The workshop looked at texts from the second half of the 20th century that reflect on theory and, in doing so, continue to think in literary terms. In literary studies, the second half of the 20th century in particular is characterized by lively discussions of theory. Hermeneutics and structuralism, discourse analysis and deconstruction, gender theory and postcolonial literary studies argue about whether and how (literary) texts should be interpreted 'correctly'. In various case studies, the workshop participants analyzed the phenomenon of 'theory in the literary text' and examined which commonalities and differences can be identified in the respective approaches to theory. In addition, they considered how theory is itself contoured in literary representation.

Harald Schmidt / Photo: Björn Klein

As an actor, entertainer, cabaret artist and columnist, Harald Schmidt expertly explores the possibilities of television, cabaret and theatre, from seriousness to entertainment and from ‘high culture’ to ‘low culture’ - changing the perspective on what popular culture is and can be.

Reason enough then for Die Junge Akademie’s “Popular Culture(s)” research group to invite Harald Schmidt to discuss the topics of the evening. What actually is – or was – television? How is satire possible in (un)serious times? What is popular culture anyway? And finally: What can science learn from popular culture? These and other questions will be discussed by Harald Schmidt together with Islamic Studies scholar Simon Wolfgang Fuchs, historian Valeska Huber and ancient historian Christoph Lundgreen. The evening will be hosted by literary scholar and speaker of the research group, Michael Bies.

Admission is free, ticket required.

Tickets via eventbrite: challenging-perspectives-harald-schmidt-eventbrite.de

Date

Thursday, 20.02.2020 Doors open: 18:30 Uhr Start: 19 Uhr

Venue

Heimathafen Neukölln Karl-Marx-Str. 141 12043 Berlin

More information: 2020.diejungeakademie.de/challenging-perspectives

Picture: Antigone au chevet de Polynice (Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant). Photothèque Musée des Augustins, photo: Daniel Martin. Wikimedia Commons.

The myth of Antigone, who buried her dead brother despite a prohibition, still resonates today – whether as a loving sister, a figure of defiance, a symbol of feministic ideals, or as a reference point for questions of law and order. Such links to current issues can be seen particularly clear in the version from Greek poet Sophokles, in which a seemingly simple plot evokes a diversity of opposites that links the piece to the modern relationship between women and men, living and the dead, society and the individual, and the state and family. Equally diverse are the debates that take place between different receptions of the literature and within various scientific fields.

Hölderlin-introduction and reading: Erik Schilling (LMU München)

Members of the podium: Michael Bies (FU Berlin), Eva Buddeberg (Universität Frankfurt), Christoph Lundgreen (Università di Pisa)

The event was sponsored by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen and the Cultural Office of the City of Leipzig.

The workshop consisted of a series of brief presentations by members of the working group that examined case studies for instances, where theories were developed by way of close engagement with works of literature and art, followed by a collective analysis of Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” in the light of a range of theoretical positions developed on the basis of a critical dialogue with this text. The discussions that followed the presentations centred on the questions: which characteristics of literary and visual works of art are central for their appeal to theoretical enquiry; how do such works of art give an impulse for theoretical reflections, and how are they themselves (and/or interpretations of them) affected in the process and as a consequence of such theorisation; and, how do such texts or images shape or seem to presuppose often vastly different and sometimes mutually exclusive theoretical positions?

After two days of lively, focused, and fruitful discussion, which not only pondered the relationship between theorisation and the works that incite theorisation, but also repeatedly turned to interrogating fundamental differentiations of critical categories and practices (such as between „theory“, „method“, „interpretation“, and „approach“), the working group now considers holding a follow-up workshop, which would concentrate on elucidating the various different roles and functions of literary and visual works of art in theoretical texts and debates.