Conferences & Workshops
»Fans in the theatre? About unbeloved fannish spectators and theatre’s self-image 1860–1920«
- Date: 23.–25.10.2024.
- Location: Schloss Wahn, near Cologne.
Are there fans in the theatre, be it of individual actors and actresses, of the institution, of particular plays, or individual directors? Do fandom with its practices and the theatre have an important intersection that helps us better understand both the history of fandom and of theatre? The state of research is a timid, tentative ›yes‹ – tentative, because research has just begun to pay attention to this intersection: Fandom and the stage, Fandom Studies and Theatre Studies have seldom been related to each other. Although few in number, scholarly contributions have underlined the importance and topicality of the need to explore theatre and fans in interaction. The conference intends to contribute to this productive interdisciplinary border traffic by bringing the most distinguished scholars in this field into dialogue both with each other and with promising researchers of the younger generation.
For the conference programme and further information ▹ see here
»Source of historical fan research’s self-image 1860–1920«
- Date: 9.5.2025.
- Location: Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies, Cologne.
Fan research tends to focus on contemporary fan cultures, mostly in the digital space. But how can we research historical fan cultures from the 19th century onwards? Which sources provide information about them? Which methodologies can be used to make them accessible? These questions will be discussed with guests from Germany and abroad at the workshop, which is being held in the context of a seminar at the University of Cologne.
For the conference programme and further information ▹ see here
(Evangeliemandens Liv (The Candle and the Moth, Denmark 1915), by courtesy of Danish Film Institute)