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Goethe
News and Notes, XIX.1 (Spring 1998)
GSNA EVENTS AT THE 1998 GERMAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION
MEETING IN SALT LAKE CITY OCTOBER 10-11, 1998
GOETHE AND VIOLENCE I: STURM UND DRANG Horst Lange, University of Nevada,
Reno, Moderator
1. Stella and the Theme of Opfer in Goethe's Early Works, Sabrina Völz,
Penn State University.
2. The Lustmord of Goethe's Adelheid, Ellis Dye, Macalester College.
3. Feuds, Wars, and Violence: From Götz von Berlichingen
to the French Revolution, Wulf Koepke, Boston.
Commentator: Michael Proctor
GOETHE AND VIOLENCE II: CLASSICISM
Meredith Lee, University of California, Irvine, Moderator
1. Identity, Community, and the Memory of Violence in Hermann und
Dorothea, Burkhard Henke/Derrick Miller, Davidson College.
2. Goethe and the Ends of Violence, Patricia Ann Simpson, Hunter College.
3. Politik als Brutalität mit Handschuhen: Gewalt vor und nach
der Revolution, Wolfgang Wittkowski, SUNY-Albany.
Commentator: Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Ohio State University
GOETHE AND VIOLENCE III: FAUST
Peter Höyng, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Moderator
1. Faust the Colonizer, Herbert Deinert, Cornell University.
2. Stirb und Werde, Gewalt und Fortschritt: Zum Begriff von Gewalt in
Goethes Faust, Gerlinde Sanford, Syracuse University.
3. On Poetic Violence and the Limits of Reading, Volker Kaiser, University
of Virginia.
Commentator: Nicholas Vaszonyi, University of South Carolina.
GLORIA FLAHERTY SCHOLARSHIP GUIDELINES
The GSNA Board of Directors has drafted guidelines for the Gloria Flaherty
Scholarship and appointed the Vice-President of the GSNA and the two
Directors-at-Large as the scholarship committee. In 1998 the first Gloria
Flaherty Scholarships will be awarded. One or to two prizes of up to
$500 each in travel funds will be given annually to students working
on Goethe and/or the Age of Goethe. There are two categories for the
competition: 1) Money for travel required by a research project on Goethe
and/or the Age of Goethe; 2) Money for travel to present a paper on
Goethe and/or his age. The Society is not bound to award a prize in
either category in any given year. "Age of Goethe" has its
normal, relatively narrow range of meaning. It refers not merely to
a specific period of historical time, but also to the existence of reasonably
clear paths of association with Goethe's person, works, interest,
or activities. Students who will either deliver a paper or complete
a research project BEFORE receiving a doctoral degree are eligible.
Application Procedure: The applicant seeking travel money to deliver
a paper should send: 1) a copy of the paper to be read, or of the most
complete available draft; 2) evidence that the paper has been accepted
for presentation by a reputable scholarly organization or institution.
The applicant seeking travel money for research should send: 1) a detailed
description of the research project, including a reasonable selection
of supporting materials. If the project description exceeds two papers
(ca. 600 words) in length, it MUST be accompanied by a synopsis or summary
not exceeding that length; 2) ONE letter of recommendation from a scholar
qualified to comment on the project; 3) ONE letter of recommendation
from a scholar who is familiar with then candidate's earlier
work in either courses or research. N.B. ONE letter of recommendation
means "only one." No letters of recommendation should accompany
applications for money to present a paper. Letters of recommendation
should be sent by the recommenders directly to the committee. Any materials
that the candidate wishes returned must be accompanied by postage and
an appropriate and pre-addressed mailing container.
Application Deadline: October 15
Send to: Prof. Hans Rudolf Vaget, Dept. of German, Smith College, Northhampton,
MA 01063
* * *
GOETHE YEARBOOK
DO YOU HAVE A COMPLETE SET?
Members of the Goethe Society of North America may purchase back copies
of the Goethe Yearbook at the cost of $20 per copy. All volumes
are available except Volume 1. In addition, the two special issues,
Interpreting Goethe's Faust Today (edited Jane K. Brown, Meredith
Lee, and Thomas P. Saine) and Stuart Atkins: Essays on Goethe
(edited by Jane K. Brown and Thomas P. Saine) are available for $25.
Please use the order form at the end of the newsletter.
GOETHE PAPER TOWELS
Georgia-Pacific Corp. is marketing two-ply Sparkle paper towels with
an upbeat message: "Nothing is worth more than this day -- Goethe,"
printed in seafoam green and surrounded by hearts and shooting stars.
