Sunday, October 18, 2015

October Favorites: Lenny Letter

My October favorite is Lena Dunham's and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter, a weekly newsletter dedicated to feminism, health, politics, style and literature. The project debuted in late September this year and has already become a regular highlight of mine. Its contributions are a mix of political information, personal essays, advice columns, interviews and book reviews, along with quirky artwork and beautifully drawn illustrations. Dunham compares this latest brain child of hers to an "over-sharing Internet friend", which perfectly captures the essence of Lenny Letter: Everything we need to know as young, confused, regularly overwhelmed, yet dedicated, politically-minded, and empowered women in the 21st century, and then a bit. 
The first issue of Lenny Letter, featuring an interview (and a flawless selfie) with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

USA Network’s Mr. Robot: I Hack, Therefore I Am – or Am I?

Picture found here
American fiction is replete with signature openings. “All this happened, more or less” from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a case in point; “I am an invisible man” jump-starting Ralph Ellison’s eponymous novel is another. And what about that most iconic of introductions “Call me Ishmael,” as featured in Moby Dick? All three lines attract our attention since they break with the aesthetic illusion and the conventional semantics generally associated with storytelling. It is in this line of tradition that we are introduced to what is arguably the biggest televisual happening of the year:
"Hello, friend. Hello, friend? That’s lame. Maybe I should give you a name. But that’s a slippery slope. You’re only in my head. We have to remember that."

Monday, October 5, 2015

Angela Davis at the University of Vienna: The Tyranny of the Universal

On October 5th, activist, author and scholar Angela Davis gave a talk at the University of Vienna on the occasion of its 650th anniversary. The initiative "FrauenUniJubel" (roughly translates as "WomenUniversityJubilance"), dedicated to introducing a feminist perspective into the celebrations, heightening the visibility of female scientists, and presenting contributions from women and gender studies for a sustainable societal development, invited Davis to talk about her life and work. The lecture entitled "Life between Politics and Academia" tackled a dazzling diversity of periods, issues and concepts, all held together by Davis's incomparable rhetoric and exceptional energy. 
Photo: Angela Davis,  FrauenUniJubel website
Davis is one of the very few people, especially among those cultural icons still alive and thriving, who deserve the epithet "inspiring". After decades spent in political struggle (and several years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List), she has lost nothing of her fervor and passion. While others would have grown cynical, disillusioned or merely disinterested with progressing age, Davis is as radical in 2015 as she must have been in the late 1960s and early 70s. Her talk in Vienna is nestled safely somewhere between academic lecture and political propaganda speech, a position she is more than comfortable with: To accomplish their respective work, politics and academia require each other, as Davis reminds her audience by way of introduction.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Book Launch Party: The New Formula for Cool

I'm thrilled to reveal what I've been cooking up the last couple of weeks: My book, The New Formula for Cool: Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination (Bielefeld: transcript, 2015), is finally out and will be officially launched on November 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Lane & Merriman's, Spitalgasse 3, 1090 Vienna. Join me for an evening of literary pleasure, live acoustic music and delicious cocktails to celebrate - everybody is welcome!


Read on for a synopsis and more infos on the party!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Fries of Hope: Wie mit Liebe, Engagement und einer Tonne Pommes frites Flüchtlingen geholfen wird

Please click here for the English version.

Fries of Hope ist eine einzigartige Aktion, um Flüchtlingen auf der Durchreise durch Österreich zu helfen: Am Hauptbahnhof Wien frittieren freiwillige Helfer_innen tagtäglich mehrere Kilo köstliche Pommes und verschenken sie an Flüchtlinge, um ihnen den Aufenthalt am kalten Bahnsteig und die bange Zeit des Wartens auf eine Weitereise nach Deutschland zu erleichtern. Manchmal braucht es in Krisenzeiten eben nicht mehr als Liebe, Toleranz, und eine Handvoll fettig dampfender Erdäpfelstreifen. 
Fabian Braesemann (links) und Fabian Stephany (rechts) mit zwei freiwilligen Helferinnen vor dem Wiener Hauptbahnhof.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Fries of Hope: Putting a smile on your face, one fry at a time

Für die deutsche Version bitte hier klicken.

