of violence, materialistic analogues of manipulation and addiction, i.e. mental
violence to which film characters are subjected. While using examples of indie and avant-garde film
and Douglas Gordon’s installation 24 Hour Psycho, the paper explores aesthetic and narrative
functions of perceptual bracketing and priming.
4:30 PM - Le «Gesamtkunstwerk» comme encyclopédie et base de données : «The Tulse Luper
Suitcases» de Peter Greenaway et «L'Ouvroir» de Chris Marker
Petricola, Mattia (Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy)
Les projets The Tulse Luper Suitcases et L’Ouvroir, réalisés respectivement par Peter Greenaway
entre 2003 et 2005 et par Chris Marker en 2009, déclinent le Gesamtkunstwerk comme œuvre
aspirant à une double totalité : celle de l’art et celle de l’expérience.
Dans le projet-monstre de Greenaway, cette aspiration se concrétise dans la mise en scène
transmédiale d’un gigantesque catalogue d’objets, renfermés dans 92 valises renvoyant à l’histoire
de Tulse Luper, personnage capable d’incarner l’histoire du XXe siècle tout entier.
Dans le projet de Marker, la plateforme Second Life devient le site d’un véritable musée, nommé
L’Ouvroir, qui résume la carrière de Marker lui-même en exposant une vaste collection de ses
œuvres : livres, photographies, collages, affiches, installations vidéo.
Cette étude se propose d’interroger, d’un point de vue esthétique et épistémologique, la dimension
encyclopédique du Gesamtkunstwerk qui émerge des travaux de Greenaway et Marker,à partir de la
pluralité de traitements intersémiotiques auxquels les objets et les œuvres d’art sont soumis en tant
que fétiches mémoriaux, objets de collection et pièces de musée. Les valises de Toulse Luper existent
en trois formes différentes : elles sont narrativisées dans le quatre films du projet ; elles “débordent”
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dans notre réalité dans l’exposition Tulse Luper at Compton Verney ; enfin, elles se dématérialisent
dans la base de donnés, accessible par internet, qui représente le véritable cœur structurel du projet.
Au contraire, les œuvres de Marker, reproduites et organisés dans un espace digital ouvert à tous,
semblent parcourir le trajet inverse, des musées matériels à une collection immatérielle.
L’étude vise en outre à montrer comment le deux projets soient voués à la création d’hétérotopies
foucaultiennes capables de “développer” les travaux mémoriaux et “muséographiques” d’artistes
tels que Duchamp, Cornell et Boltanski, en les projetant dans une nouvelle dimension
esthétiquement totalisante.
5:00 PM - Merging Cinematographic Narratives in Ziad Doueiri's West Beirut
Schwerter, Stephanie (Université de Valenciennes, Framas, Austria)
As epicentre of a violent political conflict, Beirut has been a popular setting for films
belonging to a variety of genres. The city’s fragmented urban space as well as its internal ethnoreligious boundaries have inspired a great number of action films featuring spies, criminals,
paramilitaries, shootings and bomb explosions. In this paper, I shall focus on Ziad Doueiri’s West
Beirut (1998), a film set in the 1970ies at the outbreak of the Muslim-Christian conflict. The civil war
is perceived through the eyes of Tarek and his friend Omar, who navigate the war-torn city in their
own way. The two boys attempt to seize the segregated urban space with the help of an old camera.
The images captured in black and white reflect a particular vision of political violence. Through the
impressions of war perceived from a youth perspective, Doueiri creates an independent
cinematographic narrative within the film. Whereas the perspective of young people is rendered
through the boys’ camera in black and white, the adult world is expressed through multi-coloured
images seen from an external point of view. In this way, two contrasting discourses of political
violence enter a dialogue in which different perspectives merge and contradict each other. With the
help of a cinematographic frame narrative, Doueiri visualises the various facets of the local conflict.
Thus, the horrors of a full-scale war become expressed in form of a Gesamtkunstwerk, in which
conflicting value systems are illustrated through different sets of images.
9:00 AM - What cinema does with/to the music of novels
Landerouin, Yves (Université de Pau (Faculté de Bayonne), BAYONNE, France)
Music, as an art, plays an important part in many novels, especially at the beginning of the 20th
century (for instance in Thomas Mann, M. Proust or E.M. Forster's novels). Sometimes, novels only
mention the piece a character is playing or listening to, sometimes they attempt to describe it in
detail, producing what R.S. Edgecombe calls melophrasis. Sometimes the piece is just fictional (like
the famous Sonate de Vinteuil), sometimes it is a real one and can appeal to the reader’s memory.
These situations raise numerous questions that, notably, some Comparatistes actively tries to
answer (see the book I edited with Aude Locatelli : Musique et roman ). But it may also be useful to
study how cinema deals with such textual elements when it adapts these novels. Film borrow then
its material from both literature and music at the same time, a very special meeting between three
kinds of media, which obviously conveys new meanings (compared to the effects of the text adapted
on readers). Focusing on three or four examples, we propose to show the impact of these changes
on the text reception, arguing that playing (or not playing) the music of the novel on screen can be a
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most decisive process in the making of meaning.
9:30 AM - "L'admirable féerie": La notion de féerie comme genre théâtral dans le roman de Marcel
Proust
von Hagen, Kirsten (Universität Gießen, Institut für Romanistik, Gießen, Germany)
Comme l’a souligné Claude Vallée, la féerie et l’œuvre de Marcel Proust ne s’opposent pas, bien au
contraire. Dans ma conférence, je vais me concentrer sur trois scènes dans lesquelles la féerie joue
un rôle déterminant. De cette façon, nous serons en mesure d’analyser la notion de la féerie chez
Proust, pour qui celle-ci est non seulement une forme de média mais aussi un moyen de penser la
modernité. La formule de ‘l’admirable féerie’ chez Proust s'inscrit dans le contexte du téléphone et
marque une scène souvent commentée, car centrale pour l’esthétique et la poésie de Proust. Chez
Proust, ce ne sont pas seulement les nouvelles technologies qui se présentent comme des féeries,
mais aussi l’art culinaire de Françoise. Il a souvent été souligné que Françoise et son don de préparer
des repas peuvent être analysés comme une métaphore pour l’art poétique du narrateur. Sa façon
de préparer ce fameux « bœuf mode » ressemble curieusement au processus créatif de l’art
poétique du narrateur, en ce qui concerne la sélection minutieuse des choses, leur assemblage et la
façon de les mélanger. Dans ma conférence je vais essayer de montrer, comme la féerie en tant que
genre théâtral est intégrée et fonctionnalisée dans le roman de Proust tout en entreprenant une
analyse intermédiale des relations entre la fiction, la narrativité et les médias .
11:00 AM - Video art Facing Wagner
Fusillo, MASSIMO (University of L'Aquila, ROMA, Italy)
Videoart plays a significant role in contemporary intermedial practices, and in particular in the
contemporary flourishing and reworking of the Gesamtkunstwerk. Some video artists uses, for
example, cinema as memory and iconic material in order to create complex challenging works, which
can reach the ideal temporal extension of a tragic cycle, 24 hours: Douglas Gordon famous 24 Hours
Psycho (1993), or Christoper Marclay the Clock (2012), in which one day is constructed by single
shots, each one showing a clock in a single minute, taken by various movies. On the other hand
Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle can be certainly considered the most radical and convincing
recent example of total work of art.
The paper will analyse two direct confrontations of video-artists with the archetype of
Gesamtkunstwerk: Richard Wagner. In 2004 in Paris and Los Angeles the prominent video artist Bill
Viola conceived a 5 hours video for Peter Sellars’ production of Tristan und Isolde; in this Tristan
project, which gave birth to some autonomous non-musical videos, Viola’s poetics of archaic
symbolism and primeval archetypes brilliantly interacts with Wagner masterpieces about love and
death profound connection.
In the Valencia production of Wagner’s Ring der Nibelungen by the Catalan experimental group La
Fura dels Bauls, stunning video projections from a tower are combined with acrobatic performances
and a rich imagery coming from cartoons, cyberpunk, science fiction. The 21th century
Gesamtkunstwerk becomes thus a complex intermedial fusion of theatre, dance, cirque, music, video
and performance, which reflects on the multiple symbols of nature, power, and desire in
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contemporary mediascape, in a continuous dialogue with Wagner’s philosophical and romantic
Gesamtkunstwerk.
11:30 AM - (De)gendering genres. Androgyny and the Total Work of Art in Matthew Barney's
Cremaster Cycle
Agamennoni, Francesca (Università dell'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy)
In his seminal essay Wagner Androgyne (1993) Jean-Jacques Nattiez emphasizes the role of the
platonic myth of the “androgyne” within Richard Wagner's work, explaining how the longing for an
original (and lost) unity of male and female (a recurring theme from the Ring to Tristan und Isolde,
and then to Parsifal) could be conceived as a metaphorical expression of the theoretical thoughts
about Gesamtkunstwerk, developed in the “Zurich Writings” (1849-51). Following the idea of a
symmetrical relationship between genders and genres, narrative patterns and formal discourse, this
paper aims at showing how the meta-textual use of androgyny (conceived as a means by which Art
becomes “a Metaphor of Itself”) has informed the work of Matthew Barney, an artist who has often
been referred to as a contemporary heir of Richard Wagner's poetics of the Total Work of Art.
Focusing on the five-parted project The Cremaster Cycle, whose narrative is totally based on of the
loss of a primitive androgynous unity once enjoyed, but referring also to the following works, such as
Drawing Restraint 9, this analysis will underline not only the connections between Matthew Barney's
understanding of androgyny (and, thus, of the Gesamtkunstwerk) and its Romantic and Wagnerian
roots, but also the important transformations that this inheritage has been going through in its
contemporary reception: the passage from the (wagnerian) idea of a perfect re-integration of
genders to the undifferentiated, de-gendered, condition staged by Barney will symmetrically mark
the struggle between two different and antithetical models for a Total Work of Art.
12:00 PM - Cross-perceptual Metamorphosis: from Analogue Art to 3D e-Installations
López-Varela, Asun (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
This paper explores the idea of the complete work of art or Gesamtkunstwerk in relation to crosssensory perception and neural plasticity in the form of synesthesia in contemporary artistic
performances.
The term was first used by the German writer and philosopher K.F.E. Trahndorff[1], and reformulated by Richard Wagner in accordance with his
aesthetic ideals regarding opera as a fusion of music, poetry and painting.
The 20th-century saw a gradual re-evaluation of the visual arts with the development of technologies
that enabled the cheaper reproduction of images –photography and moving pictures or
cinematography. These innovations enabled a greater interplay of perceptual modes, enhancing
diverse forms of emotional and aesthetic charge, and enabling the projection of simultaneous
occurrences in narrative, for instance, by borrowing techniques from montage in the visual arts. In
the second half of the century, artists used this interplay in order to manifest the plasticity of art .