Christa Sammons, Yale University, has traced the quotation to Wilhelm
Meisters Wanderjahre and acquired three rolls of the towels for
the Beinecke collection of Goethe memorabilia (where they join Byron's
rose and other unforgettable tributes). Reporters from The Baton Rouge
Business Report (Sara Bongiorni, February 17, 1998) and the Washington
Post (Linton Weeks, April 15, 1998) who have investigated the unexpected
appearance of Goethe on the commercial scene write that the design was
chosen from among 100 samples after surviving test-marketing in Tampa
and Baltimore. So far the Goethe towels are selling "pretty well."
Indeed, a reporter from an Atlanta newspaper told Christa Sammons recently
that Georgia Pacific is being unexpectedly inundated with orders from
all over the country. Thanks to Irmgard Wagner, Christa Sammons and
Sara Bongiorni for article clips and conversation.
CALL FOR PAPERS AT THE 1999 ASECS MEETING IN MILWAUKEE MARCH 24-28
GOETHE AND MUSIC IN WEIMAR OR BEYOND
Papers are invited that treat any aspect of Goethe and Music in Weimar
or beyond, in the classical period (literary and musical) or the modern
and postmodern. Preference will be given to proposals that, in addition
to fulfilling the usual criteria of cogency, substance and originality,
also show a freshness of approach, method and interpretation. Send,
fax or email 1-2 page proposals to: Simon Richter, Dept. of Germanic
Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. FAX: (301)
314-9841; SR43@umail.umd.edu; Proposal Deadline: August 15.
FROM THE EDITOR OF THE GOETHE YEARBOOK
I am now considering submissions for Goethe Yearbook, volume 10, which,
if things go true to past form, will probably appear in 2000.
Thomas P. Saine
Editor
GOETHE QUOTATION IDENTIFIED
Of the many inquiries about Goethe and Goethe quotations that come to
the Goethe Society of North America through the WEB site, the most oft
repeated and vexing one has been a passage about boldness, magic, and
providence that certainly sounded like Goethe, but eluded our attempts
to track it down. You may recall that in our Fall 1996 Newsletter an
editor at Celestial Seasonings Teas even offered some tea in exchange
for help in identifying it. Most inquiries focused on the closing lines:
"What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it! / Boldness has
genius, power and magic in it." But some cited a fuller passage:
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw
back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid
plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence
moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise
have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising
in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material
assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power, and magic in it. Begin it now."
Well, it's been found and it is partly by Goethe, in a way. We first
heard from Ellen Todd Hanks, a senior information service librarian
at the Briscoe Library of the University of Texas Health Science Center.
She found a variant of the final two sentences in Stevenson's Home
Book of Quotations: "Boldness has genius, power, and magic
in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated. Begin it, and the
work will be completed."
The lines are attributed to John Anster in a "very free translation"
of Faust from 1835.
They are indeed "very free" writes Katja Moser, who solved
a larger piece of the mystery this May, and provided a fuller excerpt
from Anster's translation, where the lines in question are spoken by
the "Manager" in the "Prelude at the Theatre":
"Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
Moser points to Faust, 214-30, as the passage paraphrased by
Anster:
Der Worte sind genug gewechselt,
Laßt mich auch endlich Taten sehn!
Indes ihr Komplimente drechselt,
Kann etwas Nützliches geschehn.
Was hilft es, viel von Stimmung reden?
Dem Zaudernden erscheint sie nie.
Gebt ihr euch einmal für Poeten,
So kommandiert die Poesie.
Euch ist bekannt, was wir bedürfen,
Wir wollen stark Getränke schlürfen;
Nun braut mir unverzüglich dran!
Was heute nicht geschieht, ist morgen nicht getan,
Und keinen Tag soll man verpassen,
Das Mögliche soll der Entschluß
Beherzt sogleich beim Schopfe fassen,
Er will es dann nicht fahren lassen
Und wirket weiter, weil er muß.
Katja Moser also identifies the author of the lengthier passage being
attributed to Goethe and, in doing so, reveals its connection with John
Anster's inventive paraphrase. She writes:
"The quote as you give it in a larger context seems to be from
W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951. There the text
apparently goes:
"But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important
matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of
our ruts. We had put down our passage money--booked a sailing to Bombay.
This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is
committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary
truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves
too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's
favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a
deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!"
So, did Goethe say it? Not really. Thank you, Katja Moser, for the discovery!
Meredith Lee
250th ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
"Goethe, Chaos, and Complexity: A Symposium" will be held
at Purdue University, April 10-11, 1999. Herbert Rowland invites paper
proposals and inquiries. See the call in this issue.
