Stimmen aus jenseitigen Dörfern: Warum wir uns in den German Studies mit der sorbischen Literatur befassen sollten

On September 1, alumnus Willi Barthold (PhD, 2020) returned to the German Department to present his lecture entitled “Stimmen aus jenseitigen Dörfern: Warum wir uns in den German Studies mit der sorbischen Literatur befassen sollen.” During this presentation, he argued for including literature written in the Sorbian language in German Studies. He provided historical background on the Slavic minority in Eastern Germany and introduced his audience to some of the key authors in Sorbian literature. A lively discussion followed which centered on issues of minority literature, cultural hybridity and translation. Willi was accompanied by his wife, Emily Barthold, also an alumna of our Department (PhD, 2019). Dr. Barthold is currently Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (Postdoc) am Institut für Slavistik der Technischen Universität Dresden, Lehrstuhl für Westslavische Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft.