TP 16 - American Studies at Leipzig

TWIN PEAKS
A NEWSLETTER FOR AMERICAN STUDIES
16th Issue Summer 2004
University of Leipzig
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TWIN PEAKS
Editorial
Dear Readers:
For everything, there is a season. July is the season for the Twin Peaks
summer issue. We proudly present No. 16 - featuring an interview with Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Jeffrey Eugenides in which he talks about longing, about
muses and about his work as an author.
Recently, talks about higher education politics and college fees can be
heard throughout Germany. Students’ protests have become a part of
university life again. Is this already the beginning of a new protest movement?
Roland Bloch compares today’s demonstrations with protest movements of
the 1960s.
Moreover, we take you on a trip to the MoMA exhibition. The unique
collection of modern art is the star of the American Season in Berlin.
Yet, culture does not merely involve fine arts, but surrounds us from
sunrise, listening to the morning radio, to sunset when you might take out a
good book to read or just watch your favorite show on television. We’ve got
it all: An interesting radio project in San Francisco, book reviews and an
essay by Fulbright professor David Mikics of Houston University about Buffy,
the Vampire Slayer.
Careful readers may notice a change in this issue. After thorough
thinking, we merged two of our categories into one. You will now find „creative
minds“ in the category of „wandering thoughts.“ Of course, we continue
looking for enthusiastic students who will help us in our efforts and contribute
their ideas to the Twin Peaks issues to come. (For details turn to the very
last page.)
We would like to thank our sponsors, the American Studies Alumni
Association and the Fachschaftsrat Anglistik/Amerikanistik , for their
continuous cooperation, as well as everyone else who supported us through
the year and contributed their thoughts and articles to this issue.
We hope you will enjoy reading.
The Editors
Stine & Katja.
2
CONTENT
TALKING HEADS
Muses Are Hard to Come by These Days ................................................................ 4
An interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author Jeffrey Eugenides
LOCAL COLOR
Von Workshop bis Farewell ................................................................................. 8
Neues von der ASAA - von Jan Saeger
Goethe Goes West .................................................................................................. 15
How a Radio Project Helps to Inform about Young Germany - by Susanne Göricke
ACADEMIC VIEWS
Of Airports, Yeast, and a Scientific Approach to Defecation .................................... 10
Bizarre Facts about US-American Students at Leipzig University - by Anja Becker
Studierende ........................................................................................................... 17
Counterculture oder Silent Majority? - von Roland Bloch
Buffy Meets Stanley Cavell ................................................................................. 23
Redefining Cultural Studies - by David Mikics
WANDERING THOUGHTS
I See Pink! ............................................................................................................ 20
A Visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Berlin - by Stine Eckert
Color Me Blue ............................................................................................. 32
Die Blue Man Group in Berlin - by Katja Wenk
E-MAIL FROM AMERICA
Drive-Through University ......................................................................................... 30
Franziska Wellner schreibt aus Birmingham, Alabama
ON THE SHELF
John Updike ....................................................................................................... 34
Wie war’s wirklich - von Stine Eckert
Dave Eggers .......................................................................................................... 36
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - by Katja Wenk
Shortcuts - by Frank Meinzenbach & Katja Wenk ....................................................... 38
CONTEST ............................................................................................................. 22
CALL FOR EDITORS ............................................................................................. 40
I MPRINT ............................................................................................................. 39
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TWIN PEAKS
hard to
Muses are
„Middlesex“ immediately triggers
the name of Jeffrey Eugenides - the
writer whose name is as
unpronouncable as the protagonist of
his Pulitzer Prize winning novel,
TwinPeaks: Preparing for this
interview, we searched for biographical
facts about you, and it is surprising how
little we were able to find out. Are you
trying to keep your private life as private
as possible?
TP: In an interview with Jonathan
Safran Foer for Bomb Magazine you said,
“If I were an emotion, I would be longing.”
Why is that?
Jeffrey Eugenides: I'm surprised you could
find out so little. I don't wilfully conceal my
life. But my life is certainly less dramatic than
the lives of the characters in my books.
JE: That was an embarrassing thing to say.
I suppose I meant that my books are all love
stories, though perhaps somewhat unusual
ones.
TP: You received your BA in English
magna cum laude at Brown University.
Then you got an MA in Creative Writing
at Stanford. When did you know that you
wanted to become an author?
TP: Among one of the few things we
found was an interesting detail at the
Barnes Nobles Internet site. Under
“Things to know about the Author”, the
website listed that you wanted to become
a monk and went to India to help the less
fortunate where you also met Mother
Teresa. If this is true, how did it influence
you?
JE: Around the age of 15. I went to Brown
because I wanted to study with a writer who
taught there, the novelist John Hawkes. So I
was set on being a writer from a young age
and hopelessly single-minded about it.
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TALKING HEADS
these Days
come by
Caliope. Caliope is the Greek muse
of epic poetry.We asked Jeffrey
Eugenides about his muses, his
relation to Mother Teresa and his life
in Berlin.
JE: Yes, I did fantasize about being a
monk when I was young. I also did volunteer
briefly for Mother Teresa in Calcutta. I'm
working on a long story about that experience
right now. I've written about it before but
never to my satisfaction. Now I'm trying
again. If I get the story right, that will be my
statement on the subject, a much more eloquent one than I could give here. What I wish
to say about my life, or life in general, is best
said in a novel, in fiction. The fictional remove
allows me to bring order to experience - order
my own experience of life doesn't usually
have.
JE: I must have been eight or nine. The
kids at school liked my stories. I thought it
best to keep at it.
TP: Stephan King describes in his book
“On Writing” that a certain amount of
routine is important for an author to be
able to work efficiently. How is your
working day as a writer?
JE: Routine is important in any serious
endeavor. Woody Allen said that 90% of
success is showing up. I try to write every
day, for six hours or so. When I'm doing well,
I can write 800 words per day. Not perfect
TP: Do you remember when you first
impressed somebody with something you
had written? How did it feel?
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TWIN PEAKS
words. I may throw them out. But a certain
productivity has to be maintained.
to hate the book you're working on, because
that allows you to be objective about it and
to edit and re-write it mercilessly. The danger
is that it makes you stop working on certain
things that might not be so bad after all.
TP: When you write, do you write with
a certain person as representative for your
audience in mind - the person who then
gets to read your work first?
JE: No, I have no
particular person in mind
when I write. I guess I try
to write the kind of book
I myself would like to
read. Usually, I fail to
write that book. But I
keep trying.
TP: When you experience setbacks
while working on a
book, how do you deal
the kind with them?
I fail to write
of book I myself
would like to read.
But I keep trying.
JE: The one virtue I
possess is perseverance.
No
matter
how
disillusioned I become
about a novel, if I like the
basic idea of the book, I always come back
to it. With most things in life, I'm ready to
give up, surrender. Not with my writing. It's
the only thing I'm at all brave about.
TP: Who has influenced your work as
an author?
JE: The major influences run the gamut
from classical writers such as Homer, Vergil,
Catullus and Ovid, to early playful novelists
like Stern, to great realists like Tolstoy.
Nabokov is one of my favorite stylists, as is
Saul Bellow. I feel an affinity with the work
of Philip Roth as well.
TP: Have you ever experienced a
writer’s block?
JE: I suppose I did with "Middlesex." It
wasn't the kind of writer's block people
imagine, where the writer can't write a single
word. I wrote lots and lots of words,
thousands of them. They were just not the
right words. I couldn't see my way forward
with "Middlesex" for a long time. And this
made me very anxious and depressed. The
worst time of my life, perhaps. But it passed.
TP: Your protagonist in Middlesex,
Cal, always calls on her Muse for
creativity. Who or what is your muse?
JE: Muses are hard to come by these days.
Even for a Greek.
TP: After your working day is over,
how do you relax?
TP: How critical are you about
yourself?
JE: They have very good beer in Germany.
JE: I dislike much of my work, most of
the time. I write with extreme difficulty
because what I write always begins at one
point or another to nauseate me. I'm used to
confronting this nausea, to overcoming or
outlasting it. It's important to hate your work,
TP: Once all the work is done, how
does it feel to finish a book?
JE: It's a great relief, shadowed by anxiety.
I was sure "Middlesex" would be a big flop.
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TALKING HEADS
TP: Middlesex won both the public's
and critics' recognition. And without
question, it was one of the most successful
novels in recent years. But how do you
define success?
JE: Extremely, utterly pleased.
TP: You and your wife have been living
in Berlin now for five years. Why did you
move there?
JE: Before you write a book, you have an
idea of that book. The book exists in your
mind, a perfect thing. I measure success by
the degree to which the actual book
corresponds to the Platonic one. Of course, I
hope the book will find readers. I write with
the reader in mind, not a specific reader, but
a general reader. I want to seize the reader's
attention and hold it as long as I can. I don't
write for myself but for other people, to
divert, move, and enthrall them, and to tell
them everything I know about my subject.
JE: We came because I was given a
D.A.A.D. grant. We were supposed to stay a
year but have now stayed five, because we
liked the city so much.
TP: Is there anything typically American that you miss while in Germany and
something German you really came to
appreciate?
JE: I suppose I miss the heterogeneity of
American culture, from food to music.
I will miss German bread, as well as
German beer, profoundly. Also German
conversation. And especially German
conversation over German beer and bread.
TP: How much do critics' opinions get
to you?
JE: I am usually quick to agree with my
faults when they are indeed my faults. When
a reviewer takes me to task for writing the
book I wrote, that's okay.
But when a reviewer takes
me to task for not writing the
book the reviewer WISHED I
would write, then I become
incensed. Sometimes people
have axes to grind.
TP: You also read at the Buchmesse
Leipzig. How significant are such events
for you?
JE: I had a great time at
(the) Buchmesse Leipzig. The
audience was wonderful, very
young, and they laughed at my
jokes. The venue was
impressive. I've always been
grateful for the reception of
my books in Germany, for the
intelligence and seriousness of the readers
here. And for the quality of the literary
festivals and events. That is something else I
will miss in America: the esteemed status of
the writer.
Extremely,
utterly
pleased.
TP: Did the success of
Middlesex influence your
approach to writing?
JE: Nothing external changes the basic
nature and difficulty of writing. Success is a
great help in that it wins you time to devote
yourself exclusively to writing. And that's
crucial.
TP: Mr. Eugenides, we thank you for
this interview.
TP: How did you feel winning the
Pulitzer Prize?
