Academic literature on the topic 'Franco-German representations and cultural transfers'

This article examines the middle management representations of organization and managerial roles within a specific bicultural organizational context. The argument explores the extant cross-cultural management literature and identifies two predominant positions: a functionalist-stable stance and a dynamically interpretive perspective of culture. Historically, both positions have contributed to understanding management roles and behaviours in different cross-cultural contexts; however, each also possesses limitations. In response, the argument elaborates a multi-paradigmatic model and framework that synergise elements of the respective approaches. An interpretive methodology using a distinctive qualitative case study of the Franco-German collaborative media venture ARTE is developed. The researchers conducted 31 interviews with French and German ARTE middle managers in order to determine their perceptions of middle-manager roles in this context. The article identified differences in managerial role perceptions and behaviours as well as hybrid working practices as a result of intercultural adaptation and learning in addition to implications, limitations and future directions in the study.

Abstract The authors of the paper focus on the intercultural dimension in the translation of advertising texts, attempting to compare and illustrate the influence of cultural elements upon advertising text-creation in American, German and Slovak cultural spaces. Reflecting the social, psychological and cultural aspects of translation transfer, they survey the tension between the domestic and the foreign and consequent choices in translation strategy. They present tendencies observed across a span of almost two decades in the translation of advertising texts into Slovak and provide possible explanations for their development.

George Tabori (1914–2007), a Hungarian-born British playwright of Jewish decent, is closely associated with German Holocaust theatre. Less well-known is his prolific career in German radio drama. This contribution traces the trajectory of Tabori’s short story ‘Weissmann und Rotgesicht’ and its adaptation for German radio in 1978. The overall theme of its narrative can be identified as the issue of competing minoritized groups (Jews and Indigenous Americans), their respective identity politics and mechanisms of ‘othering’. My analysis first asks how the short story presents these questions, as it was written in a North American context primarily shaped by the popular cultural format of the western movie. Secondly, I ask how the topic is culturally and medially transferred to the radio play form, considering the production’s West German context of the late 1970s. My interest is guided by the question whether and how we can read this 1978 radio play as an intervention in the debate on the representation of the ‘Indian’ in popular German culture and its simultaneous erasure, several decades after the Holocaust, of the Jew.

This paper is written within the framework of a cognitive study of the economic discourse metaphor used to objectify various types of activities of an enterprise and its environment. The research aims to identify the semantic and pragmatic features characterizing the linguistic and axiological implementation of metaphorical representation of the internal structure of a modern economic company and its relationships with the external business world. The work analyzes the types of metaphors, highlights the features of lexical units that are actualized during the transfer of meanings, and demonstrates evaluative connotations. The scientific novelty of the research lies in systematizing metaphors of such an important segment of economic discourse as entrepreneurial activity and providing their typology based on Russian, English, German, and French, revealing the common and specific features in the conceptualization of relationships and characteristics of a modern company. As a result, the dominant metaphorical models in the representations of an economic enterprise, their axiological and cultural characteristics are shown, the types of metaphors in the “Economics” subject area corresponding to the functional aspect of metaphors are listed.

Summary Thanks to reforms of the enlightened absolutism the first Slovenian newspaper, Lublanske novice, was published in Ljubljana (Laibach) – besides Laibacher Zeitung, published in German – in the last decades of the 18th century and was founded by Valentin Vodnik. Both newspapers were the main transfer media for the Vienna Enlightenment, encompassing, among others, the beginnings of Slovenian linguistics and ‘pergodbe’. Their narratives focused on the fragments of secular prose, the ‘Bildung’ and humanitarian postulates and practices. Their representation, containing some cosmopolite accents, was deelitized, embodied into three-dimensional patriotism and, on the same occasion, as for the humanitarian topic, into utopian aspiration in social transgression. The narratives connect Enlightenment with ethnical and religious discourse, showing some ambiguities by interweaving gender stereotypes with the representation of the difference of Slovenian theatre and historiography and demonstrating cultural criticism along with pan-Slavism.

