Lectures in German
Visits at the University Waasa, in Germersheim and Krakow
University Waasa ( Finland) in the ninenties
University Waasa, the Institute of German Language, organized regular conferences every year. The topics dedicated to the issues of literature and literary translation were on the agenda every second year. For many years, I have been continuously invited to attend, and fortunately on several occasions I was lucky to be able to participate.
My first paper was presented 1992 and dealt with the topic of difficulties connected with translation of poetry under the title "Difficulties of translating poems by František Halas from Czech into German". (Zu den Übersetzungsschwierigkeiten der Gedichte von Frantisek Halas)
Waasa - Halas poems
The second paper was presented in the year 1996 and concentrated on justification of substitution in literary translation. The title of this lecture was Translator´s Competence and Substitution (Übersetzerische Kompetenz und Substitution).
The third paper dealing with the concept of identity in philosophy and literature was called Double Identity, Changed Identity, No Identity (Doppelidentität, verwechselte Indentität, keine Identität) - conference 1999. This was my favorite topic as I have always been fascinated with situations when things and people were not exactly what they seemed.
All these years I have also tried to spread knowledge about Finnish writers connected to German and Czech literature, one example for all - Manfred Peter Hein.
Publishing Activities - Manfred Peter Hein.pdf
Other conferences in German studies
In the nineties there were many other opportunities to participate in seminars, conferences and workshops attended by teachers and scientists connected with German language and literature. Many of them were funded by Goethe Institute (seminar in Hamburg) or by universities themselves.
I obtained a scholarship by University Essen in 1994 and could attend a very interesting program whilst I was accommodated with a German family in Duisburg. The benefit of this three weeks stay was enormous, one of the reasons being that the family members kindly let me fully participate in their everyday life. The lectures concentrated especially on post war German history.
Essen University 94 - Summary of German modern history and literature
Goethe Institute also organized conferences on the linguistic topics like “German in Business and Economy” that took regularly place in Germersheim. I contributed with a paper describing lectures on specialized language at the University of Economics in Prague.
Publishing Activities - Fachuebersetzung im Unterricht - Germersheim.pdf
Publishing Activities - Germersheim 97 - List of Speakers
Another center of activities of German studies was the University of Krakow which organized (in collaboration with Austrian Embassy) a Conference called In the Middle of Europe. The idea of pan-europeism promoted by my favorite writer Stefan Zweig was the topic which fitted very well to the atmosphere of this conference (my paper had a title “Stefan Zweig and the World of Today” – a hint to the book by Zweig The World of Yesterday). An important event was also the Congress of German studies and German teachers from all over the world (not only Europeans) which took place in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 2001.
Mitten in Europa Krakow 95 - list of speakers
Publishing Activities - Mitten in Europa Krakow 95 - Stefan Zweig und die Welt von heute
My relation to the University town Waasa, to Helsinki and to Finland in general was strengthened not only on the professional basis but also through many friends with whom we have been keeping in touch for many years. This was the case also with other international events. In the tumultuous nineties they served not only for exchanging knowledge but also enabled valuable human encounters.
In the nineties