Middlesex is published by Bloomsburry,
and costs Euro12,35.
7
TWIN PEAKS
Alumni News
Von Workshop
bis Farewell
Die American Studies Alumni Association bietet Studierenden
und Absolventen eine Vielzahl von Möglichkeiten
Text und Bilder von Jan Saeger
Der Übergang vom Studierenden- zum
Alumni-Dasein wurde auch in diesem Frühjahr gebührend gefeiert. Nach dem großen
Erfolg des ersten Absolventenempfangs im
letzten Jahr feierten die Absolventinnen und
Absolventen der Amerikanistik aus den letzten beiden Semestern wieder gebührend ihren Abschluss – diesmal im Zeitgeschichtlichen Forum Leipzig. Das Generalkonsulat der
USA unterstützte die ASAA erneut als Spon-
sor. In Anwesenheit von US-Generalkonsul
Fletcher Burton, Prof. Koenen, Prof. Keil und
Prof. Garrett sowie weiteren Lehrkräften des
Instituts genossen die Absolventen mit ihren
Gästen den Abschied von der Amerikanistik
in entspannt-feierlicher Atmosphäre bei Gitarrenmusik, Sekt und Bagels.
Zuvor hatte die ASAA das Jahr 2004
schon mit Schwung begonnen: Bei „Amerikanistik – und dann?“ stellten drei Mitglieder
ihren etwa 50 Zuhörern das Berufsfeld „Medien“ aus eigener Erfahrung vor. Kurz darauf konnte die ASAA auf ihrer jährlichen Mitgliederversammlung ein positives Fazit der
Arbeit im Jahr 2003 ziehen. Ideen und Anregungen aus dieser Versammlung wurden anschließend bei einem weiteren Treffen bei
Bagels und Kaffee konkretisiert.
So fand im April auch der erste „ASAA
Workshop“ statt, in dem ASAA-Mitglied und
„2003er-Absolventin“ Jana Lindner praktisches Wissen zum Thema „Präsentieren“ vermittelte. Ob in der Uni oder im Beruf: Ergebnisse oder Vorhaben in fast allen Bereichen müssen oft in Arbeitskreisen oder vor
einem größeren Publikum präsentiert werden
– und da bot es sich an, dass eine auf diesem
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LOCAL COLOR
AbsolventInnen-Empfang der ASAA am 23. April 2004
Gebiet erfahrene Alumna ihr Wissen an Mitglieder und Studierende weitergibt. Nach dem
positiven Feedback der Teilnehmer sollen
ähnliche Workshops auch zukünftig stattfinden, um die Wissensvermittlung zwischen den
ASAA-Mitgliedern selbst, aber auch zwischen ihnen und den Studierenden weiter zu
intensivieren.
Darüber hinaus sind die Veranstaltungsreihen „Amerikanistik – und dann?“ und die
„ASAA Lecture Series“ inzwischen eine feste Größe im Veranstaltungsangebot des Instituts und bei Mitgliedern, Studierenden und
Gästen etabliert.
Deshalb versucht die ASAA nun, zusätzlich zu den bestehenden und sich weiter entwickelnden Veranstaltungen auch den
Netzwerkgedanken weiter zu stärken. Inzwischen ist die Zahl der Mitglieder auf deutlich
über 50 gestiegen, wobei Studierende und
Absolventen gleichermaßen als Mitglied willkommen sind. Es gibt also genug Potenzial,
Mitglieder miteinander in Kontakt zu bringen – sei es für studiumsbezogenen oder beruflichen Austausch. Im Laufe des Jahres wird
deshalb auch ein „Membership Directory“
veröffentlicht, um den Mitgliedern die direk-
te Kontaktaufnahme zu erleichtern und ihnen
so einen weiteren Vorteil der Mitgliedschaft
zu bieten – mittelfristig ist die Umsetzung des
Directorys in einem nur den Mitgliedern zugänglichen Bereich unserer Website
(www.asaa-leipzig.de) geplant. Die Website
wurde inzwischen übrigens übersichtlicher
gestaltet. Dort kann man sich auch in den
Newsletter eintragen, um keine ASAA-Termine zu verpassen.
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TWIN PEAKS
Of Airports,
Yeast,
and A Scientific Approach
To Defecation
Bizarre Facts
About US-American Students at Leipzig University
Between 1870 and 1914
by Anja Becker
In the late 19th century students from all
over the world pronounced the words
“Leipzig University”—though Americans
tended to refer to “Leipsic”—with similar awe as we utter the names “Harvard,”
“Yale,” or “Princeton” today. Back then
German education generally was thought
of as the ultimate means of “completing
one’s education”. If you wanted to land a
decent teaching job in the United States
before World War I or if you were planning on a career as ambassador or as college president, you had better hop onto
the next steamer and make the two-week
passage over to the glorious country of
Goethe’s heirs. Between 1870 and 1900,
in particular, learning in Leipzig had such
a high reputation that accomplished scholars such as the geographer Friedrich
Ratzel thought they could not turn down
a call to a chair at Leipzig; it was about as
prestigious as an academic career could
get.
Such rosy praise, of course, gets
even more intriguing when little details are
added to lend more depth and variety to
the picture. When I searched German and
American archives for evidence of what
US-American student life in late 19th and
early 20th century Leipzig was like, I came
across a number of bizarre facts that
shouldn’t be doomed to rot in dusty boxes
any longer. Take young Allen, who one day
in October 1879 stood in the muddy
Augustusplatz long before it was paved or
before dear Marx was heaved up. If you
had told that 25-year-old then that some
hundred years into the future an airport
in Washington D.C. would be honored
with his family name, he probably would
have given you a puzzled look and asked
“huh?!” Freshly graduated from the
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ACADEMIC VIEWS
Princeton Theological Seminary, he was term of 1895. But the essence of what they
about to register at Leipzig University for preserved of their Leipzig-experience in
the fall term. Allen Macy Dulles had yet letters home to their family can be sumto get married to the mother of his pro- marized in two phrases: “The weather is
spective children, among whom John Fos- awful most of the time” (they stayed durter Dulles, Allen Welch Dulles, and ing the fall term, alright) and “if a woman
Eleanor Lansing Dulles are remembered tries to enter a German university, male
today for their services to the United students will ask ‘who will mend our
States—John as the foreign secretary un- stockings if you girls study too?!’” (I guess
der President Eisenhower, Allen Jr. as the the latter problem was solved nowadays
longest serving C.I.A. chief, and Eleanor by the invention of hard-core consumption based on the throw-away-and-buyas a diplomat.
US-Americans who could anew philosophy).
A more unusual honor was conproudly refer to a stint at Leipzig in their
C.V. received all kinds of honors. The first ferred on Herbert Eustis Winlock. A
woman to obtain professorial rank at Harvard-trained Egyptologist who since
his graduation in 1906 had worked
Harvard University in 1919,
for the Metropolitan MuAlice Hamilton, was comA call to a
seum of New York City, he
memorated by a stamp with
her counterfeit in the midchair at Leipzig in 1909 enrolled at Leipzig
for one term. In 1922, he was
1990s. She was one of the
was about as
present when the inner chamfirst Americans to point out
prestigious as
ber of Tut-ankh-Amen’s
to her fellow-countrymen
academic.
tomb was opened in the valthe health dangers of certain
ley of Kings near Luxor,
industries, succeeding probably because she was a fragile middle- Egypt. It was a tomb not raided like those
class woman demanding from industrial of the more famous Pharaohs, and probbosses that workers be protected from lead ably the most valuable excavation ever
poisoning and other nasty curses of the made in Egypt. But that’s not what I’m
factory age. When Harvard first cautiously headed at here. Winlock also lent his name
approached her about a professorship, to the most ancient of known yeasts. Right.
however, they suggested she look into the Here’s the story: while on his way to
hazards that department store girls en- Egypt, Winlock once met a German
countered in Boston. Alice kindly turned brewer in Sicily. The brewer showed great
down the offer, only to accept the call a interest in ancient brewing methods. He
little later on her own terms. Today there asked Winlock whether he had ever found
is also a New England dormitory named any yeast. Winlock thought he might have
in her and her older sister Edith’s honor. discovered some. He asked the MetropoliThe latter was a famous Greek scholar. tan Museum to send a sample to the GerBoth had studied at Leipzig during the fall man brewer, who had it analyzed. It turned
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TWIN PEAKS
out that not only was it yeast but it was a Wundt’s lecture. They were married sevariety never before known. In accordance cretly in London the next fall before their
with the German brewer’s wish, this most return to America. Josephine Bontecou
ancient of known yeasts was named in related her view of the story in an at least
Winlock’s honor – Saccharomyses partially autobiographical novel published
Winlocki.
in 1899. The story comes in two parts,
Sometimes eager American stu- starting out in a Henry-James-style New
dents in Leipzig would not quite find ulti- York City with cocktail parties and social
mate truth, and instead returned to their talk. But soon enough the heroine escapes
homelands with a new wife by their sides. to Paris where she enrolls at the Sorbonne
Such man was the Californian goofball as a medical student to liberate herself, deLenny, whose proper name was Joseph velop her mind, and make friends with
Lincoln Steffens. Around 1900, Steffens radical Poles and Russians. It is a pity that
would acclaim national fame as a muck- in contrast to her husband, Josephine
raking journalist. A decade later, he’d star Bontecou Steffens is not remembered toas an illustrious bohemian figure in the day.
New York City scene and a fatherly friend
Even though the Leipzig Univerto journalist Walter Lippmann or full-time sity statutes at some point did not allow
revolutionary poet John Reed. The latter married men to enroll, foreigners were
recorded the Bolshevik Revolution in his treated liberally as to that; after all, they
famous Ten Days That Shook the World, had undertaken the trouble of traveling
dying soon after and young enough to long distance in order to receive the acabecome a myth comparable to James demic blessings of Leipzig. Quite a few
Dean. Steffens arrived in Leipzig in the of the (male) Americans who studied at
summer of 1890 as a
Leipzig were married
young and possibly Sometimes eager American before they got here.
still beardless student
But it was rare that
students in Leipzig would not wives would also
searching for ethics
and morality. He had quite find ultimate truth, and venture to the univerbeen to Berlin and
sity. One to do so was
instead returned to their
Heidelberg, had put in homelands with new wifes by Dr. Henrietta Stewart
a few jolly weeks at
Smith who together
their sides.
