David G. John

John argues that shifting the focus from the text to the efficacy of performance requires broadening our concept of performance beyond what occurs on stage and its critical reception to include the daily life of the society that provides its context. It follows from this semiotic approach that there can be no fixed text or understanding of Egmont or of Goethe himself - only multiple images. John's exploration of image includes literary motifs, acting, staging, and social role playing, with particular reference to Goethe's development as an artist and cultural icon. In addition to presenting a comprehensive analysis of the play and a discussion of Egmont's reception from its first appearance to the present (including productions on both stage and screen), John provides an in-depth performance analysis based on the theories of Alter, Burns, Carson, Fischer-Lichte, Goffman, Pavis, and Schechner. The book includes the complete Mannheim manuscript (M372), critically edited and published as a performance text for the first time.

Images of Goethe through Schiller's Egmont

Mathias Schulze

Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach

James M. Skidmore

Grit Liebscher

Co-published with the Waterloo Centre for German Studies For centuries, large numbers of German-speaking people have emigrated from settlements in Europe to other countries and continents. In German Diasporic Experiences: Identity, Migration, and Loss, more than forty international contributors describe and discuss aspects of the history, language, and culture of these migrant groups, individuals, and their descendants. Part I focuses on identity, with essays exploring the connections among language, politics, and the construction of histories—national, familial, and personal—in German-speaking diasporic communities around the world. Part II deals with migration, examining such issues as German migrants in postwar Britain, German refugees and forced migration, and the immigrant as a fictional character, among others. Part III examines the idea of loss in diasporic experience with essays on nationalization, language change or loss, and the reshaping of cultural identity. Essays are revised versions of papers presented at an international conference held at the University of Waterloo in August 2006, organized by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, and reflect the multidisciplinarity and the global perspective of this field of study.

Identity, Migration, and Loss

German Diasporic Experiences

Fritz Bennewitz (1926-1995) was the director-in-chief of East Germany's Weimar National Theatre. Extraordinary in his capacity for cultural and linguistic adjustment, he directed productions in twelve countries, always adapting shows to make them meaningful to local audiences. Notably, Bennewitz conducted stagings of Goethe's Faust in four different languages over a series of seven productions — three in pre-unification Weimar, one in the reunited Germany, and one each in New York, Manila, and Mumbai. The first comprehensive account of Bennewitz's remarkable career, Bennewitz, Goethe, Faust is also a pioneering study of intercultural interpretations of Faust. David G. John brings to light previously unknown archival materials — including annotated playbooks, correspondence, translations, videos, and reception information — as well as unpublished production photos from the stagings discussed in the book. Bennewitz, Goethe, Faust makes a cogent argument for this director's place alongside the twentieth century's greatest theatre innovators.

David G. John

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