Nowadays, digital media adds information data through screens able to read augmented reality
infor-mation, were objects in themselves can carry live visuals and with them a whole range of
information, including a history of the object, for instance, a visual timeline. With the introduction of
digital technologies and multimodal representations, the discussion on ekphrasis has shifted toward
the study of intermedial aspects and the perceptual and cognitive cross-sensory patterns that
emerge with digitalization.
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Within 3D motion-based environ-ments the simulation of the cross-modal condition of synesthesia
can be an asset when planning for complex user interaction in 3D space. Many of these works seek to
immerse the viewer in a broader multimodal sensory experience that questions the dimensions of
space and time as permanent and stable. This paper examines and compares examples from Simon
Biggs’s and Steven Gibson’s repertoire.
2:00 PM - Tension and Dialogue between Media in Multimedia Performance
Saro, Anneli (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia)
Marshall McLuhan noted: "The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or
concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance. The
serious artist is the only person able to encounter technology with impunity, just because he is an
expert aware of the change in sense perception." (Understanding Media: The Extension of Man,
1964: 19) Despite certain disputability of the statement, it inspires to explore multimedia
performances in theatre from the point of view of perception. Nowadays film, video and computergenerated images are so familiar tools of artistic expression that they do not attract any particular
attention, since perception patterns of spectators have become adjusted to the new technological
medium. To investigate the effects of technology on perception in the framework of theatrical
performances, I will go back to the 1990s when Estonian theatre makers started exploring new
technological tools more extensively, explicating also dialogue and tensions between different
media. In this respect, works and ideas of three theatre artists - Peeter Jalakas, Tiit Ojasoo and EneLiis Semper - deserve special attention. Thus theatrical performance that has been considered as the
total work of art par excellence, exemplifies not only the convergence of media but also power
relations in intermediality.
2:30 PM - "Virtual Bodies, Actual Performance in Gesamtkunstwerk: 'Biped' by Merce Cunningham
(1999)"
Guedon, Cecile (Harvard University, Cambridge, USA)
This paper examines a choreographic piece entitled "Biped" by the late Merce Cunningham (1999); I
will suggest it can be understood as a contemporary example of a Gesamtkunstwerk integrating
motion-capture techniques to real gestures performed by dancers from the Cunningham company
on stage. In keeping with
the theme of virtual/actual presences in performance, I will look into a wide array of other instances
where digital technologies are being used live ("Gorillaz"), while tracing a lineage encompassing
Bauhaus practices and Black Mountain College performances.
17281 - The Languages of Theory
Room: Marietta-Blau-Saal / Hs 7 / Audimax
Chair: Moser, Christian
9:00 AM - Philological Understanding in the Era after Theory
Geisenhanslüke, Achim (Universität Frankfurt a.M., Frankfurt a.M., Germany)
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„The golden age of cultural theory is long past“ – with this statement, Terry Eagleton started his
puzzling reflections on the era After Theory. But what theoretical implications go along with the
discourse of a possible and even probable end of theory? In this so-called era after theory, literary
criticism soon decided to take new steps: the anglo-american tradition of Cultural Studies tried to
replace the theoretical impact of French theory by more empirical proceedings in dealing with
literary texts. At the same time, philology raised its hand to oppose to the topographical turn of
cultural studies as well as to the deconstructive turn against all forms of presence. But is it possible
to mediate between the different theoretical approaches of philology and cultural studies? To
answer this question, the paper inquires into the difference between philological hermeneutics
(Szondi, Hamacher) and discourse analysis (Foucault) before turning to Foucault’s history of infamous
people as a paradigmatic example of a theoretical concept that needs philological understanding as a
complement to its own impact. As Foucault’s history of infamy shows, a theory of discourse that
wants to be at the same time a theory of power and a theory of subjectivity cannot neglect literature
and therefore has to integrate philological understanding in its own way of dealing not only with
historical documents, but also with poetic texts.
9:45 AM - Philology with a Facelift? The Case of Roland Barthes¿ S/Z
Strätling, Regine (Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany)
Structuralist literary theorists – and notably Roland Barthes – attempted to replace the traditional
forms of academic criticism, its unreflective claim of objectivity, its mystification of meaning and its
dominant methods of ‘text explanation’ (‘explication de texte’), by science-based approaches that
were extensively drawing on ideas and terminology of theoretical corpora such as Marxism,
Existentialism, psychoanalysis, and linguistics. Promoting in particular a technical vocabulary derived
from structural linguistics, Barthes entirely re-conceived the activities of writing, reading, and literary
criticism.
These features make Barthes’ work an interesting case-study in view of the fate of philology in such
an ambitious theoretical endeavour, all the more as Barthes, who holds a university degree in
Classical Philology, clearly opposes e.g. in his 1973 entry in the Encyclopaedia Universalis “Texte
(théorie du)” his own notion of textual analysis to philology. According to Barthes, the later seeks to
constitute the literary work as a closed object with a determinable meaning, whereas the former
rejects the idea of an ultimate referent.
My contribution would place the emphasis on S/Z [1970], Barthes’ most technical literary analysis
and, as to Barthes, the first exhaustive structural analysis of a narrative text. I would like to discuss to
what extent and how Barthes’ theoretical advancements take up and build on philological
approaches, and ultimately may serve to re-orientate philology itself (beyond the so-called new
philology’s preoccupation with the ‘death of the author’). This cannot go without singling out at least
to a limited extent which notions of philology are and which are not compatible with Barthes’ theory
of the text, and which may even form an integral part of it. If philological interpretation does indeed
form part of Barthes’ theoretical position, what is its exact place and function? And what happens to
philology in such a theoretical environment? Does it simply gain a ‘facelift’ or does it find itself
adapted to theoretical insights that cannot be dismissed? This question also points toward aesthetic
aspects of Barthes’ theoretical language, and I would like to end my contribution with a change of
perspective to examine if a particular relation between theory and philology has a part in the
overwhelming success, the obvious attractiveness of Barthes’ language of theory.
11:00 AM - Genealogy and Philology
Winkler, Markus (Université de Genève, Genève, Switzerland)
248
Nietzsche, Foucault and their more recent successors use the term genealogy to
designate a critical method of unmasking and de-legitimizing established and cherished values,
concepts or practices by questioning their founding historical narratives. In doing so, they leave out
the fact that this use of the term is metaphorical. In its dominant, non-metaphorical use, genealogy
means “[a]n account of one’s descent from an ancestor or ancestors, by enumeration of the
intermediate persons” (OED), in other words, a family pedigree, which may very well have a
legitimizing function (in aristocratic societies for example). Reflecting from a philological point of
view on the metaphorical status of the theoretical use of the term genealogy therefore makes us
realize that this use conveys a semantic complexity which opposes conceptual simplification.
Philological analysis may in turn draw on this complexity to highlight specific qualities of literary
texts. We will thus try to establish a relation between genealogy and philology and highlight its
productivity with examples taken from both theoretical and literary texts.
11:30 AM - Acts of swearing. The language of the oath and its investigation by Agamben and
Foucault
Simonis, Linda (Ruhr Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany)
The notion of the oath and the lexical field attached to it have recently been given a renewed
attention in cultural theory. The perhaps most remarkable and elaborate contributions to this
reconsideration of the oath have been proposed by Giorgio Agamben in his seminal study The
sacrament of language. An archaeology of the oath (2008) and by Michel Foucault in two of his
posthumously published lecture series, The government of the living (2012) and Wrong-doing, truthtelling: the function of avowal in justice (2014). What these studies have in common is the attempt to
develop a theoretical concept of the oath by means of a historical and philological investigation of
the origin and history of the term, the development of its linguistic forms and meanings. To work out
a philological genealogy of the oath, Agamben draws on the corpus of the ‘Indoeuropean
institutions’ established by Émile Benveniste in his major work (Indo-European Language and
Society). While at the level of a first approach the oath reveals itself as a linguistic practice situated at
the interface of law and religion, this double affiliation, according to Agamben, points to an even
older domain or ‘institution’ which precedes the formation of legal and religious institutions and can
be equated with the force of language itself. Thus by retracing the history of the term and its legal
and religious usages, Agamben works out a theoretical account of how language, in the form of a
specific speech act, operates as a binding force which is able to create a form of commitment
claiming validity in the social and institutional world.
Similarly, Michel Foucault goes back to historical sources of Greek antiquity, the Iliad and Oedipus
the King, in order to explore the specific status of the oath as a subjective utterance as well as
institutional practice. The act of swearing, according to Foucault, forms part of what he calls a
‘regime of truth’, that is a framework of discourse in which the legal and political mechanisms of
establishing truth coincide with a mode of speech that demands an articulation of the self. Drawing
together Agamben’s and Foucault’s approaches and the tools of analysis they offer, my paper will try
to work out what kind of truth-telling and subjective commitment becomes possible in a field of
discourse where the operations of power are traversed by the urge of the subject to articulate his or
her own truth.
2:00 PM - Deleuze's Le pli and baroque language
Schumm, Johanna (LMU München, München, Germany)
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In his endeavor to present Leibniz’s philosophy and the Baroque ( Le pli 1988)
Deleuze narrowly combines philology and theory. On the one hand, the all-encompassing concept of
the book can be understood as philological, i.e. the attempt to “unfold” baroque aesthetics and
philosophy out of the word “pli”, its semantics, its relations and its compounds (e.g. “plier, déplier,
replier“ (189)) as well as its appearance in different disciplines as ontology, aesthetics, geometry or
algebra. Regarding Leibniz, however, philology is often put aside: Frequently, it is difficult to tell, if
Deleuze is paraphrasing Leibniz or arguing himself, and steps from one discourse to a highly distinct
one happen without comment. Both the playful unfolding of “pli” and the freehand philosophizing
add to a theory of the baroque, which refers to the 17 th century as well as to modernity.
My contribution will connect these characteristics of Deleuze’s Le pli to similar
features of (historic) baroque writing and thinking and hence to its own object. Leibniz’s writing
combines mathematical, ontological and theological arguments and is highly figurative, for example
when Leibniz states “Les Monades n’ont point de fenêtres” ( Monadologie §7) or describes
substance as an “Etang plein de poissons” (§67). He unfolds such figures in slight variation in
different contexts. One can observe comparable transgressing features in other baroque writings as
well, for example in Conceptism (which is also important for Deleuze). Conceptism is per se a
combination of philology and theory, paradigmatically observable in Graciáns Agudeza y arte de
ingenio (1648). At first glance the text seems rather philological: A large collection of literary
examples mingled with observations on the witty use of language and concepts. However words and
concepts develop a dynamic, which exceeds the theoretical systematization of the book.
Deleuze attributes and actualizes these transgressing, non-conceptual, figurative
aspects of baroque language in his own writing.
2:30 PM - Auratic Theory: Benjamin
Zanetti, Sandro (University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland)
The writing of Walter Benjamin is determined by a style that tends to be challenging for the readers.