Munich and Venice
with her husband Joand now was hoping to get a dose of the seph Russell Smith heard Ratzel’s lectures
new experimental psychology as taught by on geography in the fall of 1901. Most
Wilhelm Wundt at Leipzig. Well, as his wives were busy bearing and rearing chilautobiography reveals, Wundt didn’t of- dren during their husbands’ academic sofer much that could have caught Lenny’s journ to Leipzig, though. One Yale graduattention, though Josephine Bontecou did, ate, the future professor of music John
the lady ten years his senior who audited Cornelius Griggs, fittingly named his
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ACADEMIC VIEWS
son—born at Leipzig in March 1892— 1882. Being a woman, Thomas was deLeverett Saxon Griggs. Andrew nied a degree, which is why she went to
Zurich in 1883, where she reCunningham McLaughlin, who
ceived her Ph.D. summa cum
had married Lois Thompson
After all,
laude. Leipzig could have had
Angell, the daughter of the
they had
that honor, but that’s how it
president of the University of
undertaken
goes. Thomas was a headstrong
Michigan at Ann Arbor, saw his
the trouble woman living all her live in
second son be born in Leipzig
on an especially cold night early
of traveling close, emotional friendships
with other women. Today she
in January 1894 and named him
long dismight have been labeled a lesRowland. As a grim irony in histance
bian, but back in the late ninetory, this only Leipzig-born of
in order to teen hundreds (as Sinclair
the
numerous
Angell/
McLaughlin clan grew up to die
receive the Lewis put it—“before the invention of sex”…) it was very
a soldier fighting the “German
academic
common for a woman to have a
Huns” during World War I. His
blessings
“smash” on another woman (the
maternal uncle, James Rowland
of
Leipzig.
same may be observed among
Angell, had a more fortunate
men); that is, to hug and to feel
fate. As a student, he had spent
a few weeks at Leipzig in the summer of the heart pound faster, to be jealous, to
1892. He had done so because Harvard exchange little letters, to send each other
Professor William James, the older brother flowers, etc. Any allusion to genital conof the novelist Henry James and himself a tact, however, was taboo. When in 1908
noted psychologist, had advised him to be a male American student who had made a
connected “somehow” with Wundt and pass on an upright young German in the
the Leipzig laboratory if he wanted to suc- restroom of a Leipzig bar (a case of
ceed as a psychologist in America. James “widernatürliche Unzucht in einer
R. Angell sure enough came to Leipzig Bedürfnisanstalt”), he immediately was
and sure enough succeeded in life. In expelled from the state of Saxony. It is
1921, he became the fourteenth president not known what became of him. Gertrude
of Yale and first non-Yale-breed to obtain Stein knew M. Carey Thomas’ family
through her studies at Harvard and subthat post.
Leipzig-trained US-Americans sequently at the Johns Hopkins. At the latalso came to feature in stories by authors ter institution Stein took classes with
you will find on the official reading list of Franklin Paine Mall, who himself had
our Department of American Civilization. studied under the Leipzig physiologist
A character of Gertrude Stein’s Fernhurst Carl Ludwig in the mid-1880s. Stein was
is based on M. Carey Thomas, the first fe- so fond of Mall that she commemorated
male president of Bryn Mawr College and him in her Autobiography of Alice B.
a student at Leipzig between 1879 and Toklas.
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TWIN PEAKS
The poet William Carlos Williams
went to Leipzig as a medical student, arriving in the summer of 1909. He was 26
years old at the time and earlier that year
had published his first collection of poems, which had gone unnoticed. From the
moment he reached Leipzig, the letters to
his younger brother Ed, then a student in
Rome, convey homesickness and gloom.
Leipzig is rotten, Europe is rotten, and, in
fact, ‘rotten’ seems to be his favorite word.
Even though he finds the work at the
children’s hospital stimulating, the long
fall days—we all know how miserably
foggy Leipzig can get—are above all an
inspiration to his creativity. For his pleasure and diversion, he decided to take a
class in English literature to get an idea
of a German lecture in philology …only
to find that it was taught by an American.
But he probably was relieved about that,
for, as he had told brother Ed earlier on,
German is “one hell of a language.” By
January, Williams was too immersed in
writing to remember going to classes at
the medical school. He was working on a
play about the young Christopher Columbus, exciting himself about his American
fatherland in the process. During the last
few weeks his letters are filled with anticipation about an upcoming trip through
Europe. He left Leipzig in March 1910
apparently without regret and never to
return. The poet-doctor spent the rest of
his life delivering babies and writing modernist poetry in his native New Jersey, only
twice returning to Europe with a feeling
of estrangement while mixing with the
American ex-patriot bohemians in Paris.
Sinclair Lewis based one of the
characters in his novel Arrowsmith on a
Leipzig-trained American. The story starts
out in Winnemac, a fictional state on the
border to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and
Ohio, which permitted Lewis to make fun
of the ways of a part of the country that’s
“half Eastern” and “half Mid West.” The
distinguished and almost deaf Professor
John Aldington Robertshaw of Harvardbreed who teaches at the University of
Winnemac and “on all occasions remarked
when I was studying with Ludwig in Germany” had no lesser real-life counterpart
than Professor Warren Plimpton Lombard,
a Harvard graduate who had enrolled at
Leipzig in 1882 to do basic medical research with Carl Ludwig. Ten years later,
he was called to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as a professor of physiology. It was at Ann Arbor that he one day
delivered a lecture on defecation. Right.
Reportedly, he even demonstrated the
right angle to bend down in order to relieve oneself in the proper scientific way.
So, let me finish off with one of the wisdoms he passed on to his students on the
occasion: whenever you have the choice
between catching a train and defecating—
miss the train. You may take along a newspaper in either case. Lombard, who probably lived up to that, died in 1938 a happy
man.
As the essay is not meant to be a serious
scholarly contribution, references have
been omitted.
14
LOCAL COLORACADEMIC VIEWS
Goethe Goes West
How a Radio Project Helps to Inform about Young Germany
by Susanne Göricke
What belongs to the classical American
university? A picturesque campus, legions of
bright, energetic young people with
backpacks, a number of well funded sports
teams, and a radio station. But how could
one take something as traditionally American as college radio and use
it to bring German culture
closer to American listeners?
With this question in
mind, Arndt Peltner started
his broadcasting project with
KUSF, the radio station at
the University of San Francisco, in 1996. Peltner, who
had only recently moved to
the U.S. as a free-lance journalist and correspondent for
German public broadcasters,
soon noticed that German
music was notoriously under-represented in
the radio archives. An interest in bands beyond the Kraut-rock-universe, however, was
noticeable. Thus, Peltner organized a show
at one of the most popular college radio stations in the U.S., KUSF. His program was
made up of German music exclusively, some
from the station’s archive but mainly from
Peltner’s own record collection. The Goethe
Institute in San Francisco financially supported him – with approximately $40 per
week – and provided a name for the show. “I
have never been too happy about the name
though”, says Peltner. “Hardly anybody here
knows Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe, so they come up with
the strangest names, one of
the most common being Radio Gothic.”
The Internet in particular
helped Peltner enhance connections to German labels
and bands, which soon contributed to a more versatile
music program. He, in return,
gave artists the unique opportunity to export their music
all the way to the U.S. – an
endeavour with which even business giants
such as Oasis and Robbie Williams have had
difficulty, and especially the latter, little to no
success.
Shortly thereafter, Peltner faced his first
major problems. The Goethe Institute withdrew its aid and once more, he had to find a
15
TWIN PEAKS
sponsor. Fortunately, the German Federal
Foreign Office was convinced of Radio
Goethe’s potential to reach American listeners, especially the youth audience, and it has
been the program’s financial supporter ever
since. With the new partner came the ambition to broadcast in the areas beyond San
Francisco and Oakland. Today Radio Goethe
can be heard on 17 different college radio stations in the U.S. and Canada.
The feedback on German music, which
has had a rather dubious reputation thanks
to the image of Germany as the home of
marching bands, polka music, and cheap
techno productions, has been immensely positive. “I receive mail from young people saying that Radio Goethe has not only kindled
their curiosity for German cultural life; it even
made them study German,” says Peltner. Motivated by that response, he soon took the
opportunity to extend his program and started
an additional English-speaking magazine
show, which at the moment is being broadcasted in the Bay Area exclusively. First aired
right after 9/11, “Radio Goethe Magazine”
presented only features produced at Peltner’s
home studio, and some contributions by
Deutsche Welle and other radio agencies.
“That was not at all satisfying in the long run,”
observes Peltner, “so I got in contact with a
number of German college radios. I also travelled to Germany in order to promote the
project.” And it worked. Since the end of
2003 several German university radio sta-
tions, among them mephisto 97.6, the local
radio station at the University of Leipzig, provide Radio Goethe with reports and features
covering a wide range of topics: from politics to music, from history and art to everyday stories.
Today Peltner broadcasts 90 minutes per
week: the 30-minute magazine show produced in advance at his house, as well as a
one-hour music program, which he hosts live.
The amount of time, effort and passion he
has invested is remarkable. He explains, “Of
course, I don’t make any money with this,
but having the possibility of playing things
on American radio that would otherwise not
have a chance, that is worth it.”
But he is not content yet. His next goal is
to air “Radio Goethe Magazine” nationwide,
to at least 15 stations. While seeking to expand, he continues to provide a wide range
of radio stations with his compilations of German rock and electro bands. He has even been
negotiating a partnership deal with Deutsche
Welle.
But if there is one thing that Peltner can’t
get enough of, it is young ambitious radio
journalists who want their productions to
reach as far as the American west coast. “It’s
a huge creative playground,” he says, describing the opportunity Radio Goethe offers, “and
anybody can participate. So, if you have a
topic in mind and want to present it, don’t be
shy.”
For further information, log on to the
Radio Goethe website:
http://www.radio-goethe.de.
16
ACADEMIC VIEWS
Studierende
Counter
Culture
oder
silent majority?
von Roland Bloch
„Was wünschtst Du Dir vom Leben?“
„Eine Junior-Professur“
(Jörg, 25, aus Karlsruhe)*
Leipzig, im Dezember 2003: Wieder
einmal protestieren Studierende an deutschen Hochschulen. Auch an der Universität Leipzig wird ein sogenannter ‚aktiver
Streik‘ beschlossen. Am selben Tag findet
auch mein Seminar zu „Protest in den
1960er Jahren“ statt. Wir befinden uns irgendwo zwischen sexueller Revolution und
Frauenbewegung. Es sind genauso viele
Studierende wie üblich erschienen.
