14 research outputs found
Christa Wolf’s struggle with totalitarianism
No full textChrista Wolf was born in 1929 in Landsberg an der Warthe [Landsberg on the Warta river], now Gorzów Wielkopolski. As a young girl, she grew up in the fascist era and was directly influenced by its ideology. While fleeing from the Red Army at the end of January 1945, this young woman, less than 16 years old, stated that at once she put an end to her connections with fascism. Having discovered a new fascinating ideology – socialism, she was convinced that her generation would create a new, jubilant country according to its precepts, i.e., German Democratic Republic. In her books, Christa Wolf settles accounts with these two totalitarian ideologies. She is fully aware that neither of these ideologies can be totally rejected, whether on individual or collective-social plane. The author, Krystyna Kamińska, of the paper offers an in-depth discussion of Wolf’s criticism of the ideologies she had come to live in as well as her admission of their permanence. She deals with fascism mostly in “Patterns of childhood” [„Wzorce dzieciństwa”], and with socialism in “The Quest for Christa T.” [„Rozmyślania nad Christą T.”] and in “City of Angels” [„Miasto aniołów”].Christa Wolf, pisarka z dawniej Niemieckiej Republiki Demokratycznej, urodziła się w Landsbergu nad Wartą w 1929 roku, obecnie Gorzowie Wielkopolskim. Wzrastała w okresie faszyzmu, którego ideologia bezpośrednio oddziaływała na młodą dziewczynę. Już w momencie ucieczki przed Armią Czerwoną w końcu stycznia 1945 roku, niespełna 16-letnia młoda kobieta stwierdziła, że jednocześnie zamyka swoje związki z faszyzmem. Odkryła nową fascynującą ideologię – socjalizm, była przekonana, że zgodnie z jego założeniami jej pokolenie zbuduje szczęśliwy kraj – Niemiecką Republikę Demokratyczną.W swoich książkach Christa Wolf rozlicza się z tymi dwoma ideologiami totalitarystycznymi. Ma pełną świadomość, że ani w planie indywidualnym, ani zbiorowym, społecznym, żadnej z tych ideologii nie da się całkowicie odrzucić. Krystyna Kamińska szczegółowo omawia zawartą w książkach Christy Wolf zarówno krytykę, jak i trwałość ideologii, w jakich przyszło żyć autorce. Z faszyzmem rozlicza się przede wszystkim we Wzorcach dzieciństwa, a z socjalizmem w Rozmyślaniach nad Christą T. i w Mieście aniołów
Aktionsforschung wissenschaftshistorische und gesellschaftliche Grundlagen, methodische Perspektiven
No full text'Shadowy Copies'? Film Adaptations of the Second Austrian Republic
No full textFor many years adaptation has been passed between literature and film studies, frequently dismissed as ‘shadowy copies’ and parasitic reproductions, the unwanted bastard child of the disciplines searching in vain for an academic home. Despite the emergence of insightful new scholarship into the development of Austrian film in the twentieth century, the role of the adaptation genre within Austria’s film industry and literary landscape remains an academic blind spot. This study aims to address this gap in critical knowledge, reviewing the potential function of filmic adaptations within the field of Austrian studies. Through five case studies of canonical works of post-war Austrian literature, this thesis sets out to establish adaptation both as a critical tool through which to approach literature and as an object of academic interest in its own right. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory and its application in film studies, these studies compare and contrast the position occupied by the film’s implied spectator with the relationship of the implied reader to the literary text. Rereading the novels retrospectively in light of their adaptations, this approach has the ability to ‘light up dark corners’ of the novels, illuminating those aspects hitherto left in the shadows by literary criticism. It will be argued that adaptation is uniquely positioned to hold up a mirror to literary texts, reflecting their concerns not through the filters of established grand narratives and generic taxonomies but through their creative, cinematic reworking of the novels. In challenging those assumptions that have become commonplace within Austrian literary history, this study calls for a more nuanced approach to literature of the Second Republic and proposes adaptation as the means by which this may be achieved
