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The International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI) announces its 10th International Conference in cooperation with the University of Malta, 24-29 July 2006.
The European Mind: Narrative and Identity
Workshop: "Brecht's Model: Not an Answer but an Opening"
Brecht's view of criticism has a double meaning - in so far as it dialectically changes the entire material into a permanent crisis, it teaches that value judgments only make sense when they are formulated and demanding. For people seriously concerned with the theatre today, it is still fruitful to look both at Brecht's theoretical statements and his actual stage productions. One of the specific ways by which Brecht intended to integrate historical fictions into directing is "die Fabel", the story, and its dramatic function. Using photographs, blocking and set designs, his Modellbücher demonstrate how the story is the medium through which the social contradictions implicit in the theme are revealed in a sensually perceptible form, and his effort to develop groupings and attitudes of characters on the stage show the dialectic of conflict. The legendary productions of the Berliner Ensemble also prove how the theatrical forms of mediation and the craft of the profession challenge the audience's viewing habits. The workshop offers the opportunity to present research and descriptions of Brecht's contribution as a director as well as on the purpose of his staging methods.
Please send a 1-page abstract (150-200 words by 31 March 2006) to:
Heinz-Uwe Haus
Dept. of Theatre, PTTP
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716, USA
ph: + 302 / 831-2205
fax: +302 / 831-3673
e-mail: huhaus@udel.edu
For information on the ISSEI conference, contact Prof. Ezra Talmor, issei@nachshonim.or.il
The Scenography Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research (FIRT/IFTR) and the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Amsterdam announce an international conference on scenography 11-15 May 2005 in Amsterdam.
Papers are sought in the following areas:
a. the connections between the various visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, photography, and film, computing technologies, etc.) and the stage in the past and in the present, as well as the formal, conceptual, and epistemological contributions and limitations that such connections entail;
b . the changes in artistic perception and expression in stage design generated by the visual arts;
c. the challenges that stage design has to meet in a fast-moving technological environment that is constantly shaping and reshaping audience perception.
Send a 200-250 word proposal and a very brief curriculum vitae by October 31, 2004 via e-mail (as attachments) to Stephen Di Benedetto, Convener of the FIRT/IFTR Scenography Working Group, at sdi_benedetto@yahoo.com . Full papers (5000 to 7000 word long) must be received via e-mail by February 14, 2005.
For conference information, contact: scenography2005-fgw@uva.nl
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The First “Müller in America” Conference: The Cultural
Politics of Heiner Müller
March 25-27, 2005 in New York City
The First “Müller in America” conference invites proposals for papers, panels and workshops on the topic of “The Cultural Politics of Heiner Müller.” Müller, a life-long Marxist and experimental playwright who spent most of his adult life in the German Democratic Republic, has been dismissed by some as an historical and political anachronism. The production of his work in Europe has declined in recent years, yet Müller’s popularity continues to grow in the United States and Canada. What is it about this very German and intensely political playwright that increasingly fascinates American theatre artists, audiences and scholars?
The general question to be addressed by the conference is: “Do Heiner Müller’s plays and poems, taken as a whole, articulate a political and/or philosophical perspective and/or methodology? If so, what is it and what does it have to say to America today?
The First “Müller in America” conference is being organized by the Castillo Theatre (www.castillo.org). The conference will be held at the All Stars Project’s performing arts and education complex on 42nd Street, in the heart of New York City’s theatre district. In conjunction with the conference the Castillo Theatre will be presenting Revising Germany, a play by Fred Newman that looks at the conflicted legacy of German political theatre. Müller is a character in the play, as are Brecht, Helene Weigel, Elisabeth Hauptman, Ruth Berlau and Margarete Steffin.
Proposals are due no later than November 1, 2004 and should be no more than 350 words. Please indicate what audio-visual equipment, if any, would be needed for the presentation. Include a two-sentence summary of your proposal that can be used in the conference program, your institutional affiliation, if any, and a short professional biography. Proposals from outside the United States are welcome. The registration fee is $125 and all presenters must register. No housing is provided. Proposals are preferred in e-mail form, but hard copy and fax will be accepted. Please send proposals and direct all questions to:
Dan Friedman
Editor, Müller in America
543 West 42nd Street
New York, New York 10036
dfriedman@allstars.org
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Modern Language Association, December 2005
Each year the IBS sponsors two sessions at the annual convention of the Modern Language Association of America. In 2005 the convention will take place in Washington, DC from Dec. 27-30. If you wish to propose a paper, please contact the organizer below with your suggestion by March 21, 2005. You must become an MLA member at the latest by April 7, 2005, in order to be listed on the conference program.
