"The Politics of Pop:
Popular Culture in German-speaking Countries"
2nd Graduate Student Conference
at the University of Minnesota
March 2 – 4, 2001
Key Note Speaker: Karin Wurst, Professor of German,
Michigan State University
Special Guest: Hans Zippert, author of the political satire
column "Zippert zappt" for "Die Welt"
Special DEFA film screenings: The U.S. premier of
"Orpheus in the Unterwelt"
"Signale: Ein Weltraumabenteuer" and
"Hauptmann Florian von der Muehle"
See http://www.folwell.umn.edu/gsd/Gradcon/index.html or call 612-625-2080.
The distinction between High and Low Culture has always been an inherent aspect of defining Kultur in German-speaking areas. Pop culture can be understood in the contexts of its production; its popular, critical, and academic reception; as well as its appropriation by the academy. The conference addresses various manifestations of the popular in German-speaking countries, including German rock and techno music, film, theater, and the often controversial Berlin "Love Parade." Presenters examine issues of gender, the relationship with the German Avant Garde, identity, and political protest among others. Two panels also focus on the popular culture of East/the former East Germany, looking at the complex notion of the popular in Marxism-Leninism, the politics of the popular in 70mm film, issues of dialect, satire and the limitations of Western popular culture theory.
Sponsored by: UMN Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, Center for German and European Studies, European Studies Consortium, Center for Austrian Studies, UMN Humanities Institute, Studio Babelsberg, Boje-Buck Filmproduction, Delphi Filmtheater Betriebs GmbH, Polzer Media Group GmbH Potsdam, among others.
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