Research Workshop “Voices from the Margins: Societal Change and the Environment in Poetry” for young scholars

In 2014 the German poetry slammer Julia Engelmann reached more than 1.5 mio social media users with her performance of “One Day / Text Reckoning”. Engelmann’s text about the gap between our dreams and reality, the fear to lose or fail and the lack of self-confidence, and how all of that leads to hesitation, standstill even, describes a generation of pessimism and passivity. “One Day / Text Reckoning” is thus part of a mosaic of the most important moments, thoughts and feelings of society. It exemplifies how marginalised groups often use the genre poetry to criticise society, and how this genre becomes a marker of societal change.

The project “Voices from the Margins: Societal Change and the Environment in Poetry” consists of a two-day workshop (presumably in September 2016) and an ensuing publication of the results. Young scholars from varying disciplines whose work focusses on societal, cultural and ecological transformation are invited to join the project. The workshop includes a keynote address, three panels (“Words of Transformation”, “Nefotiating Societal Change and the Environment” and “Calling for a New Order”), a poster presentation (“Views on Societies, Cultures and Environments) as well as a coaching session and a public reading.

For further information please contact Lioba Schreyer (lioba.schreyer@uni-due.de).