Session 1:
Title: Brecht, Anti-fascism, and Holocaust Representation
Organizer: Elke Heckner, University of Oregon
Email: eheckner@oregon.uoregon.edu
What is the continuing relevance of Brechtian techniques for anti-fascist discourses as well as for critical representations of Holocaust memory? Issues to be examined include, but are not limited to: What is the role of affect in Brecht's anti-fascist aesthetics and politics? How do they relate to psychoanalytic models of working-through, trauma and mourning? How have Brechtian techniques shaped critical representations of the Holocaust? Contributions may also focus on the relevance of Brechtian aesthetics and politics for contemporary debates on post-memory as well as anti-war discourses.
Session 2:
Title: Brecht and/on Television
Organizer: Paul Gagliardi, Harrisburg Area Community College
Email: prgaglia@hacc.edu
Deadline for proposals: March 21, 2005
How have Brecht's theater aesthetics been been adapted in television? How has the medium dealt with alienation and historicization? What problems have developed with Brechtian ideals and mass media?
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Proposals for individual papers or complete panels on any aspect of the theatre
of Brecht, his contemporaries, or his aesthetic or political legacy are being
solicited for a session or sessions sponsored by the IBS at the Association
for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) annual conference.
The ATHE conference 2004 will be held in Toronto July 29-August 1, 2004, under
the motto "Inspiring Theatre: Networking Our Global-Local Resources."
Please send your proposals by November 1, 2003 to:
Dr. Ralf Remshardt
Dept. of Theatre and Dance
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-5900
Phone 352-392-2038
Fax 352-392-5114
Email: rremshardt@arts.ufl.edu
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IBS panel on Bertolt Brecht at the 56th Kentucky Foreign Language Conference
University of Kentucky, Lexington
April 24-26, 2003
A broad range of topics dealing with Brecht's life, works and reception
will be considered (please watch the web for the conference theme). Papers
can be in English or German and should be no longer than 20 minutes.
Please send proposals (topic, abstract) together with a brief CV to the
address below by Monday, October 21, 2002
Prof. Alexander Stephan
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
314 Cunz Hall
1841Millikin Road
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210-1229
Tel. 614-292-6985
Fax 614-292-8510
Email: stephan.30@osu.edu
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Mahagonny.com - 11th Symposium of the International Brecht Society
The IBS is planning its 11th international symposium for late June 2003 in Berlin.
Deadline to submit abstracts is July 1, 2002. Click
here for the call for papers in English / Hier
klicken für den Aufruf auf Deutsch.
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Association of Theatre in Higher Education
For the ATHE annual conference in San Diego (July 25-28, 2002), the International
Brecht Society (IBS) is soliciting papers dealing with "Brecht's Latin
Legacy". Papers or panel proposals will be entertained that position modern
and contemporary Latin American and Hispanic/Latino/Chicano drama, theatre,
and performance in the context of the theory and practice of Epic theatre. (The
presentations do not need to place an explicit emphasis on Brecht's own theatre
to be considered.)
Please send proposals (if possible, on ATHE proposal forms) by November 9, 2001
to:
Dr. Ralf Remshardt
Dept. of Theatre and Dance
PO Box 115900
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-5900
fax: 352-377-0087
email: drralf@ufl.edu
For the ATHE conference call, see www2.hawaii.edu/athe/conf/index.html
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ATHE Annual Conference in Chicago in 2001
The INTERNATIONAL BRECHT SOCIETY (IBS)
August 2-5, 2001 | Chicago Palmer House Hilton Hotel
Paper or panel proposals are sought on:
1) "Brechtech...: Technology and Brecht"
Papers or proposals may address any issue relevant to the topic, e.g.: How and
to what effect did Brecht or Brecht's followers use theatrical technology or
technology in general (incl. radio, film)? Which technical devices in the contemporary
theatre have replaced the devices envisioned by Brecht for the production of
V-effects? Are there new media, from interactive video games to hypertext and
the internet, that are genuinely "Brechtian" in structure or purpose?
