Facilitate Understanding
Public Conference on Translating, Editing, and Promoting a Peripheral Literature in Germany on December 15, 2014, at Freie Universität Berlin
№ 401/2014 from Nov 19, 2014
The Center for Modern Greek Studies (CeMoG) at Freie Universität Berlin is holding a conference on December 15, 2014, that is devoted to the promotion of, translation, and translatability of a peripheral literature, its language, and culture in Germany. The participants will include literary historians, individuals engaged in the cultural sector, journalists, and editors, as well as agents, publishers, authors, and translators. In lectures and panel discussions they will discuss important aspects of the topic with a particular focus on Greek literature. The conference is public, and admission is free.
A few years ago, a German editor suggested giving Greek writers American passports as a way of promoting Greek literature in Germany. The imaginative cynicism makes a point: Anglo-Saxon literature dominates the book market and thus sets standards for the literary and cultural canon.
The conference on December 15 will deal with these conditions. It has three components
The first part will consist of short lectures that will set the framework and provide new ideas. The speakers will be the literary critic, Vasilis Vasiliadis from the Center for the Greek Language, Thessaloniki; the translation scholar, Anthi Wiedenmayer, a visiting professor at the University of the Saarland, Europaicum Department; the former press officer of the Greek Embassy, Pantelis Pantelouris; and the literary critic Vangelis Chatzvasiliou.
In the second part, representatives from various areas of the literary establishment will meet for a panel discussion. The discussion will be moderated by the author and journalist Andreas Schäfer. The discussants will include the deputy director of the Berlin Literary Colloquium and the managing director of the Deutscher Übersetzerfonds (German Translators' Fund) Jürgen Becker; the literary translator Ulf-Dieter Klemm; the literary agent Susan Bindermann; Gesine Dammel from Suhrkamp/Insel-Verlag; and Inci Bürhaniye from Binooki-Verlag.
In the third part, authors and promoters of literature will come together and discuss ongoing projects and the characteristics of literary or cultural mediation. The discussants will include the poet Charis Vlavianos and his translator, Torsten Israel; the playwright Lena Kitsopoulou and the theater director Anestis Azas; and the translator of Petros Markaris, Dr. Michaela Prinzinger.
The Center for Modern Greek Studies was established at Freie Universität Berlin in 2014. It promotes cooperation in research and teaching between Germany and Greece. A key focus of the Center is the study of the history German-Greek culture transfers from the 18th century to today.
The Center for Modern Greek Studies publishes a newsletter three times a year. Sign up for the newsletter online: www.cemog.fu-berlin.de/newsletter
Time and Location
- Monday, December 15, 2014, 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Seminar Center, Freie Universität Berlin, L 116, Otto-von-Simson-Str. 26, 14195 Berlin. subway station: Dahlem-Dorf or Thielplatz (U3)
Further Information
- Dr. Konstantinos Kosmas, Center for Modern Greek Studies (CeMoG), Freie Universität Berlin, Tel.: +49 30 838-58073, Email: k.kosmas@cemog.fu-berlin.de
Link to Further Information
www.cemog.fu-berlin.de/aktivitaeten/veranstaltungen/uebersetzung-uebersetzbarkeit.html