Focus On...Fulbright German Studies Seminar

By Katharina Gerstenberger

Summer seminars for faculty are a wonderful thing: you have the opportunity to learn something new, you get to meet colleagues from other institutions, and you are not the person in charge! From June 8 to June 25, 2005, I was privileged to be part of a Fulbright German Studies Seminar together with twenty other scholars from universities throughout the United States. Inaugurated about ten years ago, these events introduce U.S. scholars and researchers to topics such as “Environmental Protection” or “Visual Culture in Germany.” This year’s topic was “Current Trends in Contemporary German Literature,” a theme of particular interest to me as someone who regularly teaches and writes on this topic. The insights gained in the seminar will help me complete my book on literary responses to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The purpose of the seminar was to introduce American scholars and researchers to the latest trends in German literature and to enhance our teaching and research mission here in the United States. The course program was packed. Over a period of two and a half weeks we visited three different cities: Berlin, Germany’s thriving capital; Leipzig, a city in Eastern Germany with a century-old commitment to books and book trade; and affluent Hamburg in Northern Germany. Every day there were two, if not three, sessions on our schedule (attendance was mandatory), bringing us in contact with a range of people involved in the German literary scene. These included writers, publishers, literary critics from major German newspapers, well-known academics, and also the owner of a book store and a representative of the Leipzig Book Fair. We also met with directors of literature houses, government-funded institutions one can find in most major German cities. They provide a forum for writers and audiences to meet, to listen to readings, and to discuss the latest works.

A major difference between Germany and the United States is the degree to which culture, including literature, but also theatre, opera, and the fine arts, is subsidized by the German federal and state governments. One of the many highlights of the trip was a visit to the Literature Institute Leipzig. Based on the model of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, this is one of only two places in Germany where young writers can learn their trade.

So what are the current trends in contemporary German literature? For starters, the majority of books on the German market are translations from other languages, most notably English, into German. Contemporary German literature, we determined in our final discussion, no longer tries to explain the world in broad strokes as it did perhaps fifteen years ago. Instead there is a turn toward individual concerns of everyday life, there is more humor, and there is a tendency toward story-telling rather than linguistic experimentation. The engagement with Germany’s history continues. The voices of a new generation of writers are nuanced, varied and subtle. Perhaps one day one of them will have the courage to describe Germany in new, daring and, yes, broad strokes.

Next year’s Fulbright German Studies Seminar will be on the topic of “Muslim Minorities: Opportunities and Challenges in West European Societies. German and French Experiences.” I urge all interested colleagues to

apply!