Jeremy Redlich | Fuji Women's University (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeremy Redlich

Nuclear Futures in the Post-Fukushima Age. Literature, Film, and Performance from Germany and Japan. Edited by Hester Baer and Michele Mason. Palgrave MacMillan, 2024

This chapter focuses on the ecologically oriented texts of the writer, poet, and activist Yōko Ta... more This chapter focuses on the ecologically oriented texts of the writer, poet, and activist Yōko Tawada, who was born in Japan and has resided in Berlin for more than half of her life. In discussing Tawada’s eco-texts as “radioactive discourse,” the following examines how she strategically highlights physical, linguistic, and political forms of “contamination” in her post-Fukushima speculative fiction. In both “The Island of Eternal Life” and The Emissary, Tawada offers a subversive take on isolationist policies in order to simultaneously critique exclusionary nationalism and comment on the futility of isolation from an ecological and planetary perspective.

NOBEL: Journal of Literature and Language Teaching, 2024

An abundance of research and scholarship highlighting why and how literature (i.e., novels, ... more An abundance of research and scholarship highlighting why and how literature (i.e., novels, plays, poetry, short stories) can be used effectively in foreign language learning contexts exists. However, these publications prioritize “literary” learning objectives over “language” ones. We aim to support the effective teaching of literature in foreign language learning classrooms by providing a structured and principled approach to developing an integrated literature in language learning course or module that equally prioritizes “content” and “language” learning objectives. By adopting the 4C (Content, Cognition, Culture, and Communication) framework from CLIL, and by adapting CEFR principles, benchmarks, and Can-do statements, we propose a method and framework for developing the beginning-to-end stages inabalanced literature in language learning course design. We outline pedagogically sound steps for creating global learning objectives and activities that engage students of varying motivations and language proficiency levels. The organization of CEFR Can-do statements into the 4C framework is presented. In addition, activities for use in a literature classroom are described, including explanations of the underlying Can-do statements and aspects of the 4C framework they support. The proposed method and framework will aid instructors seeking to utilize literary texts in foreign language learning contexts.

The Bulletin of the Faculty of Humanities, Fuji Women's University, 2023

Towards the end of her 2020 short essay, published as Der Weltbürgersteig by the online German li... more Towards the end of her 2020 short essay, published as Der Weltbürgersteig by the online German literary website Stadtsprachen, 1 Yoko Tawada concludes her musings on life during the COVID-19 pandemic with the piquing statement: If no one had to die from it, Iʼd even praise the Coronavirus as a metaphor for the ideal world citizen, who effortlessly crosses the borders of countries and religions; who constantly transforms to adapt to new surroundings, and who survives through contact with humans, by having deep conversations, and by going to concerts, public readings, and the theater. In particular it loves to visit grandparents and sick friends. (my trans.) 2 After this tongue-in-cheek comparison of the COVID virus with the ideal world citizen, the text reminds us that Er schadet uns (it harms us), with emphasis on the vulnerability of the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions. The essay concludes with: the Coronavirus intends to overtake the planet as the superior world citizen. 3 Published in the relatively early days of the pandemic, 1 Der Weltbürgersteig is a Tawada neologism that combines Der Weltbürger, meaning world citizen, with der Bürgersteig, meaning sidewalk. The term combines key topics discussed in the essay: travel, human interaction, and bordercrossing, together with restrictions and prohibition, being kept on the outside and denied entry, and an overall inability to take part. 2 Wenn niemand daran sterben müsste, würde ich sogar den Coronavirus als Metapher für den idealen Weltbürger preisen, der mühelos Länder-und Religionsgrenzen überschreitet, sich stets verwandelt, um sich einer neuen Umgebung anzupassen und sich durch menschliche Kontakte, intensive Gespräche, Konzerte, Lesungen oder Theaterstücke lebendig hält. 3 Wenn auch ich eine Verschwörungstheorie verbreiten dürfte, würde ich behaupten, der Coronavirus habe vor, als ein besserer Weltbürger unseren Planeten zu übernehmen.