Dabei fällt auf: einerseits bewerten die
Studierenden ihre gegenwärtigen Studienbedingungen durchaus als mangelhaft; diese
Bewertung führt aber nicht zur Teilnahme
am ‚aktiven Streik‘. Andererseits haben sie
– wie die Seminardiskussionen zeigten –
durchaus politische Maßstäbe, anhand de-
rer sie sich kritisch mit den Protestbewegungen der 1960er Jahre auseinandersetzen.
Aus der Kritik gesellschaftlicher Realität
und deren politischer Bewertung folgt also
nicht politisches Handeln. Das hat aus meiner Sicht zwei Gründe, die hier diskutiert
werden sollen.
Erstens haben sich studentische Lebensentwürfe gewandelt. Traditionell werden
Studierende als akademische Studierende
gesehen, deren Studium eine Phase auf dem
Weg zur wissenschaftlichen Persönlichkeit
bedeutet. Heute aber sind Studierende, so
meine These, mehrheitlich flexible Studierende, die ihr Studium nach antizipierten
Anforderungen des Arbeitsmarktes ausrichten. Per Zusatzqualifikationen, Praktika und
* aus der Jugendbeilage der Süddeutschen Zeitung jetzt, Ausgabe 17/2002, Seite 30
17
TWIN PEAKS
Nebenjobs versuchen flexible Studierende,
diese Anforderungen zu erfüllen. Damit verlagern sich studentische Lebensentwürfe in
außerhochschulische Bereiche, so dass
Hochschule und Studium zu einer
Qualifikationsanstrengung unter vielen
werden. Zweitens haben sich die politischen
Maßstäbe von Studierenden heute gewandelt. Anstatt um die Verwirklichung allgemeiner politischer Werte geht es in einer
sich
beständig
verschärfenden
Wettbewerbssituation um ‚realistische‘ Forderungen und konkrete Initiativen, etwa
Praktikumsbörsen.
Studentische Lebensentwürfe in den
1960er Jahren stehen dazu in starkem Kontrast. Die 1950er Jahre, „the biggest boom
yet“ (James T. Patterson), bescherte ihnen
ein Aufwachsen in einer Kultur, die durch
Konsum, Konformität und Kalten Krieg gekennzeichnet war. Gleichzeitig wuchsen sie
als Alterskohorte: nie zuvor gab es so viele
Jugendliche, so dass sie sich später selbst
als ‚eine’ Generation sahen, etwa als
Jugendkultur („Trust no one over thirty“).
Über politische Ereignisse wie die Bürgerrechtsbewegung oder die Friedensbewegung sammelten die Studierenden konkrete politiStatt
sche Erfahrungen. Zugleich standen diese Ereignisse als Symbole für die
geht
Ungerechtigkeit eines ‚Systems‘, das in studentischen Augen damals rassistisch, konformistisch, militaristisch, ausbeutend und faschistisch war.
Diese Deutungen zusammen genommen
mit den Erfahrungen direkter, häufig gewalttätiger Konfrontation verstärkten das
Gefühl einer fundamentalen Gegnerschaft
zum ‚System‘. Ende der 1960er Jahre redeten viele von Revolution und sahen sich
selbst als revolutionäre Avantgarde („You
better call us The People!“).
Davon sind flexible Studierende heute
weit entfernt: statt um Revolution geht es
ihnen um Qualifikation. Auch wenn die
meisten von ihnen ebenfalls auf eine Jugend
im materiellen Wohlstand zurückblicken
können, so scheint dieser Wohlstand heute
gefährdet – wenn man sich nicht selbst
rechtzeitig darum kümmert und Leistung
bringt. So wird suggeriert, dass einem alle
Türen offen stehen und man sich selbst verwirklichen kann, wenn man nur genug
(nämlich mehr als die anderen) Eigenverantwortung, Initiative und Flexibilität zeigt.
Praktika scheinen dies zu bestätigen: immer wieder neue, selbst gesuchte Tätigkeiten an wechselnden Orten. Durch das Studium wird sich angesichts mangelhafter
Studienbedingungen ‚durchgebissen‘ und
auf dem Arbeitsmarkt ‚wird sich schon irgendwas finden‘. Zeit wird so zu einem
wichtigen Faktor, denn auch die Studiendauer kann sich mittlerweile negativ auf die
individuelle Wettbewerbsfähigkeit auswirken. Damit wiederum ist auch verständlich,
warum ein Streik nicht auf Zustimmung
stößt: „Vielleicht muss man wirklich Opfer
bringen, wie z.B. die Opferung eines Semesters, um etwas zu erum reichen, dennoch waren
wir nicht bereit dazu, da
es für uns wichtig war und
das Studium so schnell
es
um ist,
wie möglich hinter uns zu
. bringen“, lautete eine studentische Bewertung des
Lucky Streik 1997.
Politische Maßstäbe und Forderungen
trugen in den 1960er Jahren allgemeinen
Charakter, d.h. sie bezogen sich nicht auf
spezifische Interessen einer Gruppe und waren nicht verhandelbar (etwa Krieg oder
Frieden). Im Port Huron Statement, dem
Gründungsdokument der studentischen
Protestbewegung, heißt es: „The goal of
man and society should be human
Revolution
Qualifikation
18
ACADEMIC VIEWS
independence... finding a meaning in life In dem gegenwärtigen Spiel geht es nicht
that is personally authentic.“ Civil Rights, um gesellschaftliche Einsätze, sondern um
Ende des Vietnamkriegs, die großen eman- den individuellen Erfolg auf dem Arbeitszipatorischen Bewegungen der 1960er Jah- markt. Das wiederum kann den Studierenre – sexuelle Revolution, Frauenbefreiung, den nicht zum Vorwurf gemacht werden, da
genau diese EinstelJugendkultur – richlung von ihnen erwarteten sich an die Getet wird – als Wissenssellschaft als ganze.
produzenten von morIn einem Spiel mit
The goal of man
gen seien sie Standortderart hohem Einsatz
in society should
faktor Nr. 1.
verhärteten sich die
be human
Daraus ensteht siPositionen: (nicht
cherlich
keine
nur) die Studierenden
counterculture, wie
kämpften gegen ein
finding a meaning
sie aus den 1960er
System, das sich nun
Jahren bekannt ist –
in seinen Grundüberin life that is personally
die sich u.a. gegen gezeugungen angegrifauthentic.
sellschaftliche Konfen sah. Den Menformität, wie sie in
schen, die so fühlten,
den kleinen Gemeingab Richard Nixon
schaften der Vororte
als silent majority einen Namen und eine Stimme. Nixons Ver- erwartet und praktiziert wurde, richtete.
sprechen „It’s time for a new leadership to Sind Studierende heute dann eher eine silent
restore respect for the United States of majority? Dafür fehlt die Sicherheit: die
America“ fiel hier auf fruchtbaren Boden, Lage ist unübersichtlich geworden und die
so dass diejenigen, die gerade nicht im öf- Jobs sind auch nicht mehr sicher. Anderfentlichen Raum demonstrierten, ihn seits: zwar stehen sie im Wettbewerb, aber
schließlich zum Präsidenten wählten. Der durch die propagierte Eigeninitiative gewinGraben zwischen Studierenden und silent nen sie auch Handlungsoptionen. Entgegen
majority erschien beiden Seiten unüber- den Klagen über unpolitische und ungebildete Studierende nehmen sie die Situation
brückbar.
Von solchen Polarisierungen ist heute nicht einfach passiv hin. Im Gegensatz zur
nichts mehr zu spüren. Die oben beschrie- silent majority brauchen Studierende heute
benen politischen Themen wurden von den keinen politischen Anführer, sondern suStudierenden im Seminar zwar als wichtig chen sich – ausgehend nicht von einem klaangesehen, angesichts der heutigen Situa- rem Weltbild, sondern von konkreten Ertion aber für ‚unrealistisch‘ bzw. ‚ideali- fahrungen – ihre eigenen Gelegenheiten.
stisch‘ befunden. Bei den jüngsten Prote- Will man sich also nicht an der Larmoyanz
sten standen etwa die Abwehr von Spar- über Studierende beteiligen, so muss man
maßnahmen und Studiengebühren im Zen- anerkennen, dass sie das Spiel (des Wetttrum. Da dies wenig Aussicht auf Erfolg bewerbs) zwar mitspielen, aber durch ihr
hatte, streikten viele Studierende eben nicht. Mitspielen auch dessen Regeln verändern
Und: zwar sind die Studienbedingungen (statt sie lediglich zu reproduzieren). Vielmangelhaft, aber Hochschule und Studium leicht springt am Ende eine Junior-Profeskonkurrieren mit anderen Lebensbereichen. sur heraus.
independence ...
19
TWIN PEAKS
I see pink!
A Visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Berlin
Text and Photograph by Stine Eckert
“Why the heck did they choose pink?“
the question of my friend is still ringing
in my ear. She studies art history and has
some aesthetic sense,
for sure.
Pink is the color
for this year ’s
summer
season.
Summer
Season
means American
Season in Berlin,
where shrieking pink
serves as advertisement for its highlight:
the MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art.
Every
junction
proudly presents pink
posters spelling out:
“The MoMA is the
star!” Usually this
star resides in New
York. However, due
to its 75th anniversary on November
20 the MoMA undergoes a “major renovation” culminating in
an addition for 675 Million Euro.
Until then, part of the exquisite
collection of modern paintings, drawings
and sculptures has found a temporary
home at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie.
The former director
of the Bauhaus,
Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe, built this
museum in Bauhaus-style. He was
also meant to
construct
the
MoMA-building in
New York as wished
by its founding
director, Alfred H.
Barr Jr. However,
the administration
back in the thirties
refused Mies van
der Rohe’s concept.
Now, about seventy
years later, the
MoMA
finally
resides in a museum
built by van der
Rohe. Thus, its visit
in Berlin is a true homecoming.
The original idea was to send the
MoMA throughout Europe. However, it
20
WANDERING THOUGHTS
finally came to Berlin only (!); and its joint
patrons are Secretary of State, Colin
Powell, and the Federal Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Joschka Fischer - a
symbol for the American-German
friendship.
My friend and I decided to go and see
this unique collection only a few days after
the exhibition opened.
