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Herbert Herzmann, professor and head of German at University College Dublin in Ireland, will speak on “Memory and Role Play in Search of Identity: From Calderón de la Barca to Austrian Drama” 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Max Kade Center for German Studies, Pardee Hall room 429.
Free and open to the public, the event is sponsored by the Max Kade Fund, department of foreign languages and literatures, and German Club. The talk is part of a three-day residency in which Herzmann is interacting German majors and faculty members.
“The history of the term ‘Austria’ is extremely confusing,” he says. “This may be one of the reasons why contemporary Austria refers to cultural tradition when attempting to construct her identity. In this process, works for the theatre (plays, operas and operettas) are of particular importance. This lecture will show how supposedly quintessentially ‘Austrian’ dramatic works are the result of a coming together of divergent elements of international origins which have been fused by a creative energy.”
Herzmann has authored Tradition und Subversion: Das Volksstück und das epische Theater, edited several books, and published many journal and newspaper articles and book chapters. He has presented papers and/or delivered talks in the United States, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Chile, and Ecuador.
Lafayette dedicated its new technologically advanced headquarters for the study of German on Feb. 7. The Max Kade Center for German Studies was established through a $65,000 grant from the Max Kade Foundation, which also awarded $5,000 for a German library and Herzmann’s visit. Pardee Hall room 429 has been transformed into a “smart” classroom with the latest in projection and control system technology, as well as moveable walls, “smart” lighting, wood paneling, high-end window treatments, and other upgrades. The easily adjusted configuration allows the room to serve as a classroom, reading room, conference room, informal discussion area, multi-media presentation facility, and library.