Conference Day Two: Found In Translation!
The success of the Marta evening was even more enhanced when the next day, we heard Bob Dylan was in town and had given a concert that same night. And still people came to the lecture instead! (BTW Marta liked Dylan.)
Friday was full of interesting lectures and panels as well. One was on Lion Feuchtwanger and translation, which included a lecture on his correspondance and close friendship with his American publisher, Ben Huebsch, and one on legendary journalist Dorothy Thompson who in the late 20s had translated Feuchtwanger's sole volume of poems (he was a novelist and dramatist otherwise) into English. While most of us had heard the name Dorothy Thompson before, not many (including yours truly) knew any details, and her life turned out to have been a fascinating one. She worked as a journalist and correspondant in Berlin in the late 20s and early 30s, was so in love with the local art and literary scene that she sometimes saw five plays a week (and befriended lots of writers, whom she crucially helped later on when they'd become refugees), interviewed Hitler, wasn't impressed (the published interview and her sarcasm got her kicked out of Germany once he had the power to do so), and was basically the only American journalist reporting negatively on the Third Reich from Day 1.
Another panel on contemporaries had the same speaker who'd given the great Elisabeth Hauptmann lecture at the last conference, who talked more about her and the difference between Brecht's female and male collaborators, one of the key differences being the power differential. Feuchtwanger had already been an established author when he befriended the young Brecht, and so of course his name shows up on the plays they collaborated on. Elisabeth Hauptmann was an unknown and a woman and thus her name didn't, despite her key contributions. (Among many other things, she wrote several poems for the Hauspostille, translated the Beggar's Opera into German which was Brecht's basis for writing his own version, the Three Penny Opera, translated Kipling into German which not only hugely influenced Brecht but again provided source texts for several of his own variations, and wrote nearly the entirety of "Happy End" and "Mahagonny".) This meant that when she tried to strike out on her own during the American exile years, she couldn't manage - she didn't even have a name in Germany, let alone the US.
Then there was an absolutely fascinating talk on Billy Wilder, specifically his years as a journalist and scriptwriter in Vienna & Berlin and then the early years in Hollywood as a scriptwriter before he started to direct as well. I hold myself reasonably well versed on all things Wilder, but the film who formed the heart of the lecture was unknown to me. It's called "Hold Back The Dawn" and was the last script Billy Wilder wrote without directing it himself; it's also the most overtly autobiographical thing he ever did, with subjects that show up in later films as well but far more verfremdet. Hold Back The Dawn predates Casablanca; it's main character is a European exile stuck in Mexico without a visum, and the scenes showing the situation of the refugés trying to get the US are among the very first in a fictional work. Said main character is also that Wildean achetype, a man deciding on selling himself in order to solve his troubles (being a refuge in 1941 being somewhat more urgent and losing your car, looking at you, Joe Gillis) and doing so in a sexual way; he charms idealistic American teacher Emmy into marrying him so he can get across the border, fully attending to dump her later on and start life with his dancing partner, for our hero, in addition to being a reporter and wannabe scriptwriter, also, like Wilder, supported himself partially as an Eintänzer (more polite term for Gigolo in a dancing hall) when the cash wasn't there. Also like many a Wilder main character, the pretense becomes real later as idealistic Emmy wins him over by still helping him against the immigration police despite by then realising the truth. There is a first person framing narration which opens with the main character pitching his story at the Paramount Studios. This was rivetting stuff for movie buffs like yours truly, as well as being very interesting from different-ways-to-be-an-exile point of view.
Another highlight of the day for me was having a personal "Eureka!" moment during the panel on Lion Feuchtwanger's brother Ludwig, who as opposed to Lion the novelist was a publisher/editor and historian during the Weimar Republic, and also as opposed to Lion at first remained in Germany, which nearly got him killed - after the Reichskristallnacht in 1938, he was among the Jews in Munich rounded up and sent to Dachau, where he remained for some weeks but miraculously got released and managed to leave Germany. Ludwig during the Third Reich years couldn't work as a publisher (of books) anymore and focused on editing a German/Jewish newspaper and on a series of articles and lectures on Jewish history; he also was working on a magnum opus about Jewish history through the millennia which never got finished and from which the panelist quoted extensively. Now, Ludwig wrote this at the same time Lion wrote his trilogy (of novels) on the writer Flavius Josephus, Josef ben Matthias, and the Ludwig manuscript contains extensive criticism of the historical novel as a form to talk about history, its psychologizing and specifically says it should not deal with the Jewish-Roman war (which is of course what Lion's Josephus trilogy does). Now, in the Josephus trilogy, there is a character named Justus with whom Josef/Josephus has an intense frenemy relationship; they start out as rival historians, and Josef is keenly aware that Justus is the more serious, worthier man, as opposed to Josef with his attraction to glamour, success and of writing about history emotionally as a historian shouldn't (but a historical novelist does, ahem). Their dispute/dialogue goes through all three novels and it's quintessential for Josef, but as opposed to Josef himself, Justus - whose criticism of Josef mirrors that of Ludwig exactly - is a fictional character not based on an actual historian. Because hardly anyone has ever read what Feuchtwanger's brother Ludwig wrote (it only started to get republished, or published at all, in the last two years), no one has ever made the Josef-Justus, Lion-Ludwig connection, but listening to the quotes it seemed brilliantly obvious to me and I sat up and went "Heureka!"