The representation of word boundaries constitutes a central issue of many writing systems and orthographies, especially when two different components of a segmental phonographic and a word-based morpho-syntactical principle interact. This interaction will be studied in the context of literacy transfer from a L2 learnt at school to a vernacular and non-written L1. The central question of this paper will be how three different types of literate and metalinguistic knowledge intervene in this process. As a case study, the spontaneously written narratives of Moroccan school children who speak Tarifit Berber as their first language in Germany (with German as L2) and Morocco (with Modern Standard Arabic as L2) will be analysed. We assume that the writing of Berber in these two settings does not only differ on the level of the two different scripts, but also on the level of very divergent orthographic principles at the morpho-syntactical level. This paper presents material from two research projects on literacy acquisition of Moroccan students in Germany and Morocco, in which students from different grades were asked to produce oral narratives in Berber (and their second language, i.e. Arabic or German, respectively) and then to transcribe them according to their preferred script system. The similarities in the treatment of word boundaries cut across the overt differences in the choice of the script system: pupils in Germany, even if they use the Arabic script, transfer a word concept from German, while in Morocco, even in the case of Latin letters, a different model is dominant. As will be shown with respect to the problem of prepositional phrases in detail, the different models function like “matrix scripts”. They indicate at the same time, albeit in different degrees, a cultural accommodation to the dominant school or official language.

The general concepts in theorising the aesthetics of film are still rooted in occidental traditions. Thus, thinking about film is dominated by Western terms and aesthetic paradigms—such as “pieces of work”, the representation of reality or regarding the arts as an act of communication. From such an angle, it is difficult to describe different characteristics of the cinematic image, for example, its ephemeral character. In contrast to occidental thinking, the cultural traditions of East Asia are based on the concept of the way (dō or dao), which allow for the description of aesthetics of transitions and transformations. Inspired by the concept of kire-tsuzuki, as developed by the Japanese–German philosopher Ryōsuke Ōhashi, I shall, in this paper, describe some alternative ways of understanding appearance and occurrence in relation to the cinematic picture.

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of the Volga Germans’ national identity which is represented in the visual communication in the context of historical realities in the period of the end of the XIX and the beginning of the XX centuries. The symbolic space of preserved in Saratov Regional Local History Museum funds photos of propaganda posters, notes, streamers and labels’ patterns reflects not only the ethnical German traditional culture peculiarity but also marks famous historical events in the identified period. The comparative analysis of the elements and objects in the visual communication has led to the showing convergences both in their content and design. The semiotic method has revealed symbols and determined the semantics of the studied elements in the visual communication. The collected material has been divided into two groups, each of them having its clear explicit semantic load. The results obtained let us make virtual transfer into the ethnical German cultural space, set the geographical location and reconstruct some historical events typical of Russian Germans in the Volga Region. Preserved to this day not only the elements but also the objects of the visual communication are of historical value, fix ethnical German flavor, give an idea of the formation and representation of the Volga Germans’ identity. Preservation of the authenticity as well as biological survival was of the utter importance for the Russian Germans: the first settlers developed the wasteland in the adverse climate conditions, lived isolated, their dialects were the main means of communication; the Volga Germans equated themselves with the ethnical Germans inhabited their historical motherland – Germany. The concept idea of order typical of German ethnical culture ontologically with its value guidelines, traditions and customs is relevant in the present research.

