UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 3
September 19, 1996
Symposium Sept. 26-28 on Austrian film, literature

     Crossing Cultural Bounds in Contemporary Austrian Literature
and Film" is the topic of a symposium scheduled Sept. 26-28 at
the University. Included will be talks by international scholars,
a presentation/reading by prominent Austrian writer Evelyn
Schlag, screenings of recent Austrian films and a panel
discussion on the Internet as a collaborative tool.
     The symposium is the first of several events planned in
celebration of the millennium and sponsored at universities
across the country by the Austrian Cultural Institute.
     Cost is $25 for the general public and free to UD faculty,
staff, students and alumni. There are additional costs for meals.
     The free public program by Schlag, a noted Austrian
novelist, essayist and poet, is the keynote presentation of the
symposium and is scheduled at 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 27, in Room
209 of the Trabant University Center. Some of her books will be
on display in the Morris Library.
     Her work has appeared in prestigious literary magazines and
journals, and she has published three volumes of poetry, a
monograph on literature and the discourse of medicine, and a
translation of the elegies of Scottish poet Douglas Dunn. She
also has published six volumes of prose fiction, most recently
the collection of narratives Unsichtbare Frauen (Invisible
Women).
     She has been awarded numerous literary prizes, including the
Austrian Federal Award and the coveted literary prize of the city
of Bremen, Germany. She has given readings and lectures
throughout Europe, as well as North America.
     Other events scheduled during the symposium include
screenings of I Love Vienna and Die Ameisenstrabe, beginning at 8
p.m. in Room 005 Kirkbride Hall, on Thursday, Sept. 26.
     A variety of events are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 27, all
in Room 209 of the Trabant Center. The day begins at 9 a.m. with
"Austrian Postmodernism" featuring Ernestine Schlant of Montclair
State University, Gerda E. Moser of Universitt Klagenfurt and
Ingeborg Hoesterey of Indiana University. "Contemporary Austrian
Film" will be discussed at 10:15 a.m. with Klaus Phillips of
Hollins College, Gertraud Steiner of Bundeskanzleramt and
Universitt Wien, Jutta Landa of the University of California at
Los Angeles, Robert Acker of the University of Montana and
Christopher J. Wickham of the University of Texas, San Antonio.
     Scheduled that day at 1:30 p.m. is "Discourse of Aesthetics"
with Nancy Nobile, foreign languages and literatures at UD,
Bianca Theisen of Johns Hopkins University, Hannelore Scholz of
Umboldt-Universitt, Berlin, Erk Grimm of Barnard College and
Beth Bjorklund of the University of Virginia.
     At Schlag's keynote presentation at 4 p.m., Mary Richards,
arts and science, and Richard Zipser, foreign languages and
literatures, also will speak.
     Dinner is scheduled at 6 p.m. in the President's Room of the
Blue & Gold Club. Speaking will be Willy Riemer, foreign
languages and literatures; Peter Mikl, attach for science and
the arts, Austrian Cultural Institute in New York, and Peter
Demetz of Yale University.
     At 8 p.m., a screening of Fragmente einer Chronologie des
Zufalls is planned in Room 005 Kirkbride.
     The symposium continues Saturday, Sept. 28, with more events
in Room 209 of the Trabant University Center. At 9 a.m., a
discussion of "The Films of Michael Haneke" will feature Lee
Kersten of the University of Adelaide, Thomas R. Nadar of Auburn
University, Brigette Peucker of Yale University and Jennifer
Taylor of the College of William and Mary.
     At 10:45 a.m., a discussion on "Representation of Gender" is
planned with Renate Posthofen of Utah State University, Sigrid
Berka of Barnard College, Linda C. DeMeritt of Allegheny College,
Kristen A. Krick of the University of California at Santa Barbara
and Ingeborg Majer O'Sickey of the State University of New York,
Binghamton.
     An Internet symposium is planned at 2 p.m. on "Robert
Schneider's Schlafes Bruder" with Angelica Fenner of the
University of Minnesota, Barbara Laman of Dickinson State
University and Gerri Reaves of West Virginia Wesleyan College.
     The final discussion on "Borders and Boundaries" will be
held at 3:15 p.m., with Monika Shafi, foreign languages and
literatures, Nora M. Alter of the University of Florida, Robert
C. Reimer of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
Matthias Konzett of Yale University and Scott Abbott of Brigham
Young University.
     The final event, scheduled for 8 p.m. in Room 005 Kirkbride,
is a screening of Der Schatten des Schreibers and Charms
Zwischenfalle.
     For more information or a registration form, call foreign
languages and literatures at 831-6881 or 831-2592. 
                                                     -Beth Thomas