The Department of Germanic, Russian, and East European Languages and Literatures

(Un)ruly Pleasures in German Culture

-A One-Day Forum-

Friday, March 28, 2008

Alexander Library, 4th Floor Teleconference Hall

Please contact ruggsc2008@gmail.com with any questions.

Program

Committee

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Notions of pleasure(s) are deeply embedded in Western culture today. The contemporary subject is constantly exposed to the promise of intense pleasure offered by the entertainment media, which construct an image of (un)ruly pleasures – pleasures that pose as the norm, yet also as something that transgresses the norm. Through a variety of such messages, both external and internal, our very thoughts, deeds, and actions are infused with the idea of (un)ruly pleasures—be it in the form of a physical response like orgasm or a psychological one like jouissance. However, is the idea of (un)ruly pleasures a phantasma, or is, on the contrary, the idea of an all regulating power itself a phantasma? Through a broad array of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives we seek to ask how this process of seeking pleasure might be linked to identity formation.

What role have notions of (un)ruly pleasure(s) played in the past? How might it contribute to a desire for an increased sense of alienation or even anonymity? What is the status of the self in moments of pleasure? What might ultimately be at stake in definitions and representations of (un)ruly pleasures? How are these categories conceptualized across various disciplines (literature, gender studies, history, LGBT studies, etc.)? How have they been historically defined and represented? Has the history of these concepts been one of continuous evolution and disruption, or one marked by liberation and repression? In what ways have different discourses (religion, philosophy, feminism, psychoanalysis, etc.) influenced and structured our understanding of pleasure into the present day?

Forum Program-


8:30 – 9:00	Breakfast on location

9:00 – 9:20	Welcome address: Mareen Fuchs, Christoph Kone, Shambhavi Prakash, Forum Coordinators
	Opening remarks: Prof. Martha Helfer, Department Chair of Germanic, Russian, and East European Languages and Literatures, RU

9:20 - 10:00	Special Workshop: Prof. Christopher Clark, German Department, RU “Rules of Pleasure and the Pleasure of Rules: Or, How Do We Talk about Sexy Nazis?”

10:00 – 10:10	Break

10:10 - 11:30	Panel 1: Insight – Incite: Pleasure and Provocation. Commentator:
	Lydia Butt, NYU “Die schauenden Freunde: The Pleasure of Seeing in Goethe’s Wahlverwandtschaften”
	Heidi-Marie Clemens, University of Washington, Seattle“Wrapping and Unraveling: Examining the Creative and Destructive Potential of Avant-garde Goldilocks”
	Julia Feldhaus, RU “Lights, Glitter, Fashion: The Obsession with the Visual in Irmgard Keun’s Das kunstseidene Mädchen ”

11:30 - 11:40	Coffee Break

11:40 – 12:40	Panel 2: (L)awful Pleasure in Stifter. Commentator: Rebecca Steele, RU
	Thomas Stachel, NYU “The pleasure of Rules: Stifter and his Laws”
	Christoph Kone, RU “Fetischismus, Lust, und Freude in Stifter’s Der Nachsommer”

12:40 – 13:40	Lunch at the German Department

13:45 – 14:30	Workshop

14:35 – 15:35	Panel 3: Intake/Outtake: Body and Pleasure Commentator:
	Nicola Behrmann, NYU “Lust/Last: What Does the Hunger Artist Want?”
	Anja Wieden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill “Food, Sex, and Facist Bodies in Wolfgang Koeppen’s Der Tod in Rom”

15:35 – 15:45	Coffee Break

15:45 – 16:45	Keynote Address Professor Paul Fleming, NYU “The Pleasure of Mediocrity” (Nietzsche)

16:45 - 17:00	Closing Remarks and Reception


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Forum Committee


Forum Coordinators:	Mareen Fuchs Christoph Kone Shambhavi Prakash

Forum Steering Committee:	Julia Feldhaus Federica Franzè Mareen Fuchs Juljana Gjata Christoph Kone Devin O’Neal Shambavi Prakash Katrin Polak- Springer Rebecca Steele Peter Winslow

Acknowledgements

This forum was made possible through the generous support of:

DAAD

German Academic Exchange Service ~ New York Office

The Rutgers Graduate Student Association

The Department of Germanic, Russian and East European Languages and Literatures

Special thanks to:

Professor Fatima Naqvi