Abstract In my contribution, I argue that a fruitful integration of computational network analytic methods into literary studies depends on how the ›interaction‹ of two characters in an abstract character network is formalized. I support this hypothesis by using the examples of co-presence, co-reference, and knowledge networks, which I analyze in Heinrich Kleist’s tragedy Die Familie Schroffenstein (1803). I assume that the co-presence of characters can provide the basis for more specific formalizations of interaction. But due to its basal specification of interaction, co-presence networks can only be integrated into rather limited questions of literary studies. I illustrate this circumstance by examining Franco Moretti’s approach in his essay Network Theory, Plot Analysis (2011): How does he connect his network analyses to concepts of literary studies? How does he reflect his methods? Which observational stance does he adopt? How appropriate is his approach to the object of study? And how does he tie his results back to literary theory? Moretti’s explorations show that his network analyses seem to be incompatible with established conceptions of characters – at least partially. Therefore, he demands a new conceptualization of dramatic characters in literary studies. To me, however, it seems to be more productive to put into perspective or enhance – under the auspices of network analysis – existing quantitative aspects of established character presentation (configuration, constellation). I therefore propose two additional formalizations of character interaction to create dramatic networks: co-references and knowledge transfers. Regular co-presence networks, which have widely been tested and discussed among (computational) literary scholars, will serve as a ground of comparison. I illustrate the merits and limitations of co-presence networks on both a single text analysis of Die Familie Schroffenstein and a larger corpus analysis of 587 German-language plays. Cursorily, I present the operationalization of co-references and knowledge transfers. The linguistic concept of co-reference means that two or more linguistic expressions refer to the same entities. A knowledge transfer, in my understanding, is a transmission of new information from at least one literary character to at least one other character. Manual annotations of co-reference chains and knowledge transfers serve as basis for the subsequent network creation. I compare these different manifestations of character interaction in terms of the resulting network visualizations as well as of various mathematical network metrics. The goal is to elicit how useful these two criteria are regarding drama analysis, e. g., the analysis of character properties, and to what extent they can complement, differentiate, or even replace the established co-presence networks. Co-presence, co-reference and knowledge networks reveal different aspects of the characters under consideration, picture different dramatic structures, and place different groups of characters at the center of the networks. Therefore, the three abstract textual representations seem to complement each other. In my article, I show that the extent to which the various criteria can be integrated into research questions of literary studies ought to be discussed on (at least) two levels. Firstly, it is necessary to ask how interesting, relevant, and informative a specific criterion is for one’s own research and whether it can relate to the terminology of literary studies. Secondly, it is important to consider how precise the respective criteria can be annotated manually and, subsequently, if and how reliable they can be annotated automatically.

The article deals with the linguistic representation of the linguoculturological triad "domestic – foreign – intercultural" as part of the theory of reflective and translation turns developed by D. Bachmann-Medick. Globalization has transformed the principle of binary categorization and mapped out the possibility of their synthesis and formation of a third space of communication. The purpose of the study is to analyze and describe translation strategies and techniques used for the transfer of intercultural meanings that create a third space in the perception of the global recipientt, where neither basic, nor adaptive culture markers are preserved. The empirical basis of the study is represented with the original and translated texts of international artistic festivals, memoirs of Russian and foreign artists, as well as the verbal content of news online platforms dedicated to the 150 th birth anniversary of S.P. Diaghilev. As a result of the analysis, three key strategies for the translation of linguistic-and-cultural units have been identified: domestication, foreignization and intercultural mediation. They are interchangeably used in the process of translating the Russian texts under consideration. However, owing to the communicative task of original texts – to convey the specifics of Russian culture and include national art in the world cultural fund, the strategy of intercultural mediation is the most frequently used one. This strategy is implemented through the use of Gallicisms in translated English and German texts, international vocabulary, and elimination of national and cultural specifics. It has been shown that a translator's individual style is imposed on the systemic and cultural specifics of natural languages.