Barnett Newman’s “Broken Obelisk”
in front of the New National Gallery
welcomes the patient visitor, promising
more modern art on the inside. On the
right hand side, Salvador Dalí and Vincent
van Gogh start the exhibition. People flock
around their masterworks in awe and
shoot angry looks at the newcomers , who
squeeze into the crowd staring at “The
Starry Night”. Van Gogh’s masterpiece is
surprisingly big; in return, Dalí’s “The
Persistence of the Memory” is just the size
of a postcard – but every single stroke is
perfect.
We work our way along this who’s who
of 20th century modern artists. People
murmur and discuss, some think they
know more than their friends and happily
share their knowledge. Indeed, some
paintings need more explanation. Professional information is given by guides, also
called MoMAnizer, who are committed art
history students. Instead of big tours that
cover the whole exhibition, the students
are specialized in selected groups of
artists. Visitors can go up to the
MoMAnizers and cast questions, but the
MoMAnizers also walk around and start
explaining; for example the concept of
Meret Oppenheim’s “Mit Fell überzogene Tasse, Untertasse und Löffel”. The
furry cup is one of the few sculptures in
the exhibition.
There is almost too much to take in
for just one visit. To mention just a tiny
proportion of the exhibition: Henri
Matisse’s “Dance”, Pablo Picasso’s “Bather” and “Two Nudes”, Kasemir
Malewitsch’s suprematist compositions
like “White on White” and Jackson
Pollock’s Drip Paintings, for which he
attached nails, buttons, and other objects
onto the canvas with thick layers of color.
Thinking that those artists actually stood
in front of those canvases and brushed,
dripped, arranged the colors our eyes see,
makes me dizzy.
Stuffed with culture and dazzling
views people leave the museum, happily
clutching their hands around the handles
of little pink sacks. Everyone carries a little
piece of the “MoMA” home – everyone
wants to have a piece of the star.
MoMAnized we go home.
Yet, we still do not understand the pink.
The MoMA in Berlin
Neue Nationalgalerie
Potsdamer Straße 50
10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
Tel.: 030 - 2655 76 95
Opening Hours
Until September 19, 2004
Tue, Wed, Sun: 10am-6pm
Thu, Fri, Sat: 10am-10pm
Admission
Tue-Fri: 10 •/ reduced 5 •
Sat-Sun: 12 •/ reduced 6 •
For more information:
www.das-moma-in-berlin.de
www.americanseason.de
21
TWIN PEAKS
It is embarrassing, but true:
We do not know why “Twin Peaks“ has been called “Twin
Peaks“!
Over the yea rs o f its existence, the “Twin Pea ks
Newsletter“ has been edited by an ever-changing staff.
The name has remained the same since the beginning, but
its genuine meaning was lost along the way.
While we have had several ideas about the meaning
behind “Twin Peaks,“ we also wondered what our readers
think the name of the newsletter stands for.
So, here’s the deal: Do you have an idea what “Twin Peaks“
might stand for? Then go ahead and send us an e-mail
with your suggestions. We are not looking for the correct
meaning, but for creative ideas. In return, we will publish
your ideas in our next issue. And the most c reative
approach to the title of the newsletter will be awarded
a special prize.
By the way, the title does not have anything to do with
the famous television show. That much we know for sure.
And it is probably not about special female physical
attributes either, as has recently been suggested by
Fulbright lecturer Ellen Carol DuBois.
C’mon, give it a try and send an e-mail to
[email protected]
22
ACADEMIC VIEWS
Redefining Cultural Studies
Buffy Meets Stanley Cavell
This one fact the world hates, that the soul becomes;
for that for ever degrades the past, turns all riches to poverty, all reputation to shame,
confounds the saint with the rogue, shoves Jesus and Judas equally aside.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”
by David Mikics
One of my current research projects
involves the American TV series Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, with which many of you
are familiar. Buffy and its companion
show, Angel (which was just recently
cancelled, so now both shows are gone)
are interesting to me in the way that they
take up and question certain premises of
cultural studies as it is currently being
practiced in the American academy. By
doing so, these shows make a claim for
their own crucial status as being untypical
texts, texts that just might transform us or
shake our lives up, rather than merely
reinforcing typical ideas. This idea of a
transforming text is deeply Emersonian,
as suggested by my epigraph from
Emerson’s great essay “Self-Reliance.”
The world hates the idea of
transformation, of change: of becoming
who one is, as Emerson’s inheritor Friedrich Nietzsche put it in his Ecce Homo.
Such hatred goes along with the heavy
investment in the typical and in
predictable responses that we sometimes
associate with popular culture--and with
the academic study of popular culture. To
elucidate how different my Emersonian
emphasis on transformation is from the
current prejudices of cultural studies, and
before I start talking more directly about
Buffy, I want to turn to a current, very eminent American thinker who more than
anyone else has made a strong case for
the Emersonian character of our culture:
Stanley Cavell. (It will take me a few
minutes to get to Buffy, so be patient!)
I want to recommend—well, all of
Cavell’s work; you should start with a
recent translation of his selected essays
into German called Nach der Philosophie.
But particularly relevant to me here is
Cavell’s recent book on what he calls the
“Hollywood Melodrama of the Unknown
23
TWIN PEAKS
Woman.” The book is entitled Contesting of remarriage,” the great screwball
Tears and was published by the University comedies of the 1940s like Preston
of Chicago Press in 1996. As you might Sturges’s The Lady Eve and Howard
imagine, domestic melodrama is a very Hawks’s His Girl Friday. (That book is
popular area for exponents of cultural called Pursuits of Happiness.) In the
studies; for example the genre of the so- remarriage comedies the woman looks for,
called “woman’s film” produced by Hol- elicits,
produces
even,
an
lywood in the 1930s and 1940s, acknowledgment that she requires on the
supposedly to appeal to female audiences. part of the man. In the unknown woman
Cavell’s emphasis is slightly different. He pictures, by contrast, the woman judges
attunes himself not to the standard that society, or any man, is unable to give
woman’s film but to a subgenre that her this acknowledgment. The unknown
questions the assumptions of this woman movies, in contrast to the
standard: the melodrama of the unknown comedies, end in a refusal of the romantic
woman. What Cavell calls the melodrama conversation we call marriage. “Where
of the unknown woman is not merely the does the woman’s ability to judge the
“woman’s film,” characteristically a tale world come from?” Cavell asks in
of suffering, desperation and sacrifice on Contesting Tears. “In the four films under
the part of a woman who is oppressed and discussion here [Gaslight; Now, Voyager;
betrayed by society, by men, and (often) Letter from an Unknown Woman; and Stelby herself. (If you’ve ever watched made- la Dallas], it comes from the woman’s
for-TV movies on the Lifetime channel in being confined or concentrated to a state
the US, you know the genre.) The of isolation so extreme as to portray or
unknown woman films are, instead, very partake of madness, a state of utter
special movies that respond to this incommunicability, as if before the
common genre and turn it in an utterly dif- possession of speech” (p. 43). Her place,
ferent direction, so that the woman, a harrowing one indeed, precedes the
instead of
common availability of
b e i n g
social convention, of
The unknown woman films are what society expects
sacrificed to
society as in
very special movies that turn from a woman. It seems
a typical
this genre in an utterly different to start before speech
“ w o m a n ’s
itself, in primal
direction. ... The woman makes isolation. (I’ll have
f i l m ” ,
herself the judge of society’s more to say about this
makes herself the judge
adequacy to what a woman speechlessness in a
of society’s
moment, in connection
knows and what she deserves. with Buffy’s return
adequacy to
what
a
from the dead.)
woman knows and what she deserves.
It is ironic and unfortunate that the
Cavell had written a superb book some cultural studies perspective on films like
years earlier on the Hollywood “comedy Stella Dallas or Now, Voyager generally
24
ACADEMIC VIEWS
begins and ends by putting their heroines after seeing these movies and reading
in their place just as the society depicted Cavell’s book, to condescend to them as
in the films wants to do, by
typical products of a
seeing the woman’s desperate Why should we Hollywood system that
state of isolation as a thing associate culture reinforces a prevailing
without a future, a sign that she only with our least ideology of feminine
has lost the contest. The critic
self-sacrifice. (If after
thus condemns the woman to interesting, most reading Contesting
live on society’s terms, to give s t e r e o t y p i c a l Tears and Pursuits of
up her love, to refuse her responses, and not Happiness you are
unknown self. (As if one could
eager for more great
with our most film criticism in a
plausibly do such a thing to Bette Davis, or Greta Garbo. Here s o p h i s t i c a t e d , Cavellian vein, try
the professor loses.)
advanced ones? William Rothman’s
Cavell puts the issue well
masterful book on
when he charges that
Hitchcock, Hitchcock: The Murderous
Gaze, or Rothman’s The “I” of the
Even in recent years, when [the
Camera.)
woman’s films] are receiving more
Part of what is involved here is the
attention, particularly from feminist
demand that great works of so-called
theorists of film, they are
popular culture be, as Cavell puts it,
characteristically, as far as I have seen,
allowed to enter into the conversation
treated as works to be somewhat
about themselves, rather than being
condescended to, specifically as ones
viewed as mere commodities designed to
that do not know their effect, the
influence the masses in a predetermined
desire that is in them, and do not
direction. This emphasis on cultural
possess the means for theorizing this
studies as demystification, as an
desire, as it were, for entering into the
uncovering of ideological illusion-making,
conversation over themselves. I can
began with what I would regard as the first
believe this is true of many, even most,
book in the field, The Culture Industry
of the films Hollywood dubbed and
(Die Kulturindustrie) by Max Horkheimer
merchandized as “woman’s films” and
and Theodor Adorno. Horkheimer and
that have designs upon our tears. [But]
Adorno were unconcerned with actually
my experience of the films in view in
living through the experience of a great
what follows here disputes any such
Hollywood movie (as Cavell and William
condescension…
Rothman do); they were convinced that
(Contesting Tears, p. 7) movies were owed a different kind of
attention, a lesser kind, than one might pay
The proof of Cavell’s assertion of the to, say, a Shakespeare play, or one of
specialness of his four chosen films lies Beethoven’s final string quartets. They
in his exquisite readings of moments from would not have appreciated Buffy, it’s fair
them in Contesting Tears. I defy anyone, to guess.