Fries of Hope is a unique initiative to help refugees passing through Vienna’s central traffic hub, the Hauptbahnhof, on their way to asylum in Germany: Volunteers are giving away hot and delicious French fries to refugees and helpers, thereby proving that all we need in this moment of crisis is love, tolerance, and deep-fried potato strips.
Fabian Braesemann (left) and Fabian Stephany (right) with two volunteers at the Viennese Hauptbahnhof.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

September Favorites

As days get shorter and the weather gets colder, September is the ideal month to brush up on your knowledge of art history and return to your favorite museums after a long summer break. In Vienna, many new and exciting exhibitions are set to open in the course of the fall, including the Albertina's Edvard Munch (Sept. 25 - Jan. 24) and World of Romanticism (Nov. 13 - Feb. 21), the Belvedere's Rembrandt - Tizian - Bellotto  (June 11 - Nov. 8), the Leopold Museum's A Rush of Color (Oct. 9 - Jan. 11), and the MUMOK's Prosperous Poison: On the Feminist Appropriation of the Austrian Unconscious (Sept. 10 - April 24). 

Your city's art offer is more restricted? It's already too cold to venture outside for a quick stroll to the next museum? Luckily, you do not even have to leave your house (or your couch, for that matter) to enjoy the fine arts. Here's a list of entertaining, thought-provoking, funny, and worthwhile virtual offers to satisfy your artistic cravings. 

Friday, September 4, 2015

Vitamin B, Freudian Musings, and the Loneliness of PhD Life: What it also feels like for a grad student in Austria

The University of Warwick recently asked me to contribute to their student-run blog PhD life, a platform for grad students to discuss all the aspects that pursuing a doctorate involves, from “reaching out” to “moving on”. Make sure to check it out for its great tips and resources on publishing in journals, managing your viva, or organizing field trips!

Eager to be part of such a laudable initiative, I composed a nice little blog post about grad student life at the University of Vienna, my alma mater, with a focus on the various possibilities of financing a PhD in Austria. 
Graduation day. Universities with impressive ceremonial halls like the Uni of Vienna are at a clear advantage. 

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

White Oleander by Janet Fitch and the female Bildungsroman

It's been a while since I've read Janet Fitch's White Oleander (1999), but I feel that my Bookfest couldn't possibly be complete without reviewing it. Everyone who has met me since I've devoured this wonderful piece of literature has probably heard me enthuse about it for hours on end and/or been pressured into reading it *asap*. What's the big deal, you ask? Let me show you!


Saturday, August 1, 2015

August Favorites

Do you also try to put the warm summer weather to good use by engaging in some fun outdoor activity after a rather inert winter? If so, you've come to the right place, because this month's favorites are all about making your daily intake of natural euphoriants even more effective: Bring along a podcast! Whether you're going for a run, do some stretching and Yoga in the park, go on a bicycle tour, or just opt for a long walk in the woods or on the beach (whichever spot happens to be closest to you), be assured that there's hardly a better companion than a smart and stimulating audio lecture, interview or radio play.

The combination of (moderate) physical activity with (moderate) intellectual stimulation is a true win-win situation, and this is even backed by science proper. Physical exercise increases your heart rate, which means that more oxygen is pumped to your brain, hormones aiding the growth of brain cells are released, while the establishment of new neural connections between existing ones is fostered. Mens sana in corpore sano, amirite? At the same time, and this I can relate from personal experience, even the dullest jogging trail is elevated by a good and gripping audio program to go along with. The right podcast to occupy your mental facilities while your physical ones are hard at work definitely helps you stay motivated and focused, and you might even throw in an extra mile because you need to know how the episode ends. 
Does Claire Underwood listen to CNN's State of the Union podcast when going for a jog? Possibly!
So without further ado, here are some entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking podcasts for your physical *and* intellectual workout! (And yes, all of them work equally well if you're listening while lounging on your couch with a glass of white wine - I don't have a peer-reviewed study at hand to back this one up, but it's a method thoroughly tried and tested during some of the rainier days of this summer...)

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Er da. Eine Geschichte.