Cette thèse propose de présenter les réceptions de F.W.J. Schelling en France au XIXe siècle en interrogeant comment cette réception a contribué à l’élaboration d’une philosophie nationale. Il s’agit de lier l’approche consistant à étudier la réception philosophique de Schelling et celle consistant à interroger la constitution de la philosophie française. Ce travail présente ainsi une histoire schellingienne de la philosophie française, qui correspond à l’histoire des constructions et des usages de la figure de Schelling. Il débute en 1801 avec la parution de l’ouvrage de Charles de Villers, La Philosophie de Kant qui constitue le point de départ de l’introduction de la philosophie schellingienne en France en même temps que celui de l’apparition de la problématique consistant à chercher à (re)élaborer une philosophie nationale. Il s’achève en 1901, avec la parution du dernier texte de Félix Ravaisson, le Testament Philosophique, qui constitue le dernier témoignage de l’usage de Schelling dans la philosophie française du XIXe siècle. Cette thèse comporte deux parties qui se chevauchent chronologiquement. La première se concentre sur la diffusion de la philosophie de Schelling, c’est-à-dire sur les différentes modalités de construction de sa figure au sein du paysage philosophique français. La seconde partie s’intéresse à la naturalisation de Schelling, c’est-à-dire aux usages de sa figure dans le cadre précis de l’élaboration et de la revendication d’une philosophie française, principalement par Cousin, Lamennais, Leroux et Ravaisson. De cette étude, ressortent trois résultats principaux : premièrement, elle permet d’envisager des devenirs possibles de la philosophie de Schelling. Deuxièmement, elle propose des histoires alternatives de la philosophie française du XIXe siècle, qui ne se résume ni au positivisme comtien ni au spiritualisme cousinien issu de Biran. Troisièmement, elle permet, plus largement, d’interroger les sens, la pertinence et les enjeux de la notion de « nationalité » en philosophie
This dissertation aims to present the reception of F.W.J. Schelling in France during the 19th century, examining how this reception contributed to the development of a national philosophy. The stake is to connect the study of Schelling's philosophical reception with that of the formation of French philosophy. This work thus presents a Schellingian history of French philosophy, corresponding to the history of the constructions and uses of Schelling’s figure. It begins in 1801, with the publication of Charles de Villers' La Philosophie de Kant, which was the starting point of the introduction of Schellingian philosophy in France, as well as the emergence of the concern to (re)define a national philosophy. It ends in 1901, with the publication of the last text of Félix Ravaisson's, Le Testament Philosophique, which represents the last indication of the use of Schelling in 19th century French philosophy. This dissertation is divided into two parts that overlap chronologically. The first part focuses on the dissemination of Schelling's philosophy, i.e. the various ways in which his figure was constructed within the French philosophical landscape. The second part focuses on Schelling's naturalization, i.e., the ways in which his figure was used in the context of the development and assertion of a French philosophy, mainly by Cousin, Lamennais, Leroux and Ravaisson. Three main results emerge from this study: first, it allows us to envisage possible futures for Schelling's philosophy. Secondly, it offers alternative histories of 19th century French philosophy, which cannot be reduced to Comtien positivism or to the biranian spiritualism of Cousin. Thirdly, it allows us to question the meaning, relevance and stakes of the notion of “nationality” in philosophy

Avant même la première distribution d'un film allemand en France, la presse spécialisée s'emploie à dénigrer les productions de l'ennemi héréditaire qui sont réduites à des œuvres de propagande. Ce n'est qu'à la fin de l'année 1921 que Louis Delluc parvient à projeter un premier film germanique. Aux réactions chauvines et nationalistes succèdent rapidement des commentaires plus réfléchis. Ces analyses sont construites sur des stéréotypes issus d'une vision romantique de l'Allemagne telle que Madame de Staël a pu la décrire. Pour les critiques, le succès mondial du cinéma d'outre-Rhin montre la supériorité des cultures européennes sur la " jeune " civilisation américaine. Dès lors, les productions allemandes deviennent un modèle pour le cinéma hexagonal. Avec Les Nibelungen ou Faust, le 7ème art allemand apparaît aux yeux de la critique comme l'archétype de la culture européenne. Ces longs métrages sont représentatifs de l'identité allemande mais dépassent les cadres nationaux pour atteindre une forme d'universel qu'atteste les réussites économiques des productions du milieu des années 1920. L'apparition du cinéma parlant renouvelle les relations franco-allemandes. Les collaborations sont désormais le lot commun des réalisations du début des années 1930 ce que symbolise la production de versions multiples. De part et d'autre du Rhin, les professionnels coopèrent à l'édification d'un cinéma européen sans pour autant perdre de vue l'indispensable ancrage national des films. Des transferts culturels franco-allemands seront multiples jusqu'en janvier 1933. Toutefois l'émigration allemande ne trouvera pas un accueil favorable dans les studios parisiens.