25
TWIN PEAKS
In its estimation of the use, or the or a spectator ’s identification so
profit, of literature and art, cultural studies characteristically empty, or deserving of
is anything but progressive. It often correction, then the correction they offer
implies that we react to the texts we read strikes me as equally empty, guiding us
and see in terms of sheer stereotypes, ste- not toward a path of reading better and
reotypes that we validate or identify with more finely, but rather toward an endlessly
because we find them ideologically repeated disappointment with our first
comforting. Usually, the stereotypes are, responses.) The discussion that ought to
as stereotypes tend to be, painted in the take place concerns the meaning of the
broadest possible terms. Then along term culture. Why should we associate
comes the critic to decode this process and culture only with our least interesting,
reveal to us that we ought to suspect our most stereotypical responses, and not with
own identifications. But do we really our most sophisticated, advanced ones?
identify in such an empty-headed way with Does culture need to be (to use Adorno
what goes on on a page (or in a movie and Horkheimer’s terms) industrial, mere
theatre, or on a television screen)? Asking mass production?
this question means that we are already
So, finally: on to the discussion of
searching for the difference between the Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I promised
texts that genuinely fascinate us because you. Many of you know the series
they present us with something unknown (invented by Joss Whedon, written and
(like Cavell’s unknown woman) and the directed by him, Marti Noxon, Jane
ones that merely offer up the broadest kind Espenson, and others), which ended with
of phony “knowledge.” It is the latter sort its seventh season several years ago. For
of “knowledge” that cultural studies loves those who don’t, I will say only that it is
to find, over and over, in its texts: for the story of an ordinary high school
example, that women are destined for self- teenager in southern California whose
sacrifice and men for self-realizing high school happens to be located over a
achievement; or that capitalism is Hellmouth, so that demons, vampires and
energetic and wholesome (or, for that other interesting monsters are constantly
matter, that capitalism is corrupt and coming up and terrorizing the humans of
insidious); or that the orient is exotic, Sunnydale, California. Buffy is, she
dangerous and decadent. But in any work discovers, the Slayer, the one girl on the
that
we
find
planet (well, sort of) who
g e n u i n e l y Buffy responds, casually, has been nominated to
interesting, how
kill (or “dust”) vampires
“Slayee,” as if she is
could we possibly be
and monsters: in effect,
merely
saying
hi,
before
found by such
to save the world. With
she dusts him easily.
clichés? (Another
the help of the very Briway of putting my
tish
high
school
critique would be for me to say that, if such librarian, Rupert Giles, and with her friend
cultural critics as the ones I describe here Willow (an intensely charming nerd who
really find the phenomenon of a reader’s eventually, in the course of the series.
26
ACADEMIC VIEWS
becomes a very powerful witch), and with you became? Buffy herself has a dark
her other friend Xander, Buffy gets the job opposite number, a bad-girl slayer named
done. In the process she dies and is Faith; the innocent, perky Willow is
brought back to life several times, and plagued by a skanky vampire double in
along the way has
tight black leather;
affairs with not one but
Giles the librarian
Many viewers angrily gets turned into a
two vampires, Angel
and Spike.
demon at one point.
protested in emails to
On one level
Angel and Spike
Whedon that he and
Buffy the show is about
began their unlives as
“that bitch Marti Noxon, evil vampires but
the typicality of mass
culture as, in effect,
they become, each in
she should go back to
massacre culture.
writing soaps” had made his own radically difVamps and demons
ferent way, good
good and innocent
keep popping up and
guys: Angel earnest
Willow evil.
Buffy keeps slaying
in reflection, Spike
them, often rather
courageous
in
offhandedly: for her, it’s a matter of routine impulse.
nightly “patrolling.” One wonderful
Through its interest in transformation,
exchange has a vampire growling, Buffy, then, underlines the sense of the
ominously, “Slayer!!” Buffy responds, unknownness of the self that Cavell
casually, “Slayee,” as if she is merely emphasizes. After Buffy returns from
saying hi, before she dusts him easily. death in Season Six, she is not, as we say,
(“Dusting,” a word that has wended its herself: not the usual Buffy, not happy to
way from Buffy into the dictionary, is what be back. She cannot even articulate to
happens when you stake a vampire: they herself the reasons for her discontent
turn to dust in about three seconds.)
except to note that, when she was dead,
But this level of typicality is not she was not, as her friends assume, in a
what Buffy is really about. It is, much hell dimension, a place of torment, --but
more, about audience identification with rather in a place of strange peace. In fact,
a group of characters who find themselves she is still, somehow, partly there, rather
changed, even mutated, in very dramatic than here. The demand of everyone
ways. Here I return to one of Cavell’s, and around her is that she become herself
Emerson’s, main themes, the startling, again. But what if that old self is no longer
seemingly unacceptable fact that “the soul available; what if experience has changed
becomes.” Buffy the show asks what the her in ways she can hardly even express?
relation of a character might be to the Buffy intuits the total nature of the change
transformed identities that happen to that she has undergone, but she cannot name
character. How telling is it when you get it, cannot grasp it.
turned, temporarily, into a monster: was
Buffy’s continual transformations of its
it just a random supernatural accident, or characters sometimes tried, tested, its
are you, in some way, that terrifying entity viewers. In Season Six, Willow turns
27
TWIN PEAKS
definitively evil after the murder of her
lesbian lover Tara at the hands of that
season’s “big bad,” the science nerd Warren. Willow tries in her grief and
desperation to take her revenge on the
world: to end the world, make it nothing.
Of everything that had so far occurred
on Buffy, Willow’s evil change in Season
Six was the hardest to take. As with many
cult shows, Buffy involved a conversation
between its passionate viewers and its
equally impassioned creator, Joss
Whedon, who responded on the web to
audience comments. Many viewers
angrily protested in emails to Whedon that
he and “that bitch Marti Noxon, she
should go back to writing soaps” had
made good and innocent Willow evil: an
unacceptable fate for a character whom
they loved and identified with. (These
exchanges are available on a website
called jumptheshark.com: the title,
incidentally, derives from the idea of a TV
show having a watershed moment that
signals that it is about to become
desperately and absurdly inventive, and
therefore no longer worth watching except
for idle amusement. On Happy Days the
character Fonzie water-skied over a shark,
and from that point on the series became
increasingly bizarre. The greatness of Twin
Peaks, of course, was that it began by
jumping the shark—it had already eaten
the shark before its first episode….)
Willow’s evil transformation makes
a shocking kind of sense. Despite the fans’
occasional cries of “Slay Joss!,” the
creation of evil Willow was not merely
Whedon being sadistic toward his
audience. Willow was always a character
to whom knowledge came easy, and
therefore, when her knowledge comes to
take the form of magical power, power
comes easy to her as well. Her love for
Tara grew up around their shared interest
in magic, and now that Tara is gone,
Willow uses magic to take revenge on a
world that seems meaningless without
Tara. One of Buffy’s crucial themes is how,
at times, we get people to attend to, to pay
attention to, us by developing powers: the
magical or supernatural capacities that are
Buffy’s literalized or palpable version of
the star quality we wish we had, the thing
that would put the others in awe. (This is
high school, I know, but more than just
high school.) According to this instinct,
powers are what might make people love
us, or at least admire us, and therefore care
for us. But powers are also ways, as power
itself is a way, of defending ourselves
against the exposure that goes along with
letting ourselves be loved. Powers
substitute for love: and magical power,
particularly, is depicted as addictive, druglike, a shield against human wounds.
(Here we get into Wagner territory, e.g.
the trading of love for power that begins
the story of the Ring.)
When viewers of Buffy’s season six
complained that Whedon had deprived
them of the old Willow whom they loved,
or killed the Tara they adored, or turned
Spike from a regenerate and tremendously
appealing, if still untrustworthy, ex-big
bad into a crude rapist, what they wanted
was the predictable, more of the same.
(Such bad Buffy viewers offered
themselves up, I am suggesting, as
appropriate fodder for cultural studies
analysis, since they wanted only to be
comforted and sustained in the image they
already had of a Buffy character.) Bad
popular culture does indeed give us,
28
ACADEMIC VIEWS
characteristically, more of the same, but a transformation. So I part company as well
work like Buffy questions this inclination from another, competing strain of cultural
by denying us sameness and giving us the studies, which would emphasize, against
unexpected instead. Instead of showing us the culture industry ideologists, the power
to our satisfaction that a character of fans to use popular art for their own
develops exactly as we would have wanted purposes, to make their own meaning,
or expected, Buffy forces us to reckon with when and how they want it.
a shocking otherness on the part of
The truly typical in Buffy exists only
persons who suddenly do things that are on the level of those anonymous vampires
hard to reconcile with our cherished image who keep popping up, the tedious,
of them. An evil
automaton-like
Willow?
purveyors of
Buffy
forces
us
to
reckon
with
The show’s
evil.
The
good viewers,
a shocking otherness on the part e p h e m e r a l
the smart fans,
and
of persons who suddenly do things vamps
knew
and
demons stand
that are hard to reconcile with our for all the
appreciated the
frightening
s t a n d a r d
cherished image of them.
conversions of
conventions
the self that it
that Buffy turns
offered. These fans even went beyond the against: uses only in order to eat them,
actual episodes of Buffy and Angel in order reveal them for the disposable stuff they
to ring their own changes on the are, in order to get on to its own real stuff.
characters, in “slasher” websites and fan Similarly, the melodramas of the unknown
fiction devoted to imaginary affairs woman as Cavell defines them turn against
between characters who were never, or the typical Hollywood product that has
only glancingly, sexually involved on the “designs on our tears,” that extorts a
shows themselves. (One slasher subgenre merely standard response from us. If we
would be, for example, C/A, devoted to really attend to what moves us, what gets
the viewers’ invented love affair between to us, in television and movies as in
Cordelia and Angel.) Here I want to stress anything else, we will find ourselves
that we cannot actually use characters for unable to take refuge in the predictable.
our own purposes in the way that the There is a certain satisfaction in an easy
“slasher” fans pretend to do; which is to slaying—the text cut down to size by the
say that their efforts remain a case of demystifying critic. But it’s not a very
pretending, which they know must be interesting form of satisfaction. Nor a very
secondary to the definitive course of the true one.
show itself. As the show, Buffy, converts
and revolutionizes its characters, it puts
its viewers through these changes, too; the
spectator cannot in any straightforward
way take over the process of
29
TWIN PEAKS
E-Mail from America
Drive
Through
University
Seit mittlerweile acht Monaten studiere ich an der University of Alabama
in Birmingham, Alabama, kurz UAB genannt. Im Vergleich zu Leipzig ist
das Studentenleben hier sehr anders. Die Universitaet ist so etwas wie eine
"Drive-Through-University", viele Studenten wohnen ueber eine Stunde
weit weg und pendeln jeden Tag zur Uni. Das bedeutet, dass sie nach
ihren Kursen direkt wieder nach Hause fahren, und ihr Privatleben dort
haben. Die Uni ist darum definitiv eine funktionelle Institution. Sie ist
zentral gelegen, von Strassen durchkreuzt und von Parkplaetzen uebersaeht,
die trotz allem niemals genug Platz fuer alle Autos haben. Studenten bezahlen etwa 80 Dollar im Semester fuer eine Parkgenehmigung, um dann
jeden Tag an den Parkplaetzen auf einen Platz zu warten. Alle beschweren
sich, aber nur ein Bruchteil parkt einfach (kostenlos) zwei Blocks weiter
und laeuft die zehn Minuten. Als Deutsche auf einem Fahrrad werde ich
zwar manchmal seltsam angeschaut, bin aber oft schneller am Ziel.
