CALL FOR PAPERS
On Erich Kästner (1899-1974), Person and Author
A Conference on the 50^th Anniversary of His Death
3-4 June, Jerusalem

Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Goethe-Institut Israel, and the Department of German Language and Literature at the Hebrew University invite you to submit paper proposals for a conference on Erich Kästner, the man and his work.
The year 2024 marks the 50^th anniversary of Kästner’s death. A poet and author, columnist, journalist, playwright and screenwriter, he earned worldwide fame mainly for his children’s books. Kästner revolutionized the genre of books for children and youth by offering new models of writing for young readers, and was one of the key players in creating a modern form of literature this audience in Germany and abroad. Nevertheless, his conduct during the Third Reich cast a heavy shadow on his writings, complicating our view of the person and author.
Kästner was born in Dresden in 1899 do a lower-middle class family. He studied in Leipzig and served in the First World War. Afterwards, he lived and worked in Berlin. After the end of the Second World War, he moved to Munich, where he lived until his death in 1974.
In the golden era of Weimar Berlin, Kästner was associated with the bohemian circles of the intellectual, liberal left, and wrote in a variety of genres, including feuilletons, essays, cabaret shows, poems, and several books. Together with adult literature, he began writing for children. In 1928, he published Emil and the Detectives – an instant bestseller, which later became a blockbuster film. His next books were also cherished by millions: Dot and Anton (1931), The Flying Classroom (1933), and Emil and the Three Twins (1934) offered a new kind of literature, addressing the real-life daily problems of children from their own perspective, but also included semi-fantastic prose, as in The 35th of May (1931). His works have maintained their popularity in many cultures thanks not only to their translations, but also to their adaptations to various media, mainly songs, theater plays and movies.
Unlike many of his colleagues, Kästner chose to stay in Nazi Germany. He was suspect for his leftwing views, his books were burned publicly, and he was even questioned by the Gestapo, but kept publishing his books in Switzerland, with the approval of German authorities, and continued writing and publishing in Germany as well, albeit using pseudonyms. He also collaborated with the state-owned film industry. After the war he moved to Munich, where he wrote what was perhaps his best-known masterpiece, Das doppelte Lottchen (Lisa and Lottie, 1950), and worked in theater. He hardly published anything on the Nazi period.
Regarding his personal life, Kästner was known for his close and special relationship with his mother and his multiple affairs with women. He never got married, and ironically, had a son only in later life. Upon his death, his estate was transferred to the German Literature Archive in Marbach, including huge numbers of letters sent by children throughout the author’s lifetime.
In the conference marking the 50^th anniversary of Erich Kästner’s death, we will seek, among other things, to crack the mystery of his huge success in pre- and post-statehood Israel, and the willingness to ignore his conduct in the Nazi period, which was not extended to other German authors.
The conference will bring together scholars, authors and other artists, educators, and media professionals dealing with Kästner’s personality and writings in their historical and sociopolitical contexts, as well as the wide acceptance of his multiple works. We are interested mainly in proposals dealing with the following subjects, but will definitely consider others not listed here:

• Kästner’s personality
  • Relations with children
  • Relations with parents and family
  • Relations with women, gender attitudes
• Kästner’s biography
  • Childhood and youth in Dresden
  • Activity in Weimar Berlin
  • Conduct during the Nazi era and the questions it raises
  • Life after 1945
• Kästner’s works
  • Children’s literature
  • Adult literature
  • Journalism
  • Poetry
  • Playwrighting
  • Screenwriting
• Reception and influence
  • Kästner’s status in Hebrew culture
  • Kästner’s status and impact on children’s literature
  • Films about or inspired by his work
  • Translations into Hebrew and other languages (incl. retranslations)

The conference will be held on June 3-4 in Jerusalem, in English and Hebrew.
Please send your abstracts (up to  300 words) and short bios by January 10, 2024.
For questions, please contact Dr. Sharon Gordon at sharon.gordon@mail.huji.ac.il

Steering committee members: Dr. Irena Aue-Ben-David, Dr. Sharon Gordon, David Witztum, Prof. Gideon Ticotsky, Dr. Sharon Livne, Prof. Moshe Zimmerman, Prof. Zohar Shavit