Renowned researcher of Günter Grass's work, prof. Dieter Stolz was a guest at the University of Gdańsk on Tuesday, November 7 and gave a lecture entitled 'The Writer as Troublemaker. On the role of politics in the work of Günter Grass / Der Autor als Störenfried. Zur Rolle des Politischen bei Günter Grass'.
The artist, born in the Free City of Gdańsk (1927-2015), honorary doctor of our university and honorary citizen of the City of Gdańsk, created a work that has no equal in terms of aesthetic quality, significance for the politics of memory and contemporary relevance - emphasised the guest during the lecture.
The lecture was the fourth instalment in a series of events presenting the latest global research on the work of the writer-illustrator. They are organised by the Borderland Narratives Research Workshop (Institute of German Philology) and the Günter Grass Association in Gdańsk.
The scientific director of the Günter Grass Foundation in Bremen is a recognised researcher of the work of the 'writer from Wrzeszcz', editor of, among other things, his collected works, and was also a close associate of the artist. The meeting was joint with promoting Dieter Stolz's latest monograph 'Günter Grass. Der Schriftsteller' (2023), which contains the first comprehensive look at the artist's literary legacy, including poems, plays, novels, novellas, short stories and autobiographies. The German researcher reads it as a cross-genre thematic continuation. The meeting and conversation with the researcher about his latest book and his collaboration with the artist was led by GGA President dr hab. Miłosława Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk, prof. UG.
As part of the Grassology series of events at UG, two open guest lectures by prof. Nicole Thesz from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and prof. Julian Preece from the University of Swansea (Wales, UK) took place in 2022, as well as an anniversary interdisciplinary conference 'Günter Grass. Dialogues and Intercultural Confrontations / Interkulturelle Dialoge und Auseinandersetzungen / Intercultural Dialogues and Encounters'. It was then hosted at the UG by scholars of Grass's work from 11 countries, from the USA to India. The conference was accompanied by a programme of events at the intersection of science and culture, 'Gdansk Grass Studies 2022', in the preparation and execution of which 25 entities active in the fields of science, culture and education from Poland and Germany were involved.
The Gdańsk Grassologists, meanwhile, presented their research in, among other things, a multi-author monograph in the form of a literary guidebook 'Wandering with Günter Grass. A Literary Cartography of the City', published under the editorship of prof. Miłosława Borzyszkowska-Szewczyk and Marta Turska by the Kashubian Institute. The book - the aftermath of a research and animation project - is also available in an English-language version, 'Walking with Günter Grass. A Literary Mapping of the City'.
The series of guest lectures is realised within the framework of the IDUB project 'Borderlands in Dialogue. Dialogues in the Borderland. Narratives - Memory - Identity'.