Benjamin Bennett, University of Virginia, and Irmgard Wagner, George
Mason University, are making plans for a conference in Washington, D.C.
in 1999. Details in the fall newsletter!
CLEARING HOUSE FOR 1999
As we did in 1982, the Goethe Society of North America would like to
serve as a informational clearing house for activities being planned
for the 1999 Goethe year. As you plan events on your campus, please
send full information to the Executive Secretary so that members might
be informed in a timely manner. A central listing also alerts planners
to possible programming conflicts.
WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA SATURDAY WITH GOETHE
Irmgard Wagner reports a successful programmatic venture in the Washington,
D.C. area on April 4, 1998: Saturday with Goethe. At George Mason University
some 30 participants, most of them members of the American Goethe Society's
Washington chapter (most, therefore, not Goethe scholars or professionally
engaged as Germanists), met to discuss Goethe's Italy, and especially
the sites of Naples and Venice in the Italienische Reise. Donald
Crosby and Simon Richter, University of Maryland, were the speakers.
CALLS FOR PAPERS AND MANUSCRIPTS: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MEETING of
the GSNA -- November 1998
Southern California members of the Goethe Society of North America,
with the support of the Clark Library in Los Angeles, will host a one-day
conference on Dichtung und Wahrheit on a Saturday in November,
1998, at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street,
Los Angeles, CA 90018. Ehrhard Bahr, UCLA, is organizing the day. Participants
are invited to reread Goethe's autobiography and to participate in a
lively and focused reappraisal of the text with GSNA colleagues.
Paper proposals of 1-2 pages for 30 minute papers are invited. In order
to enhance participation by interested colleagues in other fields, preference
will be given presentations in English. Please send proposals by August
15 to Ehrhard Bahr, Department of Germanic Languages, University of
California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1539.
The conference is the third in a series of annual meetings designed
to revisit well-known texts by Goethe. Some 30 participants gathered
last year for the discussion of Hermann und Dorothea. Topics
for future meetings will be determined at the conference; suggestions
are welcome.
* * *
SOUTHEASTERN SOCIETY FOR EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES 25th Annual Conference:
Reunions, Celebrations, and Anniversaries
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, March 4-6, 1999
Celebrating Goethe: 1749-1999
The panel will commemorate 1999, the 250th anniversary of Goethe's birth,
by featuring papers which examine the major celebrations both in Germany
and abroad of Goethe during previous anniversaries of his birth and
death. How was Goethe presented? How was his association with divergent
cultural currents, e.g. Storm and Stress, Enlightenment, Classicism,
and Romanticism employed or ignored by commemorators to promote specific
interpretations of his significance? These questions apply not only
to the politically turbulent events of 1848/49, but also to the celebrations
of 1932 and 1949, which framed the rise of and fall of the Third Reich.
The 1932 anniversary became a battleground between the ideological positions
of the socialists and the fascists. The 1949 commemoration was an opportunity
to use Goethe in the effort to rehabilitate Germany and its cultural
heritage.
Send 1-page proposals by September 1, 1998, or address inquiries to:
Nicholas Vazsonyi
Dept. of Germanic, Slavic and Oriental Languages, University of South
Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
Tel: (803) 777-2935
Fax: (803) 777-0132
vazsonyi@sc.edu
* * *
GOETHE, CHAOS, AND COMPLEXITY: A SYMPOSIUM
Purdue University, April 9-10, 1999
The recent trend in the natural sciences away from Newtonian reductionism
to holistic and contextual approaches has given new currency to Goethe's
scientific thought and work. Over the past few years, among other things,
parallels have been recognized between Goethean science and the burgeoning
disciplines often referred to as chaos theory and complexity, and there
even exists anecdotal evidence that Goethe variously influenced the
thinking of key figures in the relatively brief history of these fields.
Germanists have confirmed the presence of such parallels in certain
of Goethe's literary texts and have begun to consider their implications
for his poetic work in general. At present, however, such attempts remain
tentative and sporadic. The present symposium was conceived as a means
of providing direction and focus of related endeavors.
Papers are welcome that address any aspect of the topic of the symposium,
e.g., Goethe's philosophy of science in the context of chaos and complexity;
his scientific methodology in the light of the new disciplines; the
reciprocal relationship between his scientific and literary work(s)
within the relevant framework; individual poetic texts as "hard"
(real) or "soft" (metaphoric) models of chaos and/or complexity;
the implications of specific literary works, so understood, for other
areas of concern, such as history and society; or even the limits, limitations,
or ultimate justification of such inquiry.
