March
2007
Preliminary Announcement:
The Chair of English Literatures will be offering another Proseminar
this summer term. André Nimtz, M.A. will introduce you to the
world of the poet and painter William
Blake. Students are asked to register for this course via the online
registration system from 15th of March on. The number of
participants is limited to 25.
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We are happy to announce that we have been able to find a very
competent candidate to temporarily fill the position of Deputy Chair
for English Literatures and thus to secure a full course programme in
the coming term. Dr. Anna-Christina Giovanopoulos is joining us from
Dresden. For information regarding her office hours and contact
details, please check the "Staff"
pages. Details about the courses Dr. Giovanopoulos will be offering can
be found in "Current Semester".
February
2007
Mark Schreiber's office hours during the semester break are as follows:
Monday, 19 February, 14:00-16:00
Monday, 26 February, 10:00-12:00
Monday, 26 March, 14:00-16:00
or by appointment: Mark
Schreiber
November
2006
On November 7, Ines Detmers (Dresden) will speak about the British poet
Ted Hughes and his book Birthday Letters, winner of the 1998 Forward
Poetry Prize. Probably, the most obvious reason for this chart-breaking
success was that Ted Hughes had finally broken his 35 years long
silence about his relationship with American writer Sylvia Plath,
especially the (mysterious) circumstances of her death. To find out
more, join us at the English Club! Where? Club der Kulturen (Kompass).
When? November 7, 20:00.
October
2006
We are happy to announce that we have been able to find a very
competent candidate to temporarily fill the position of Deputy Chair
for English Literatures and thus to secure a full course programme in
the coming term. Dr. Anja Müller is joining us from Bamberg. For
information regarding her office hours and contact details, please
check the "Staff" pages. Details
about the courses Dr. Müller will be offering can be found in "Current Semester".
September
2006
A Tutorial for the Introduction to
the Study of Literature will be available from mid-October on. The
course will be held every Thursday, presumably in the third slot
(11.30-13.00). Further information will be given in the first session
of the Introduction.
July
2006
Office
hours during the semester break:
PD
Dr. Eckart Voigts-Virchow:
Eckart Voigts-Virchow will not hold office hours during the semester
break. If you wish to contact Mr. Voigts-Virchow please do so via mail
to Eckart
Voigts-Virchow.
Mark
Schreiber, M.A.:
Monday, 28 August, 14-16
Friday, 08 September, 10-12 & 14-16
Monday, 02 October, 10-12 & 14-16
and by arrangement (mail to Mark Schreiber)
Antje
Tober, M.A.:
Office hours only by arrangement (mail to Antje Tober)
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Marathon
Session on Contemporary British TV
On 1 July 2006, a sunny Saturday, the Proseminar "Introduction to TV
Studies" (PD Dr. Eckart Voigts-Virchow) congregated for a marathon
session on British television. We surveyed some classics of British
television production. Starting with light entertainment we explored
the cornucopia of British TV comedy (gender: Absolutely Fabulous;
ethnicity: Goodness Gracious Me; youth culture: The Young Ones; genre:
Red Dwarf; history: Blackadder). The second part was devoted to the
controversial legacy of the single play (Brimstone & Treacle) and
to new forms of documentary (The 1900 House, A History of Britain).
During the lunch break, a choice of fresh pizzas kept the group's
spirit going, and the class went away with fresh ideas and new vistas
on contemporary British TV.
You can view the poster for this event here.
A group photo of the Seminar can be viewed here.
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The
Gothic Parlour Reloaded:
"And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper"
These words accompanied the 1931 edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
In this way, Mary Shelley envisaged a prosperous afterlife for the
man-made creature devised by the prototype of the mad scientist, Victor
Frankenstein, in his Ingolstadt laboratory. And prosper it did: Boris
KARLOFF (and his make-up artist Jack PIERCE) created the archetypal
creature in the James Whale movies Frankenstein (1931) and Bride
of Frankenstein (1935), and, more recently, in Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein (D: Kenneth BRANAGH), Robert DE NIRO’s portrayal lent
a more human face to the creature . Mel BROOKS tackled the Frankenstein
myth in parody (Young Frankenstein, 1974) and Paul
MORRISSEY/Andy WARHOL provided a camp version (Flesh for Frankenstein,
1973). Much earlier, in the 19th-century Punch cartoons, the
creature figured already as social or national stereotypes, for
instance, “The Irish Frankenstein“ or “The Brummagem [Birmingham]
Frankenstein“.
The second Gothic parlour at the Club der Kulturen on May, 16, was
devoted to this classic of the female Gothic, and, comfortably seated
in a cosy circle of easy chairs, students and teachers alike lent their
voices to the protagonist of this heart-wrenching story and exchanged
ideas on the impact of young Mary Shelley's yarn, which is an
inevitable point of reference in current discussions about artificial
life and virtual reality.
