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Preface
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Author: Kelley, Susanne
Abstract:
Preface to Volume IV
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Licht und Schatten: Die Sicht in ausgewählten Werken Anna Seghers
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Author: Filo, Gina
Abstract:
Anna Seghers was a German short story writer whose writings dealt with her socialist
political sympathies and the Second World War. Frequently, her various stories emphasize
vision: who has the ability to see and who does not; the significance of events taking
place in darkness rather than in light. This paper discusses Seghers’ uses of light
and darkness in two short stories from different periods in her writing career, Aufstand
der Fischer von St Barbara and Ausflug der toten Mädchen to emphasize the importance
of clarity of vision to understand the world in which we live.
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L’Italiano: il passato e il presente
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Author: Hamilton, Matthew
Abstract:
Through the rise and fall of empires, Italy and its people experienced many changes.
The Apennine peninsula has been under the control and influence of many different
cultures and kingdoms. One of the greatest impacts is in the language. Italian, as
it is known around the world, has very diverse origins. The unified Italian language
known as Italian standard introduced by Dante Alighieri, promoted by literature, supported
by fascism and spread by newspapers, television and radio is much different than the
numerous dialects spoken two hundred years ago. This essay describes the beginnings
of the Italian language, but also investigates the adaptations that were introduced
in it throughout time and its most potent influences, especially the recent additions
because of globalization and the influence of English.
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Der Exilant Thomas Mann und die Frage der Deutschen
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Author: Hammett, Joseph
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With the National Socialists coming to power in Germany in 1933, ending the Weimar
Republic, many artists and intellectuals were forced to leave Germany. One of the
most influential of these German émigrés was Thomas Mann. While many of these émigrés
lost their status and fell into oblivion in exile, Thomas Mann, because of his worldwide
acclaim, came to be seen as a symbol for German culture in opposition to Nazi Germany
and began a lecture series for the Library of Congress. In one of these lectures,
“Germany and the Germans,” Mann discusses the extent and the origins of German collective
guilt. While most of his contemporaries attempted to distance themselves from Nazi
Germany and reconstruct the Weimar Republic in exile, Mann reminded the world that
all Germans are and will always be connected to Germany through a common history.
At the same time, Hannah Arendt, another prominent German émigré living in the United
States, synchronously analyzed in “Organized Guilt” the mechanisms of German collective
guilt through an in-depth analysis of the German “Spießer.” Both theories of collective
guilt encompassed all Germans and could have played a significant role in Germany
after 1945.
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Jurek Beckers ,,Die Mauer”: Das Überwinden von Mauern in seinem Leben und Werk
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Author: Howard, Tiffany
Abstract:
In his short story, “The Wall,” Jurek Becker uses the narrative perspective of a five
year old boy to discuss life in a Jewish ghetto during WWII. Becker has no memory
of his own childhood as a five year old in the Lódz Ghetto; yet, wrote as if it could
have been his own story. What Becker claims to know about his past is derived from;
the experiences of survivors in East-Germany, the cultural memory of the Holocaust,
and his father. Becker ironically incorporated a controversial term, “The Wall,” in
his title and as the focus of this story. “The Wall” was written in 1977, the year
Becker overcame the Berlin Wall and left for West-Germany. The Wall in “The Wall”
is possibly a symbol of walls in Becker’s own life. There are many comparable elements
between the boy in “The Wall” and Becker. Becker overcame many walls; ghetto walls,
concentration camp walls, the Berlin Wall, the walls in his memory, and the walls
hindering his voice in literature by the censorship of East-Germany. This analysis
discusses these obstacles in Becker’s life and his meaning behind “The Wall.”
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Trümmerliteratur: Einheit in den Ruinen
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Author: Jones, Jared
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In the periodisation of German literature, the designation Trümmerliteratur has sometimes
been assigned to literature produced in the years 1945–1950. This chronological practice
is problematic because it overlooks the network of overlapping qualities that unite
the works of Trümmerliteratur as a genre; these works are linked by their distinctively
post-war plots, their shared stylistic characteristics, and their common narrative
themes. Wolfgang Borchert, Günter Eich, and Heinrich Böll, among others, were products
of the specific time and place of their development, and the stories they produced
reveal specific experiences of life in the ruins. Their apocalyptic expressions of
oblivion, loss, trauma, and temporary nihilism and the sparse Kahlschlag style characteristic
of these expressions provide a more comprehensive set of definitions for Trümmerliteratur
as a genre than does a simple bracketing time frame.An examination of these definitions
clarifies what is meant or understood under the term “Trümmerliteratur”, and may expose
blind spots, such as the authorship of women, that can be obscured by conventional
framings of the period.
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Espacios y el papel de la narrativa en La tierra de Alvargonzález
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Author: Killian, Michael Todd
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to explore the complex relationship between literary and
geographic spaces featured in Antonio Machado’s poetic and prose work, La tierra de
Alvargonzález.My attention will be focused on how these spaces are defined, their
limits, and ultimately how their synthesis and interaction is essential for the development
and execution of the narrative. An understanding of the intricacies of literary and
geographic spaces and their correlation sheds light on complex questions regarding
the fundamental nature of narrative and its constituent elements.
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Effets du SIDA sur la Côte d'Ivoire et stratégies culturellement pertinentes pour
en prévenir la propagation
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Author: Lawry, Austin
Abstract:
Côte D’Ivoire remains a vital case in the fight against AIDS proliferation due to
its status as one of the most centralized and influential state in West Africa. This
paper analyzes the unique case that Côte D’Ivoire presents socially, economically
and politically and how an effective and comprehensive prevention program must incorporate
these three dimensions. Particular attention is given to the impact of recent cultural
shifts in understanding HIV/AIDS, the Migrant Labor Thesis, the costs of the disease,
and the role of war. Finally, through integrating these unique dimensions with the
problems reported by existing AIDS prevention programs, several solutions are proposed
for further prevention and treatment efforts in the country and region.
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La fusione tra la scrittura e l’arte visiva: Adriano Spatola & la poesia visiva
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Author: Mangravite, Gina
Abstract:
What is visual poetry? Is it categorized as literature or visual art? How does one
interpret such a work? In this essay, I explore these fundamental questions through
a case study of Italian poet, Adriano Spatola and his visual poetry, Zeroglifici.
Similar to his visual poetry, Spatola himself tends to escape explicit classifications.
Although he was a member of Group 63, in this essay I pose the question of whether
Spatola and his works can truly be considered part of the neoavanguardia.
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List of Readers for Volume IV
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Author: The Kennesaw, Tower
Abstract:
List of Readers for Volume IV