Vanderbilt University Berlin Wall Project 1989-2009
- Ersteller Zeder
- Erstellt am
H
Heidrun D.
Gast
Me too,
zur Not auch ohne anschließende Aufnahme in eine passende Anthologie
(aber stolz bin ich darauf schon ...).
Liebe Grüße
Heidrun
zur Not auch ohne anschließende Aufnahme in eine passende Anthologie
(aber stolz bin ich darauf schon ...).Liebe Grüße
Heidrun
Die aktuelle Schreibaufgabe ist anders als die bisherigen:
Die 30 bestbewerteten Texte werden an einer Anthologie teilnehmen, die in den USA veröffentlicht wird. Danke an unsere Autorin Jamie Avery, die uns dieses Angebot vermittelte!
Hier ist die Schreibaufgabe:
Die deutsche Botschaft in Washington wird die Universität Vanderbilt in Nasvhille finanziell dabei unterstützen, einen Riesenevent anlässlich des 20sten Jahrestags des Mauerfalls auszurichten.
Nur Lyrik oder Kurz-Prosa werden akzeptiert (nicht mehr als 250 Worte). Die Texte werden in Kooperation mit dem Creative Writing Department der Universität übersetzt, damit sie den amerikanischen Lesern zugänglich werden. Deutscher und englischer Text werden nebeneinander stehen.
Das Thema lautet:
20 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall
Einstellungsschluss auf diesem Forum ist der 15. März 2009.
---
Viele Grüße, Zeder
Die 30 bestbewerteten Texte werden an einer Anthologie teilnehmen, die in den USA veröffentlicht wird. Danke an unsere Autorin Jamie Avery, die uns dieses Angebot vermittelte!
Hier ist die Schreibaufgabe:
Die deutsche Botschaft in Washington wird die Universität Vanderbilt in Nasvhille finanziell dabei unterstützen, einen Riesenevent anlässlich des 20sten Jahrestags des Mauerfalls auszurichten.
Nur Lyrik oder Kurz-Prosa werden akzeptiert (nicht mehr als 250 Worte). Die Texte werden in Kooperation mit dem Creative Writing Department der Universität übersetzt, damit sie den amerikanischen Lesern zugänglich werden. Deutscher und englischer Text werden nebeneinander stehen.
Das Thema lautet:
20 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall
Einstellungsschluss auf diesem Forum ist der 15. März 2009.
---
Viele Grüße, Zeder
Super Rezension für unser Vanderbilt Projekt
Brockman, Beatrix. Ed. The Vanderbilt Berlin Wall Project. Max Kade Center for European and German Studies at Vanderbilt University. 95 pp. ISBN: 9780557108190 paperback, $6.80 (available online from Lulu)
Reviewed for Women in German by Carol Anne Costabile-Heming
This slim anthology of poems and prose texts commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Conceived as part of the commemoration activities at Vanderbilt University, the book presents the result of a competition initiated for writers in online literary forums. Prof. Dr. Justus Fetscher, the Max-Kade Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt (spring 2009), and other judges selected the forty-nine texts for inclusion in the volume.
The texts’ authors range in age from seventy-one to twenty-three, and hail from throughout Germany and Austria. The poems approach the topic of the division and unification of Germany from various perspectives. Whereas Anne Cohen writes of “hoffnung” (12) in her poem “perspective-n”, Kathrin Metz bemoans the division that still exists in her poem “mau.er.leben”:
“ost und West / noch lange nicht / eins” (16). All of the poems reflect on borders and border experiences, in a physical and in a metaphorical sense, as borders arise out of misunderstanding. Moshe Chazara’s poem “Ich” touches on the chasm that still exists about the topic of the Stasi:
“Ich bin aber nicht / bei der Firma / Ich bin unschuldig / wie du / Und niemand glaubt mir / jemals mehr” (22). Similarly, Andreas Ballnus writes of the Wall in the head, which cannot be overcome: “Fest gemauert in den Köpfen / bleibt, was längst Geschichte ist” (36) in his poem “die
wand.” In “Steine” Ballnus pleads: “Baut Wege / keine / neuen Mauern!” (48).