Adorno famously criticized Benjamin for his lack of ‚mediation‘ (Vermittlung). However, it is precisely
the lack of effort to support the reader that is significant for Benjamin’s texts. This lack was one of
the decisive factors that Benjamin first became an insider’s tip and then a preferred source for very
different theories in literary and media studies as well as cultural analysis. In the lecture, it will be
investigated to what extent a specific aura of Benjamin’s theory can be assumed. The investigation of
this presumed aura will move along a model of communication whose corner points Benjamin
himself formulated and whose implications he apparently took seriously in his own writing practice.
4:00 PM - Working at the net. Bruno Latour's foundations of discursivity
Eggers, Michael (Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany)
Seizing a suggestion from the abstract of the group section, this paper addresses the
rhetorical strategies and devices of the writings of Bruno Latour. It is conspicuous that Latour
repetitively choses to construct a terminological prerequisite for his explanations: sociological
theory, he claims, has to be radically renewed and for this purpose needs to rigorously redefine the
key terms already in use. In Reassembling the Social (2005) it is Latour's aim to give his discipline a
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new profile by giving a different meaning to its two most fundamental notions 'social' and 'science'.
Even more far-reaching is the rhetorical procedure in P olitiques de la nature , published a few years
earlier (1999): Here, Latour "refurbishes" a whole vocabulary of terms, redefining these to support
his politics. An expansive glossary at the end of the book serves as the linguistic tool for the new
écologie politique in question.
I want to take a closer look at Latour's verbal policy in two respects. First, the idea of
a terminological recycling has to be seen in the light of history. Notwithstanding the fact that Latour
draws a line between his efforts and the philosophy of Descartes at the beginning of Reassembling
the Social , Descartes' proposal in Discours de la méthode (1637) to dispense with all
epistemological conventions of his time bears some resemblance with Latour's project. More
examples from the history of theory will have to be considered to contextualize the procedure.
Finally, these considerations raise the question how Latour's endeavours with language and
terminology might fit into ANT (actor-network-theory) itself? ANT, of which Latour must undoubtedly
be seen as the most influential proponent, aims to assimilate the agency of subjects, things and
events, revealing a non-hierarchical and decentralized network. There seems to be a sharp
contradiction between this fundamental theoretical claim and Latour's auctorial, discursive
initiations.
4:30 PM - Variants of Agency: Observations on Myth, Fiction and Narrative in Latour's (Social)
Theory
Kramer, Kirsten (Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany)
Bruno Latour’s descriptions of central principles underlying social theory, science studies and/or
actor-network-theory are marked by the obstinate recurrence of images and metaphors that refer to
mythological figurations (labyrinth, metamorphoses et al.) as well as to mythical actors (Aramis,
Pandora, Daedalus, Gaia, trickster figures et al.) that define specific modes of social action within the
modern world. At the same time, his theoretical writings and essays contain numerous references to
compositional principles and cultural functions of narrative fiction, story-telling and plot structures.
Their persistent metaphorical interferences or crossings form the basis of Latour’s articulations of a
‘symmetrical anthropology’ that attempts to trace both the connectivity of competing economic,
political and scientific networks as well as the diverging ‘modes of existence’ that regulate our
common world.
Starting out from a brief outline of the heterogeneous figurations that characterize Latour’s
theoretical thought, the paper investigates the superposition of competing ‘languages’ which, in his
writings, constantly come to mediate between realism, factuality (faîtiches) and constructivism,
between evidence, poiesis and metis, between cosmopolitics and ethnography as well as between
techno-scientific and magical types of operation or explanation. It will focus in particular on the
methodological implications underlying the references to myth, fiction, arts and narrative.
Ultimately, the paper will raise the question whether it is this conceptual recourse to descriptive
patterns derived from ancient mythology and/or traditional aesthetics that provides the basic frame
of reference for a ‘scientific’ articulation of the contemporary world which gains its particular shape
and dynamics from the multiple crossings and inconsistencies inherent in Modernity itself.
6:00 PM - Philological Paperwork. The Question of Theory Within a Praxeological Perspective on
Literary Scholarship
Pethes, Nicolas (Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany)
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The 'practical turn' as it was proclaimed within natural and social science studies has not quite
reached the humanities yet. However, the key role of "paperwork", "immutable mobiles" and
"circulating references" within recent science studies suggests that the material, medial, and
practical foundation of laboratory science may also be relevant for our understanding of philological
scholarship. The question the presentation is going to tackle is whether this praxeological approach
also affects the role of theory within philology: considered a 'Geisteswissenschaft' in the 20th
century, philology has developed a genuine theoretical profile besides its traditional editorial
function, resulting in concepts such as understanding, selfreferentiality, temporality etc. The paper
asks whether this theoretical profile has to be changed from a praxeological perspective or whether
theory, too, can be considered one of the material practices of philological scholarship.
Room: Hs 7
9:00 AM - 'Voice' or 'Speech'? Discourses of Migration and Jacques Rancière's Reflections on Human
Rights, Politics and Language
Schödel, Kathrin (University of Malta, Msida, Malta)
The proposed paper discusses an application of Jacques Rancière’s political theory to current
discourses of migration. The aim of the paper and its link to the question of connections between
theory and philology is twofold: to use Rancière’s theories for a close analysis of the discourse
surrounding and shaping a highly topical issue and thereby to explore the relevance of linguistic
reflections in political theory.
Rancière distinguishes between two modes of speaking in the public realm: ‘voice’ and ‘speech’.
‘Voice’ is the mere expression of suffering whilst ‘speech’ is an utterance which attains political
significance, which is perceived on a political ‘stage’. This distinction is linked to Rancière’s emphatic
definition of politics as a continuous process of making visible situations which were invisible within
politics before, of including those who were not included in the political realm as new political
subjects and thereby changing the boundaries of the political. ‘Speech’, then, is an utterance of a
political subject in this sense and can be seen as performing a political act.
In relation to human rights, Rancière also describes a distinction between a political reference to the
concept of equality – a radical insistence on revealing structures of inequality and a political subject
which constitutes itself by referring to equal rights in an act of democratic ‘speech’, which challenges
existing socio-political orders – and the currently dominant ‘humanitarian’ focus on the ‘voice’ of
suffering, which depoliticises the issues at stake. This can be applied to the treatment of migration:
The humanitarian perspective emphasises questions of aid and asylum, but a political approach,
which would, for instance, have to contest border and immigration politics as well as economic
inequalities, is rare – let alone the possibility for ‘the migrant’ him/herself to become a political
subject and utter politically relevant ‘speech’.
The final part of the paper will offer close readings of exemplary campaigns for a more positive
perception of migration and ask whether they can be seen as political ‘speech’ in Rancière’s sense.
This is meant to demonstrate how Rancière’s engagement with language and politics can usefully be
applied to specific contexts, offering a perspective which combines a critical view on political realities
and hegemonic discourses with an emphasis on ‘speech’ as a linguistic enactment of dissensus and
thus a means of political change.
9:30 AM - Middle Voice and the Rhetoric of Crisis in present-day Europe
Boletsi, Maria (University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands)
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“Crisis” is an overdetermined concept that has been inflated, used and abused in recent public
rhetoric in Europe, perhaps most prominently in the context of the ‘Eurozone crisis.’ In my paper, I
plan to revisit the concept’s etymology and aspects of its genealogy based on Koselleck’s work, in
order to probe its instrumentalization in European public discourse on the Eurozone crisis and the
future of Europe and the European Union. If the word originally signified ‘decision’ and ‘judgment,’ it
currently often provides legitimation, one the one hand, for ‘states of exception’ and for a
suspension of judgment (understood here as critique and dissent) and, on the other hand, for
dualistically formulated (pseudo)decisions between a good and a catastrophic alternative, resulting
in one-way street politics. In the context of the Eurozone crisis, the term also helps reinforce clearcut distinctions between e.g., perpetrators and victims or ‘contagious' patients and doctors (echoing
the term’s medical use). Political theorists such as Giorgio Agamben, Wendy Brown, Jacques Ranciere
and Chantal Mouffe have theorized the ways current neoliberal politics hollows out democratic
institutions and strives to eliminate dissent and conflictual choices from political life. The rhetoric of
‘crisis’ may facilitate these workings. But the semantic content of crisis, as Koselleck also argues,
admits multiple alternatives that cut across the logic of dualistic options and allows critical accounts
of a given situation. Against the backdrop of recent (hardly optimistic) diagnoses of the present and
future of Europe, this paper will explore alternative conceptualizations of ‘crisis’ by bringing this
concept to bear on the grammar of the middle voice. As a grammatical category in which the subject
remains inside the action, the middle voice has been theorized by poststructuralist thinkers as a
mode that unsettles dualisms – such as those between active/passive or perpetrator/victim (Barthes,
Derrida, LaCapra). This paper will lay out the potential of the middle voice in fostering alternative
conceptions of subjectivity and European citizenship, and alternative narrativizations of ‘crisis’ in
present-day Europe. By enabling a notion of agency grounded in a vulnerable, precarious subject, the
middle voice, I argue, de-centers the notion of the liberal ‘willing’ subject but also of the subject as
fully determined by ideology. In the middle voice the subject is not predetermined but in becoming,
constituted in and through an utterance (Barthes). As such, the middle voice enables a
conceptualization of crisis not only as a decision between multiple existing alternatives, but also
alternatives that are not fully determined in and by the present and that escape the logic of
hegemonic narratives. As I hope to show, a notion of crisis informed by the grammar of the middle
voice, does not suspend decision and judgment altogether, but may turn ‘crisis’ into a critique of
monologic hegemonic discourses and their ‘states of exception’ and a moment of choice that triggers
the imagination of different futures and subjectivities.
11:00 AM - Cultural History and Linguistic Representation of the Bed. Encountering the Philological
Foundations of Culture Theory in Quotidian Culture
Brandes, Peter (Northwestern University, Department of German, Evanston, USA)
In my paper, I will explore the interrelationship between philology and culture theory focusing on the
literary representation of the bed in quotidian culture. The culture of everyday life is an important
research area in cultural studies, as one can see in the accumulation of studies on topics such as
eating, drinking or smoking. Rarely, however, the philological dimension of everyday culture comes
into consideration – although it is obvious that the study of quotidian culture relies on the
hermeneutic understanding of certain linguistic expressions referring to objects of everyday life –
such as table, chair, bed. Friedrich Kittler has rightly noted that for studying cultural history a certain
philological competence is indispensable. In my contribution, I would like to connect Kittler’s concept
of culture theory with a philological analysis of quotidian culture focusing on the cultural history of
the bed. In contradiction to Kittler, I will argue that even in the discourse of quotidian culture
theoretical concepts of culture can be examined. I will press the point that the analysis of the
linguistic representation of everyday culture already implies a theory of culture. Since the cultural
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coding of everyday life always depends on the historical semantics and the rhetorical structure of the
words, a philological approach to the history of quotidian culture is needed. There is no such thing as
an objective semantic pattern of the term bed. The rhetorical dimension of the word is always
implied in its literal meaning (de Man). The semantic ambiguity of the term is intertwined with its
cultural function. Examining an object of everyday culture (such as the bed) and its function in the
literary discourse will help to understand how philology and culture theory are interrelated. The aim
of the paper is to draw up an outline of a philological theory of quotidian culture.