Etc.
2) "Brecht's Chicago/Chicago's Brecht"
we are looking for Chicago-area directors and actors with recent experiences
in producing Brecht (or perhaps similar epic theatre plays). Also possible are
papers on Brecht's use of Chicago as a mythical site in such plays as St. Joan
of the Stockyards and Arturo Ui.
Please address inquiries or send paper or panel proposals by Nov. 1, 2000 to:
Prof. Ralf Remshardt
Dept. of Theatre and Dance
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-5900
Phone 352-392-2038 ext. 204
Fax 352-392-5114
drralf@ufl.edu
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Beiträge zu dem geplanten Band "Gender - Exil - Schreiben", sind erwünscht.
Der Band zielt auf eine Erweiterung der frauenspezifischen Themen hin zur Geschlechterforschung,
die auch geschlechtsspezifische Betrachtungen des Lebens und der Arbeit weiblicher
sowie männlicher Exilanten mit einbeziehen.
Themenvorschläge sollen bis zum 20. Januar 2001 (in Deutsch oder Englisch)
an Julia Schöll gerichtet werden:
Marienstr. 4
96050 Bamberg
julia.schoell@stud.uni-bamberg.de
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Call for Papers for The Brecht Yearbook / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch
Focus: Helene Weigel
On the occasion of her 100th birthday the International Brecht Society will devote volume 25 of the Brecht Yearbook (Spring 2000) to Helene Weigel - actress, Brecht's partner, and manager of the Berliner Ensemble. The guest editor is Dr. Judith Wilke (Frankfurt/Main).
Even more stubborn than in Brecht's case are the usual clichés about Helene Weigel: grandiose mother figure on stage and in real life, heroic housewife and ingenious organizer during the exile years, the ideological conscience that kept Brecht politically in line, icon of postwar theater, "pure kitsch in a sackcloth gown" (according to theater critic Sibylle Wirsing), or clever trustee of Brecht's estate during the cold war. We are now seeking suggestions for critical essays and interviews for a volume that proposes to revise these images of Weigel and to examine her multiple talents in the confrontation of historical, aesthetic, and practical as well theoretical theater aspects.
Among the issues to be addressed are the following: Weigel's practice and working methods as an actress and speaker, her collaborative work with Brecht and her influence on his work; her complex role as theater manager in the various phases of the Berliner Ensemble; the double role as actress in the theater and on the political stage, with Brecht and after his death; Weigel and the communist party; the private and public person, wife, mother, friend; the perception and influence of Weigel in the consciousness of her time and thereafter. Contributions are especially welcome that will make use of little known archive material at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and elsewhere (documents, letters, minutes of meetings, films and tapes, photographs, etc.)
Submission deadline: October 1, 1999
For information, contact Dr. Judith Wilke
Tel./Fax: ++49 69 / 55 60 18
E-mail: J.Wilke@tfm.uni-frankfurt.de
Die Internationale Brecht Gesellschaft plant, das Brecht-Jahrbuch 25 (Frühjahr 2000) Helene Weigel - der Schauspielerin, Gefährtin Brechts und Leiterin des Berliner Ensembles - anläßlich ihres 100. Geburtstags zu widmen. Gast-Herausgeberin des Bandes ist Dr. Judith Wilke, Frankfurt/Main.
Noch hartnäckiger als von Brecht halten sich gängige Klischees von Helene Weigel: große Mutterfigur auf der Bühne und im Leben, heroische Hausfrau und geniale Organisatorin in der Emigration, ideologisches Gewissen, das Brecht auf die politisch korrekte Linie einzuschwören versuchte, Ikone des Nachkriegstheaters, "Verkitschung im sackleinenen Gewand" (Sibylle Wirsing) oder geschäftstüchtige Sachwalterin des Brechtschen Erbes im Kalten Krieg. In Texten und Gesprächen will der Band solche Weigel-Bilder aufbrechen und in der Konfrontation historischer, ästhetischer, theatertheoretischer und -praktischer Aspekte der produktiven Vielseitigkeit dieser Begabung nachgehen.