The press reception of Austrian works of Vergangenheitsbewältigung
No full textThis thesis explores the relationship between literature and historical memory in Austria through five case studies of literary press reception, examining the validity of common conceptions of Austrian Vergangenheitsbewättigung. The introduction provides an overview and explanation of the historico-political context of the thesis, considering cultural narratives on Vergangenheitsbewaltigung, the position of the Austrian press and its relationship with contemporary, socially critical literature. Chapters One and Two compare 'the press reception of Hans Lebert'ร Die Wolfshaut and Gerhard Fritsch's Fasching to the widely held view of a failed Vergangenheitsbewältigung in 1960ร Austria. Chapter Three considers the reception of Elfriede Jelinek's Die Ausgesperrten in the context of the Sozialpartnerschaft and the politics of memory associated with this period of forced political harmony. Chapter Four deals with the most extreme case, Thomas Bemhard's Heldenplatz, questioning the common assumption that the late 1980s marked a turning point in Austria's troubled relationship with its past. This is developed in Chapter Five, which examines the reception of Robert Schindel’s Gebürtig and considers the extent to which Austrian Vergangenheitsbewältigung can be viewed as a completed process. In the Conclusion the findings of the previous five chapters are brought together and compared with the grand cultural narrative on Austrian historical memory in a consideration of the validity of a linear conceptualisation of Vergangenheitsbewältigung
Geschichtserfahrung im Spiegel der Literatur, ed. by Franz-Josef Deiters et al. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag, 2000, 460 pp.
No full text"Geschichtserfahrung im Spiegel der Literatur" – vielleicht ist dies eine Wendung, die zentrale Interessen zusammenführt und bündelt, welche Jürgen Schröders wissenschaftliche Beschäftigung mit der deutschsprachigen Literatur seit Jahrzehnten nachhaltig bestimmen. So stehen sozialer Ort und geschichtliche Selbstverortung des Individuums im Mittelpunkt von Schröders thematischen Publikationen: zu den Deutschland-Gedichten, zum Geschichtsdrama, zum Drama nach 1945, zur ‚Stunde Null‘ in der deutschen Literatur oder zum Problemfeld Literatur als Widerstand. Das Verhältnis von Werk und Zeitgeschichte bildet auch einen wichtigen Orientierungspunkt seiner Auseinandersetzung mit einzelnen Autoren wie Lessing, Goethe, Kleist, Büchner, Benn, Musil, Horváth, Frisch oder Botho Strauß."Geschichtserfahrung im Spiegel der Literatur" – diese Wendung erfaßt aber nicht nur den Themenkreis von Schröders Arbeiten. Fragt man nach seinem Selbstverständnis als Literaturwissenschaftler, so wird ersichtlich, daß sie vor allem auch die Geschichtserfahrung des Lesers und Interpreten mitbezeichnet, der sich in der Literatur, in den Werken und Fragestellungen einzelner Autoren zu spiegeln sucht und – wie auch immer – gespiegelt findet."Geschichtserfahrung im Spiegel der Literatur" – um dieses Thema versammeln sich daher die Beiträge der Festschrift, die zu Ehren Jürgen Schröders, aus Anlaß seines 65. Geburtstages am 3. Mai 2000, veröffentlicht wurde.Inhalt der Festschrift:Cornelia Blasberg / Franz-Josef Deiters: Statt eines VorwortesKlaus Schuhmacher: Jürgen Schröder oder das sehende LesenHans Peter Herrmann (Freiburg): Subjekt, Nation und Autorschaft. Zu Ulrich von Huttens Ein Neu Lied (1521)Marion Schmaus (Tübingen): Das Werden im Vergehen. Die Ästhetisierung der Geschichtsphilosophie bei Herder, Moritz und HölderlinJürgen Brummack (Tübingen): "... daß Handeln die Seele der Welt sei". Über Glück und Moral in Lenz’ SoldatenFranz-Josef Deiters (Tübingen): "Du bist nur Bild". Die Selbstbegründung des Geschichtsdramas in Goethes EgmontBernhard Greiner (Tübingen): Tragödie als Negativ des ‚ästhetischen Zustands‘. Schillers Tragödienkonzept jenseits des ‚Pathetischerhabenen‘ in Maria StuartGerhard Neumann (München): ‚ANEKDOTON‘. Zur Konstruktion von Kleists historischer NovelleKlaus Schuhmacher (Dresden): Vernichtungsphantasien. Hebbels Orient in der Nachbarschaft von Delacroix und FlaubertMonika Wenzel (Tübingen): Kein ‚Winkel‘ in der Geschichte. Die trügerische Idylle in Theodor Storms Erzählung WaldwinkelKlaus Müller-Richter (Tübingen): Felix Saltens / Dr. Emil Mayers Ethnographie des Wurstelpraters. Zur kolonialistischen Strategie eines IntermediumsEgon Schwarz (St. Louis): Szenentechnik und Weltanschauung bei Ferdinand BrucknerLutz Winckler (Poitiers): "Stimme ihres stumm gewordenen Volkes". Zum Deutschland-Diskurs des literarischen ExilsRegina Weber (Stuttgart): Richard Alewyns Projekt einer europäischen BarockforschungKlaus-Detlef Müller (Tübingen): Überlebensgroß – überlebensklein. Zur Darstellung der ‚Großen‘ der Geschichte im Werk Bertolt BrechtsHerrad Heselhaus (Tübingen): "Hi‘ ba’ah el col echad hakore‘ lah". Jehuda Amichai – Arnold Zweig – Jacob Israel de Haan. Intertextualität um JerusalemHelmuth Kiesel / Birgit Pape (Heidelberg): Zur Schröder-Hymne ein Kaninchenfell! Die Hymnen-Debatte von 1950–1952 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Gottfried Benns Anmerkungen zu Rudolf Alexander Schröders. Entwurf für eine neue deutsche NationalhymneManfred Karnick (Göttingen): Der Ritt über den Bodensee und die Ästhetische Montage. Max Ernst, Eugène Ionesco, Peter HandkeHans Richter (Jena): Franz Fühmann und sein Simplicius SimplicissimusBertram Salzmann (Tübingen): Dichter futsch? Friedrich Dürrenmatts Roman Der Verdacht als Probe auf das Prinzip globaler VerantwortungJürgen Wertheimer (Tübingen): "Zerbrochene Gottesvorstellungen". Bildnisverbot und Bildersturm in Ingeborg Bachmanns Das Buch FranzaChristine Renz (Tübingen): Geschichte(n) erzählen im Zeichen von Schnecke und Zweifel. Überlegungen zu Günter Grass’ Aus dem Tagebuch einer SchneckeCornelia Blasberg (Tübingen): "Wie Erinnerung wirklich arbeitet". George Taboris Holocaust-DramatikSusanne Komfort-Hein (Tübingen): "Der Text bricht ab, und ruhig rotten die Antworten fort". Enzensbergers Mausoleum der GeschichteManfred Durzak (Paderborn): Apokalyptische Szenarien und Motive in der deutschen Gegenwartsliteratur. Am Beispiel von Günter Grass’ Die Rättin und Christa Wolfs StörfallSchriftenverzeichnis von Jürgen Schröder</ul
The invisible scissors: Media freedom and censorship in Switzerland
No full textThis thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.At first glance, the very idea of analysing the freedom of the media and of researching
censorship in Switzerland seems absurd. After all, the Federal Constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of the media, and censorship is forbidden. Furthermore, this small, federal, multilingual and multicultural landlocked country in the middle of Europe is universally praised as a model of democracy. Indeed, in a country whose people have a far greater say in government than anywhere else, one could easily assume that the freedom of the media is a foregone conclusion.
Yet, in reality, this shining image is more than a little tarnished. The "Prototype for
Europe" – as the former Federal President of Germany Richard von Weizsäcker once described Switzerland – experiences the same forms and mechanisms of censorship as any other democratic country. Of course, in Switzerland "undesirable" journalists are
not threatened with murder, but critically discerning authors do risk becoming social
outcasts. Switzerland prohibits governmental pre-censorship, but the advertising
industry has on occasion attempted to shape the content of the media by means of
post-publication censorship in the form of boycotts. Switzerland is a constitutional state, yet the paragraphs of its penal and civil codes hang over media workers like the sword of Damocles. Then there are structural problems such as the lack of proper journalistic education. However one looks at it, the freedom of the media in Switzerland is officially, materially and structurally restricted.
However, most people remain unconcerned by and indeed unaware of this state of affairs. Thomas Jefferson's reminder that, "to preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to
martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement”*, has long been forgotten in Switzerland.