11:30 AM - Languages in Theories on the Origin of Culture, 18th century
Moser, Christian (Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany)
“Doing ethnography is like trying to read (in the sense of ‘construct a reading of’) a manuscript –
foreign, faded, full of ellipses, incoherencies, suspicious emendations, and tendentious
commentaries,” writes Clifford Geertz in The Interpretation of Cultures. Thus, as a reader of culture,
the ethnographer is compared to a philologist – a professional interpreter of literary texts who pays
special heed to their formal, rhetorical and semiotic intricacies. As a producer of texts, on the other
hand, the ethnographer is not likened to the philologist, but to the literary writer: Geertz advises the
anthropologist not to compose abstract treatises, but to make use of the literary forms of the
anecdote and the personal essay; the ethnographer’s ‘thick description’ which provides a reading of
the symbolic order of culture is compared to the dense texture of a novel. Thus, in Geertz’s view, the
ethnographer is both, a producer and decoder of literary sign systems. The anthropologist interprets
the fiction of culture by generating fictions of culture. Is this a vicious or a productive circle? In my
presentation, I would like to discuss this question by focusing on Geertz’s implementation of literary
forms (especially the anecdote) in his anthropological writings.
2:00 PM - Stephen Greenblatt and the Making of a New Philology of Culture
Simonis, Annette (Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany)
The movement of New Historicism or Cultural Poetics, as it is also termed, has often been
misunderstood as a countercurrent to philological scholarship. Its rise in the nineteen eighties
seemed to have introduced a new school of cultural theory and inaugurated the end of the so-called
New Criticism in English studies at American universities and beyond. New key words as the
“circulation” of “social energy” and the material dimensions of culture became crucial in the
approach and the works of New Historicists. At a closer look, however, the leading figure and most
renowned representative of New Historicism, Stephen Greenblatt, proves to be very languageoriented in his studies, - if not book-centered. Thus he closely explores the poetical language of
Shakespeare's plays and the stimulating role of Montaigne's essays in the process of Renaissance
self-fashioning. As he argues in one of his recent publications, The Swerve. How the world became
modern, it was a poem of Lucretius - “De rerum natura”/ “On the nature of things” - which has
initiated the decisive momentum leading to early modern culture, a process which is moreover
closely linked to the word “epicurean” and its complex implications. The contribution investigates on
which levels and in what different respects Greenblatt focuses on language as a key element and
foundation stone of modern cultures. Moreover it explores in how far Greenblatt in the wake of
Foucault considers the concept of discourse as a crucial component in the analysis of cultural
development.
2:30 PM - The Work of Fernando Ortiz and his Impact on Europe
Reichart, Dagmar (University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands)
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Fernando Ortiz Fernandez (Havana,/Cuba, 1881-1969) was not only a prolific polymath, who was
educated in Havana, Barcelona, Madrid and Italy, but also a respected sociologist and, as I argue, a
visionary critic and first theoretician of what we nowadays call Transcultural Studies.
As a lawyer, jurist, sociologist, writer, originator of Cuban anthropology and musical ethnology, in his
lifetime Ortiz was active as a diplomat, politician, and judge in Cuba, and excelled also as author on
law, Afro-Cuban matters, criminology, sociology, history, and politics. He edited various collections of
Cuban literay classics, too. Ortiz represents a theoretical bridge between the American and the
European continent, and first reflected on how we perceive and cope with converging cultures at the
beginning of the 20th century, thus setting the course for the up-to-date debate on conviviality and
raising questions, at an early theoretical stage, which would become crucial in the Third Millennium.
In this lecture I will first try to illustrate the origin of the term of “transculturation” as Fernando Ortiz
coined it in his complex and versatile essay Contrapunteo cubano del tabaco y el azúcar (1940), the
English version dating back to 1947 (Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar). This publication
introduced the notion of hybridity in a new, positive cultural meaning that had a significant impact
on cultural theories to come, also in Europe. In the second part, in order to encourage the application
of Ortiz’ parameters in philological analysis, I intend to illustrate how the concept of hybridity has
been transcribed on a literary level in the same decade overseas in Europe/Italy, when Abbruzzese
writer Ennio Flaiano published ‘the’ novel of Italian colonialism under the title Tempo di uccidere in
1947 (English: The short cut, 1994). The main thesis would then be that reading Flaiano’s
autobiographical text in terms of Ortiz’ approach to culture can help to grasp the duplicity and
ambiguity of nature, history, politically motivated power discourses and the human quest for identity
with the help of concrete, ‘real’ and society-related reflection that oscillates, as per Ortiz, between
the poles of Marxist criticism and Magic Realism.
4:00 PM - Novel Poetics of the Self: Richardson's Pamela
Lüdeke, Roger (Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany)
Cultural theories of literature make literary works matter by situating them in social, political or
economic contexts. In order to locate literary texts in such frameworks, these individual contexts
need to be provided with a minimum of coherence and stability. Cultural theories provide ways to
establish this contextual cohesion by drawing on concepts such as misogynist/homophobic
discourses, capitalism, imperialism, racism, systems of knowledge, power formations of surveillance
and punishment or long-term structures of bio-politicization. Literary theories in turn use these
models in order to describe how literary works either confirm or, more often than not, ‘demystify,’
‘subvert,’ ‘deconstruct’ or ‘observe these ideological paradigms; in this paper, I will employ a case
study of Richardson’s Pamela in order to address some of the ensuing methodical problems which
arise from these attempts at contextualizing literature. Rather than being tuned to the normative
codes, memberships and organizations of era-specific ideologies, Pamela’s narrative realizes a unique
and novel poetics of the self. Retracing the material practices through which Richardson’s fictional
subjects transform themselves by working on themselves and others will help us understand how
this novel forms a literary field of social ethos and a strong structure of existence in its own right.
Concentrating on how this poetics of the self is produced in narrative fiction does, therefore, not
mean to de-politicize the novel. Rather, it allows us to see how this comparatively new genre
engenders fictional technologies of the self that resonate quite differently within the on-going
controversy about the 18th century novel's ‘modernity.’
4:30 PM - Borges: Poetry as Philology
Harst, Joachim (Uni Bonn, 53113, Germany)
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Hardly any writer staged his work so much as "secondary literature" as Borges: Instead of submitting
original creations, Borges writes fictitious reviews, commentaries, and even "scholia" to canonical
texts of Western literature, such as the Odyssey or the Divine Comedy (cf. Infierno V , 129; Paradiso
31,108). But his working with texts of course can not and will not be philological in the academic
sense; rather, Borges uses "Philology" as an instrument to subsume the literary tradition to his
programmatic concept of literature. This can be shown with reference to his texts on the Divine
Comedy – a work that already integrates in itself a multi-lingual tradition: While Infierno V, 129
universalizes the reciprocal relationship between literature, love and life (Francesca and Paolo are
displayed as an archetype of the lovers), Paradiso 31, 108 interprets Dante’s vision of God in the
sense of a Borgesian "pantheism," retrospectively shaping Dante’s vision as a prefiguration of earlier
texts by Borges (such as El Acercamiento a Almotásim, which was written without closer knowledge
of the Comedy). My paper will suggest that Borges takes up Dante’s courtly poetry and erotic
philosophy, turning them into a – as he himself says – “hedonistic” Philo-Logy, a "desire of logos."
Thus, Dante's God is replaced by the idea of “universal literature,” whose author ultimately is Borges
himself.
Room: Audimax
6:00 PM - Theory, World Literature and the Politics of Translation
Damrosch, David (Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA); Emily Apter
Panel Discussion with Prof. Emily Apter and Prof. David Damrosch
17282 - Pratiques littéraires du plurilinguisme - mondes arabes
Chair: Picherot, Emilie; Boidin, Carole
2:00 PM - La poésie comme support d'une réflexion sur le lien avec la langue arabe
de Dampierre-Noiray, Eve (Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, Pessac, France)
As a contribution to the Workshop « Pratiques littéraires du plurilinguisme » (17282) I shall attempt
to highlight the way both research works and universitary teaching practices based on literary Arabic
syllabus (poetry and prose, 19th & 20th centuries) can work together and contribute to a same
reflection on writers' and poets' relations to Arabic language, be it in a plurilinguistic context (for
instance colonial bilinguism) or not.
Several approaches will be explored :
- In a teaching context (from "Licence" to "Master" level), how to convey the presence of Arabic
language in Arabic texts translated into French ? What graphical, syntaxical, cultural traces does
Arabic language imprint on a text written in or translated into a European language (examples of M.
Darwich, A. Cossery, G. Ungaretti, L. Duff-Gordon, T. Hussein) ? Which specific devices can be given
to students to let them feel or locate the presence of another language ?
- How can a poetical text testify to a questioning on the writer's mother tongue in the same manner
as essays, memoirs, and other kinds of texts do (Said, Memmi and others) ?
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- How can contemporary Arabic poetry underline the political dimension of language, knowing that
"one does not inhabit a country, but a language" (Guillevic) (examples of M.Darwich, I.Mersal,
F.Laroui, A.Kilito)?
2:30 PM - Repérer les intertextes bibliques chez Oz et Darwich: Enjeux de la lecture en traduction.
Placial, Claire (Université de Lorraine, Metz, France)
L'étude des oeuvres littéraires en traduction, dans la perspective d'un enseignement
de Littérature comparée, ou d'une étude de réception, pose entre autres problèmes la question du
repérage des intertextes, dont la fiabilité est mise à mal par le nouveau codage qu'est la traduction.
Cette question se pose avec une acuité particulière chez Amos Oz et Mahmoud Darwich, deux
écrivains qui font une grande utilisation des intertextes bibliques. Tous deux ont en mémoire et à
l'oreille la Bible hébraïque, transcrite et remémorée dans leurs oeuvres en hébreu moderne et en
arabe littéraire. La lecture en français de Seule la mer dans la traduction de Sylvie Cohen et de Le lit
de l'étrangère dans la traduction d'Elias Sanbar permettent au lecteur francophone de reconnaître
de nombreuses allusions entre autres au Cantique des cantiques. Il s'agira d'une part de rendre
sensible les effets de brouillages induit par plusieurs strates de réécriture (par l'auteur en hébreu et
arabe, puis par la traduction), tout en réaffirmant le fait que la lecture en traduction ne rend pas
impossible la caractérisation des intertextes bibliques et de leur rôle dans la poétique de ces deux
auteurs.
3:00 PM - Les Mille et Une Nuits d'une langue à l'autre
François, Cyrille (AGORA Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Annemasse, France)
Cette contribution souhaiterait envisager Les Mille et Une Nuits comme un modèle d'une "œuvre
ouverte", constituée en canon international et dont l'un des intérêts majeurs réside dans les jeux
d'attirance et de rivalité entre langues et représentations. Il s'agirait de resituer les réécritures
modernes dans leur dépendance esthétique et idéologique aux traductions et de là réfléchir à des
distinctions possibles entre les reprises en langue arabe et celles en langues étrangères.