L'oeuvre de Gustave Oelsner-Monmerqué que notre thèse permet de découvrir offre une vision double, française et allemande, sur la société coloniale à Bourbon au début des années1840. Après une reconstitution détaillée de la biographie d'Oelsner-Monmerqué, l'étude met l'accent sur son pragmatisme abolitionniste dans l'exercice de ses fonctions de rédacteur en chef de la Feuille hebdomadaire de l'île Bourbon et de professeur de philosophie et de proviseur du Collège royal de Bourbon. En Allemagne, il poursuit son militantisme abolitionniste activement par voie littéraire à travers un roman, des articles de presse, des communications et une conférence. En publiant Schwarze und Weiße. Skizzen aus Bourbon (Noirs et Blancs. Esquisses de Bourbon) dans un pays qui ne possède pas d'esclaves, l'écrivain tente de contribuer à une émancipation plus rapide et complète. Son éclairage sur les conditions de la traite clandestine et sur la vie des esclaves dans la société bourbonnaise se distingue par son réalisme qui doit son expressivité au genre littéraire novateur de l'esquisse. Au-delà des frontières, cet ouvrage peut être considéré comme le premier roman abolitionniste bourbonnais
Gustave Oelsner-Monmerqué's work unearthed by us and presented in our doctoral thesis offers a double – French and German – vision of colonial society in Bourbon (now Reunion) Island in the early 1840s. This study begins with a detailed reconstitution of Oelsner-Monmerqué's life, then focuses on his abolitionist stance and actions as editor of the Feuille hebdomadaire de l'Ile Bourbon [Bourbon Island Weekly] and philosophy teacher at and principal of the Collège royal de Bourbon high school. Oelsner-Monmerqué pursued his abolitionist activism in Germany through literary channels: a novel, press articles andconferences. By publishing Schwarze und Weiße. Skizzen aus Bourbon [Blacks and Whites. Sketches of Bourbon] in a country which had no slaves, the author meant to contribute to their quicker and more complete emancipation. His descriptions of illegal slave trade and slave life in Bourbon Island's society have a realistic, expressive touch made possible by the use of an innovative literary genre, the sketch. A cross-boundary testimony, this work can be regardedas Bourbon Island's first abolitionist novel