The Swiss appear to be basking in their country’s reputation as a place without media
problems. It therefore came as no surprise to us when, both in our quantitative and
qualitative research, many of those interviewed were surprised and even irritated at our 2 questions about possible threats to freedom of the media in Switzerland. Some people even felt that they were being personally attacked and responded along the lines that "Instead of fouling our own nest we ought to describe the advantages of our country and our democratic system". Or: "In comparison with Russia or China we are living in a paradise": It seems that only the most critical among the media personnel, media experts and media scientists are willing to pinpoint the problems faced by the contemporary Swiss media. All the others are convinced that we have the best media on earth.
This attitude of part indifference, part ignorance and part wishful thinking, was the
catalyst for our research on the freedom of the Swiss media and the potential dangers
and mechanisms which threaten it. Our findings reveal that all that glitters is not gold and that the Swiss media scene is, in some ways, reminiscent of a Potemkin village. *Jefferson, Thomas, Letter to William Green Mumford, 18 June 1799
(http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/jefferson.htm, consulted 15 June 2006
Dialect, drama and translation : a socio-cultural investigation into the factors influencing the choice of strategies in German-speaking Europe
No full textThis thesis examines the translation of dialect in drama in German-speaking Europe,
exploring the complex influences on the choice of strategies by practitioners. Utilising
paradigms of Descriptive Translation Studies, polysystem theory and norms theory, it
investigates how the target culture influences dialect translation practice.
The study offers, for the first time, a systematic overview of the functions of dialect in
drama, and the translation strategies available, identifying the influences on dialect
translation practice in northern Germany, German-speaking Switzerland and Scotland.
Based on these, three research areas are explored, focussing on northern Germany,
German-speaking Switzerland and Luxembourg:
- the sociolinguistic situation and the emergence of oral standard;
- the use of dialect in German-language drama as a stylistic device in particular
genres and, especially, for socio-political functions;
- how the translation process illuminates the norms for drama and dialect translation
and their connection with both sociolinguistic factors and norms of German drama
production.
Three case studies exemplify the findings, illustrating the complexity of targetculture-
related factors that had an impact on translating three British plays into
standard and into Swiss German, Low German and Luxembourgish: Stephen
Greenhorn’s Passing Places, John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western
World and Ray Cooney’s Run for Your Wife.
This study offers a unique insight into drama and dialect translation in Germanspeaking
Europe. It demonstrates that the introduction of an oral standard mitigates
against dialect use in German original drama and translations; that changing
relationships between German-speaking countries, nationalist movements and efforts
to raise the status of a dialect encourage its use in drama; and that genres like comedy,
murder mystery, farce, but also Naturalist, Realist and folk plays are more likely to
use, and be translated into, dialect. It suggests similar projects for other countries, and
will be of relevance to theatre and translation practitioners
Translating Brecht : versions of "Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder" for the British stage
No full textThis study analyses five British translations of Bertolt Brecht's 'Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder'. Two of these translations were written by speakers of German, and three by well-known British playwrights with no knowledge of the source text language. Four have been produced in mainstream British theatres in the past twenty-five years. The study applies translation studies methodology to a textual analysis which focuses on the translation of techniques of linguistic "Verfremdung", as well as linguistic expression of the comedy and of the political dimension in the work. It thus closes the gap in current Brecht research in examining the importance of his idiosyncratic use of language to the translation and reception of his work in the UK. The study assesses the ways in which the translator and director are influenced by Brecht's legacy in the UK and in turn, what image of Brecht they mediate through the production on stage. To this end, the study throws light on the formation of Brecht's problematic reputation in the UK, and it also highlights the social and political circumstances in early twentieth century Germany which prompted Brecht to develop his theory of an epic theatre.
The focus on a linguistic examination allows the translator's contribution to the production process to be isolated. Together with an investigation of the reception of each performance text, this in turn facilitates a more accurate assessment of the translator and director's respective influence in the process of transforming a foreign-language text onto a local stage. The analysis also sheds light on the different approaches taken by speakers of German, and playwrights creating an English version from a literal translation. It pinpoints losses in translation and adaptation, and suggests how future versions may avoid these