4:00 PM - De la littérature de terrain à la littérature générale : méthodes et perspectives de
recherche en littératures arabes
Benedicte, Letellier (Université de la Reunion, Saint Denis, Reunion)
Titre : "De la littérature de terrain à la littérature générale : méthodes et perspectives de recherche
en littératures arabes".
La diversité linguistique des littératures arabes peut certes entraver fortement toute recherche
théorique sur ces littératures. Mais, si l'on s'inspire des méthodes de recherche de Wilhem von
Humboldt dans le domaine de la linguistique, il s'avère opportun d'étudier ces littératures du point
de vue d'une "littérature de terrain" (comme Humboldt proposait la notion de "linguistique de
terrain").
La difficulté des recherches sur les littératures arabes relève avant tout d'une connaissance large de
tous les idiomes arabes puis de la constitution d'un corpus en langue arabe. Tâche longue et
fastidieuse pour le chercheur francophone qui peut parfois être désespérante. Toutefois, la notion de
"littérature de terrain" (que je calque donc à partir de la notion humboldtienne) permet d'aborder
les textes à partir d'un traitement empirique (validé et augmenté par une réflexion théorique) des
pratiques littéraires. Il ne s'agit pas tant de se conforter dans l'idée d'une richesse culturelle que
d'interroger l'existence d'une lingua franca en terres arabo-musulmanes qui dépasse les usages et les
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pratiques littéraires locales et participe d'une "structure organique" (Humboldt) de la littérature et
de la pensée arabo-musulmanes.
Je prendrai l'exemple de mes recherches sur le poème arabe contemporain que je propose de lire à
partir d'un traitement empirique (qui prend en compte mon parcours et ma spécialité de recherche)
et de réflexions qui reprennent et comparent les approches de Humboldt et Meschonnic d'une part
et la pensée des premiers mystiques d'autre part.
4:30 PM - Sabirs du Tunis colonial en Littérature
Dellagi, Chayma (Université de Montpellier, Paris, France)
Comme dans chaque contexte de mise en contact des cultures, et la colonisation en est un, il est une
littérature qui se consacre à la langue, ou au fait langagier, celui-ci étant un marqueur sensible et
frappant des phénomènes régissant les échanges qui alors s'établissent entre les entités étrangères
l'une à l'autre. Dans le Tunis colonial des années 30, une littérature spécifique, revendiquant son
nouveau statut générique et politique, a su utiliser la langue comme un objet d'affirmation coloniale,
mais a pu aussi l'inspecter, scientifiquement presque, comme une curiosité locale, comme élément
d'une biodiversité nouvelle. Le phénomène du sabir, langue faite du mélange des langues mises en
présence, lointaine héritière de la "lingua franca" du bassin méditerranéen, faisait alors figure d'objet
hautement pittoresque, à l'image de la population bariolée qui occupait Tunis, et offrait à la
littérature un point d'attache précieux à son sujet de prédilection qu'est la langue. Juifs, maltais,
siciliens, corses, arabes reconstituaient un paysage babélique et grouillant apte à enflammer
l'imaginaire littéraire de l'époque qui voyait dans cet "espace de tous", un lieu de régénération du
champ. A une époque où le métissage culturel est plus que jamais d'actualité, le sabir nous intéresse
encore: au cœur de ces problématiques, il fonctionne comme un parfait révélateur des
représentations culturelles ainsi que des enjeux qui les sous-tendent.
5:00 PM - Du plurilinguisme linguistique au plurilinguismes littéraire-Le roman algérien moderne
comme un exemple
Boukail, Amina (University of Jijel- General and compare literature -Annaba University, Constantine, Algeria)
Nous proposons dans cette communication d’examiner comment le plurilinguisme comme un
phénomène linguistique au sein de la société algérienne issue des facteurs historiques et sociaux est
devenu une pratique littéraire à travers une perspective narratologique en analysant les enjeux
linguistiques et textuels selon la présence de langues étrangères dans le roman algérien arabophone
en analysant les romans de Waciny Laredj et Ahlam Mosteghanemi, car on a remarqué que le roman
algérien arabophone s’est dirigé dernièrement à utiliser ce phénomène comme à la fois une
technique et un signe sociale .
Cela nous ramène à analyser l’énonciation en langue étranger : un mot-une locution- un passage
donc l’utilisation de cet élément linguistique permit à dégager le rapport entre l’identité et altérité
au niveau du texte narrative algérien arabe , cela offre un champs riche et varié aux comparatistes .
9:00 AM - At the Crossroads of Global Cultural History: from a 'Far Eastern' Perspective
Yamanaka, Yuriko (National Museum of Ethnology, Suita, Japan)
West Asia (or the Middle East) lies at the crossroads of many cultures and religions, a goldmine of
fascinating topics for comparatists. However, comparative studies involving the Middle East or Arab
culture has hitherto been focused on cultural exchanges with Europe, leaving the region's contacts
with South Asian or East Asian civilizations largely neglected. The speaker has done work on the
Arabian Nights , as well as on the transmission of the Alexander Romance from such an integrative
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perspective, using European, Arabic, and Persian sources, but also taking into consideration Chinese
and Japanese sources. Currently she is leading a joint research project comparing conceptual
frameworks and historical contexts of medieval marvels in Europe and the Middle East, in which the
comparative approach proved particularly fruitful. The presentation, based on these experiences, will
argue that comparative research on the medieval Islamic world would contribute to a more global
understanding of the history of civilizations, and that for this the study of Arabic and Persian sources
is essential.
9:30 AM - Le multilinguisme dans la littérature hispano-maghrébine et la littérature francomaghrébine: une paratopie créatrice à la croisée des cultures
Peñalver Vicea, Maribel (Universidad Alicante, Alicante, Spain)
Il s’agira, dans cette communication, d’établir une comparaison du plurilinguisme entre la littérature
maghrébine d’expression française et la littérature maghrébine d’expression espagnole, à partir d’un
corpus établi.
Si l’écrivain franco-maghrébin choisit la langue française comme langue d’expression, on assiste, au
Maghreb, depuis les années 1990, à l’émergence d’une littérature (mineure) hispano-maghrébine,
qui ne cesse de croître. Tant pour pour l’écrivain franco-maghrébin que pour l’écrivain hispanomaghrébin, l’emploi de la langue d’expression obéit à des raisons socio-linguistiques et politiques, la
colonisation espagnole au Maroc, par exemple, n’étant jamais aussi poussée ou complexe que la
colonisation française en Algérie. Dans ces deux types de littératures (mineure et majeure), l’écrivain
accorde évidemment un rôle privilégié aux « paratopies » (D. Maingueneau) liées à la langue qu’il
investit. L´énonciation littéraire se nourrit d’une irréductible instabilité, la paratopie (ce dont il faut
se libérer par la création et ce que la création approfondit) n’étant qu’intégrée au processus
créateur.
Nous tenterons de montrer comment l’écrivain construit sa propre paratopie linguistique ayant
comme corollaire une « plurilangue hospitalière ». Quel type de rapport existe entre le plurilinguisme
(des deux littératures) et la tension que l’inconscient de l’écrivain manifeste?
10:00 AM - Roots/Routes: Rafik Schami, Amin Maalouf et la question de l'identité culturelle
Ali Alhadji, Mahamat (DFG Graduiertenkolleg 1733, LMU München, München, Germany)
La présente étude vise à comparer deux conceptions de l’identité culturelle telle qu’exposées par
deux écrivains migrants originaires du Moyen-Orient : Rafik Schami, écrivain syrien de langue
allemande, et Amin Maalouf, écrivain libanais francophone. Les œuvres littéraires et les essais de ces
auteurs livrent deux points de vue opposés sur la question de savoir si «l’on doit emporter son pays
natal aux talons de ses souliers» (Johannes Bobrowski). Ce qui caractérise l’œuvre de Schami, c’est
qu’elle est essentiellement centrée sur son pays d’origine et laisse entrevoir une profonde nostalgie.
A l’opposé, la production littéraire de Maalouf célèbre l’hybridité, la rencontre des cultures, les
appartenances multiples. Ces conceptions de l’identité ont une influence décisive aussi bien sur
l’écriture que sur le choix des genres littéraires dont les deux écrivains se servent pour se positionner
dans les champs littéraires de leurs pays de résidence.
17283 - Poetics through time : the comparatist perspective
Room: Hs 26
Chair: HAQUETTE, Jean-Louis
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9:00 AM - New historicism and Poetics/New Historicism et poétique
Duprat, Anne (Université de Picardie-Jules Verne, AMIENS, France)
Le new historicism a ouvert dans les années 1980 une nouvelle phase des relations entre études
poétiques formelles et étude historique des textes littéraires. Ma contribution s’attachera à montrer
que l’une des conséquences du succès du mouvement, parti notamment des travaux de Greenblatt
sur les textes de la Renaissance et du début du classicisme, a été paradoxalement une remise en
question de l’opposition entre formalisme poétique et contextualisation historique dans l’approche
des œuvres littéraires de la période « Early modern ».
Je m’appuierai pour cela sur l’exemple que fournit à cet égard le développement d’une narratologie
historicisée, élaborée à partir des caractéristiques spécifiques au récit baroque européen, mais dont
l’apport théorique se révèle également important pour l’analyse d’autres types de récits
contemporains.
9:30 AM - Fable, Fabula, monde possible : quelle terminologie pour la fiction, entre nominalisme et
anachronisme ?
Lavocat, Francoise (Université Sorbonne nouvelle Paris 3, Paris, France)
La question de la fiction pose de façon exemplaire la question de l’emploi d’un vocabulaire critique,
largement renouvelé dans les deux dernières décennies, pour un objet dont l’historicité est sujette à
controverse. Dans cette communication, il s’agira de s’interroger sur les problèmes que pose l’emploi
de termes ancrés dans une période historique donnée (l’antiquité, la première modernité) pour
désigner un type d’artéfact ou une catégorie ontologique dont les définitions ont été à l'époque
contemporaine largement renouvelées. Il s’agira d’abord de faire le point sur ce débat : l’insistance
sur la définition originelle d’un mot, ou sur son absence dans un état de langue ancien, ou dans un
contexte culturel différent, conduisent souvent à contester l’universalité de la notion que ce mot
recouvre. Mais si l'on oublie le sens originel des mots, le risque est grand de balayer les différences
historiques et culturelles. Si nous refusons à la fois le nominalisme et l’anachronisme, quel geste
critique effectuons-nous lorsque nous employons des termes anciens, voire désuets (« feintise » par
exemple), des définitions tirées de leur contexte (« suspension volontaire d’incrédulité ») pour
définir un phénomène en termes contemporains ? D'autre part, la créativité terminologique, dans le
domaine critique correspond-elle obligatoirement à l’apparition d’objets nouveaux ? Si ce n’est pas le
cas, de quoi cette créativité est-elle le symptôme ?
