With apologies for cross-posting.
Jo

Dr J M Catling
Lecturer in German and Comparative Literature
School of Literature and Creative Writing
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
University of East Anglia
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
GB

 

________________________________

From: Melinda Hetzel [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 6:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Call for Papers- Where Culture and Politics Intersect: German
Theatre and Reunification


Below is the details of our symposium 'Where Culture and Politics intersect:
German theatre since Reunification' the University of Melbourne 15-16
September 2006.

The submission deadline for 200 word proposals is 1 May 2006.

Could you please forward it to any of your staff or students who may be
interested in this topic?
There is also a two-page poster (pdf) attachment if you have somewhere to
display this in your department.

If there is somebody else in your department who would be more appropriate
to receive and distribute this information, or if you do not wish to receive
further information please let me know.

For further information contact [log in to unmask] or refer to
the website: http://www.sca.unimelb.edu.au/germantheatre

Thank you and Best Regards,

Melinda Hetzel


Research Assistant
German Theatre Project

School of Creative Arts
University of Melbourne 3010
[log in to unmask]
+61 3 8344 8360

Symposium: Where Culture and Politics Intersect
German Theatre and Reunification
-
Wo Kultur und Politik einander kreuzen: Deutsches Theater nach der Wende.

Melbourne, Australia
School of Creative Arts, University of Melbourne
Friday 15- Saturday 16 September 2006
Convenor: Dr Denise Varney

CALL FOR PAPERS

This symposium arises from a research project funded by the Australian
Research Council that addresses the broad question of how culture and
politics are to be understood in relation to the complex challenges of the
contemporary era.

German reunification has had profound and controversial cultural effects.
From the question of East/West identity and culture to debates about
resources, wealth and disadvantage, there has, as Jürgen Habermas has
pointed out, yet to be public consensus on the desirability or meaning of
reunification. In the wake of the (official) dissolution of the east and
west viewpoint, whether to take a position or go with the flow into
multiplicity and difference has become a critical issue for theatre-makers.
In the meantime, questions of nation and national culture in Germany are
also caught up, as elsewhere in the world, with the forces of globalisation
and the decline of the nation-state.

The symposium is interested in debating the performative representations of
post-reunification German theatre through an analysis of the textual, visual
and aural image-making of key theatrical productions throughout the 1990s.


The topic looks backwards to the events of 1989, but also forwards to the
question of culture and politics today. If we have arrived at the end of
history and entered the post-communist world, what has filled the void, the
empty space, the no-man’s land where political debate once took place? There
is talk of spectres and ghosts, of haunting, of melancholia and nostalgia,
but also the hegemony of global culture.

What do these changed conditions of production mean for the theatre?


Proposals are invited that respond to this scenario. Alternatively – or in
addition – you may respond to one or more of the themes listed below:

- borders, space and ‘the Berlin Republic’
- vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past): memory,
forgetting and imagining the future
- gender and reunification
- political theatre and the performative force of history
- postmodern and postdramatic theatre and performance
- tradition and change
- theatrical dynasties and theatres in Berlin


Participants are encouraged to submit proposals in one of 3 formats:

- 20 minute, 40 minute, or jointly presented 90 minute panel presentations
- alternative or experimental modes of presentation.
- virtual or video presentations (international submissions only)


Proposals are preferably for English language presentations, however, German
language proposals will also be considered.

- Proposals for a paper or panel should be submitted with an abstract of
about 200 words.
- Proposals for a performance or alternative form of presentation should
include approximate duration, a brief description of the presentation, any
supporting material.

Proposals should be submitted in rich text format(rtf) or (pdf). Please
include your name, affiliation, title of your paper, any technical equipment
for the presentation and a short biography.

Please send your proposal to Dr Denise Varney
by email: [log in to unmask]
or
c/o School of Creative Arts
University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
Australia

Deadline for submission of proposal: 1 May 2006

On acceptance of the proposal you will be asked to send an abstract for
publication in the symposium handbook. All presenters will be required to
register to participate in the symposium.

Publication:

Following the symposium presenters will be invited to submit written papers
for publication in an edited volume. For those individuals unable to attend
the conference in person, virtual registration is available. Virtual
participants can also submit papers for publication.


Further information contact:
[log in to unmask]
or refer to the Culture and Politics Symposium website:
http://www.sca.unimelb.edu.au/germantheatre/Symposium.html

This research was supported under the Australian Research Council's
Discovery funding scheme (project number DP0450645).