János Riesz

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János Riesz (born January 5, 1941 in Budakeszi , Kingdom of Hungary ) is a German linguist and literary scholar .

life and work

The son of Hungarian- German parents studied German , Romance studies and comparative literature in Heidelberg and Bonn, received his doctorate in Bonn in 1968 and qualified as a professor in Mainz in 1975. At the University of Bayreuth he held the chair for Romance literature and comparative literature from 1979 to 2004 with a special focus on African literature.

Riesz is considered to be the founder of German Afro-Romance studies .

In addition to his reputation as a recognized specialist in African literatures, János Riesz is considered a 'universal Romanist'. In addition to important texts on African literatures, his oeuvre also includes 'classical' Romance themes. Worth mentioning in this context are his comparative study Die Sestine - Your position in literary criticism and its history as a lyrical genus , his habilitation thesis Beat Ludwig von Muralt's Lettres sur les Anglais et les Français and their reception - a literary “Querelle” of the French Early Enlightenment and especially its widely received commented translation of Novellino .

In his numerous publications on African literatures in French, he repeatedly confronts African literatures with the canon of European literatures. Reviewers point out that this approach results in African writing and European literatures being seen as equals. János Riesz does not analyze literature in strict delimitations, but always contextualises fictional writing with the knowledge of other disciplines. His books and articles on African literatures are considered important pioneering achievements and made the reception of Africa-related post-colonial studies in Germany possible in the first place. Many of his articles have been translated into French and are available in the form of edited volumes.

In 2006, János Riesz published a biography of the Senegalese poet and president Léopold Sédar Senghor , which has since been considered the standard work in German-speaking countries. During his time as a university professor in Bayreuth, János Riesz distinguished himself through an exceptionally active promotion of young talent, which is reflected in a large number of doctoral theses and habilitation theses he supervised.

Publications

Monographs (selection)

  • The Sestine - her position in literary criticism and her history as a lyrical genus , Munich (Fink) 1971 (= Human. Bibl.-Abh. And texts, RI: Abh., Vol. 10), 334 pp.
  • Beat Ludwig von Muralt's Lettres sur les Anglais et les Français and their reception - A literary "Querelle" of the French Early Enlightenment , Munich (Fink) 1979, 232 pp.
  • Colonial Myths - African Answers. European-African Literature Relations I , Frankfurt a. M. (IKO) 1993, XV + 376 pp. - 2nd revised edition and expanded by six chapters 2000, XVIII + 401 pp.
  • French in Africa - rule by language. European-African Literature Relations II , Frankfurt a. M. (IKO) 1998, 419 pp.
  • Léopold Sédar Senghor and the African awakening in the 20th century , Wuppertal (Peter Hammer Verlag) 2006, 349 pp.
  • De la littérature coloniale à la litterature africaine - Prétextes, contextes, intertextes , Paris (Karthala) 2007, 421 pp.
  • Astres et Désastres - Histoire et récits de vie africains de la Colonie à la Postcolonie, Hildesheim (Georg Olms Verlag) 2009, 397 pp.

As sole editor  :

  • Francophone literatures outside Europe , Frankfurt M. etc. (Lang) 1987, 175 pp.
  • Il Novellino. The book of a hundred old short stories . Italian German. Translation, commentary, afterword, Stuttgart (Reclam) 1988, 342 pp. - 2nd edition 2002.
  • Torquato Tasso: Aminta . Italian German. Translation, commentary, afterword, Stuttgart (Reclam) 1995, 261 pp.
  • Look in the black mirror. The image of whites in 20th century African literature . Text selection and comment. Wuppertal (Peter Hammer Verlag) 2003, 250 pp.
  • Paul Verlaine: Goblins walk in the black grass - poems . French and German. Selection and epilogue, Leipzig (Reclam) 2004, 159 pp.
  • Robert Randau : Le Chef des porte-plume. Roman de la vie coloniale , (EA 1922), Paris (L'Harmattan) 2005, edition and introduction, XXVII + 232 pp.
  • Léopold Sédar Senghor: Message and Call . Poems. From the French by Janheinz Jahn, revision of the translation, explanations (pp. 222–232) and epilogue (pp. 206–220), Wuppertal (Peter Hammer Verlag) 2006.

