Mozart A Challenge for Literature and Thought
Call for papers
Department of German, School of Modern Languages, Queen Mary, University of
London
5-7 April 2006
In co-operation with the Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature
(School of Advanced Study, University of London), the Austrian Cultural
Forum , Anglo-Austrian Society, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Education Department
Organizer: Professor Rüdiger Görner, Department of German, School of Modern
Languages, Queen Mary, University of London ([log in to unmask])
Soon after the composer¹s death in 1791 the life and works of Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart prompted writers to respond to this exceptional artistic
legacy. According to Reinhart Koselleck this reaction evidenced that
Mozart, like Diderot, was regarded as a pathfinder towards a Œnew
subjectivity¹ in the arts. From Goethe¹s attempt to write a sequel to the
libretto of Die Zauberflöte to E.T.A. Hoffmann¹s, Pushkin¹s, Kierkegaard¹s
and Mörike¹s transformations of Mozartian motifs this composer challenged
literary imagination, philosophical investigation, and even theological
exploration, to a remarkable extent. Of particular interest is, perhaps,
Mozart¹s presence in Delacroix¹s diaries. In the 20th century literary
responses to Mozart range from Ernst Bloch, Hermann Hesse to Wolfgang
Hildesheimer, and Peter Shaffer. In literature, and literary biography,
Mozart featured as a myth and unattainable measure, the quintessential
genius and pseudo-naïve buffoon.
This international conference hopes to examine the significance of some of
these literary reflections on Mozart and discuss what it is that Œdas
Mozartische¹ represents in literature and whether it can provide a feasible
category in literary aesthetics. It will address the phenomenon that since
the Romantic era Mozart has never failed to fascinate writers and
intellectuals of all kinds and genres but is should also reflect the fact
that he featured far less prominently in the discourses on (Post-) Modernism
and cultural theory. In short: Has Mozart¹s art proved to be
deconstruction-resistant?
It is hoped that three prominent writers from Britain, Germany and Austria
will contribute to this conference.
Abstracts of papers (300 words maximum) are invited from scholars and
literary critics and should reach the organizer ([log in to unmask]) by 1
June 2005 . Papers should not exceed twenty-five minutes.
Visit: http://www.modern-languages.qmul.ac.uk/mozart/
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