A short story published in Radieschen: Zeitschrift für Literatur No. 14/2010.  

Es war letzten Frühling gewesen, als ich Max kennen lernte. Wir waren uns zwar kaum auf Anhieb sympathisch, aber irgendetwas, und mochte es die Lagerfeuerromantik oder der Alkohol gewesen sein, veranlasste uns schließlich dazu, uns längere Zeit zu unterhalten. Es war eines dieser unzähligen Studentenfeste Ende Mai unter freiem Himmel und mit unerträglicher Musik, die dennoch ihren Zweck erfüllte, da sie mich nur ungefähr jedes dritte Wort von Max verstehen ließ. 
„ - - an der - - Wien - - Interessen - - tanzen?“ 
Ich nickte vage, was ihm zu gefallen schien. Es stellte sich heraus, dass wir uns für den nächsten Tag verabredet hatten, da Max zum Zwecke der Hochzeit seiner ältesten Cousine einen Tanzkurs belegen musste, ihm dazu aber noch die geeignete Partnerin fehlte. 

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Fifty Shades of Great Prose: Erotica for the literary cognoscenti

With the onslaught of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and the range of spin-offs it inspired, erotic literature seems to have gotten a particularly bad rep (not that it was ever terribly good to start with), which personally I consider a great pity. While I understand the frustration of avid readers with the repetitive vocabulary and bland action of E.L. James' fiction, I'd like to contend that erotic literature does *not* have to read like Shakespeare, Whitman, and Joyce are jointly rotating in their graves. 

Quite the contrary - in the best of cases, literary erotica gives you double the pleasure: titillating images in your head AND lush, gorgeous prose that satisfies your logophilic appetite. Plus, since most of my suggestions below are considered "classics" by mere virtue of their date of publication, they tend to have very demure covers, which means that you can safely read them on the subway, during lunch break, or on a crowded beach. Here are some of my favorite picks for your hot and steamy summer read!


Picture found here.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Don't kiss the frog

July 6th marked International Kissing Day, which didn’t really affect my daily routine in any substantial way, except that my usual Facebook feed of angry political commentary, inspirational yoga quotes and puppy content was perceptibly interspersed with chap stick ads, kiss-blowing selfies and the well-meaning encouragement (in variations) that I, too, will find my Prince Charming if I just don’t give up on kissing frogs. Here's why I take issue with this saying and the wealth of popular commentary, advice books, and dating manuals it has inspired.
Otto Ubbelohde, Der Froschkönig, ca. 1900. Picture found here.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Drama, Baby

Dear reader,
You may or may have not (but probably yeah) come across a situation in life, whether it was a casual hook-up sorta thing or a more classic (Tinder) dating scenario, where everything went smoothly, you got along great, you were, as they say, in touch with your inner goddess (sorry, I couldn't help myself), and then he went along and spoiled it all by saying that one stupid thing: "But just so you know, babe, I really don't want any drama!"

Melpomene, the Greek Muse of tragedy, with the mask of a weeping (male) face.
Picture found here.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

The Peculiar Case of Carrie Mathison, Or: Be That Woman or Die Trying

With the upcoming season premiere of my all-time favorite binge watching delights, Showtime's Homeland, I'm already hyped for the return of one of the most fully fledged, nuanced and refreshing female protagonist that contemporary US-American prime time drama has to offer: Carrie Mathison.

Many of you, my dear readers, might agree (like this commentary), while even more will differ (see here and here), in particular because the character of Carrie seems to lend itself so perfectly to be read as both a feminist role model and the worst thing that has happened to the televisual portrayal of women since the neoliberal, post-feminist fantasy of Sex and the City.

So, what to make of bi-polar, single mother, CIA agent Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes? Which one shall it be - Yay, she's a feminist? Nay, she's so not?

Picture: Showtime

Friday, July 10, 2015

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt's The Secret History is every classical language nerd's dream. Now I don't know about you, but whereas I didn't study Greek at school (even less at college, as Tartt's protagonists do), I did learn to read Latin and, needless to say, loved it. Only a dead language can be that orderly, powerful, mathematical, and precise. I even participated in nation-wide Latin language competitions and I am no longer ashamed to let the world know about it (and yes, my romantic life was virtually nonexistent in high school, but let's just pretend there is no causal connection here at all.). But I digress - let's return to The Secret History and what makes it your perfect weekend read...


Thursday, July 9, 2015

Frühling

A short story (in German) written in 2011 - I decided to leave it unedited and unaltered.

1: Alarm
Angestrengt starrte sie ins Halbdunkel. Als der Wecker schließlich läutete, war Julia schon lange wach. Widerwillig setzte sie sich auf und nahm einen Schluck aus der Wasserflasche, die immer griffbereit neben ihrem Bett stand. An Tagen wie diesen konnte sie nie besonders gut schlafen, das lag, wie ihre Mutter immer zu sagen pflegte, bestimmt am Mond. Da träumte sie von den Labradorinseln, und schon fragte sich ihr richtiges, ungeträumtes Ich, ob sie den Hund gefüttert hatte. Dann wieder von der japanischen Kirschblüte, und schon musste sie jäh aus dem Bett springen um nachzusehen, ob sie die Geranien über Nacht zugedeckt hatte, die waren halt so empfindlich. Träge schwang sie sich den Morgenmantel um die Schultern und schlürfte ins Badezimmer. Sie hasste Tage wie diese. Während sie sich die Zähne putzte, rot weiß rauf runter, machte sie Kniebeugen, um den Kreislauf in Schwung zu bringen. Eins, Zwei. Drei, Vier. Ihre Mutter schwor seit Jahrzehnten auf Morgengymnastik. Fünf, Sechs, Sieben. Sie zog sich an und verließ die Wohnung.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I’m rather late to the party, but Americanah by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the book “about Africa” that we’ve needed to read. The inverted commas should already suggest that this book is as much about the contemporary African continent as Jane Eyre is about nineteenth-century Europe – as any reader of this timeless classic will immediately understand, it indeed is, in the largest possible sense, but to reduce its wealth of thematic expression to a rather restricted spatial and temporal setting would be a rather grave and unforgivable simplification.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

July Favorites

What better way to spend some of the rainier days of this summer in bed or on your sofa, propped up with a pillow or two, enjoying some intellectual stimuli in bite-size portions to satisfy your nerdy appetite? Here are some cool online courses to get your nerdista on!

Friday, June 19, 2015

Suchmaschinen

Nun kann man also davon ausgehen, dass es im Leben ganz bestimmt nicht so ist wie in den Pilcher und Roberts-Filmen, wo am Ende eine einen heiratet, meist im englischen Garten oder wahlweise der englischen, also anglikanischen Kirche, umgeben von englischen Hügeln im englischen Cornwall in England. Und die Gäste, also natürlich eigentlich die Schauspieler, machen wir uns nichts vor, tragen, trotz ihrer deutschen Herkunft und der deutsch-österreichischen Koproduktion und des deutschen Regisseur und des österreichischen Hauptdarsteller und der deutschen Hauptdarstellerin und nur eines einzigen englischen Nebendarstellers, den Butler spielend meist, oder den Gärtner, zwecks der Erhaltung der Englishness des Gartens und der Spannung – im Zweifelsfall war’s der Gärtner – englische Kostüme. Also nicht direkt Kostüme aus England, ganz bestimmt nicht, man kann mit an Sicherheit grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit voraussagen, ohne die Filmcrew näher zu kennen, dass die Kostümbildnerin oder der Kostümbildner dieselbe Nationalität besitzt wie die Hauptdarstellerin oder der Hauptdarsteller, schon der Einfachheit und der professionellen Beziehungen des Produktionsleiters wegen. Nicht aus England, also, die Kostüme, aber englisch aussehend. Vor allem die Hüte, das ist das markanteste Kennzeichen, stechen einem sofort ins Auge. Obwohl Engländer, und wahrscheinlich auch nicht alle, nein, ganz sicher nicht, man denke nur an die Anhängerschaft von Manchester United, obwohl also nur manche Engländer nur gelegentlich oder auch häufig, je nach Klasse und Gesinnung und Stimmung und Familienstammbaum, Hüte tragen, so tun sie dies nicht ausschließlich bei Hochzeiten, sondern vielen anderen, ähnlich festlichen Anlässen, man denke nur an Begräbnisse, Taufen, runde Geburtstage etc. Dennoch verbindet man, und daran sind eben die deutsch-österreichischen Koproduktionen im Hauptabendprogramm schuld, englische Hüte, also eigentlich Menschen, die dank Hüten englisch aussehen, mit Hochzeiten. Englischen, um genau zu sein. 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Untitled

This piece ranked third place in the bi-annual BEWAG Literature Award Competition 2008.

