2019 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Villa Aurora as Sanctuary: A History of German Literature in Los Angeles, 1995-2020
| Project/Area Number |
19K00494
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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) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | Exile literature / German literature / refuge / writing in residence / German refugees in USA |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the first year of my three-year project “Villa Aurora as Sanctuary: A History of German Literature in Los Angeles, 1995-2020” I focused on analyzing the source materials written and conceptualized in the Villa Aurora, Los Angeles, between 1995 and 2015, mainly in order to develop the concept of “Aurora literature.” I could interview four Aurora literature authors (Kevin Vennemann, Jan Brandt, Leif Randt and Oswald Egger) and hold two lectures on the topic, “Villa Aurora as Sanctuary” on 16. Oct. 2019 at Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles and “With the Eyes of a Global Citizen. Alfred Doeblin as Berliner and Cosmopolitan” on 5. Dec. 2019 at Max-Kade-Institute, University of Southern California. The topic was also featured in a German newspaper, Tagesspiegel, on 7. Dec. 2019 as “Mythos Los Angeles. Der Literaturwissenschaftler Stefan Keppler-Tasaki forscht als Stipendiat des Thomas-Mann-Hauses in Los Angeles zum Einfluss der Stadt und ihrer Geschichte auf die deutsche Gegenwartsliteratur.”
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Having enough time to analyse the literature, to have opportunity for four interviews and two lectures my project has been sailing as smoothly as planned.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
For the second year I am planning to analyze Aurora literature further and to shift the focus on fostering cooperation between German Studies in Japan and the USA, particularly by common ground in Asian German Studies.
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