Natuerlich nur auf den kurzen Strecken. Einkaufen oder Kino gehen sind
natuerlich unmoeglich ohne Auto, denn oeffentliche Verkehrsmittel sind
relativ rar. Es gibt einige Buslinien, aber leider sind die sogar fuer mich
willige Europaeerin benutzerunfreundlich. Wenn der Plan sagt, dass der
Bus Montag bis Freitag alle zehn Minuten kommt, weiss ich in etwa Bescheid. Aber Sonntags heisst es, der Bus kommt alle 40 Minuten. Und wer
stellt sich schon an eine Haltestelle ohne zu wissen, ob er jetzt 35 oder 5
Minuten warten muss? Ich definitiv nicht. Da bin ich dann doch zu
verwoehnt von den Deutschen Verkehrsbetrieben. Auch wenn ich mich
vielleicht frueher beschwert habe, jetzt weiss ich LVB oder DVB definitiv
zu schaetzen.
Die meisten Studenten sind so beschaeftigt mit Uni und Arbeit, dass
sie kaum Zeit fuer das in Leipzig so geliebte "Studentenleben" haben.
30
E-MAIL FROM AMERICA
Viele arbeiten Vollzeit um ihr Studium zu finanzieren. Fuer die, die ans
College gehen, um Party zu machen (sicher etwa 50%), hat die Uni etliche
Kommittees, die fuer "Student Life" zustaendig sind. Da gibt es zum Beispiel ein "Eintertainment Committee", das kostenlos Filme vorfuehrt und
davor gratis Popcorn verteilt, oder All-you-can-eat Chicken Wings Parties
im Park organisiert. Essen und Entertainment fuer umsonst. Naja, nicht
ganz, schliesslich hat man das alles mit seinen Studiengebuehren bezahlt...:)
An einer Uni in den Suedstaaten zu sein bedeutet inmitten von etlichen
verschiedenen Nationalitaeten zu leben. Ich habe Leute von fast allen
Kontinenten kennengelernt, und das ist wahrscheinlich das Interessanteste
an meinem Aufenthalt hier. In Leipzig gibt es zwar einen gewissen Anteil
von internationalen Studenten, aber dieser Anteil ist winzig im Vergleich
zu hier, und, man lernt einfach mehr internationale Studenten kennen, wenn
man selber einer ist. Es ist unheimlich spannend mit Menschen aus aller
Welt in Kontakt zu kommen und ueber ihre Laender und Kultur zu lernen.
Die wohl groesste Minderheit hier sind Inder. Allgemein viele Asiaten sind
hier, um ihren Doktor zu machen, oder in die Forschung zu gehen. Als
Europaeer ist man dann schon relativ besonders, denn da gibt es eher wenige.
UAB ist vor allem als Medizinische Universitaet sehr hoch angesehen.
Aehnlich wie in Leipzig, nur groesser, sind rund um das Unigelaende alle
moeglichen Kliniken zu finden. Da hat man es also nicht weit in die Notaufnahme, wenn man von einem Fahrradfahrer-uebersehenden-Autofahrer auf die Motorhaube genommen wird. Aber, behandelt wird man
natuerlich nicht sofort, erstmal heisst es warten bis alle Versicherungsangelegenheiten geklaert sind. Ohne Geld keine Behandlung.
Soviel von hier aus Birmingham. Zuletzt noch einige Feststellungen:
die meisten Suedstaatler sind sehr religioes, es gibt eine Kirche an jeder
Ecke, und viele sind mit 21 schon verheiratet. Und, es ist warm und feucht,
und die Klimaanlagen laufen auf Hochtouren.
Viele Gruesse aus dem heissen Birmingham ins sommerliche Leipzig,
Franziska Wellner
31
TWIN PEAKS
Color
me
B l u e
by Katja Wenk
It is called a theatrical sensation. Coming from the United States, with shows in
New York, Boston, Chicago and Las Vegas, the Blue Man Group now stages its
first European show at the Potsdamer
Platz in Berlin. While they are celebrities
in the United States, the three blue men
might best be known from an Intel commercial on this side of the Atlantic.
Their show, about an hour and a half
long, offers an interesting mix of modern
art, visual experiments and electronically
enhanced rock music. Already weeks before the premiere on May 9, people with
a TV set were able to see for themselves
what made the Blue Man Group different,
as the three blue-colored men went from
one television show to the next. What they
performed was, indeed, promising: Gripping music made with plastic waste pipes
or, even more impressive, a drum performance where colored liquids poured onto
the drums splashed high into the air, thus
creating exceptional light effects. Goose
bumps were guaranteed.
These elements are also to be found in
the actual Blue Man show now staged at
the Theater am Potsdamer Platz. And being in Germany, they also integrate typically German details, such as a pipe-version of Nena’s “99 Luftballons” or a laser-light performance of both the East and
the West German traffic light manikin.
Moreover, the Blue Men interact with
their audiences: Special guests are being
welcomed by all visitors while late-comers are relentlessly being punished and put
into the spotlight, so that everyone will
know who interrupted the show.
On stage, a live band accompanies the
Blue Man Group, albeit hidden behind
fabric screens. Hence, the attention is always being focused on the Blue Men
themselves. Their performance is entertaining, because it is different. However,
32
WANDERING THOUGHTS
and alien, especially with their clear eyes
that never seem to blink. Yet, these alien
creatures are able to evoke a wide range
of feelings without speaking a single word.
They do not even need to act in order to
call for a response. Their foreignness suffices for arousing an audience reaction.
they have played out their best cards already on television and the show itself
only offers little surprise. The exciting
parts are too brief; less interesting or innovative ideas are spread over almost ten
minutes. For the last part, the audience
even is too busy to follow the show as gigantic rolls of crepe paper are let loose
above the audience. Along with strobe
light effects and the blue men’s music, it
starts out as a great activity, but soon becomes wearisome. After all, one came to
see the show.
Thereby, the Blue Men also give an important lecture in racial equality and prove
that the color of one’s skin, indeed, does
not matter. As strange as they are, they also
offer a more spirited and human experience than most performances do today.
While you can also experience the
strangeness of the Blue Man Group on
(color) television, seeing them up-close
makes this experience more intense and
worthwhile. Still, the blue men’s charisma
does not make up for what the show lacks.
The Blue Man Group
Theater am Potsdamer Platz
Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 1
10785 Berlin
Tel.: 030-259 290
There are several performances throughout the week,
except on Tuesdays and
Wednesdays.
While there are emotionally moving as
well as physically engaging parts (for the
audience) and wonderful effects played
out, by and large the Blue Man Group’s
performance is disillusioning. Ticket
prices between 55 and 65 Euros only add
to the disappointment.
Ticket cost either 49,90 or
59,90
Euro;
reduced
admission is 25 % off.
For more information, you can
visit:
www.bluemangroup.de.
What is, however, truly remarkable
about the Blue Man Group is their effect
on the audience. Painted with blue grease
paint that does not dry, thus, giving them
a permanent shiny look, they appear odd
You can also order tickets
online at:
www.stageholding.de
33
TWIN PEAKS
?
h
c
i
l
k
r
wi
s
’
r
a
ch!
i
Wie w
l
k
r
i
sw
’
r
a
w
.
h
c
Wie
i
l
k
r
wi
s
’
r
a
Wie w
von Stine Eckert
Es geht um Sex - aber nicht nur. In seinem Erzählband „Wie war`s wirklich“ bietet
John Updike zwölf Geschichten, in denen er Portraits von ungewöhnlichen Menschen
skizziert. Sie werden durch ihre unperfekten Körper und Verhaltensweisen attraktiv
füreinander. Dabei nimmt Updike die Perspektive der Männer auf, die sich Frauen
nähern oder sich von ihnen entfernen. Für sie alle bleibt das weibliche Wesen jedoch
ein Rätsel:
„Eine Frau war ein Kreis, dessen Mittelpunkt nicht ganz in der Mitte war.“
Gerade durch diese Verrücktheiten und Imperfektionen erzeugt Updike Spannung.
Trotzdem betrachtet er seine Protagonisten mit Lässigkeit. Wie ein Großvater blättert
er in seinem geistigen Fotoalbum und lässt die jungen Wilden wieder auferstehen –
mal als objektiver Beobachter, mal schlüpft er in die Rolle des Ich-Erzählers, wie in
der Geschichte „Mein Vater am Rand der Schande“ – ein liebevolles Beziehungsportrait von Sohn und Vater, der als Lehrer eine doppelte Autorität darstellt.
„Er selber rauchte nicht mehr. Aber er gab mir kein Nein zur Antwort,
und mehr als dreißig Jahre später, nachdem auch ich mit dem Rauchen aufgehört habe, erinnere ich mich immer noch an die beißenden, die schwindlig
machenden Züge, gemischt mit dem beginnenden wohltuend warmen Paffen
der Autoheizung, während das kleine knisternde Radio sein Potpourri aus
Landwirtschaftsmeldungen und Hitparadenmelodien spielte. Die stillschweigende Erlaubnis zum Rauchen, von einem Lehrer bekommen, hätte allgemein, das wussten wir beide, als eine Schande gegolten. Aber es war meine
Art ein Mensch zu werden, und Mensch zu sein bedeutet immer auch, am
Rand der Schande zu sein.“
34
ON THE SHELF
?hcilk
riw s’r
aw eiW
!hcilk
riw s’r
aw eiW
.hcilk
riw s’r
aw eiW
Updikes Erzählungen haben mehrere Schichten, die man wohl erst beim zweiten
Lesen aufdecken kann. „Wie war`s wirklich“ ist deshalb ein Buch, dass man öfter in
die Hand nimmt, noch einmal liest und genießt. Seine Worte sind sorgfältig gewählt,
auch die Übersetzung ist gelungen. Es gibt keine holprigen Stellen, die stutzen lassen.