Photos from the Gothic Parlour Reloaded can be viewed here: 1 2
You can have a fascinating look at an exhibition on the Frankenstein
myth by the US National Library of Medicine (1998) at:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/frankenstein/frankhome.html
May
2006
"The Horror! The Horror!"
Matthew "Monk" Lewis and his succèss de scandale, The Monk
(1796) was the focus of the first Gothic Parlour. Donning his cheap and
dark sunglasses,
Eckart Voigts-Virchow endeavoured to present only the most purple of
passages to the trembling audience congregated at the English Club on
Tuesday, April 25, 2006. Considerably shaken by the complimentary
consumption of "A Bowl of Blood", the listeners turned duly pale with
embarrassment (just as S.T. Coleridge said you should) when they heard
about the lecherous Ambrosio and several harrowing reports of depravity
and decomposition. After some Faustian scheming and Promethean
suffering, the Monk neared his well-deserved punishment at the hands of
the Devil himself and the evening was left to peter out with
candlelights and conversations.
A brief introduction to the life and work of the work of the
precocious 19-year-old author, who later became an MP and literary
celebrity can be found at The
Literary Encyclopedia and at The Literary Gothic.
The next "Gothic Parlour" is tentatively scheduled for
16 May.
You would like to read something or you have suggestions for readings?
Please send suggestions/your ideas to Eckart
Voigts-Virchow.
April
2006
The Count invites you to "The
Gothic Parlour". Whet your eyeteeth and join Eckart Voigts-Virchow
for a summer term book club devoted to 19th-century horror fiction.
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A Tutorial for the Introduction to
the Study of Literature will be available from mid-April on. The
course will be held every Wednesday from 9.15-10.15. Further
information will be given in the first session of the Introduction.
March
2006
F.I.N.D. 06 - The Chemnitz English Literature Department backstage with
Mark Ravenhill
From 16-19 March, Eckart Voigts-Virchow and Mark Schreiber attended the
6th annual international festival of new writing for the theatre
(F.I.N.D. 06) at the Berlin Schaubühne. With a focus on plays by
young writers from Eastern Europe, the festival organisers hoped to
contribute to current discussions about Europe's political and cultural
borders and the formation of possible European identities. Over the
course of four days, a number of performances, staged readings and
panel discussions successfully brought thesedebates from the political
arena onto the theatre stage.The festival also tackled more
wide-ranging questions, concerning, for example, the ambiguous
relationship of theatre, Hollywood cinema and Islamist terrorism with
Mark Ravenhill's play "Product", with the playwright making his
celebrated debut on stage. In a backstage meeting after the first
night, which was arranged courtesy of the British Council, the Chemnitz
envoys took the opportunity to discuss Ravenhill's new play with the
playwright/actor. Another highlight of the festival was a staged
reading of a play by Gianina Carbunariu, a young playwright from
Romania, entitled "Kebab". The play focusses on the lives and fates of
three Romanian immigrants in contemporary Dublin and their struggles to
survive among the affluence of the 'Celtic Tiger'.
For
more information on the festival, please visit:
http://www.schaubuehne.de/scripts/spielplan/festivals.php?id_language=2
February
2006
Office
hours during the semester break:
PD
Dr. Eckart Voigts-Virchow:
15 February, 11-13
22 February, 12-14
8 March, 10-12
29 March, 10-12
and by arrangement (mail to Eckart
Voigts-Virchow)
Mark Schreiber, M.A.:
22 February, 16-18
15 March, 10-12
23 March, 13-15
and by arrangement (mail to Mark Schreiber)
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Current Semester has the new courses
and course descriptions for the upcoming semester.
January
2006
On
January 24, Dr Marie-Luise Egbert (Leipzig) will speak on the cultural
significance of gardening and the garden in England. Focussing on
representations of the garden in English literary texts, she will
explore some of the historical reasons which have made gardens a
special part of English culture.
Where? Club der Kulturen (Kompass). When? January 24, 19:30. Click here
for the abstract of the presentation and here
for the poster.
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A
gallery with pictures of the Pinter Evening is available here.
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On
January 12, Dr Kathleen Starck (University of Bremen) will speak on the
history and shifting significance of murals in Northern Ireland beyond
their mere political symbolism. Where? Club der Kulturen (Kompass).
When? January 12, 19.30.
Click here for the poster. An abstract of the
presentation is located here.
December 2005
On
December 13, PD Dr. Eckart Voigts-Virchow will give you an introduction
to the life and work of this year’s Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter.
Where? Club der Kulturen (Kompass). When? December 13, 19.30. “An
Evening with Harold Pinter”
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A
new book highly recommendable for students of English and Media-Studies
is available: PD
Dr. Eckart Voigts-Virchow. Introduction to Media-Studies.
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Please
find the flyer for the Anglistentag 2007: The Documentary Turn here.
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