10:00 AM - Fantastic before the fantastic: some problems in theory raised by pre-modern mimèsis
phantastikè
CORREARD, Nicolas (Université de Nantes, Nantes, France)
The poetics of “fantastic” has been largely defined in relation with XIXth century fantastic stories and
novels. Yet the notion of “fantastic representation” was frequently opposed to “icastic” or verisimilar
representation in XVIth and XVIIth poetical treatises. Be they thematic (Castex) or structural
(Todorov), current definitions of the notion prove inadequate to describe the pre-XIXth taste for
incredible fictions: inspired by sheer imagination (phantasia), nourished by the aesthetics of
grotesques, fantastic fictions remained linked emotionally with humour (instead of fear) and
generically with satire and/or philosophy, as the case examples of Lucian, Apuleius, Folengo, Rabelais
or Doni show. Epistemologically, they were rooted in a stronger delimitation between reality and
fantasy, rational and irrational, than modern criticism usually grants to pre-modern texts. What kind
of lessons could be drawn from this confrontation? We will particularly dwell on those authors
through which a connexion may be established, such as Vélez de Guevara ( El diablo cojuelo , 1641),
and Lesage, Nodier, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Dostoyevsky, who were inspired by pre-modern fantastic. As
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much as contemporary fantasy, they plead for redrawing theoretical and historical boundaries, and
for enlarging our definitions of the literary fantastic.
11:00 AM - Invariants et temporalité : réflexions sur les approches génériques des formes littéraires
pastorales.
HAQUETTE, Jean-Louis (Société française de littérature générale et comparée, REIMS, France)
Le vaste champ des formes littéraires pastorales, qui va des églogues aux romans pastoraux, en
passant par les pastorales dramatiques, pose un certain nombre de questions théoriques liées à
l’articulation entre invariants (structurels ou thématiques) et temporalité. La perspective
comparatiste, qui confronte plusieurs communautés interprétatives, rend particulièrement sensible à
ces enjeux. Il s’agira, à partir notamment de l’ouvrage de Paul Alpers What is pastoral ?, de proposer
des éléments de problématisation des définitions englobantes et de plaider pour une poétique
historique qui substitue à une approche définitionnelle un récit interprétatif fondé sur les notions de
transmission générique et de communauté littéraire. Du point de vue théorique, l'enjeu est
d’articuler la poétique aux dimensions temporelles et sociales du champ littéraire.
11:30 AM - Lyric Language and Early Modern Encyclopedism
Johnson, Christopher (Warburg Institute / School of Advanced Studies / University of London, London, United Kingdom)
My paper examines how different lyric forms, such as the epigram, the sonnet, and the silva, become
vehicles for encyclopedic content in the late Renaissance. Lyric, I will argue, with its characteristic
techniques of condensation, offers a significant, if often paradoxical response to "early modern
information overload." Whether as a single poem (Kuhlmann, Sor Juana) or as a sequence (Marino),
encyclopedic lyric tends to cultivate a more subjective temporality than either encyclopedic epic
poetry or prose encyclopedism. But as commentaries by Perotti and Herrera confirm, lyric also was
the occasion for broad cultural claims about the changing nature of encyclopedic knowledge.
12:00 PM - First-person usage in early modern philosophy, identification, and "genre"
Helgeson, James (University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom)
Early-modern readers almost certainly would have been confused by the generic distinctions that the
twenty-first century academy imposes on varieties of thought, and particularly the distinction
between ‘philosophy’ and literature’, not lexicalised as such in seventeenth-century European
languages. For example, Descartes famously calls the story he tells in the Discours de la méthode
(1637), ‘une histoire, ou, si vous l’aimez mieux […] une fable’, suggesting, in a bid for the reader’s
benevolence, that the writing can be classed in various categories according to the reader’s pleasure.
His Meditationes de prima philosophia (1641) invoke different categories, ‘meditation’, solitary
(religious) contemplation, though they are in fact full of invitations to inhabit a world in which the
reader is situated, and identify with the people in it and their metal experiences. This paper will
provide a comparative look at these strategies of mental identification through close reading of
passages in several early modern texts now generally classed as ‘philosophical’ (in Latin, French and
English). It will examine in particular how first-person rhetorical strategies interact with the question
of ‘genre’.
9:00 AM - Historicité, formalisme et généricité, quelques questions soulevées par les réécritures
dramatiques
Schweitzer, Zoé (Université de Saint-Etienne, France, Paris, France)
Choisir le terme formel de réécriture revient implicitement à mettre en oeuvre une conception de la
littérature et de l'histoire de la littérature. Apparemment descriptif et neutre, et pour cette raison
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commode, le terme de réécriture se révèle lourd de présupposés. L'oeuvre ainsi désignée est perçue
soit comme l'avatar d'une oeuvre antérieure, oeuvre princeps, et implicitement inégalée (ou bien elle
n'est plus désignée comme telle, ainsi la Phèdre de Racine), le terme masquant donc un jugement
esthétique; soit comme l'écho de l'époque contemporaine, qui aurait inspiré à l'auteur cette
réinterprétation signifiante du passé à la lumière du présent. Entre altération et présentisme, la
réécriture se trouve prisonnière d'une double historicité, au risque d'y être réduite, aux dépens d'une
analyse de ses enjeux génériques. L'ambition générique, c'est-à-dire théorique, des auteurs se trouve
ainsi occultée par cette historicisation implicite qui rabat le geste dramatique du côté d'une forme
dégradée ou d'une actualisation triomphante. C'est à une autre forme d'historicité qu'invite à
réfléchir ce corpus, qui permette à la fois de comprendre la singularité de chacune des pièces et de
les envisager comme un ensemble génériquement cohérent qui dessine les contours d'une
conception moderne de la tragédie, loin d'un autre présupposé inavoué qui tend à faire primer,
chronologiquement et axiologiquement, la théorie sur les oeuvres.
9:30 AM - Historiciser l'exemple
Zanin, Enrica (Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France)
Dans les années 70-95, le rapport entre le récit et sa morale a fait l’objet de théories structurelles,
visant à définir des modèles du fonctionnement de l’exemplarité à partir des analyses de Jolles.
L’analyse de l’exemplarité ainsi définie dans les nouvelles de Boccace à Cervantes a donné lieu au
constat critique de la « crise de l’exemplarité » (Neuschäfer, Stierle, Küpper). Toutefois, la durée de
cette crise, qui s’étendrait de la fin du Moyen Âge à la fin de la Renaissance, soulève nombre de
questions et l’analyse des nouvelles montre moins la crise, que la complexité de l’exemplarité. La
théorie de la « crise de l’exemplarité » semble donc peu apte à définir le fonctionnement et l’histoire
de l’exemplarité, et ceci en raison de la méthode adoptée par les théoriciens : les présupposés
formalistes de l’analyse portent à chercher une définition a-historique de l’exemplarité qui ne
permet pas d’en considérer l’évolution ; le parti pris formaliste implique une hiérarchie de valeurs qui
porte à privilégier le texte sur son contexte, le plaisir sur le didactisme, la fiction sur la prédication, et
donc à écarter comme imparfait tout ce qui limite l’autonomie du texte. Or l’exemplarité est
justement ce qui nie l’autonomie du texte en le reliant au contexte, en lui donnant une finalité
extérieure, en l’adressant à un public historiquement situé. Seule une vision historicisée de
l’exemplarité permet d’avoir une vision plus précise du lien entre récit et vérité dans la nouvelle.
L’analyse des réécritures de l’histoire de Gésippe (Décaméron X,8) nous permettra de proposer une
vision plus large de l’exemplarité, considérée moins comme une stratégie textuelle que comme un
mode de réception et d’interprétation : un texte n’est pas exemplaire parce qu’il affiche une moralité
univoque mais parce qu’il se destine à un public qui cherche à en tirer un enseignement. L’étude des
diverses formes de « refiguration textuelle » (Ricoeur) que supposent les nouvelles nous permettra
de saisir les conditions de possibilité de l’exemplarité et l’évolution des attentes « éthiques » de ses
lecteurs implicites.
10:00 AM - Temps et récit : le point de vue de l'anachronie
Garric, Henri (SFLGC, Paris, France)
Cette communication se propose de montrer comment poétique du récit et écriture de l'histoire
subissent un déplacement parallèle à partir du moment où l'on essaie de rompre avec une
herméneutique du récit historiciste. La démonstration portera sur une confrontation de Paul Ricoeur
et des oeuvres de Walter Benjamin et de Rafael Sanchez Ferlosio.
11:00 AM - De 'concinnitas' à 'justesse' et 'Stimmigkeit'. Quelques réflexions à propos de notions
esthétiques
Schneider, Ulrike (Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany)
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La contribution portera sur des catégories esthétiques et la question de transfert du savoir en
combinant une perspective historique et une réflexion systématique. (à compléter)
11:30 AM - Vraisemblance, Probability, Wahrscheinlichkeit: Some Remarks on the Current
Relevance of a Neoclassical Concept
Kukkonen, Karin (University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway)
As the focal point of the neoclassical edifice of criticism in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
vraisemblance enjoyed unparalleled critical appeal in France, Britain and Germany (see Bray 1931;
Patey 1984; Campe 2012 for discussions of these three national traditions). The constructed nature
of the fictional worlds of neoclassicism, after the ridicule of generations of critics, rose again to some
importance in the surroundings of poststructuralism and its narratological formulations (see Genette
1968; Culler 1975). Today, the central role of probabilistic, Bayesian models of cognition might offer
a new way for bringing vraisemblance back into the critical vocabulary (see Kukkonen 2014).
The present paper will discuss the critical fortunes of vraisemblance and underline the malleability of
the concept across the three spot-light periods of neoclassicism, postmodernism and the present
day. Through a reading of Hilary Mantel’s novel about the French Revolution, A Place of Greater
Safety (1992), I shall propose that vraisemblance, as informed by the neoclassical critical model and
the insights in human probabilistic thinking afforded by the cognitive sciences, offers a tool for
formal poetics to address issues of mimesis, fictional worlds and cultural memory.
17284 - INTERFERENZEN: Dimensionen und Phänomene der Überlagerung in
Literatur und Theorie
Room: Hs 34
Chair: Donat, Sebastian; Raic, Monika; Fritz, Martin; Sexl, Martin
9:00 AM - Interferenzen - Überlegungen zur literaturwissenschaftlichen Anschlussfähigkeit eines
physikalischen Begriffs
Donat, Sebastian (Universität Innsbruck, Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft, Innsbruck, Austria)
In der Physik versteht man unter Interferenz Phänomene, die bei der Überlagerung von zwei
Wellenzügen entstehen. Abhängig von Faktoren, wie Stärke und Position der Impulsgeber,
entwickeln sich im betrachteten Feld Verstärkungen (konstruktiveInterferenz) oder Auslöschungen
(destruktive I.). Das Ergebnis sind Musterbildungen, die von strenger Symmetrie (z.B. stehende
Wellen) bis zum (scheinbar) chaotischen Rauschen reichen.Im Beitrag geht es darum, konzeptionell
sowie mit Blick auf konkrete Einzelbeispiele auszuloten, inwieweit der Begriff der Interferenz unter
literaturwissenschaftlichem Blickwinkel fruchtbar gemacht werden kann. Dabei soll auch der Frage
nachgegangen werden, in welchem Verhältnis das Konzept der Interferenz zu etablierten Begriffen
der Allgemeinen und Vergleichenden Literaturwissenschaft, wie Intertextualität, Intermedialität,
Inter‑ und Transkulturalität oder Hybridität, steht.