Avant même la première distribution d'un film allemand en France, la presse spécialisée s'emploie à dénigrer les productions de l'ennemi héréditaire qui sont réduites à des œuvres de propagande. Ce n'est qu'à la fin de l'année 1921 que Louis Delluc parvient à projeter un premier film germanique. Aux réactions chauvines et nationalistes succèdent rapidement des commentaires plus réfléchis. Ces analyses sont construites sur des stéréotypes issus d'une vision romantique de l'Allemagne telle que Madame de Staël a pu la décrire. Pour les critiques, le succès mondial du cinéma d'outre-Rhin montre la supériorité des cultures européennes sur la « jeune » civilisation américaine. Dès lors, les productions allemandes deviennent un modèle pour le cinéma hexagonal. Avec Les Nibelungen ou Faust, le 7ème art allemand apparaît aux yeux de la critique comme l'archétype de la culture européenne. Ces longs métrages sont représentatifs de l'identité allemande mais dépassent les cadres nationaux pour atteindre une forme d'universel qu'atteste les réussites économiques des productions du milieu des années 1920. L'apparition du cinéma parlant renouvelle les relations franco-allemandes. Les collaborations sont désormais le lot commun des réalisations du début des années 1930 ce que symbolise la production de versions multiples. De part et d'autre du Rhin, les professionnels coopèrent à l'édification d'un cinéma européen sans pour autant perdre de vue l'indispensable ancrage national des films. Des transferts culturels franco-allemands seront multiples jusqu'en janvier 1933. Toutefois l'émigration allemande ne trouvera pas un accueil favorable dans les studios parisiens
Just after the first World War, French critics commented German film like an industrial or propaganda product. It was until the end of 1921, that Louis Delluc showed a first German movie in France. After some nationalists reactions, critics built around stereotypes an romantic vision of German films. These romantics visions maded by Madame de Staël in the beginning of 19 century. For French critics, the german production worlwide success proved the suporiority of European culture to the “ young “ american civilization. With The Nibelungen or Faust, these features represented German identity. But these film beyond nationalist space to acceded universal signification. Germans productions became the archetype of European Culture in the middle of the 1920s. In the beginning of the 1930s, talkies transformed French-German relations. There were a lot of collaboration on both side of the Rhine: of course, in Babelsberg studios – the most important in European space – and Parisians studios too. For example, Georg Wilhelm Pabst realized three differents versions of Die Dreigroschenoper : the first in german language, a second in french and the third in english. Pabst worked with differents actors and differents technincian. French and German works together – in some case English – to build European cinema without losing national identity. Until January 1933, the French German cultural transfers were multiple. However, the German Emigration didn't find acceptance in the Parisan studios
Schon vor der ersten Aufführung eines deutschen Films in Frankreich setzt sich die französische Fachpresse dafür ein, die Produktionen des Erbfeinds als reine Propagandawerke herabzuwürdigen. Erst Ende des Jahres 1921 gelingt es Louis Delluc einen deutschen Film in Frankreich zu zeigen. Auf chauvinistische und nationalistische Reaktionen folgen schnell besonnenere Kommentare. Diese Analysen basieren auf Stereotypen, die einer romantischen Vision Deutschlands entspringen, wie sie Madame de Staël beschrieben hat. Die Kritiken stellen den Welterfolg des deutschen Kinos, als Überlegenheit der europäischen Kulturen über die „junge“ amerikanische Zivilisation, dar. Von jetzt ab werden die deutschen Produktionen zu einem Model für das französische Kino. Mit „Die Nibelungen“ oder „Faust“ erscheint die deutsche Kinokunst den Kritikern wie eine Urform der europäischen Kultur. Diese Filme repräsentieren zwar die deutsche Identität, reichen aber über nationale Grenzen hinaus, um eine universelle Form zu erreichen, die durch die wirtschaftlichen Erfolge der Produktionen Mitte der 20er Jahre bezeugt wird. Das Erscheinen des Tonfilms führt zu einer Erneuerung der deutsch-französischen Beziehungen. Zusammenarbeit ist von nun ab ein Kennzeichen der Filmproduktion des Beginns der 30er Jahre. Dies wird durch Herstellung von verschiedenen Versionen deutlich. Auf beiden Seiten des Rheins kooperieren die Filmemacher bei der Erschaffung des europäischen Kinos, ohne dabei die wichtige national Verankerung des Films zu vernachlässigen. Bis zum Januar 1933 gibt es einen mannigfaltigen deutsch-französischen Kulturaustausch. Dennoch findet die deutsche Emigration in die Pariser Studios keinen wohlwollenden Empfang

This volume elucidates the changing relationship between heroization and othering in a German-Chinese cultural comparison. Intercultural case studies illustrate which representatives of German culture and history were subjected to a process of heroization or were disparaged as negative anti-heroes in Chinese culture. Vice versa, Chinese figures who adopted a corresponding heroic or antiheroic function within the German-speaking world are also examined. This German-Chinese dialogue, in which cultural scientists from Germany and China participate, is guided by the assumption that processes of heroization and de-heroization represent paradigmatic focal points in the economics of intercultural transfer. The relationship between individual and collective heroism and the meaning of alienness - be it of Chinese or German characteristics - when importing heroes offer new perspectives insofar as these importations prove to be complex and inconsistent. With contributions by Achim Aurnhammer, Chen Zhuangying, Cong Tingting, Fan Jieping, Olmo Gölz, Joachim Grage, He Zhiyuan, Huang Liaoyu, Hu Chunchun, Hu Kai, Sara Kathrin Landa, Stefanie Lethbridge, Lin Chunjie, Dieter Martin, Isabell Oberle, Dominik Pietzcker, Nicola Spakowski, Jennifer Stapornwongkul, Wang Zhiqiang, Wei Yuquing, Xie Juan, Zhang Fan, Zhu Jianhua, Ulrike Zimmermann.

