Frank
Finlay BA, PGCE, PhD
(Newcastle
upon Tyne)
Head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures
|
Frank
Finlay BA, PGCE, PhD |
| Professor
of German & Head of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures |
Sprechstunde: Tuesdays, 11-12 |
My path into German
Studies (and my passion for
it!) owes more than a little to my background. Although I grew up in
Lancashire, my mother is Austrian and, as a result, the German language
was always spoken around the house and in the long summer holidays,
often spent with family in Austria. A bi-lingual background allied to a
love of literature, history and the arts more widely (together with, not
least, some inspirational teaching at Thornleigh College), made
studying German at University an easy decision. I have been fortunate,
as with all of my colleagues in the Leeds Department, that my studies
and work have taken me all over the the German-speaking area: to
Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin as an undergraduate and postgraduate; back
to Austria, where I taught English at University for four years; and
then to Cologne where I held a research post. Throughout this time I was
able to indulge my interest in such a fascinating part of the world and
to make a few life-long friends. There was also time for a huge amount
of fun along the way! RESEARCH AREAS German literature in its social and
historical context; Contemporary Austrian drama and the
stage and screenplays of Peter Turrini; Literature and
National Socialism; Post 1989 Narrative Fiction. Available to supervise PhD or Masters
by research in any of the above areas. MODULES in 05/06
PUBLICATIONSBooks
Articles in Periodicals/Chapters in books
Archive Databases
As Named Translator:
Recent Conferences/Invited Papers: 2003 'Das Ende der Popliteratur?' Die Romane Christian Krachts. German Academic Exchange Service, Cumberland Lodge, London 2003 Don't Mention the War! Heinrich Böll's Early Publishing Career. Centre for the Study of Contemporary German Literature, University of Wales, Swansea. 2002 The Rebirth of the Narrative? German Fiction since Unification. Department of Comparative Literature, Hong Kong University 2001 ‘Peter Turrini's use and critique of the media’. Blueprints for No-Man's Land: Connections in Contemporary Austrian Culture, University of Aberdeen 2000 German-Language Literature at the Turn of the Century – ‘Popular’ and ‘International’? Seventh International Colloquium on Contemporary German Lanaguage Literature. University of Bradford. Session Chair and Discussant. (April) 1996- present: Thirteen weekend conferences of the Internationaler Herausgeberkreis Heinrich Böll, sponsored by the Heinrich-Böll Foundation. The plan of the project and the editorial criteria can be found in the publication Einem Autor folgen ... Kölner Ausgabe. Zur Einführung. Cologne: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 117pp, (1998). 1998 Respondent to a paper by Theo van Leeuwen and Ruth Wodak on the Crimes of the Wehrmacht exhibition. Media and Memory. Conference of PRISM, University of Bradford. (October) 1998 ‘Passion Plays: Peter Turrini’s "state-of-the-nation" drama. Special session on contemporary Austrian drama. Conference on Justice and Morality in European Drama. University of London, School of Advanced Study. (June) 1998 Session Chair and discussant. Literature, Media and Markets. Sixth International Colloquium on Contemporary German Literature. University of Bradford. (April) 1998 ‘Literature and the Media Age. The "Kölner Ausgabe" of Heinrich Böll’s works.’ Conference of University Teachers of German, University of Leicester. (April) 1998 ‘Die literarischen Anfänge Heinrich Bölls.’ Keynote address. International Heinrich Böll Symposium, Universidad de Valencia, Spain. (April) 1998 ‘"Heimat und keine". Heinrich Böll Leben und Werk’. Guest Lecture, Univeristy of Alicante, Spain. (April) 1997 ‘Das ästhetische Konzept Heinrich Bölls’. Großkritiker gegen Kleinbürger. Der Streit um die "Gesinnungsliteratur" und die Aktualität von Bölls Werk. Evangelische Akademie Nordelbien, Bad Segeberg, Germany. (December) 1997 ‘"Ein Schriftsteller, der funktionert, ist keiner mehr." Heinrich Böll and the Gruppe 47.’ International Symposium on the 50th Anniversary of Gruppe 47. Institute of Germanic Studies, University of London. (September) 1997 ‘Irish Stew. Die Edition eines Kunstwerks "im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit". Dargestellt am Beispiel Heinrich Bölls Irisches Tagebuch.’ Conference on German–Irish Studies, University of Limerick, Eire. (September) 1996 Guest of the DAAD. Conference on Das Eigene und das Fremde. Cumberland Lodge, London. (June) 1996 Editionswissenschaftliches Kolloquium. Invited discussant. The event was attended by representatives of projects editing the complete works of Kleist, Brecht, Wedekind, Bachmann, Grass, Johnson, and Böll. Cologne, Germany. (May) The colloquium is documented in the volume ‘Ich denke immer, wenn ich einen Druckfehler sehe, es sei etwas Neues erfunden’, by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. 1996 Session Chair and discussant. Communication and Orientation. Sixth International Colloquium on Contemporary German Literature. University of Bradford. (April) 1995 ‘Das Vokabular der Machtergreifung und –erhaltung: The critique of political discourse in Böll’s essays and narrative works of the 1980s.’ London International Böll Symposium, Institute of Germanic Studies, University of London. (December) 1995 ‘Heinrich Böll und die "Vernunft der Poesie".’ World Congress of the International Association of Germanic Studies (IVG), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. (August) 1995 ‘"Keine Angst vor Systemveränderung": Beuys, Böll and the Green Movement.’ Conference on Ecological Thought in German Culture. University of Wales, Swansea. (March) 1994 ‘Heinrich Böll’s Aesthetic Thinking.’ Fourth Bradford International Colloquium on Contemporary German Literature. University of Bradford. (April) 1993 ‘Die Literatur im Fremdsprachenunterricht.’ Teachers’ Summer School. University of Salford. (July) 1992 ‘Heinrich Böll und seine Erzählung: Das Brot der frühen Jahre. Teachers’ Summer School. University of Salford. (July) 1991 Session Chair and discussant. Colloquium of International Böll Scholars, funded by the German Foreign Ministry. Haus Wittgenstein, Bonn, Germany. (June) 1990 ‘"Erhaben ist das Asoziale." Heinrich Bölls Ästhetik des Humanen.’ Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Haus Wittgenstein, Bonn, Germany. (March) Organisation of Conferences and Cultural Events 2004 In Perspective: Uwe Timm. An International Symposium. University of Leeds 2004 [with Ruth Owen] Interactions. Contemporary German Literature's Dialogue with the Arts. University of Leeds. 2001 [with Stuart Taberner] Emerging writers in the German-speaking world. University of Leeds 2001 Stella Rotenberg at 85, University of Leeds Since 1999: Readings by a German writers, University of Leeds 1998 Popular Media Culture. Seminar for teachers and students. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute, York. University of Bradford. (November) 1997 "Autoren nach der Wende." Recent Writing from the New Germany. Series of readings by Ingo Schramm, Thomas Brussig, and Jens Sparschuh. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute, York. University of Bradford. (March and November) 1997 Heinrich Böll’s "Enter the Clown". In collaboration with the ‘Theatre in the Mill’, University of Bradford and ‘Company Paradiso’, Manchester. Performance and panel discussion. (June) 1996 Heinrich Böll – Leben und Werk. An exhibition and accompanying programme of guest lectures and sixth form open day. Sponsored by the Goethe Institute, York and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Cologne. University of Bradford. (October–November) 1996 Jugend–Kultur–Deutschland. Seminar for teachers and students. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute, York. University of Bradford. (June) 1996 Marcel Beyer reads: "Flughunde". In collaboration with the Goethe Institute, York. University of Bradford. (February) 1995 Co-organiser, with R. Jeutter, of a conference on contemporary Austrian drama at the Manchester Metropolitan University, including a fringe programme of events: a reading by Jakov Lind, and the British premières of Hermann Nitsch’s 1st Abreaction Play and Brigitte Schwaiger’s Yes, My Führer. Sources of external funding included the Austrian Institute, London. (September) 1995 Jury Member, National Students’ German Drama Week, University of Lancaster, sponsored by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. (March) 1992 Member of the organising committee and session chair for the International Symposium Heinrich Böll: Moral-Ästhetik-Politik. Cologne, Germany. (December) |
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