Reading & Discussion with Christiane Solte-Gresser
WHEN
WHERE
der buchladen, Försterstraße 14, 66111 Saarbrücken
LANGUAGES
GERMAN
PROGRAMM
What can dreams teach us about the Shoah? Dreams are omnipresent in concentration camp literature. Whether appearing in documentary testimonies (Beradt, Szittya, Cayrol), autobiographical texts (Antelme, Levi, Delbo, Wiesel, Semprun), dramatic works (Fritsch, Eich), or novels (Bachmann, Langfus, Foer) – dreams each speak a language entirely their own. And yet these texts also bear witness to collective dream experiences – escapes thwarted, food denied, stories stifled, or abrupt returns to the camps. Writing dreams down and sharing them with others thus becomes a paradoxical cultural practice of reparation – a continuing engagement with what cannot be repaired.
At a reading organised by the Käte Hamburger Centre for Cultural Practices of Reparation (CURE) in cooperation with the bookshop der buchladen, the Chair of General and Comparative Literary Studies at Saarland University, and Matthes & Seitz Berlin, literary scholar and comparatist Christiane Solte-Gresser will present her latest book
Traum und Reparation.
The reading will be followed by a discussion exploring the extent to which dreams can be understood as cultural practices of reparation – as a way of coming to terms with the Shoah and the irreparable destruction and wounds it has left behind. There will also be an opportunity to discuss questions from the audience.
Moderated by Joachim Harst (Saarland University)
The reading and discussion will be followed by a reception.
IN COOPERATION WITH
Matthes & Seitz Berlin, der buchladen and the Chair for General and Comparative Literary Studies at Saarland University
Review in the German TAZ