11.5.20- -

Sie hasste Hochzeiten. Allgemein, aber besonders die heutige. Die ihrer kleinen Schwester. Ihrer jüngeren, besseren, erfolgreicheren und selbstverständlich hübscheren kleinen Schwester. Aber man macht eben gute Miene zum bösen Spiel, was blieb ihr auch anderes übrig. Gott, wie sie diese Heuchlerei, dieses gutbürgerliche Trauerspiel verabscheute. 

„Evi, schön dich zu sehen.“ 

Küsschen. 

Und noch mehr verabscheute sie Küsschen. Und Evi genannt zu werden. Und am allermeisten den selbstgefälligen, hyperglücklichen Blick ihrer Schwester. Ja, lach nur, jetzt ertrag ich es noch, aber selbst meine Geduld, die Geduld eines Engels, der ich, wie du nicht müde wirst, mir zu versichern, ohne Zweifel bin, hat irgendwann ein Ende.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Krieg der Welten

This piece won the Recognition Award 2010 from the Austrian Writers' Association.


13.01.2010 22:15 Uhr
Morgen, 19 uhr, schlosscafé?

13.01.2010 22:21 Uhr
Gut. Bis dann. Lg.

Die Reiter der Textapokalypse. Die Advokaten der Verballhornung, des Neologismus, der Kürzeln und Formeln. Er mochte den Klang, den meist vorhersehbaren und doch, in kleinsten Details, immer wieder überraschenden Inhalt, die Art und Weise der Transmission: ein Piepen, Summen, Vibrieren, je nach Lust und Laune, ein bis zwei gekonnte Griffkombinationen auf dem Telefon (eine notwendige Zeitspanne, in der die Antizipation ins Unermessliche steigen soll. Bei ihm tat sie es immer, selbst während der profansten Konversation), ein schnelles, flackerndes Aufblitzen und – da war sie, die Kurznachricht. Banause, wer das Poetische Potential des Short Message Service, das PP der SMS, nicht zu erkennen bereit war. 

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Live

Trigger Warning: This one is quite heavy on violence and explicit sex, inspired, at the time, by the British In-Yer-Face theatre of the 1990s and early 2000s. For an introduction, see Aleks Sierz's eponymous 2001 monograph. The following was an attempt to translate into prose what Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill and others so marvelously achieved in drama. 

Um halb vier Uhr morgens brannte sein Rachen von Alkohol gemischt mit Fruchtsaft, sein Körper zitterte unter der nassen Kleidung, die Augen zuckten zwischen Lichtkegeln, Menschenmassen und ihren verzerrten Mündern, verklebten Haaren und dem Versuch, der Vorherbestimmung zu entkommen, hin und her. Er mochte die Großstadt und ihre Tempel. Hier waren alle kränklich, krank sowieso. Keiner war für dieses Licht, den Schweiß, den Rauch, die Reibung geschaffen, alle Körper litten, schrieen, wehrten sich, aber irgendetwas, was das Gegenteil von allem sein musste, umklammerte die Momente im Tempel mit eiserner Faust, ließ nicht los bevor der Körper tobte. Und das Loch war gestopft, mit Sinn gefüllt von Mitternacht bis zum Morgengrauen. 

Er selbst war schon immer ein Mann der Mäßigung gewesen. Alles mit Maß und Ziel, wie seine Großmutter zu sagen pflegte. 

Seine Großmutter hatte immer alles unter Kontrolle gehabt, ausgewiesen durch diverse hohe Funktionen im Dorf und später gar als Vorständin des Trachtenvereins. Mäßigung war das Gebot und seine Großmutter hatte sich daran gehalten.