Laughter
Interdisciplinary German Studies Conference
March 8-10, 2013
With generous support from The Townsend Center for the Humanities, UC Berkeley Graduate Assembly, UC Berkeley Student Opportunities Fund, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of English, Department of Film & Media, Department of German, Department of Philosophy, Program in Medieval Studies, and Department of Spanish & Portuguese.
Friday, March 8
5:00-6:30 p.m. Welcome Reception (5337 Dwinelle)
- Remarks: Conference Organizers
6:30-8:00 p.m. Film Screening: Loriot (Selections; 142 Dwinelle)
- Introduction: Jacob Johnson (UC Berkeley)
- Presentation: “Es darf gelacht werden” by Dagmar Theison (UC Berkeley)
Saturday, March 9 (370 Dwinelle)
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Ethics of Laughter (Moderator: Seth Elliott Meyer, UC Berkeley)
- Almut Nickel (Universität Kassel): “Mythisches Lachen und ‘Fröhliche Philosophie.’ ‘Frau Nu lacht’ in Günther Anders’ Erzählung ‘Kosmologische Humoreske'”
- Dennis Johannssen (Brown University): “Cheerful Pedagogy: Fourier, Jean Paul, and Benjamin’s Anthropological Materialism”
- Todd Cesaratto (Miami University of Ohio): “Humor, Wit, Jokes, and the Question of Nationality in Jean Paul’s Vorschule der Ästhetik”
2:00-4:00 p.m. Subversive Laughter? (Moderator: Sebastian Haselbeck, UC Berkeley)
- Claire Amanda Ross (Washington University in St. Louis): “Diegetic Laughter in Fritz Lang’s M”
- Wiebke Schuldt (Washington University in St. Louis): “Vom Krieg ins Kabarett? Zum Kipp-Phänomen des Lachens in Irmgard Keuns RomanFerdinand, der Mann mit dem freundlichen Herzen”
- Olivetta Gentilin (Verona University): “‘[…] und der Himmel müsse bersten, und die Erde müsse sich wälzen vor Lachen.’ Zum politischen Sinn des Lachens in Georg Büchners dramatischen Werken.”
- Michael Huffmaster (Bowdoin College): “Kafka’s Laughter and the Kafkaesque”
4:30-6:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture: “Kafka’s Laughter” by Professor Anca Parvulescu (Washington University in St. Louis; introduction by Alexander Lambrow, UC Berkeley)
Sunday, March 10 (370 Dwinelle)
9:30-11:00 a.m. Caricatures and Masks (Moderator: Erik Born, UC Berkeley)
- Maria Schnell (Universität Salzburg): “Rhetorisch-poetische Praxis im 16. Jahrhundert. Federführende Darstellungen von renaissance-humanistischer Gelehrtendichtung nach höfisch-soziokulturellem Vorbild in deutschsprachiger Tradierung”
- Lena Heilmann (University of Washington): “Masking Laughter in Marianne Ehrmann’s Amalie: eine wahre Geschichte in Briefen”
- Tara Hottmann (UC Berkeley): “Parodying Werner Herzog”
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Parody and Performance (Moderator: Jenna Ingalls, UC Berkeley)
- Frederike Gerstner (Universität Mainz): “Lachstürme im Theater: Topsy, eine ‘Neger-Soubrette comme il faut.'”
- Iris-Aya Laemmerhirt (Technische Universität Dortmund): “The Great Dictator? Humorously Subverting the Image of Adolf Hitler in Contemporary German Culture”
- Amila Becirbegovic (University of California, Davis): “Revolutionary Inversions in the Genre of Comedy: Carl Sternheim’s Die Hose versus Steve Martin’s The Underpants”
1:00 p.m. Concluding Remarks, Refreshments and Optional Lunch in Berkeley
Conference organizers: Jacob Johnson, Alexander Lambrow, Seth Elliott Meyer
berkeleygermanconference@gmail.com