In college, it can sometimes be hard to find events that are culturally diverse or that for one single moment can make a person feel like they are in a different world. With the help of the University and the Department of German Russian and East Asian Languages a little piece of these nations are brought to the public. Three times a semester, the GREAL Department will have representatives from different countries speak to audiences who want to learn about other cultures; this is called the International Forum Series.
According to Dr. Geoffrey Howes director of AYA in Salzburg, the International Forum Series started around 1990. “We started the series to familiarize each other with our work,” Howes said. “The original idea was to read papers we would be giving or had already given, to give each other feedback, and to get an idea where the scholarship in the department was going.”
The forum is not only a place to discuss interdepartmental works. Howes said, “We have used the forum also to discuss teaching issues and allow graduate students to present their innovations. In the past few years we have used the forum as a way to introduce guests of the department to the University community.”
This year, the forum introduces poet/writer, Dr. Peter Rosei, as their first speaker in the series. He has been touted as one of the most distinguished contemporary writers in the German language.
Rosei was born in Vienna, Austria in 1946. Shortly after his schooling around 1970, Rosei started writing novels, stories, travel accounts, essays, poetry, dramas as well as children’s books.
“When I was young I read a lot and thought that this would be my thing,” Rosei said. “The great thing about writing is that you don’t need much machinery to do it, you don’t need an orchestra. You cannot erase it, you cannot oppress it, and political writing is the most individual approach to telling somebody something.”
After he started writing, Rosei received much critical acclaim for his essays and novels. He has received many awards including:Federal Ministry for Education and Art Prize, for stories in 1973, the Franz Kafka prize for literature in Vienna in 1993, the 1997 Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and the Arts and many more prestigious accolades.
Some of Rosei’s works include: “Taking a Floating Approach,” “Who Was Edgar Allan,” “Rainy Day Theory,” “Enchantment” and most recently “Love and Death.” All of these works have particular meanings and messages but overall there is a very sophisticated message that Rosei wants to get across.
“I stand for a concept that the text does not emerge from the book, it emerges from the book and the mind of the person reading the book,” Rosei said. “The person reading is as much involved in the process of making the text than the writer sending the signs to the audience.”
Rosei writes all of his books in German but they are translated into many languages throughout the world. The fact that his books are translated so vastly is one of the accomplishments that he is most proud of. “I love most that my books have been translated in a lot of languages,” he said. “I have a good contact to different people.”
Today, Dr. Rosei will be speaking in the Mylander Room of the Union at 3:30 p.m. The session will consist of him giving a bit of background information while reading selections from his works in German while having students translate the material in a very open forum.
“You need a strong will and determination to be a writer, otherwise the apples won’t grow delicious on this branch,” Rosei said. “You can’t expect people to love you for your writing, they should love you for you.”