Given the desirability of attracting interdisciplinary participation,
papers should be presented in English. By September 1, please send proposals
of 1-2 pages for papers of 30 minutes to:
Herbert Rowland
Dept. of Foreign Langs. and Literatures
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Tel: (765) 496-1685
FAX: (765) 494-1700
Email: hrowland@concentric.net
* * *
The 18th Annual Conference of the NINETEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES ASSOCIATION:
Nineteenth-Century Spectacles -- Philadelphia, PA March 18-20, 1999
The National Author as Spectacle: Commemorating Goethe in the 19th Century
Papers are invited on all forms of cultural production, such as literary
and theatrical events, artwork, ceremonies on the occasion of Goethe's
death, celebrations in the "Goethe Year" of 1849, as well
as reactions against the spectacle and cult of Goethe.
Send proposals of 1-2 pages for 20-minute papers by September 3, 1998
to:
Waltraud Maierhofer
Universität Regensburg
Germanistik (Lehrstuhl Kreutzer)
93040 Regensburg, GERMANY
FAX (+49) 941 9431979
Wmaierh@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
* * *
SEASECS PERRY ADAMS ANNUAL ARTICLE PRIZE
The Southeastern American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies invites
submissions for its annual article competition. The Society will give
an award of $500 for the best article on an eighteenth-century subject
published in a scholarly journal, annual, or collection between 1 September
1997 and 31 August 1998. Authors must become members of the Southeastern
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Articles may be submitted
either by authors or by others acting in his/her behalf. Submissions
written in a language other than English must include an English translation.
The interdisciplinary appeal of the article will be considered, but
will not be the sole determinant of the award. Please submit articles
in triplicate, postmarked by 15 November 1998 to Sheila Skemp, Department
of History, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677. The winning
article will be announced at the annual meeting of SEASECS which will
be held in Knoxville, Tennessee, March 4-6 1999.
* * *
FROM THE EXEC. SECRETARY AND NEWSLETTER EDITOR
At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Goethe Society in Toronto
last December, I informed the Board that I would not be seeking reappointment
as Executive Secretary of the Society when my term expires on December
31, 1998. The date marks some twenty years of service to GSNA, from
the first informal meetings that led to the founding of the Society
through multiple terms as Secretary-Treasurer and, more recently, service
as Executive Secretary. The experience has been a grand one, but it
is time to move on. President Benjamin Bennett is leading the Board
in the process to appoint a new Executive Secretary.
The deadline for the Fall issue of Goethe News and Notes is October
15, 1998. I would like to continue the practice of listing any significant
publications on Goethe by GSNA members, as well as completed dissertations,
and would be grateful to receive such information regularly from you.
Meredith Lee
Executive Secretary
* * *
DUES SCHEDULE
The dues for membership in the Goethe Society of North America are as
follows:
active members
$20
senior members
$30
members
paying in DM DM 50
patrons
$100
emeriti
$10
students
$10
institutions
$30
Dues are payable in each calendar year. For further information, please
contact the Secretary-Treasurer.
* * *
WEB SITES:
For GSNA: http://www.hnet.uci.edu/tpsaine/gsna.html
For the Goethe Yearbook: http://www.hnet.uci.edu/tpsaine/gyb.html
OFFICERS OF THE GOETHE SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA
President: Benjamin Bennett, Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures,
Cocke Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903. (804)
924-6695 (o); (804) 831-2423 (h). E-mail: bkb@virginia.edu
Vice-President: Hans Rudolf Vaget, Department of German, Smith College,
Northhampton, MA 01063. (413) 585-3409 (o). E-mail: hvaget@smith.smith.edu
Secretary-Treasurer: Martha Helfer, Dept. of Languages and Literature,
1400 LNCO, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112. (801) 581-7737
(o); 581-7581 (fax). E-mail: martha.helfer@utah.edu
Director-at-Large: Waltraud Maierhofer, German Dept., The University
of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Currently: Universität Regensburg,
Institut für Germanistik, D-90340 Regensburg, Germany; Tel: (+49)
941 943 3457; (+49) 941 943 1979 (fax). E-mail: Wmaierh@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
Director-at-Large: Simon Richter, Germanic Studies, University of Maryland
at College Park, College Park, MD, 20742; (301) 405-4101/ 4096 (o);
(301) 809-0483 (h); (301) 314-9841 (fax); E-mail: SR43@umail.umd.edu
Editor of the Yearbook: Thomas P. Saine, Department of German, University
of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3150. (949) 824-6406 (o); (949) 824-6416
(fax). E-mail: tpsaine@uci.edu
Executive Secretary: Meredith Lee, German Department, University of
California, Irvine, CA 92697-3150. (949) 824-6406 (o); (949) 824-6416
(fax); (714) 836-7970 (h); E-mail: malee@uci.edu
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