Library News for German Studies

"Journalist Goes Undercover to Discover Life as a Black Man in Germany"--Spiegel Int'l Online

Journalist Goes Undercover to Discover Life as a Black Man in Germany

Günter Wallraff is Germany's most famous investigative journalist. He's made a name for himself by going undercover to reveal the hidden side of many social issues. In his new film, he disguises himself as a black person to explore racial discrimination in Germany. His approach, however, is drawing criticism.

Article by Hannah Pilarczyk, from Spiegel Online International, Oct. 21, 2009.

Full article

Herta Müller wins this year's Nobel Prize for Literature

The Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. See the NY Times article.

Some books and articles the Libraries have access to:

Books by Herta Müller in German

Books by Herta Müller in English

Books about Herta Müller (all languages)   

Recent articles on Herta Müller from the MLA Int'l Bibliography: http://libproxy.wustl.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&bquery=(SA+(m%c3%bcller))+and+(SA+(herta))&cli0=RV&clv0=Y&type=1&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Lights out on bulbs in Germany--CNN Video report

In Dresden, High Culture and Ugly Reality Clash--NY Times article

From New York Times, Aug. 14, 2009

In Dresden, High Culture and Ugly Reality Clash

In Tough Times, the Humanities Must Justify Their Worth--NY Times article

Article from the New York Times, Feb. 24, 2009

In Tough Times, the Humanities Must Justify Their Worth

A bold move to Berlin for the Suhrkamp publishing house

Welt am Sonntag - Germany | Sunday, February 8, 2009

A bold move to Berlin for the Suhrkamp publishing house

The Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag welcomes the plans of Germany's renowned Suhrkamp publishing house to move from Frankfurt on Main to Berlin, saying this will give the city an intellectual boost: "Berlin's rich historical past still exerts a magnetic attraction on culture lovers all over the world 20 years after reunification. The decision not to resist this trend and to sacrifice the hermetic exclusiveness of the publishing house was a courageous move by the frequently disliked publisher [Ulla Unseld-Berkéwicz]. It is a step onto a highly varnished, over-popular stage that yearns for authentic players. Rumour has it that the publisher has sought out a location in battle-scarred Berlin that fits in well with the Suhrkamp tradition: The Nikolaihaus, built in 1670, was for centuries a meeting place for enlightened thinkers like Schadow and Schinkel. Next to it stands a rundown concrete pre-fab dating back to the GDR: a superb parcours for a house that publishes realist and deconstructionist works; bourgeois and ultra communist works alike."

Full German article in Die Welt

Competitions for Modern Lang. Association Publication Awards

From the MLA: "Eighteen publication prizes will be awarded in 2009, including the MLA Prize for a First Book, an award for a manuscript in Italian literary studies, the MLA Prize in United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies, the MLA Prize for Independent Scholars, and the MLA Prize for a Distinguished Scholarly Edition."

http://www.mla.org/resources/awards/awards_submissions/awards_competitions  

Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood--PBS program, Jan. 2, 2009

The PBS Documentary "Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood" will be broadcast  in St. Louis on Friday, January 2, 9:00pm  (CHANNEL 9 (KETC/Channel 9))

"When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, one of his earliest actions was to ban Jews from working in that country’s storied film industry, praised as the most creative cinema in the world. Men and women who had created landmarks of movie history fled their homeland in the ensuing months and years. Many of them went to Hollywood.

CINEMA’S EXILES: FROM HITLER TO HOLLYWOOD traces the experiences of the exiles who took refuge in Hollywood, and examines their impact on both the German and the American cinemas. In Germany, they had created such groundbreaking pictures as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Blue Angel, and M-The Murderers Among Us. In Hollywood, their influence ranged from the horror genre and film noir, to comedy and drama. With their lush compositions, they changed the role of music in the motion picture. They even made westerns"--Program's website.

The program's website includes excerpts, essays, timelines and other information about this period, these films, and filmmakers.

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Germans campaign to safeguard language

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Germans campaign to safeguard language - Europe, World - The Independent, Dec. 16, 2008

Tina Fey hates it. Mark Twain railed against it. Now Germans are so worried about their language's future that campaigners want it safeguarded in the constitution. Tony Paterson reports from Berlin

"Inheritance" Holocaust documentary on PBS, 12/11/08-1/4/09

"Inheritance is the story of Monika Hertwig, the daughter of mass murderer Amon Goeth. Hertwig has spent her life in the shadow of her father's sins, trying to come to terms with her "inheritance." She seeks out Helen Jonas, who was enslaved by Goeth and who is one of the few living eyewitnesses to his unspeakable brutality. The women's raw, emotional meeting unearths terrible truths and lingering questions about how the actions of our parents can continue to ripple through generations"-PBS website

Inheritance will be streamed in its entirety online from December 11, 2008 to January 4, 2009.