Details

International Conference “Transatlantic Cinema”

Hollywood - American dream factory or European export hit? An international conference at the University of Passau focuses on the reciprocal influences from Europe and the USA on the film industry.

Hollywood cinema is as paradoxical as the concept of America itself: "Founded and made great above all by Jewish immigrants and providing a refuge for foreigners in the United States, in many ways it has been a somewhat 'un-American' institution, just as it is at the same time the most American of institutions" - argues Michael Richardson in Otherness in Hollywood Cinema. How intensive are the reciprocal influences from Europe and the US? Given the enormous influence which cinema has wielded on international audiences since its inception, it is high time that the cinematic aspects of transatlanticism were thoroughly explored. This is the overriding aim of the projected international conference at the University of Passau.

Aspects of transatlantic co-operation

The participants debate, among others, the following areas: aspects of financial and artistic collaboration between renowned film studios, directors and producers such as Fritz Lang, Woody Allen or Roland Emmerich as well as famous actors on both sides of the Atlantic, such as Cary Grant or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other conference topics are film genres and the places in the movies, where intercultural contact occurs. The following questions are discussed: How does the contact with the other side change the respective identity? Does the encounter allow the integration of the formerly Other into the Self?

Participants and funding

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kamm, Chairholder for English Literature and Culture, and Prof. Dr. Karsten Fitz, Professor of American Studies / Cultural and Media Studies, conduct the event that is intended for scholars in the field of English and American Studies. Experts from Austria, Great Britain, the US and the Netherlands are going to participate. The conference is funded by the DFG, the Bavarian America Academy, the German Association for American Studies, the American Embassy and by the University of Passau.

Principal Investigator(s) at the University	Prof. Dr. Karsten Fitz (Professur für Amerikanistik / Cultural and Media Studies) Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kamm (Lehrstuhl für Englische Literatur und Kultur)
Project period	27.10.2016 - 29.10.2016
Website	http://www.phil.uni-passau.de/en/english-literature-and-culture/conferences/transatlantic-cinema/
Source of funding	DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft > DFG - Internationales > DFG - Internationales - Internationale wissenschaftliche Veranstaltungen
Projektnummer	KA 798/5-1 AOBJ 632232