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 JŸrgen 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-manÕs 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 Ôthe Berlin RepublicÕ
- vergangenheitsbewŠltigung
(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:
german-theatre@unimelb.edu.au
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:
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).