Geplante Schwerpunkte sind die Praxis und Arbeitsweise der Weigel als Schauspielerin und Sprecherin, ihre konkrete Zusammenarbeit mit Brecht und ihr Einfluß auf dessen Arbeiten; ihre komplexe Rolle als Theaterleiterin in den verschiedenen Phasen des Berliner Ensembles; die Doppelrolle als Schauspielerin auf der Bühne und auf dem politischen Parkett - neben Brecht sowie über Brechts Tod hinaus; Helene Weigel und die Kommunistische Partei; die private und die öffentliche Person, (Ehe-)Frau, Mutter und Freundin; die Wahrnehmung und Wirkung der Weigel im Bewußtsein ihrer Zeit und danach. Beiträge sind besonders willkommen, die auch auf bislang wenig bekanntes Archivmaterial (Dokumente, Briefe, Protokolle, Film- und Tonaufzeichnungen, Photos) zurückgreifen.
Redaktionsschluß: 1. Oktober 1999.
Kontaktadresse: Dr. Judith Wilke
Tel./Fax: ++49 (069) 55 60 18
E-mail: J.Wilke@tfm.uni-frankfurt.de
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As in past years, the IBS will sponsor two sessions at the Modern Language Association conference, scheduled for December 27-30, 2000, in Washington, DC. Please submit abstracts (approx. 300 words) for one of the following panels by 1 March, 2000. Participants will be selected by 17 March. Participants must be members of both the IBS and the MLA by 1 April and be prepared to have their abstracts posted on the IBS web site.
1. BRECHT AND/IN THE AVANT-GARDE
Brecht's relationship to the historical avant-garde, contemporary
avant-garde activity, or the theory of the avant-garde.
Contact: John
Rouse, University of California in San Diego, email: jrouse@ucsd.edu
2. INTELLECTUALS IN POST-WAR GERMANY: BRECHT AND OTHERS
An exploration of the role of intellectuals - both followers and opponents
of Brecht - in the public sphere.
Contact: Siegfried Mews, University of
North Carolina in Chapel Hill, email mews@email.unc.edu
The IBS sponsors two sessions at the annual conference of the Modern Language Association (MLA), to be held in Chicago from December 27-30, 1999. To present a paper in an IBS session, you must be both an IBS member and an MLA member (exceptions can be made for non North American scholars). If you are interested in being a respondent in either of the sessions, please contact the organizer as well.
Send abstracts (350 words) or papers by 22 March to the respective colleague listed below.
Session 1
Organizer: David Robinson (Georgia Southern University)
email: dwrob@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu.
"In Brecht's Footsteps: Drama / Theater, Poetry, and Prose since the 1950s"
Session 2.
Organizer: Siegfried Mews (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
email: Mews@email.unc.edu
"Brecht's Theater as Philosophical Innovation: Brechtian and Post-Brechtian Theory and Practice"
Call for Papers: Performing the Politics of European Comic Drama.
Special issue of European Studies Journal
Co-editors, Susan Carlson and Jim McGlew
Iowa State University
Since Aristophanes, comedy has been a site of political contention, offering contradictory possibilities for subversion, resiliency, and restriction. This special issue of the interdisciplinary European Studies Journal will feature the work of scholars who are investigating the political ramifications of comic drama and theatre. Scholarship on the dramatic text as well as on the performance of comic drama are invited. Investigations of the following issues are particularly invited: what are the effects of actual performance on the ideology and politics of comedy's audiences? how are collective responses to the staging of drama measured and understood? what are the radical/subversive possibilities and/or conservative impulses of comic performance? how have racial, ethnic, religious, and gender differences affected the politics of comedy? Papers may focus on a single author, on a period, or on a grouping of comedies or performances.
We are seeking work on any period of European dramatic history, from classical Greece to contemporary Europe. Only work on European literatures will be considered. Papers should be in English.
Deadline: November 1, 1999. Either a 700-1000 word abstract or a completed paper (double spaced, around 8000 words in length, MLA format.)
Please direct questions and send abstracts or completed papers to:
Jim McGlew
Department of Foreign Languages/Classical Studies Program
300 Pearson Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
jmcglew@iastate.edu
The Brecht Yearbook is planning to devote volume 25 (2000) to Helene Weigel on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Guest editor for this project is Dr. Judith Wilke. Anyone who is interested in participating in this centenary volume (article, report, photos, interview, chronology, etc.) should contact Dr. Wilke:
Jahnstr. 56
60318 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Tel/Fax: 49 - 69 / 55 60 18
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