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Goethe
News and Notes, XVI.2 (Fall 1995)
Business Meeting of the GSNA at the MLA Convention,
29 December 1995
Ehrhard Bahr presiding, reports by the officers, and a presentation
on the newest Goethe editions: "Spreu und Weizen: Anmerkungen zu
Albrecht Schönes neuem 'Faust' in der Frankfurter Ausgabe,"
by Hans R. Vaget, Smith College. (This paper will be published in Goethe
Yearbook, volume 8.)
Program Sponsored by the GSNA at the MLA Convention,
29 December 1995
"Goethe Revised: Controlling the Text and the Canon," Irmgard
Wagner presiding. Papers by Clark Muenzer ("From Gottfried to Götz(e):
The Difficult Whole of Goethe's Commemorative Icon"), Horst Lange
("Transgression versus Repression: From Erotica Romana to
Roman Elegies"), and Waltraud Maierhofer ("Aufmerksame
Reisende: Goethe's Journey from Lehrjahre to Wanderjahre").
President's Message
Our Society has come a long way due to the efforts of its members and
officers over the last sixteen years. The other day I came across an
old paper by Frank H. Reinsch who reported on a meeting at the MLA Convention
in December 1951 about a group consisting of Professors Feise, Jockers,
Lange, Michael, Reinsch and Schreiber which was formed in 1950 to canvass
a number of colleagues in various parts of the country regarding the
feasibility of establishing a Goethe Society. Prof. Lange was designated
as Secretary. After due consideration, he sent letters of inquiry to
21 German departments in all parts of the country. When the committee
met again in December 1951, they considered the reactions of their colleagues.
Reinsch reported that "most of them were not favorable to the establishment
of a national body at this time, but [that] it was felt that local Goethe
Societies should be encouraged and that the formation of a national
society might be reassessed at a later date."
More than forty years later, we have a society that is promoting Goethe
scholarship, publishing a Yearbook, and organizing symposia and exhibits.
Some of its members have contributed to the most complete English translation
of Goethe's work available, republished now in paperback by Princeton
University Press. Two of our most prominent members have been awarded
the Golden Goethe Medal of the Goethe-Gesellschaft in Weimar: Victor
Lange in 1993 and Stuart Atkins in 1995.
It is a proud history for a society that was founded in 1979. It was
a good idea to have it named the Goethe Society of North America so
that our Canadian colleagues feel included and at home in a society
which is as much theirs as any other resident's in North America. Members
from other continents are most welcome.
At this stage we are not seriously considering organizing local chapters
nor should that be the goal of the Goethe Society of North America,
as the founding members said in the beginning. But we now want to encourage
loose affiliation of the existing local societies or new societies that
are being formed. Local Goethe societies may be strengthened by the
GSNA, while our society can only benefit from the scholarship promoted
by local societies. In view of the forthcoming Goethe Year of 1999,
we can only profit from sharing our experience and pooling our resources.
The Goethe Society of North America will be happy to serve as bulletin
board for the community of Goethe scholars and readers in North America
for the years to come and we hope for a renewed and increasing interest
in Goethe by the turn of the century.
Ehrhard Bahr
President
1996 ASECS Conference in Austin
The Goethe Society of North America Session at the ASECS conference
in Austin (March 27-31) will be chaired by Ehrhard Bahr. Topic: "Two
Hundred Years: Wilhelm Meister." Papers will be presented by Marielle
Smith, Harvard University ("The Dead Fathers of the German Bildungsroman"),
Karen Schutjer, University of Missouri ("Sources of Solidarity
in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre"), and Hellmut Ammerlahn,
University of Washington ("Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre: An
Apprenticeship Toward the Mastery of Exactly What?").
Beinecke Library Visiting Fellowships 1996-97
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, offers
short-term fellowships to support visiting scholars. Application deadline
is January 15, 1996. Interested parties should contact the Coordinator
of Fellowship Programs, Robert Babcock, at 203-432-2968/Fax 203-432-4047.
