Heimat

Was nützt die Ferne in Gedanken? Edgar Reitz’ Filmepos „Die andere Heimat. Chronik einer Sehnsucht“

Lori Straus — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:30:14 +0000

Was nützt die Ferne in Gedanken? Edgar Reitz’ Filmepos „Die andere Heimat. Chronik einer Sehnsucht“ Lori Straus Tue, 03/01/2016 - 11:30

Edgar Reitz’ Rückkehr ins Kino löste 2013 bei den Filmfestspielen von Venedig Begeisterung aus. Die internationale Filmkritik war sich einig: Mit der „Anderen Heimat“ habe der Regisseur einen fulminanten Schlusspunkt für seine gefeierte „Heimat“-Reihe geliefert. Wieder steht das kleine Hunsrück-Dorf Schabbach im Zentrum, wieder kreist die Geschichte um die Familie Simon, diesmal allerdings in der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts.

Reitz’ vierstündiges Epos erzählt die Geschichte des genialen Bauernsohnes Jakob Simon, der die Sprachen der Ureinwohner Südamerikas studiert, statt auf dem Feld zu helfen, und davon träumt, nach Brasilien auszuwandern. Im Gegensatz zu zahlreichen anderen Schabbachern wird sich Jakobs Traum von der Ferne nicht erfüllen; alle Gelegenheiten, die Heimat zu verlassen, bleiben ungenutzt. Die letzten Einstellungen der „Chronik einer Sehnsucht“ zeigen Jakob als werdenden Familienvater in Schabbach – der Hunsrück ist sein Schicksal. Die Filmkritik hat den Protagonisten deshalb als einen scheiternden Helden, ja als tragische Figur beschrieben.

„Die Hoffnung stirbt“, so fasst es Thomas E. Schmidt in der „Zeit“, „und die Sehnsucht überlebt sie noch lange“. Das kann man so sehen. Der Vortrag schlägt allerdings eine andere Perspektive vor, in der der Zusammenhang von Heimat und Fernweh nicht als problematischer verstanden wird, sondern als ein lebenspraktisch und künstlerisch produktiver Konnex: Reitz’ Film präsentiert Fernweh als eine subtile Kulturtechnik des Zuhausebleibens.

This lecture will be held in German. The film under discussion, Die andere Heimat, will be screened on Wednesday, 16 March 2016 at 6:30pm in ECH 1220. Pizza will be provided (because it's a long film - 263 minutes!).

Film screening: Die andere Heimat (dir. Edgar Reitz)

Lori Straus — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 16:17:18 +0000

Film screening: Die andere Heimat (dir. Edgar Reitz) Lori Straus Tue, 03/01/2016 - 11:17

Come watch the concluding film (which is also a prequel) to Edgar Reitz magnum opus Heimat! Released in 2013 to great acclaim, Die andere Heimat returns to the village of Schabbach, but this time it is the middle of the 19th century.

This is a long film - 263 minutes! - so pizza will be provided! The film is in German with English subtitles. For the most up-to-date event description, click on the link below to the Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies' events page.

Digging up the Doll

Lori Straus — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:39:50 +0000

Digging up the Doll Lori Straus Thu, 10/22/2015 - 09:39

Digging up the Doll: Inherited Memories of the Removal of German Nationals From Eastern Europe

A lecture by Linda Warley, University of ��ݮ��Ƶ

In this paper Prof. Warley considers her mother’s experiences as a child refugee in 1945. She was just one of millions of German nationals who were forced from their homes in various parts of Eastern Europe during the final months of WWII when Hitler and Stalin moved the borders. Prof. Warley will discuss how her mother’s story—and those like it—are passed on to their children and become part of the next generation’s subjectivities.

Linda Warley teaches in the English department at the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ where she is also the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies in Arts.

Maria Speth Film Retrospective

Lori Straus — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 15:31:19 +0000

Maria Speth Film Retrospective Lori Straus Thu, 03/12/2015 - 11:31

(En) gendering Precarity

Maria Speth is an award-winning director who is often associated with the "Berlin school" of German filmmaking. As part of her visit to the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ, sponsored by the ��ݮ��Ƶ Centre for German Studies, three of her most important films will be shown in April. Professor Alice Kuzniar will conduct post-screening discussions, and Maria Speth will be present at the final screening on April 21st. (She will also be conducting a workshop that you may find of interest.)

All of the films will be shown with English subtitles. The screenings all start at 4:30pm. Pay parking is available at East Campus Hall.

