College of Charleston is just one of a select group of universities “Writing Against War: Ingeborg Bachman (1926-1973) is visiting in the United States. The exhibit runs from October 7-30 at the Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library on the second floor. On Friday, October 16, Dr. Kirsten Krick-Aigner of Wofford College will lecture on “Ingeborg Bachmann: A Voice for the 21st Century” in room 227 of Addlestone Library at 3:30 p.m. There will also be a 20th Century German Poetry Night on October 22 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in Alumni Hall in Randolph Hall.
“It was quite a coup for us to get this exhibit,” said Morgan Koerner, assistant professor of German. “The exhibit will introduce a brilliant Austrian author to students and the community. Its topical theme gives visitors a chance to reflect on their own lives in a time of war while they learn more about Ingeborg Bachmann’s life and works.”
The exhibit has toured Europe for several years and the College of Charleston is one of just a couple places in the United States it is visiting.
Ingeborg Bachmann (1926-73) is one of the most famous German language poets of the 20th century. Her poems, stories, and novels focus on questions of gender identity, war, and the belated Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming-to-terms with the Nazi past) in postwar Austria. Since her death, her writings have assumed a prominent position in the 20th century German literary canon and an iconic status among feminists in Germany and Austria. Contemporary authors such as the 2004 Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek view Bachmann’s work as a crucial turning point in the emergence of new female voices in German language literature.
For more information, contact Morgan Koerner at 843.953.1997.