The Franco-Chinese migrant writer François Cheng (Grand Prix de la francophonie de l’Académie française 2001) is the first French Academician of Asian origin. His French- language novel Le Dit de Tianyi (Prix Femina 1998, rather differently translated into English as The River Below) recounts the protagonist’s life trajectory across the turbulent twentieth century, from wartime China to France and back to a radically changed Communist China. The protagonist’s cross-cultural and often painful migrant experience largely mirrors that of the author, yet with the final part of the novel being completely fictional. The novel’s generic and stylistic hybridity demonstrates the author’s strenuous effort to investigate the literary possibilities of comparatively incorporating both Western and Eastern cultural heritages in the creative process. Although Le Dit is not formally categorized as a travelogue, travel motifs permeate the novel. The tripartite structure – ‘epic of departure’, ‘detouring journey’, ‘myth of return’ – is redolent of established models of travel since Odyssey. The characterization of the protagonist as a ‘wandering soul’ (âme errante) going on artistic pilgrimages as well as arduous quests for knowledge both in China and to the West, further complemented by the constant longing and attempt to be reunited with loved ones, is among the key features of travel writing largely shared by both Western and Chinese traditions. These travel motifs interact dynamically with the fundamental conception of the novel as both a Bildungsroman and Künstlerroman that linguistically translates, epistemically transforms, and spiritually transcends the individual’s experience of migrance (migration and errance). Such an interaction, then, inspires informed imagination and provokes lateral thinking about cultural representations, and entails a transcultural aesthetic that simultaneously revisits two great cultural heritages, engendering something ‘new’, or indeed, ‘old’. Drawing on theories of cultural translation (initiated notably by Homi Bhabha) and transculturality (Graham Huggan; Wolfgang Welsch), this article examines how the wide range of travel motifs function as a consistent structural and thematic frame and bring frictional qualities and effects to Cheng’s translingual novel. And I argue that these travel motifs ultimately create a liminal space where both European and Chinese literary and artistic traditions are set in motion towards a planetarian possibility of cultural ‘transcendence’ (Cheng’s own word).

In this essay I analyze contemporary artistic practices that visualize “Arisierungen” (“aryanizations”)—a term coined by the National Socialists for the forced transfer of property from the Jewish population in Germany, Austria, and German-occupied Europe to Nazi owners. How can this robbery, the destruction of contexts as well as restitution be visualized in art? Which interdisciplinary forms of medialization are found for the absence of these stolen objects and their relationships to their former owners? How are these non-human entities witnesses of trauma? These questions are relevant today in light of the decreasing number of human witnesses to the holocaust, and the subsequent transformation of communicative memory into cultural memory (Jan Assmann) that necessitates new forms of memory. Discourses on legitimate forms of visual representation of Nazi crimes and art after Auschwitz (Theodor W. Adorno) raise questions also addressed in the critique of W.G. Sebald’s work, and relevant to my interdisciplinary analysis of artistic practices dealing with “Arisierungen” that pulls on memory, history/historicity, and void/absence in the work of Anna Artaker, Maria Eichhorn and Arno Gisinger. I also concentrate on the relationship between institutions and artists, asking: Do artists work on behalf of institutions to research institutional history, or are artists’ projects independently executed? How can these works be contextualized in terms of (post-)conceptual art and institutional critique? Do they employ an archival aesthetic, one also used by Sebald? And finally, how is language relevant in these artistic practices?