9:30 AM - Störfälle oder Verstärkereffekte? Über Interferenzen von Text und Paratext
Wegmann, Thomas (Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria)
Noch immer ist strittig, ob das angebliche Vorwort des Herausgebers Bestandteil von Goethes Roman
'Die Leiden des jungen Werthers' ist - oder nicht. In diesem Fall handelte es sich um einen Paratext,
der selbst nicht zur literarischen Fiktion, sondern Gérard Genette zufolge zu jenem Beiwerk zählt,
"durch das ein Text zum Buch wird und als solches vor die Öffentlichkeit tritt". Das Vorwort würde
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demnach dem folgenden, in der Erstausgabe nicht als 'Roman' bezeichnetem Text einen
dokumentarischen Charakter zuweisen. Oder tarnt sich dieses Vorwort ungekehrt als faktualer
Bericht eines Herausgebers, während es in Wahrheit lediglich die Wahrheit von Dichtung
beanspruchen kann? In jedem Fall ist das Verhältnis von Text und Paratext alles andere als distinkt.
So musste auch der um begriffliche Trennschärfe bemühte Genette konzedieren, dass es sich beim
Paratext "weniger um eine Schranke oder undurchlässige Grenze als um eine Schwelle" handle.
Angesichts von Romanen, die in Gänze als Interview arrangiert sind, wie 'Das Wetter vor 15 Jahren'
von Wolf Haas, oder literarischer Prosa, die aus 'Rezensionen' zu nicht-existierenden Büchern
besteht, wie Stanislaw Lems 'Vollkommene Leere', gilt es solche Befunde zu präzisieren und die
vielfältigen Überlagerungen von Text und Beiwerk genauer zu untersuchen. Ob das physikalische
Modell der Interferenz, bei dem sich Wellen sowohl auslöschen als auch verstärken können, für eine
genauere Bestimmung des Text-Paratext-Verhältnisses hilfreich sein kann, versucht mein Vortrag
abschließend zu klären.
10:00 AM - Fluss-Skripte. Zur Interferenz von Literatur und Topographie
Italiano, Federico (Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW / IKT), Vienna, Austria)
Flüsse haben seit jeher (spätestens seit Gilgamesch) literarische Fiktionen inspiriert: Sie verbinden,
grenzen ab, übersetzen, ernähren, generieren und töten. Sie werden gefunden, erfunden,
aufgeschrieben und beschrieben. Sie dienen als Topos sowohl der intimsten Liebeslyrik als auch dem
gröbsten Nationalmythos. Nicht zuletzt dienen sie als Metapher (spätestens seit Heraklit) der
philosophischen und kulturtheoretischen Reflexion: „alles fließt“, Texte „fließen“ und das
Bewusstsein „strömt“. In meinem Vortrag werde ich einen besonderen Aspekt der fluvialen
Imagination aufzuspüren versuchen: die mediale Interferenz zwischen den literarischen und den
topographischen Darstellungsverfahren des Fließens.
11:00 AM - Überlagerung und Überhöhung. Der Orient bei Flaubert und Arlt
Raic, Monika (Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria)
Der argentinische Schriftsteller und Journalist Roberto Arlt hielt sich 1935/36 als Korrespondent der
Zeitung El Mundo in Spanien auf. Die Nähe zu Marokko nutze er, um sich einige Wochen in Tanger
und Tétouan aufzuhalten. Als unmittelbare Eindrücke dieser Reise und Belege für seiner literarischen
Neuorientierung können die Aguafuertes españolas, Arlts journalistische Reiseberichterstattung
betrachtet werden. Hierin beschreibt er seine vorgeblich erlebte Realität in Spanien, die sowohl in
Kontrast, als auch engem Zusammenhang mit den Texten aus Marokko steht. Literaturhistorisch
steht Arlt mit dem Gegenstand der Orientreise in einer Linie mit Schriftstellern wie Gérard de Nerval
oder Gustave Flaubert. Auf letzteren nimmt Arlt an vielen Stellen seines Werkes Bezug.
In meinem Vortrag möchte ich anhand der Metapher der Interferenz die Musterbildung eines
Orientbildes untersuchen, das wir bei Flaubert in Voyage en Égypte, aber auch in Tentation de saint
Antoine oder Salambô finden. Die flaubert’schen Wellenzüge können, so meine These, in
konstruktivem Verhältnis zu Arlts Orientbild gesehen werden. Inwiefern eine ästhetische und
semantische Symmetrie beider Werke in Bezug auf den Orient als Topos vorliegt, soll eine der
Leitfragen sein.
11:30 AM - Hypertext der Frühen Neuzeit - Lohensteins Anmerkungen zu seinen Römischen und
Afrikanischen Trauerspielen
Worms, Katharina (Universität Trier, Trier, Germany)
Der vorliegende Beitrag ist im Schnittfeld von deutscher und lateinischer Literatur angesiedelt und
wird die enzyklopädischen Anmerkungsapparate in den Trauerspielen des Dichters Daniel Caspar von
Lohenstein als Interferenzphänomen betrachten. In Lohensteins Anmerkungen zu seinen
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sogenannten Afrikanischen und Römischen Trauerspielen überlagern sich Texte verschiedenster
literarischer Gattungen, unterschiedlicher Sprachen und mehrerer Epochen. Vornehmlich treten
antike Texte der römischen Geschichtsschreiber mit Lohensteins Dramentext in Interaktion. Zum
einen soll es um die eigentümliche Textstruktur der Anmerkungen gehen, die als Frühform eines
Hypertextes betrachtet werden kann, zum anderen um die Frage, welche Funktion den
Anmerkungen für die Interpretation der Trauerspiele zukommt. Es kann gezeigt werden, dass
Lohensteins eigene Erklärung, es handle sich um reine ,Hilfsanmerkungen‘, zu kurz gegriffen ist.
Vielmehr kommt es in den Anmerkungsapparaten zu einer Kreuzung von verschiedenen Texten, die
in ihrer intra- und intertextuellen Wechselwirkung zum Dramentext von der bisherigen
germanistischen Forschung weitgehend unberücksichtigt blieben und oft als überflüssiges Beiwerk
und Ausdrucksform dichterischer Gelehrsamkeit betrachtet wurden. Dieser Einschätzung gegenüber
kann gezeigt werden, dass die Anmerkungen auf die Multiperspektivität und Vielstimmigkeit von
Geschichtsdarstellungen rekurrieren. Ein fruchtbarer methodischer Ansatz, den der geplante Beitrag
verfolgt, wird die Kombination von hermeneutisch-philologischen und statistischen Verfahren sein.
Die typisch barocke Textform der Anmerkung wird vor dem Hintergrund der Intertextualitätstheorie
(Gérard Genette) sowie dem heuristischen Modell eines Hypertextes betrachtet, gestützt durch eine
quantitativ-statistische Untersuchung der zitierten Autoren und Texte.
12:00 PM - Die deutsche Interferenz im Werk Afanasij Fets
Achilli, Alessandro (Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy)
Afanasij Fet ist einer der berühmtesten und meistgelesenen russischen Dichter des 19. Jahrhunderts.
Sein Werk gilt als das beste Beispiel „absoluter Dichtung“ in einem von Prosa dominierten Zeitalter
und als eine ideale Verbindung zwischen der Dichtung der Puškinzeit und dem Symbolismus. Fets
Persönlichkeit und Kunst waren durch seine deutsche Herkunft bemerkenswert beeinflusst, die er
trotz ihrer unumgänglichen Rolle in seiner menschlichen und literarischen Entwicklung abzusprechen
versuchte. Er war zweisprachig, besuchte eine deutsche Schule, interessierte sich für die deutsche
Literatur und übersetzte zahlreiche deutsche Schriftsteller, wie Heine, Schopenhauer und Goethe.
Ungeachtet seines Ruhmes und seiner Bedeutung in der Geschichte der russischen Dichtung ist Fets
Werk in seiner Komplexität noch nicht vollständig beschrieben und analysiert worden. Einer seiner
dringendsten Forschungsdesiderata ist der deutsche Einfluss auf seine Entstehung und Evolution.
Wichtige Monographien wie Gustafson 1966 und Blagoj 1975 setzen sich mit Fets dichterischen
Bilinguismus nicht auseinander. Diesem Thema hat sich Emily Klenin in ihrer 2002 Studie gewidmet,
die als der beste Beitrag zu Fets intellektueller Biographie und den formalen Aspekten seiner
poetischen Sprache betrachtet werden kann. Darüber hinaus hat sich Klenin insbesondere mit dem
komplexen und faszinierenden Problem der „Entgermanisierung“ in Fets spätem Werk beschäftigt.
Mein Vortrag konzentriert sich auf die Rolle der deutschen Literatur in der Gestaltung der Dichtung
Fets und nimmt als theoretische Herangehensweise die Idee der kulturellen Interferenz, die sowohl
die psychologische Dimension der komplizierten Beziehung Fets zu seiner deutschen Wurzeln als
auch deren literarische Produkte mit einbezieht. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit wird auf Fets Beziehung
zu Goethe und Heine in seiner originalen Dichtung und in seinen Übersetzungen gelegt.
2:00 PM - Interferenz als Stringenz. Das dramaturgische Superpositionsprinzip Elfriede Jelineks
Felber, Silke (Forschungsplattform Elfriede Jelinek: Texte - Kontexte - Rezeption, Wien, Austria)
Der Begriff des „Postdramatischen“, der für die Beschreibung von Elfriede Jelineks Theatertexten
vorrangig herangezogen wird, stößt in der Forschung mittlerweile auf Kritik, impliziert er doch ein
teleologisches Verständnis von Geschichte, dem sich Jelineks intertextuelle Schreibverfahren zu
entziehen scheinen. Alternativ dazu wird neuerdings vorgeschlagen, die von Deleuze und Guattari
formulierte Denkfigur einer „Zeit der Koexistenz“ für Jelineks Text- und Geschichtsschichtungen
265
nutzbar zu machen (Haß, Meister). Auch diese Begrifflichkeit jedoch erweist sich als unzureichend:
Sie wird weder der Dynamik gerecht, die die Texte im Übereinanderlagern diverser Quellen
evozieren, noch der Wirkung, die dadurch bei den lesenden bzw. hörenden RezipientInnen erzielt
wird. Der Terminus der Interferenz wiederum scheint diesem Desiderat zu entsprechen, indem er
erlaubt, auf die Effekte der Durchdringung mehrerer sich superponierender Impulsquellen zu
fokussieren, die sich gegenseitig verstärken (konstruktive Interferenz) oder abschwächen bzw.
auslöschen (destruktive Interferenz). Verifiziert werden soll diese These exemplarisch anhand des
Theatertexts Kein Licht. (2011), den Jelinek anlässlich der Nuklearkatastrophe von Fukushima
verfasst hat. Der Text lässt nicht nur eine Überlagerung von antiker Tragödie und virulenten
Narrativen augenfällig werden – er dekuvriert zudem vor der Folie des AKW-Störfalls akustische und
visuelle (Grenz-)Phänomene der Wahrnehmung, die für die Rezeptionsprozesse von Interferenzen
ebenso relevant sind, wie für jene von theatralen Ereignissen.
