CFP: Weimar Germany through Foreign Eyes; Modernist Studies Association
Conference, November 5-8, 2009, Montréal, Canada

The fifteen years of the Weimar Republic were a time not only of
incomparable artistic creativity, but also of unprecedented intellectual
exchanges across national boundaries. The Soviet revolution drove
several hundred thousand Russians into exile in Germany, among them
poets, artists and intellectuals such as Viktor Shklovsky or Vladimir
Nabokov. At the same time, supporters of the new Soviet regime, such as
El Lissitzky, Sergei Tretyakov and Alexander Rodtschenko, visited
Berlin, sparking a fervent exchange between two enormously productive
avant-gardes. The weak economy and hyper-inflation, meanwhile, made
Germany an attractive destination for visitors from Western Europe and
America as well, many of whom came as tourists but stayed for extended
periods of time. The international success of the UFA film studio,
finally, meant that Weimar culture was put on view around the globe.

For this panel, I invite proposals on the image of German modernist
culture in the works of foreigners. How did Weimar culture affect the
production of artists from abroad? How did they describe Germany in
their letters and diaries? How were modernist ideas disseminated
through transnational networks? And what happened to the image of
Weimar after the Nazi seizure of power? Please send abstracts of no
more than 300 words and a brief biographical statement (2-3 sentences)
to Tobias Boes (tboesnd.edu) by April 30, 2009.

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