Tuesday April 7th

Nine Lives/9 Leben (2011) - In Germany 9000 youths of very different backgrounds are permanently homeless. This documentary film portrays several young people out of different milieus and with very different reasons for having no abode. In a neutral studio setting, meant to avoid clichés and help focus on their personalities. (filmportal.de)

Tuesday April 14th

Daughters/Töchter (2014) - Agnes, a teacher from the Hessian provinces, has come to Berlin to identify a dead girl who might be Lydia, her runaway daughter. It turns out not to be Lydia, but Agnes stays in the city anyway. Still frantically looking, she comes a young stray called Ines who no longer leaves her side. (filmportal.de)

Tuesday April 21st - Maria Speth in attendance

Madonnas/Madonnen (2007) - Wanted for theft, Rita flees to Belgium with her baby. She manages to find her real father there, whom she never met, but he has a new wife and children and cannot take her in. The Belgian police arrest her and deport her to Germany, where she is sentenced to a long prison term. Rita′s other four children live with her mother Isabella during this time, but she is too busy working, and the oldest daughter Fanny has to take on the responsibility for them. When Rita is released from prison, she takes back her children. With the aid of Marc, a US soldier stationed in Germany, she develops something like normal family life. But when Marc is to be transferred back to America, Rita′s entire life is thrown off balance. (filmportal.de)

Download the poster and pass it along!

Read the Goethe-Institut's Interview with Maria Speth

Co-presented by the University of Toronto, the University of ��ݮ��Ƶ and the Goethe-Institut. Maria Speth is a guest of the Goethe-Institut.

Film Screening - Maria Speth

Lori Straus — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 17:12:17 +0000

Film Screening - Maria Speth Lori Straus Fri, 02/13/2015 - 12:12

Screening of Maria Speth's film "9 Leben/9 Lives" as part of the GER 359 course, German Cinema through a Transnational Lens, on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 from 3-5 p.m. in ECH 1220. All are welcome to attend.

Rilke als Heimatdichter

Varmanaa Rajakulendran — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:34:20 +0000

Rilke als Heimatdichter Varmanaa Rajak… Mon, 01/20/2014 - 13:34

Poster: Rilke als Heimatdichter Poster (PDF)

Alfred de Zayas (Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations)

Rilke, der sein ganzes Leben lang ein Unruhiger und Reisender war, war auch ein Leben lang auf der Suche nach Heimat. In vielen seiner Gedichte ist diese Suche und die Dankbarkeit, ein Stück Heimat gefunden zu haben, gestaltet. Der Referent geht diesen Spuren nach und präsentiert uns so den bekannten Dichter in seinen weniger bekannten Aspekten.

Alfred de Zayas übersetzte Rilkes zweiten Gedichtband 'Larenopfer' ins Englische, diese zweisprachige und kommentierte Ausgabe erschien 2008 bei Red Hen Press in Los Angeles mit einem Vorwort von Ralph Freedman. Das Buch kann nach der Veranstaltung erworben werden.

Mehr Informationen über Alfred de Zayas finden Sie auf seiner Webseite.

Austrian Immigration to Canada - 1938 to 1970

Varmanaa Rajakulendran — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:07:42 +0000

Austrian Immigration to Canada - 1938 to 1970 Varmanaa Rajak… Mon, 01/20/2014 - 13:07

Andrea Strutz (University of Graz, Austria) gave an informative lecture on Austrian Immigration to Canada - 1938 to 1970 on September 16^th 2011.

Over the course of the 20th century, migration movements of Austrians to Canada have taken a number of different forms such as forced migration or voluntary (labour) migration. During WWII, Jewish immigration to Canada was restricted, although several hundred Austrian and German Jewish refugees (males) were deported from Great Britain and were interned in Eastern Canada; after a year or two, they were released from the camps. Many of these Austrian Jewish refugees decided to stay in Canada to start a new life. In the post-WWII period, when Canada opened its labour market widely to European immigrants, approximately 34,000 non-Jewish Austrian women and men migrated overseas by 1972. Furthermore, several hundred Austrian Holocaust survivors resettled in that period (mainly from Great Britain and Israel) to Canadian provinces for economic reasons, marriage or because of family reunion.
This talk explored the legal constraints and the practice of post-1945 emigration from Austria to Canada, with special attention given to the individual experiences and the memories of both Jewish and non-Jewish Austrian migrants, collected in a series of oral histories.

The event was organized by the Department of History and co-sponsored by the ��ݮ��Ƶ Centre for German Studies and the Department of Jewish Studies.

For further information about the lecture, please read the article in our newsletter Wat's In-Sight issue 5 (PDF).

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Lecture 2011

Varmanaa Rajakulendran — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 17:04:50 +0000

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Lecture 2011 Varmanaa Rajak… Mon, 01/20/2014 - 12:04

Poster: Grimm 2011 Lecture Poster (PDF)

On November 10th, the annual Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm Lecture 2011 on Citizenship in Germany: From Mono-Cultural to Multi-Cultural Society was given by the German political scientist Christiane Lembke.

Citizenship defines rights and rules of belonging to a political community. The German concept of ethno-cultural citizenship has been highly contested in recent years given the increased migration to the country. How has the modernization of citizenship laws affected realities and perceptions of the migrant population? Has multiculturalism "failed"' or is it well and alive? The talk addressed the current debate about multiculturalism and explored the situation of migrant populations in Germany in the light of new citizenship regulations.

Christiane Lemke is holder of the Max Weber Chair in German and European Politics at New York University and Professor of Political Science at the Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Lembke is also co-director of the Jean Monnet European Center of Excellence.

For further information about the lecture, please read the article in our newsletter Wat's In-Sight issue 5 (PDF).