The German Quarterly, 2017

Wo der Wille zur Macht fehlt, gibt es Niedergang: An Examination of Ascent and Descent in Nietzsc... more Wo der Wille zur Macht fehlt, gibt es Niedergang: An Examination of Ascent and Descent in Nietzsche and Thomas Mann Jeremy Redlich In Also Sprach Zarathustra the parable titled “Der Genesende” sees Zara- thustra awoken by a most abysmal thought and as a result falls into a kind of sleepy stupor. He remains on his bed of repose a duration of seven days due to a shame and disgust he feels for humanity, one which may only be overcome once man finds the strength to come to a self-conscious affirmation of both the most joyous and most terrible elements of one’s life. As Zarathustra later states in “Das trunkne Lied” “[s]agtet ihr jemals ja zu einer Lust? Oh, meine Freunde, so sagtet ihr ja auch zu allem Wehe. Alle Dinge sind verkettet, verfadelt, verliebt” (831). In both parables Nietzsche is advocating the notion of the eternal recurrence as the essential principle behind a being that is not supported or sanctioned by a transcendent power outside of man that provides purpose, meaning, m...

The Bulletin of the Faculty of Humanities, Fuji Women's University, 2021

Journal of Literature in Language Teaching, 2020

This paper describes how reader-response and stylistics approaches can be implemented in a langua... more This paper describes how reader-response and stylistics approaches can be implemented in a language teaching context as a means of deepening learners' understanding and appreciation of literature and language. Supported by experience of teaching university literature classes, and by research in literature and language learning, a simple guide for designing and implementing a literary text analysis task to English language learners of varying proficiencies is explained. First, with lower to intermediate proficiency language learners in mind, key concepts and practical approaches from transactional reader-response theories will be presented to show how reading and discussing literary texts can be an active, collaborative and emotionally-engaging experience. Next, because of its focus on analyzing the linguistic features of a literary text, this paper shows how key concepts from stylistics, in particular Gricean pragmatics, can provide higher proficiency students with a framework for close, analytical, and evidence-based readings and discussion of a short literary text through concrete examples of discussion activities. 本稿は、言語教育の場において、読者反応アプローチと文体論的アプローチが学習者の文学・言語を理解・批評する力を深める手段としてどのように導入されうるのかについて述べる。大学での文学の授業の経験と、文学を使った外国語教育の研究に基づき、さまざまなレベルの英語学習者を対象とした文学テクスト分析のタスクを考案・実施するための概要が説明されている。まず、初級・中級用には、交流読者反応理論の重要な概念と実践法を紹介した上で、文学のテクストを読解・議論することが学習者にとってどのように能動的、協同的、かつ感情を引き込むような経験になりうるかを述べる。次に、上級用には、文体論的アプローチ(特にグライスの語用論)の重要な概念を用いて、学習者が短編のテクストを厳密に、分析的に、証拠に基づいて読解・議論できるようになるための枠組みがどのように確立されうるのか、ディスカッション活動の具体例を使って示す。

The Bulletin of The Faculty of Humanities, Fuji Women's University, 2020

For many literary scholars and followers of German literature and culture, 2019 has been celebrat... more For many literary scholars and followers of German literature and culture, 2019 has been celebrated as fontane.200ʼ in recognition of the birth of Germanyʼs most well-known author of the Realistʼ period, Theodor Fontane (born Dec. 30, 1819). Organized by both the Brandenburg Society for Culture and History at the University of Potsdam, and his hometown of Neuruppin, fontane.200 has offered various attractions for everyone, from Fontane novices to enthusiasts, throughout Germany. These attractions include photographic exhibitions of Fontaneʼs European travels, visual and installation art exhibitions in Brandenburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and Neuruppin, several theatre performances, as well as land and water tours of places where Fontane lived and visited. In particular for Fontane scholars, fontane.200 also organized an academic conference in July 2019 called ºFontanes Medien," where leading scholars in German Studies and Media Studies gathered to share current research on Fontaneʼs continuing relevance within contemporary and past media ecologies. 1 It is not, however, only with respect to discussions of media that Fontane scholars still find cause for further examination of the authorʼs modest oeuvre. Over the last decade, monographs, book chapters, and journal articles continue 1 The fontane.200 website, accessible in German, English, and Polish, can be found at https://fontane-200.de/en/. The conference ºFontanes Medien" featured prominent literary and media scholars like Rolf Parr, Fotis Jannidis, Roland Berbig, and Ilinca Iurascu, and took place at the University of Potsdam.