Eine witzige Erinnerung ist die Kurzgeschichte „Naturfarbe“. Darin trifft der Protagonist Frank seine ehemalige Geliebte wieder, die er an ihren roten Haaren erkennt.
„Seine Frau hatte damals immer laut die Echtheit dieses Rots bezweifelt,
und er hatte dann das Argument unterdrücken müssen, dass wenn Maggies
Haare gefärbt seien, dies auch auf die Schamhaare zutreffe. Aber schon wahr,
Maggie hielt ihr Haar für eine glorreiche Zierde. Wenn sie es herabließ,
wurde die Mähne zu einer umhüllenden, umgarnenden dritten Gegenwart im
Bett, und wenn es hochgesteckt war, wie heute, wirkten ihr Kopf groß und ihr
Hals rührend dünn in seiner kecken Schräghaltung.“
Im Nachhinein wirkt alles klar und logisch, als ob es nicht hätte anders kommenkönnen. Aber dennoch, der Titel des Buches ist eine Frage: „Wie war`s wirklich“? Die
Antwort darauf ändert sich, je nachdem wer fragt. Mit 72 Jahren gilt John Updike als
„grand old man“ der zeitgenössischen amerikanischen Literatur. Seine Sichtweise ist
nur eine von vielen, aber seine subtile Darstellung ist einfach glaubwürdig. Frei von
allem erzählerischen Schnörkel ist „Wie war´s wirklich“ eine lohnenswerte Investition.
John Updike’s Wie war`s wirklich ist im Rowohlt-Verlag als gebundene Ausgabe
für 19,90 Euro erschienen.
35
TWIN PEAKS
HEARTBREAKING
GENIUS
A review of Dave Eggers’ first novel
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
by Katja Wenk
A red curtain hangs in front of a golden sunset on the cover of Dave Eggers’
first book. With the title A Heartbreaking
Work of Staggering Genius the novel
comes along not only as sentimental, but
also as little interesting. The subtitle
“Based on a True Story” makes it even
worse. Do we really want to read a
heartbreaking work of a staggering
genius? Probably not.
Nonetheless, one opens the cover and
finds “Rules and Suggestions for
Enjoyment of This Book,” which - among
other things - tell the reader that “there is
no overwhelming need to read the
preface” nor the acknowledgements nor
much of the novel itself. These guidelines
promt you to go on reading. And what
follows is even better: forty pages of
acknowledgements, an account of how the
money, which Eggers had received for
writing this novel, was spent as well as
suggestions for deciphering the various
themes of the novel, which range from The
Unspoken
Magic
of
Parental
Disappearance to the Book’s SelfConscious Aspect, from Inherited
Fatalism to - well, read the foreword,
because it is very entertaining, packed
with fun and wit, and reason enough to
buy the book.
Yet, forget interpreting this novel.
Eggers serves it all on a silver platter, ready
to read and enjoy. He also explains that
the events described in his novel are
36
ON THE SHELF
autobiographic, but fictionalized. Thus, it
is never quite certain whether the
protagonist really is Eggers, which events
really did happen to him, and how much
has simply been made up by the author.
the time Eggers returns home, he will find
Toph dead and the babysitter will be long
gone. In all of this, Eggers’ self-pity, selfobservation, and self-irony range from
amusingly paranoid to simply hilarious.
The story begins with the painful death
of Eggers’ mother. The author lost both
his parents to cancer within just a few
months. The Eggers’ children are left
alone. From then on, the author has to take
responsibilty not merely for his own life,
but also for that of his much younger brother Toph.
Just as conditions change around them,
Eggers changes as well. He grows from
an immature brother, who decides only
upon his own mercy and views life as a
game, to a maturing man willing to take
responsibility and almost able to represent
a father figure.
It takes Eggers about one hundred
pages to get going from the death of his
parents; and his detailed descriptions of
his mother’s long suffering may convey
the pain and horror of cancer, but also
leave the reader a little bewildered and
estranged. Eventually, Eggers and his
younger brother leave their hometown and
move to San Francisco. Eggers struggles
with taking responsibility for himself and
Toph. They move from one apartment to
the next, but mostly just try to have a good
time. They play frisbee on the beach; and
like so many young people, Eggers, too,
begins to dream of money and fame.
Hence, he founds a rather unsuccessful
alternative magazine and applies for MTVs
Real World (reality tv before Big Brother
made it to television).
It is true, one can never quite trust
Eggers as a narrator. His views are
arbitrary, he contradicts himself. Yet, it is
not hard to imagine Eggers really acting
like this, for example when he leaves his
brother alone one night and worries what
the babysitter might do to him. Surely, by
Dave Eggers, who also is the editor of
the annual “America’s Best Unrequired
Reading” (which first appeared in 2002),
managed to write a fun novel. He conveys
beautiful images of life certain moments
bring: One night, he observes, „... stars,
not too many visible, with the cities and
all, but still some, a hundred maybe, how
many do you need, after all?“
Some senteces run on for several lines,
but it is never difficult to follow Eggers.
His protagonist’s ramblings and
daydreams can become a bit unnerving.
Yet, more often than not they reflect
Eggers’ creativity and reveal a good deal
about today’s twenty-somethings and their
take on life. While Eggers is not quite able
to carry the witty tone of his foreword
through the entire novel, he does entertain
with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering
Genius. It is an easy, light read. Just the
title may be misleading for some. Save that
has been Eggers’ intention.
Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work
of Staggering Genius is published by
Picador and now costs Euro 13,50.
37
TWIN PEAKS
... and in a nutshell
Vernon God Little by dbc pierre
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Fifteen year old Vernon God Little is in
trouble: A few days ago his best friend ran
amok at their high school, killed all the other
classmates and then himself. Vernon, being
the only surviving student, gets under suspicion. When a corrupt journalist spreads the
lie that Vernon was part of the shootings
Vernon is suddenly confronted with the full
rage of his small Texas hometown.
After Columbine and Erfurt the novel’s
subject-matter does not fail to grab the
reader’s attention. Unfortunately, dbc pierre
fails to give a reasonable interpretation for
the causes of the massacre and instead provides the old the-society-is-at-fault-sing song.
Thus the novel, in story as well as language,
drifts off into a nerve-wrackingly immature
criticism of US-middle class society. A book
to keep one’s eyes off. (Frank Meinzenbach)
Fourteen year old Susie Salmon is brutally raped and then murdered by a neighbor.
From heaven, where “life is a perpetual yesterday,” Susie tells her story and watches
life on earth as it unfolds: her family breaks
under the burden of her death, and soon, the
search for her murderer is ceased as well. In
heaven, Susie remembers her own short life
and experience. And as her friends grow
older, she also begins to miss what she has
been denied: growing up.
Sebold combines an uncommon point of
view with an interesting plot. While the first
half is very engaging and authentic, the latter
turns sentimental and less believable, yet also
less imaginative. Nonetheless, The Lovely
Bones is an enjoyable, easy-to-read novel.
And Sebold has an interesting take on the afterlife. (Katja Wenk)
Left Over
In our last issue, we gave you several
Thanksgiving recipes. Due to
inexplicable technical reasons one of
these recipes was not printed in its
entirety. In case, any of you want to cook
a turkey with Cornbread Stuffing for this
year’s Thanksgiving, here comes the
recipe.
Cornbread Stuffing
You need: about 3 cups of dried cornbread
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped apricots
1 cup dried prunes, chopped
2 cups cooked sausage, broken up
1 cup chopped nuts
38
First, add all ingredients
together. Then bake them
in a greased casserole dish
for an hour at 170 degrees
or use for stuffing the
turkey.
IMPRINT
The Authors
Twin Peaks
A Newsletter for American
Studies
Beethovenstraße 15
04107 Leipzig
Anja Becker, M.A. in American Studies and
French Studies, is currently working on her
dissertation about 19th century students’ life
at the University of Leipzig.
Roland Bloch studied Political Science,
American Studies, and Philosophy at Leipzig
University. He is working on his dissertation
at the Martin-Luther-University in Halle/
Wittenberg.
Editors
Stine Eckert (V.i.S.d.P.)
Katja Wenk
Susanne Göricke majors in Comunication
and Media Science and American Studies at
the University of Leipzig. She has also contributed reports to Radio Goethe Magazine.
Design
Katja Wenk
Stine Eckert
Frank Meinzenbach majors in German
Studies, combining it with American Studies
and Journalism.
Technical Support
Matthias John
Prof. Dr. David Mikics is a visiting
Fulbright professor in American Studies at the
University of Leipzig. His most recent book
is on Emerson and Nietzsche. Next year he
will be visiting professor at the University of
Haifa (Israel).
Title Photograph
Katja Wenk
Contact
[email protected]
Jan Saeger studied Journalism and American Studies at the University of Leipzig. He
is now working as a public relations advisor.
Stine Eckert:
Phone: 0341 - 1499 0634
Franziska Wellner majors in American
Studies at the University of Leipzig, combining it with Journalism and Psychology. She is
currently studying at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
Katja Wenk:
Phone: 0341 - 781 051
Printed by
ZIMO druck und kopie KG
Beethovenstraße 10
04107 Leipzig
www.zimo-kopie.de
Stine Eckert, born in 1982, majors in Journalism and American Studies at the University of Leipzig.
Katja Wenk, born in 1981, majors in American Studies at the University of Leipzig, combining it with Journalism and Psychology.
39
TWIN PEAKS
Help, we need somebody.
Help, not just anybody.
Help, you know we need someone.
HELP!
As the editors of Twin Peaks, we are looking for
YOU
to have fun with us in publishing Twin Peaks. We still can not
offer you Kyle MacLachlan. Neither do we have any money. But
we have lots of fun editing the Twin Peaks. And by joining us, you
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poems, pictures and in fact anything you like to the Twin Peaks
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time, too.
How much you want to contribute - whether as an author or as a
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Do you want to know more about Twin Peaks, contribute an article,
help us edit the next edition or simply tell us what you think of
Twin Peaks?
Well, don't be shy. E-mail us:
[email protected]
The Twin Peaks Editors
40