Samuel Beckett and German Culture Conference

23-25 September 2011 · Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany

Samuel Beckett. Photograph: Reg Lancaster/Express/Getty Images

Samuel Beckett and German Culture / Samuel Beckett und die deutsche Kultur
23 – 25 September 2011
Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany

In the last few years Beckett studies has frequently probed the connections between Samuel Beckett’s work and German culture. Beckett’s interest in German literature, his months of travelling in Germany in the 1930s, and his involvement with translations of his work into German offer a vast field for study to scholars. And Beckett’s debt to German literature and culture is immense and is felt until today.

The conference “Samuel Beckett and German Culture” at the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany from 23-25 September 2011 is now considering the intersections of Samuel Beckett and German literature, philosophy, television and film. Eleven Beckett scholars from around the globe will pursue the field of Beckett and Germany, addressing questions of intertextuality, translation, as well as Beckett’s role in the German publishing and television market.

Beckett’s influence on German literature as well as the debt of “Beckettian” authors, such as Thomas Bernhard, to a younger generation of writers will be discussed in two readings by the German author Michael Lentz and the English writer Tim Parks.

We believe the event will be especially timely considering the still growing field of Beckett and Germany in Beckett studies and the forthcoming publication of Beckett’s “German Diaries” in 2015.

Organizers: Jan Wilm (Technische Universität Darmstadt) and Mark Nixon (University of Reading)

Conference Venue:

Technische Universität Darmstadt
Hochschulstr. 1, 64289 Darmstadt
Altes Hauptgebäude, Room S103 / 100

Programme:

Friday 23 September 2011

09.30 - 10.00	Arrival / Coffee
10.00 – 10.30	Marion Fries (Universität Düsseldorf) – „Fragments of German Literature in the German Translations of Beckett's Work“
10.30 – 11.00	Discussion
11.00 – 11.30	Kathrin Schoedel (Uni Erlangen) – „Fisch und Fleisch – Übersetzen in und von Becketts frühen Texten“
11.30 – 12.00	Discussion
12.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 14.30	Norbert W. Schlinkert – „Sprache als Exil: Flucht und Bewegung im Werk von Samuel Beckett und Michael Lentz“
14.30 – 15.00	Discussion
15.00 – 15.30	Gaby Hartel – „Walking the Eye - Bewegung und Bewußtsein bei Beckett und Handke“
15.30 – 16.00	Discussion
16.00 – 18.00	Free Time
18.00 – 20.00	Dinner / Wine Reception
20.00 – 21.30	Special Guest: Michael Lentz, Reading and Discussion

Saturday 24 September 2011

09.30 - 10.00	Arrival / Coffee
10.00 – 10.30	Thomas Hunkeler (Université de Fribourg) – „,Ich saz ûf eime steine‘: Beckett, Walther und die Troubadourlyrik“
10.30 – 11.00	Discussion
11.00 – 11.30	Shane Weller (University of Kent) – „Towards a Literature of the Unword: Beckett, Kafka, Sebald“
11.30 – 12.00	Discussion
12.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 14.30	Dirk Van Hulle (Antwerpen) – „,Kritik des reinen Quatsches‘: Beckett and German Philosophy“
14.30 – 15.00	Discussion
15.00 – 15.30	Friedhelm Rathjen – „Unseld / Beckett: Fußnoten zu einer Verleger-Autor-Beziehung“
15.30 – 16.00	Discussion
16.00 – 19.00	Free Time
19.00 – 20.30	Special Guest: Tim Parks, Reading and Discussion
21.00	Dinner for delegates at restaurant „Müller und Müller“

Sunday 25 September 2011

09.30 - 10.00	Arrival / Coffee
10.00 – 10.30	Ulrika Maude (Durham University) – „Beckett, Automatism and German Expressionist Film“
10.30 – 11.00	Discussion
11.00 – 11.30	Eckart-Voigts Virchow (Uni Siegen) – „,Vergewaltigung durch Freundschaft‘: Beckett erscheint im deutschen Fernsehen“
11.30 – 12.00	Discussion
12.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 14.30	Mark Nixon – „Beckett liest deutsche Literatur 1945-1989“
14.30 – 15.00	Discussion
15.00	Departure

Contact

For more information please contact Jan Wilm (wilm@linglit.tu-darmstadt.de) or
Mark Nixon (m.nixon@reading.ac.uk).

Website

Samuel Beckett and German Culture

Also at A Piece of Monologue:

1.8.11