2:30 PM - (Post-)Dramatische Überlagerungen. Elfriede Jelineks Konzept des Sekundärdramas
Kovacs, Teresa (Forschungsplattform Elfriede Jelinek: Texte - Kontexte - Rezeption, Wien, Austria)
Elfriede Jelinek veröffentlichte 2009 in der Zeitschrift Theater heute den kurzen Text Reichhaltiger
Angebotskatalog, in dem sie ironisch ihre neue „Geschäftsidee“ für den Theaterbetrieb vorstellt:
sogenannte „Sekundärdramen“, die zu bestehenden Dramen verfasst werden. Die Idee des
„Sekundärdramas“ entstand durch die Uraufführung ihres Theatertextes Abraumhalde (2009) durch
den Regisseur Nicolas Stemann, der diesen gemeinsam mit Gotthold Ephraim Lessings Nathan der
Weise inszenierte. 2011 veröffentlichte Jelinek das zweite „Sekundärdrama“ FaustIn and out zu
Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Urfaust. In dem Essay Anmerkung zum Sekundärdrama erläutert sie
die Spezifik der „Gattung“ ausführlicher und bestimmt, dass die Sekundärdramen nur gemeinsam mit
den Primärdramen, auf die sie sich beziehen, inszeniert werden dürfen: „Das Sekundärdrama darf
niemals als das Hauptstück und alleine, sozusagen solo, gespielt werden. Eins bedingt das andre, das
Sekundärdrama geht aus dem Hauptdrama hervor und begleitet es, auf unterschiedliche Weise, aber
es ist stets: Begleitung.“[1]
Jelinek entwickelt mit dem Sekundärdrama ein Konzept, das die Interferenzen, die in der
Kombination von kanonisierten Dramentexten und „postdramatischen“ Theatertexten entstehen,
auslotet und das Zeit- und Epochengrenzen, aber auch das Verhältnis von Text und Bühne radikal
verschiebt. Ist Jelineks Verfahren grundsätzlich bestimmt durch Vielstimmigkeit, Intertextualität und
Intermedialität, geht das Sekundärdrama mit seiner „Parallel-(Inter-)Textualität“ (Karen Jürs-Munby)
weit darüber hinaus und lohnt einer intensiven Befragung im Rahmen der Sektion INTERFERENZEN.
[1] Jelinek, Elfriede: Anmerkung zum Sekundärdrama. http://204.200.212.100/ej/fsekundaer.htm,
datiert mit 18.11.2010 (= Elfriede Jelineks Website, Rubriken: Archiv 2010, zum Theater).
3:00 PM - Konstruktionen des Faktualen und des Fiktionalen: Intertextualität und Emotionalität in
der 'Ermittlung' und 'Capesius, der Auschwitzapotheker'
Vanassche, Tom (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Aalter, Belgium)
Dieser Beitrag vergleicht und kontrastiert die diskursiven Emotionalitätskonstruktionen in Peter
Weiss‘ Die Ermittlung (1965) und Dieter Schlesaks Capesius, der Auschwitzapotheker (2006.) Meine
These lautet, dass beide Texte – trotz völlig unterschiedlicher politischer und kultureller Kontexten –
ähnliche Textstrategien anwenden um ähnliche Emotionen hervorzurufen. In beiden Texten wird ein
zentraler faktualer Diskurs durch viele intertextuelle Verweise auf kanonisierte (größtenteils
literarische) Texte ergänzt.
Der Erstehungskontext der Ermittlung ist mittlerweile vollständig erforscht worden: Weiss besuchte
verschiedene Tagungen des Frankfurter Auschwitzprozesses (1963-1965) und integrierte Teile der
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Berichterstattung aus der FAZ in seinen Text. Capesius umfasst mehrere Dokumente: Notizen,
Zeugenberichte und Zitaten aus fiktionalen und nicht-fiktionalen Texten.
Die unterschiedlichen Quellen und derer Verarbeitung führen zu unterschiedlichen Interferenzen
zwischen Fakt und Fiktion. Ich behaupte dabei, dass Capesius sogar die Konzepte „Fakt“ und „Fiktion“
problematisiert. Das geschieht in der Ermittlung durchaus nicht: In diesem Text lassen sich beide
leichter unterscheiden. Der Fokus auf den Diskrepanzen und auf dem (unausgesprochen!)
intertextuellen Link zwischen Capesius und der Ermittlung sollte eine Einsicht in den Verschiebungen
innerhalb des Dokumentarischen erlauben und den neuen Status der Fiktion im Genre einschätzen.
Schlussendlich könnte man im Licht dieser rezenten Tendenzen zur Fiktionalisierung die Gattung
„Dokumentarliteratur“ hinterfragen und sie stattdessen als hyperreale Kunstform bezeichnen.
4:00 PM - Autofiktion als Interferenz am Beispiel von Günter Grass' Grimms Wörter
Baier, Christian (Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea)
In seinem letzten Werk Grimms Wörter kombiniert Günter Grass die Lebensgeschichte Jacob und
Wilhelm Grimms mit Anekdoten aus dem eigenen Leben. Er berichtet von den Brüdern Grimm aber
weder aus der Sicht des Biographen noch in der Form eines historischen Romans, sondern schreibt
sich selbst als Figur in seine Geschichte ein und interagiert persönlich mit seinen Protagonisten: „Als
sei er in die falsche Gesellschaft geraten, flüchtet Jacob Grimm aus den Räumen der Akademie. Ich
trage ihm, was auf dem Rednerpult liegen blieb, sein Manuskript nach, damit es später gedruckt
werden möge.“ (Grimms Wörter, S. 227)
Grimms Wörter ist eine Autofiktion, also ein Text, „in dem eine Figur, die eindeutig als der Autor
erkennbar ist, in einer offensichtlich als fiktional gekennzeichneten Erzählung auftritt“ (F. Zipfel). In
der Forschung wird eine solche Konstellation bisher gewöhnlich so verstanden, dass der Leser
bestimmte Passagen als fiktional, andere aber als autobiographisch-referentiell verstehen muss,
ohne diesen Gegensatz auflösen zu können. In Grimms Wörter jedoch liegen die Dinge komplizierter:
Zwar sind die Episoden, die von den Grimms handeln und im 19. Jahrhundert spielen, eindeutig
fiktional, doch da Grass sie als (wenn auch fiktionaler) Augenzeuge berichtet und damit eine typisch
autobiographische Erzählhaltung einnimmt, erheben sie zugleich Anspruch auf Referentialität und
Wahrheit! Der Leser hat damit nicht mehr die Möglichkeit, zwischen autobiographischer und
fiktionaler Rezeptionshaltung zu oszillieren, da der Text, in einer eigentümlichen Überlagerung, beide
Lesarten zugleich anbietet und fordert!
In meinem Vortrag werde ich diese charakteristische narrative Konstellation von Grimms Wörter
analysieren und die Möglichkeit entwickeln, Autofiktion nicht länger als Oszillation, sondern als
rezeptionsästhetische Interferenz aufzufassen.
4:30 PM - Parodie und Posse am Wiener Vorstadttheater - Gattungstypologische Interferenzen und
Übergänge in politischen und ökonomischen Krisenzeiten
Mansky, Matthias (Universität Wien, TFM-Instuitut, Wien, Austria)
Die Parodien des Wiener Vorstadttheaters im frühen 19. Jahrhundert sind innerhalb der Forschung
zumeist als (triviale) Unterhaltungsstücke wahrgenommen worden, denen ein
literaturgeschichtlicher Wert lediglich in ihrer Popularisierung einer prominenten Vorlage konzediert
wurde. Der Vortrag bemüht sich, die Parodie als theaterpraktische Gattung einer kulturellen und
literarischen Transgression zu erläutern, wobei sich gerade im parodistischen und trivialisierenden
Transformationsprozess eine dramatische Eigenständigkeit der Texte konstatieren lässt, in der die
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„fließenden Grenzen zwischen possenhafter Bearbeitung und bewußter literarischer Parodie“ (J.
Hein) evident werden. Konzediert man der Gattung der Posse eine erhöhte dramaturgische Freiheit
und Unberechenbarkeit in Zeiten der Zensur, lässt sich auch eine Konjunktur der Parodie in politisch
repressiven Phasen konstatieren. Diesen gattungstypologischen Interferenzen und
Überschneidungen soll anhand der omnipräsenten Geldmotivik nachgegangen werden, die auffällig
mit den wirtschaftlichen Turbulenzen der Habsburgermonarchie während der Napoleonischen Kriege
und dem Österreichischen Staatsbankrott von 1811 konvergiert. An ausgewählten Beispielen wird
auszuloten sein, inwieweit es der Gattung gelingt, auf der diskursiven Ebene der Komik,
zeitgenössische Turbulenzen und Lebensängste zu reflektieren und sich somit von der parodierten
Vorlage zu emanzipieren.
6:00 PM - Wie entsteht eine Theorie?
Sexl, Martin (Uni Innsbruck / Vergl. Literaturwissenschaft, Innsbruck, Austria)
(Literatur-)Theorien sind Zeichensysteme, die durch Interaktion (mit anderen Theorien, mit Kunst ...)
auf d. Basis best. Bedingungen unter Verwendung v. best. Formen (Alltags-/Wissenschaftssprache,
spezifische Begriffe ...) Aussagen (Hypo-/Thesen, Theoreme ...) über Wirklichkeiten entwickeln.
Theoretische Aussagen interferieren mit ihren Kontexten, mit anderen Theorien u. mit d.
verwendeten (Sprach-)Formen.
Dabei sind teils widersprüchl. Kräfte am Werk: So werden Unterschiede zw. Theorien (durch d.
Bezugnahme untereinander u. auf vergleichbare Bedingungen u. Praktiken sowie durch Konkurrenz,
die mainstreamtaugl. Forschung tendenziell bevorzugt) im Laufe der Zeit eingeebnet, diese jedoch
auch deutlicher herausgearbeitet, weil d. Profilierung in einem zunehmend marktdeterminierten
Wissenschaftsbetrieb d. Differenz bedarf.
Im Vortrag soll eine spezifische Interferenz im Vordergrund stehen, nämlich jene zw. Theorie u. ihren
Begriffen

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