New Weimar Fellowship: Stiftung Weimarer Klassik
Weimar Stipendien
The Stiftung Weimarer Klassik has announced a new research fellowship
program for scholars who wish to use the resources of the Goethe- and
Schiller Archiv, the Goethe-Nationalmuseum, and the Herzogin Anna Amalia
Bibliothek in Weimar. The exact wording of the announcement is perhaps
important: "für Forschungsprojekte in- und ausländischer
Wissenschaftler/Innen…, die sich der europäischen Kulturgeschichte
vom 16. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert widmen und dabei die in Weimar vorhandenen
Quellen als Materialgrundlage benötigen." The terms of the
fellowship also permit cooperative arrangements with Wolfenbüttel
and Marbach. Applicants must have a Ph.D. or equivalent. The monthly
award is DM 2000 for 1-12 months. Housing is available for DM 300-500
per month.
Letters of application should be directed to:
Stiftung
Weimarer Klassik
Bereich
Forschungsförderung und -organisation
Postfach
12
99401 Weimar,
Germany
Applications, which can be submitted at any time, should include the
following:
a full project description
a brief academic biography stressing scholarly development
a list of publications
at least two letters of reference
The director of the "Bereicht Forschungsförderung
und -organisation" is Prof. Dr. Lothar Ehrlich.
Golden Goethe Medal for Stuart Atkins
Stuart Atkins, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara,
was awarded the Gold Goethe Medal at the 74th meeting of
the Goethe-Gesellschaft in Weimar this past June. GSNA President Ehrhard
Bahr presented the laudatio, which will be printed in full in
the Goethe Jahrbuch for 1995.
From the Editor of the Goethe Yearbook
Essays on Goethe, a volume of essays by Stuart Atkins, edited
by Jane K. Brown and myself, appeared as a special issue of the Goethe
Yearbook in the middle of October and was mailed to all GSNA members
who had paid their dues as of that time. If you have not yet received
your copy, it is probably because you did not rush to pay dues. This
can, of course, easily be rectified.
At this time I am inviting submissions to be considered for inclusion
in volume eight of the Goethe Yearbook. The Yearbook is open
to papers on any aspect or author of the "Goethezeit," not
just on Goethe. In contrast to many other publications, there is no
stringent limit on the length of papers that can be considered. We adhere
more or less to the Chicago Manual of Style rather than to the MLA Style
Sheet.
Thomas P. Saine
Editor
Other News and Notes
Recent Publications by Members:
Gerhart Hoffmeister has edited a collection of essays, Goethes Mignon
und ihre Schwestern: Interpretationen und Rezeption (Lang, 1993).
Contributors include Hellmut Ammerlahn, Konstanze Bäumer, Sigrid
Berka, Arnd Bohm, John Fetzer, Sabine Gross, Gunther H. Hertling, Robert
Tobin, and Gerhart Hoffmeister.
Goethe Dissertations: Elizabeth
Powers completed her dissertation "From Idyll to Exile: The Transformed
Self in the Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe" and received her
doctorate in June from the City University of New York. Advisor: John
Gearey.
A Note from the Editor of the Newsletter
The deadline for the Spring issue of Goethe News and Notes is
April 15. I would like to continue the practice of listing significant
publications on Goethe by GSNA members, as well as completed dissertations,
and would be grateful to receive such information regularly from you.
Members are encouraged to propose special sessions at regional meetings
of the MLA and ASECS. Contact me for assistance with publicity and mailing
lists.
The German Studies Association would like to encourage GSNA members
to attend its annual meeting and to participate actively by submitting
single papers or proposals for entire panels. The 1996 meeting will
be held October 10-13 in Seattle, Washington. Program director for the
meeting is Glenn R. Cuomo, New College of University of South Florida,
Tampa, FL 33620. Please contact him to receive a call for papers.
Meredith Lee
Executive Secretary
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