Race is subtly present, though never actually named as such, in several of Yoko Tawada’s texts as... more Race is subtly present, though never actually named as such, in several of Yoko Tawada’s texts as a means by which protagonists self-identify and are identified. However, despite the prominence of dermal and racial tropes throughout her oeuvre, there has been little discussion in secondary scholarship on this ideologically provocative aspect of Tawada’s work. To illustrate Tawada’s highly critical engagement with, and deconstruction of, racialized identities, the following analysis focuses on the short story “Bioskoop der Nacht” through a theoretical lens informed by critical race theory, theories of racial performativity and whiteness studies. Specifically, I investigate how public spaces, like a public toilet and a segregated public bench, can be consequential in producing a subject’s identification with a racial category, which over time sediments as a naturalized and normalized fact of nature that seemingly never required constituting in the first place.

For language teachers, the merits of observing other teachers in the classroom are widely known, ... more For language teachers, the merits of observing other teachers in the classroom are widely known, and thus the practice is accepted as useful in teacher development. Axiomatic as it might be in large and busy English departments with coordinated scheduling and curricula, finding time for peer observation and reflection is often hindered by a teacher’s many obligations and responsibilities. However, there is no adequate substitute for in-class observation where peers can witness and help teachers reflect on actual teaching practice, classroom events, and processes, or keep track of how effectively learners remain engaged in the lesson. In other words, peer observation assists teachers by offering a window into the language classroom; it helps identify and bring to the fore those events and instances in a class that go unnoticed by the acting teacher. Observing colleagues approaching the same curriculum in different ways can thus help to open the collective “collegial eye” to the unseen or hidden patterns that often arise in classes during the semester.

For language teachers, the merits of observing other teachers in action in the classroom are wide... more For language teachers, the merits of observing other teachers in action in the classroom are widely accepted as useful practice in teacher development. The fact remains though that in large and busy English departments with coordinated scheduling and curricula, finding time for peer observation and peer reflection is often hindered by a teacher’s many responsibilities. To aid teachers in raising awareness of what they do in their own class, and what colleagues do in theirs, the following video-based professional development project was developed, utilizing data analysis software. This article outlines how video recordings of classroom teaching can be codified, analyzed, and then reconceptualized for teachers so that they are better able to understand how they teach, and how this compares to their colleagues. To illustrate the type of feedback we provide teachers, this article focuses on how teachers approach corrective feedback in their classes.

This dissertation is a literary studies analysis of select German-language prose, poetry and essa... more This dissertation is a literary studies analysis of select German-language prose, poetry and essays by the contemporary Japanese author Yoko Tawada. In this study I utilize and expand upon Tawada's own concept of 'fictive ethnology' as a highly critical and self-reflexive literary approach that can be located throughout her texts. I argue that this fictive ethnological or counter-ethnographic literary technique is what directs the political charge behind Tawada's poetics. My focus then is on how Tawada's texts as cultural critiques undermine binary distinctions of 'otherness', destabilize the position and authority of the author/narrator representing the other, and reveal the ideology and power structures behind representing, constructing and classifying difference. Unlike the descriptive and textual model of 'writing culture' that engraves and freezes culture into words, Tawada's fictive ethnological texts stress the fluid and performative dimension of culture and identity. Therefore, I also demonstrate how these texts are much more about inventing, rather than finding, the self, and about denaturalizing taken-for-granted assumptions about cultural, ethnic and racial differences that are anchored in essentialist, biological and binary logics, than they are an indictment of ethnography or ethnology as research disciplines.

Scholarly Editing and German Literature: Revision, Revaluation, Edition, 2015

New German Review a Journal of Germanic Studies, Feb 3, 2011

... At one point, piqued into a towering passion, Hofrat Behrens cries: “Ich bin ein Angestellter... more ... At one point, piqued into a towering passion, Hofrat Behrens cries: “Ich bin ein Angestellter hier! ... To further this point we need only to look to Hans Castorp's inaugural encounter with Ludovico to witness a clear scepticism of the pedagogue's values and beliefs by the suggestion ...

Performative Body Spaces, 2011