Submissions for the prose competition were limited to 250 words. Many of the prose texts draw on memories and personal experiences, and because of their brevity are very poignant, such as Gabriele Hegel’s “Im Sperrgebiet” which recalls the barking of the border dogs. Following the fall of the Wall, the crosses at the site evoke the memory of the dogs: “Einige von ihnen scheinen noch immer den Geruch der Hunde zu tragen” (82).
Overall, the texts capture the many emotions that are associated with memories of the Berlin Wall and its fall. The original German contributions are accompanied by English translations. The translations adhere closely to the form and content of the German originals. This dual language
volume therefore can serve as an excellent supplemental text for a variety of courses ranging from German literature and culture courses to contemporary history classes. I used the volume as a reading assignment for students participating in a spring break program in Berlin in March 2011.
As we visited various sites in Berlin, the texts resonated with what the students were seeing, and made it possible for non-German speakers to gain a sense of the emotional impact that the 40-year division and rapid unification had on a broad spectrum of Germans and Europeans.
Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, University of North Texas
Brockman, Beatrix. Ed. The Vanderbilt Berlin Wall Project. Max Kade Center for European and German Studies at Vanderbilt University. 95 pp. ISBN: 9780557108190 paperback, $6.80 (available online from Lulu)
Reviewed for Women in German by Carol Anne Costabile-Heming
This slim anthology of poems and prose texts commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Conceived as part of the commemoration activities at Vanderbilt University, the book presents the result of a competition initiated for writers in online literary forums. Prof. Dr. Justus Fetscher, the Max-Kade Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt (spring 2009), and other judges selected the forty-nine texts for inclusion in the volume.
The texts’ authors range in age from seventy-one to twenty-three, and hail from throughout Germany and Austria. The poems approach the topic of the division and unification of Germany from various perspectives. Whereas Anne Cohen writes of “hoffnung” (12) in her poem “perspective-n”, Kathrin Metz bemoans the division that still exists in her poem “mau.er.leben”:
“ost und West / noch lange nicht / eins” (16). All of the poems reflect on borders and border experiences, in a physical and in a metaphorical sense, as borders arise out of misunderstanding. Moshe Chazara’s poem “Ich” touches on the chasm that still exists about the topic of the Stasi:
“Ich bin aber nicht / bei der Firma / Ich bin unschuldig / wie du / Und niemand glaubt mir / jemals mehr” (22). Similarly, Andreas Ballnus writes of the Wall in the head, which cannot be overcome: “Fest gemauert in den Köpfen / bleibt, was längst Geschichte ist” (36) in his poem “die
wand.” In “Steine” Ballnus pleads: “Baut Wege / keine / neuen Mauern!” (48).
Submissions for the prose competition were limited to 250 words. Many of the prose texts draw on memories and personal experiences, and because of their brevity are very poignant, such as Gabriele Hegel’s “Im Sperrgebiet” which recalls the barking of the border dogs. Following the fall of the Wall, the crosses at the site evoke the memory of the dogs: “Einige von ihnen scheinen noch immer den Geruch der Hunde zu tragen” (82).
Overall, the texts capture the many emotions that are associated with memories of the Berlin Wall and its fall. The original German contributions are accompanied by English translations. The translations adhere closely to the form and content of the German originals. This dual language
volume therefore can serve as an excellent supplemental text for a variety of courses ranging from German literature and culture courses to contemporary history classes. I used the volume as a reading assignment for students participating in a spring break program in Berlin in March 2011.
As we visited various sites in Berlin, the texts resonated with what the students were seeing, and made it possible for non-German speakers to gain a sense of the emotional impact that the 40-year division and rapid unification had on a broad spectrum of Germans and Europeans.
Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, University of North Texas
