2016 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
German Literature and American Film: Intercultural Media Relations 1912-2012
| Project/Area Number |
16K02558
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
ケプラータサキ シュテファン 東京大学, 大学院人文社会系研究科(文学部), 准教授 (20765680)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | German Literature / German Authors in Film / German in American Film / Intermedia Relations |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
The first fiscal year of the research project “German Literature and American Film: Intercultural Media Relations 1912-2012” began with a public-oriented launch event on “American film in contemporary German literature” at the Goethe Institute Tokyo in July 2016 with Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen (University of Zurich). PI, being a moderator at the discussion, obtained from Prof. Bronfen’s lecture and also through the highly resourceful debate with almost 70 participants of various interests and backgrounds a broader perspective on the functionality of American films for German literature as well as intercultural dynamics in intermedia relations. Prof. Bronfen, one of the most leading German cultural scholars, being invited for the first time to Japan and having occasions to exchange with Japanese scholars contributed a lot for both sides. After this start-up, PI held three lectures in August 2016 (Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Germany), February (UC Davis, USA) and March 2017 (Dortmund University, Germany) on German authors and their appearances in international newsreels. A research visit at Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles, USA gave PI an ingenious opportunity particularly to view and evaluate film collections of Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Warner Brother. Also a two-week stay at the University of California, Davis, allowed PI exchanging and networking intensively with Prof. Chunjie Zhang (German Studies) and Prof. Jaimey Fisher (Cinema Studies), with whom a cooperation workshop is contemplated in the third fiscal year.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
In addition to the very successful and well visited start-up panel discussion at the Goethe Institute Tokyo in July 2016 with Prof. Bronfen (University of Zurich), PI held three lectures in August 2016 (Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Germany), February (UC Davis, USA) and March 2017 (Dortmund University, Germany) about German authors (Gerhard Hauptmann, Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht) appearing in international newsreel. A research visit at Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles particularly for evaluating collections of Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Warner Brother gave the research much more materials than expected. These will be utilized soon in academic papers for further publication. Also a two-week stay at the University of California Davis enabled PI to build an intensive contact to Prof. Chunjie Zhang (German Studies) and Prof. Jaimey Fisher (Cinema Studies) and to prepare the workshop in the third fiscal year. Until the end of the first fiscal year, PI brought two papers into an academic journal (Archiv fuer das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, 2016 and 2017) and one article into an academic handbook (Faust-Handbuch, 2018).
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
As planned, preparation of a paper “Das Academy Film Archive Los Angeles in germanistischer Perspektive” and further preparations for the workshop “German Literature and American Film” will be the main task during the second fiscal year. The second half of this period will be dedicated primarily to focusing on Alexander Kluge and his confrontation with American films. Research on Brinkmann’s encounter with American film and analyzing Brinkmann’s position toward critical theory will then follow. In the third and last fiscal year will contain a one-week stay at the University of California Davis including a one-day workshop “German Literature and American Film”, followed by writing a paper on the comparison between Kluge and Brinkmann in terms of their relations to American film.
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