GSA ANNOUNCES 2009 GRADUATE STUDENT PRIZE WINNER

2009 Graduate Student Prize Winner Announced

    Since 2008 the GSA has been supporting a competition for the best paper submitted to it by a graduate student.  The winning paper will be published in German Studies Review.   The review committee for 2009 was composed of Professors Scott Denham (Davidson College, chair), Perry Myers (Albion College), and Heather Perry (University of North Carolina, Charlotte).  The prize was awarded to Martin Modlinger, doctoral student at Robinson College, Cambridge, for his essay “Auf dem Karussell der Geschichte: Das Theresienstädter Kabarett zwischen Historie und Theater.”

    In its laudatio, the committee noted the following:

"The winner of this year’s GSA graduate student paper prize is Martin Modlinger, for his paper 'Auf dem Karussell der Geschichte: Das Theresienstädter Kabarett zwischen Historie und Theater.' Modlinger is a PhD candidate at Robinson College, Cambridge, and a student of Christoph Young.

"Modlinger proposes to explore the problematic of 'Historie und Holocaust Theater,' employing as examples the Therienstädter Kabarett as a means to illustrate the rules of discourse in speaking about the Holocaust and contrasting them with a later play, Roy Kift’s Camp Comedy. Modlinger raises the question of who may say what and when about the Holocaust.

"The review committee found this essay grounded in strong analysis and careful reading, with an inherently interesting subject viewed in new ways, and it had the most theoretical promise of the essays submitted. It is elegantly written, clear and free of jargon, interdisciplinary ('zwischen Historie und Geschichte'), and it suggests avenues for new research. It is historically aware, with an analysis deeply rooted in the context and archival resources, while also demonstrating sensitive readings of the literary texts and artistic moves in question. Martin Modlinger’s paper is a wonderful example of interdisciplinary German cultural studies at its best."

The GSA congratulates Mr. Modlinger for this outstanding achievement.