Today is the final day of the conference, day Three. I can't wait what it will bring!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/932386.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Friday was full of interesting lectures and panels as well. One was on Lion Feuchtwanger and translation, which included a lecture on his correspondance and close friendship with his American publisher, Ben Huebsch, and one on legendary journalist Dorothy Thompson who in the late 20s had translated Feuchtwanger's sole volume of poems (he was a novelist and dramatist otherwise) into English. While most of us had heard the name Dorothy Thompson before, not many (including yours truly) knew any details, and her life turned out to have been a fascinating one. She worked as a journalist and correspondant in Berlin in the late 20s and early 30s, was so in love with the local art and literary scene that she sometimes saw five plays a week (and befriended lots of writers, whom she crucially helped later on when they'd become refugees), interviewed Hitler, wasn't impressed (the published interview and her sarcasm got her kicked out of Germany once he had the power to do so), and was basically the only American journalist reporting negatively on the Third Reich from Day 1.
Another panel on contemporaries had the same speaker who'd given the great Elisabeth Hauptmann lecture at the last conference, who talked more about her and the difference between Brecht's female and male collaborators, one of the key differences being the power differential. Feuchtwanger had already been an established author when he befriended the young Brecht, and so of course his name shows up on the plays they collaborated on. Elisabeth Hauptmann was an unknown and a woman and thus her name didn't, despite her key contributions. (Among many other things, she wrote several poems for the Hauspostille, translated the Beggar's Opera into German which was Brecht's basis for writing his own version, the Three Penny Opera, translated Kipling into German which not only hugely influenced Brecht but again provided source texts for several of his own variations, and wrote nearly the entirety of "Happy End" and "Mahagonny".) This meant that when she tried to strike out on her own during the American exile years, she couldn't manage - she didn't even have a name in Germany, let alone the US.
Then there was an absolutely fascinating talk on Billy Wilder, specifically his years as a journalist and scriptwriter in Vienna & Berlin and then the early years in Hollywood as a scriptwriter before he started to direct as well. I hold myself reasonably well versed on all things Wilder, but the film who formed the heart of the lecture was unknown to me. It's called "Hold Back The Dawn" and was the last script Billy Wilder wrote without directing it himself; it's also the most overtly autobiographical thing he ever did, with subjects that show up in later films as well but far more verfremdet. Hold Back The Dawn predates Casablanca; it's main character is a European exile stuck in Mexico without a visum, and the scenes showing the situation of the refugés trying to get the US are among the very first in a fictional work. Said main character is also that Wildean achetype, a man deciding on selling himself in order to solve his troubles (being a refuge in 1941 being somewhat more urgent and losing your car, looking at you, Joe Gillis) and doing so in a sexual way; he charms idealistic American teacher Emmy into marrying him so he can get across the border, fully attending to dump her later on and start life with his dancing partner, for our hero, in addition to being a reporter and wannabe scriptwriter, also, like Wilder, supported himself partially as an Eintänzer (more polite term for Gigolo in a dancing hall) when the cash wasn't there. Also like many a Wilder main character, the pretense becomes real later as idealistic Emmy wins him over by still helping him against the immigration police despite by then realising the truth. There is a first person framing narration which opens with the main character pitching his story at the Paramount Studios. This was rivetting stuff for movie buffs like yours truly, as well as being very interesting from different-ways-to-be-an-exile point of view.
Another highlight of the day for me was having a personal "Eureka!" moment during the panel on Lion Feuchtwanger's brother Ludwig, who as opposed to Lion the novelist was a publisher/editor and historian during the Weimar Republic, and also as opposed to Lion at first remained in Germany, which nearly got him killed - after the Reichskristallnacht in 1938, he was among the Jews in Munich rounded up and sent to Dachau, where he remained for some weeks but miraculously got released and managed to leave Germany. Ludwig during the Third Reich years couldn't work as a publisher (of books) anymore and focused on editing a German/Jewish newspaper and on a series of articles and lectures on Jewish history; he also was working on a magnum opus about Jewish history through the millennia which never got finished and from which the panelist quoted extensively. Now, Ludwig wrote this at the same time Lion wrote his trilogy (of novels) on the writer Flavius Josephus, Josef ben Matthias, and the Ludwig manuscript contains extensive criticism of the historical novel as a form to talk about history, its psychologizing and specifically says it should not deal with the Jewish-Roman war (which is of course what Lion's Josephus trilogy does). Now, in the Josephus trilogy, there is a character named Justus with whom Josef/Josephus has an intense frenemy relationship; they start out as rival historians, and Josef is keenly aware that Justus is the more serious, worthier man, as opposed to Josef with his attraction to glamour, success and of writing about history emotionally as a historian shouldn't (but a historical novelist does, ahem). Their dispute/dialogue goes through all three novels and it's quintessential for Josef, but as opposed to Josef himself, Justus - whose criticism of Josef mirrors that of Ludwig exactly - is a fictional character not based on an actual historian. Because hardly anyone has ever read what Feuchtwanger's brother Ludwig wrote (it only started to get republished, or published at all, in the last two years), no one has ever made the Josef-Justus, Lion-Ludwig connection, but listening to the quotes it seemed brilliantly obvious to me and I sat up and went "Heureka!"
Today is the final day of the conference, day Three. I can't wait what it will bring!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/932386.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.