2020 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 | German literature / Exile literature / Literature and Refuge / German refugees in USA |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the second year of my three-year project “Villa Aurora as Sanctuary: A History of German Literature in Los Angeles, 1995-2020” I focused on the historical aspect of the Villa Aurora as a hub of German-American cultural relations in regard to concepts of political and artistic refuge. The main focus lies on the character of Villa Aurora and its neighbor Thomas Mann House as a symbol of German exile since the 1940s.
In one article in Goethe-Jahrbuch (Vol. 136, 2020) of German Goethe Society, two online micro essays (#MannsLA: Episode 3. Alfred Doeblin - Love Thy Enemy, 9. June 2020, #MutuallyMann: The Irony of Thomas Mann’s Germany and the Germans, 2. December 2020) and in one monograph “Wie Goethe Japaner wurde. Internationale Kulturdiplomatie und nationaler Identitaetsdiskurs 1889-1989” (Iudicium, Munich 2020), I demonstrated that already since 1940s the literature around Villa Aurora dealt fundamentally with notions of migration and refuge in an intricate combination of historic and contemporary perspectives.
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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
Despite the several limitations due to Covid-19, the research has progressed rather smoothly. Research mobility was hugely affected, and, as a result, no invitation was realised. On the other hand, however, I changed the focus on writing and could progress the research further.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
As planned, I will start working on the manuscript for "25 Years of Villa Aurora Literature".
I am a keynote speaker on this topic at the anniversary symposium at Villa Aurora for its 25 years celebration and also the main contributor for the publication of this event.
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