As co-editor (selection):

  • Mainz comparative books : 3 issues , 1978–1979.
  • Comparative Hefts (Bayreuth): 16 numbers, 1980–1987.
  • Bayreuth contributions to literary studies , ed. together with Walter Gebhard and Richard Taylor, since 1980, approx. 20 volumes.
  • (together with Wolfgang Bader) Literature and Colonialism. The processing of colonial expansion in European literature , Frankfurt M. (Lang) 1983, 348 pp.
  • (together with Joachim Schultz) “Tirailleurs Sénégalais”. On the pictorial and literary representation of African soldiers in the service of France / Présentations littéraires et figuratives de soldats africains au service de la France , Frankfurt M. (Lang) 1989, 289 pp.
  • (together with Alain Ricard) Semper Aliquid Novi. Littérature Comparée et Littératures d'Afrique. Mélanges offerts à Albert Gérard à l'occasion de son 70e anniversaire , Tübingen (Narr) 1990, 410 pp.
  • (together with Alain Ricard) Le champ littéraire togolais , Bayreuth (BASS) 1992, 200 pp.
  • (together with Karsten Garscha and H.-J. Lüsebrink) Studies on Francophone literatures outside Europe , Frankfurt M. (IKO); since 1993, so far over 20 volumes (since 2005 Véronique Porra MH in place of K. Garscha).
  • (together with Hélène d'Almeida-Topor ) Échanges franco-allemands sur l'Afrique. Lettres et sciences humaines , Bayreuth (BASS), 1994, 246 pp.
  • (together with P. Halen) Littératures du Congo-Zaïre. Actes du Colloque International de Bayreuth (22-24 juillet 1993) , Amsterdam-Atlanta (Rodopi) 1995 (= Matatu, vols. 13-14), 424 pp.
  • (together with Robert Debusmann) Colonial exhibitions - encounters with Africa? , Frankfurt M. (IKO) 1995, 202 pp.
  • (together with Ulla Schild) Genres Autobiographiques en Afrique / Autobiographical Genres in Africa , Berlin (D. Reimer) 1996, 211 pp.
  • (together with P. Halen) Patrice Lumumba entre Dieu et Diable - Un héros africain dans ses images , Paris (L'Harmattan) 1997, 389 pp.
  • (together with Simon A. Amegbleame) Histoire, littérature et société au Togo , Frankfurt M. (IKO) 1997, 273 pp.
  • (together with Véronique Porra) Bayreuth Francophonie Studies , since 1997 5 issues.
  • (together with Yves Marguerat) Onze autobiographies d'Africains publiées par Diedrich Westermann 1938 , Lomé (Haho) - Paris (Karthala) 2001, 321 pp.
  • (together with Robert Dion and H.-J. Lüsebrink) Ecrire en langue étrangère. Interférences de langues et de cultures dans le monde francophone , Montreal (Nota bene) - Frankfurt M. (IKO) 2002, 567 pp.
  • (together with Alfonso de Toro, Charles Bonn, Graham Huggan, William Luis) Passagen - Transdisciplinary Cultural Perspectives / Transdisciplinary Cultural Perspectives / Perspectives Culturelles Transdisciplinaire , Georg Olms Verlag, since 2002, so far 5 volumes.
  • (together with Hans-Walter Schmidt-Hannisa) Reading Cultures , Frankfurt M. (Lang) 2003, 164 pp.
  • (together with A.-P. Oloukpona-Yinnon) Plumes Allemandes. Biographies et Autobiographies Africaines (“Africans tell their lives”) . Actes du Colloque International de Lomé à l'occasion de la réédition de la traduction française de l'anthologie de Diedrich Westermann Onze Autobiographies d'Africains (1938) du 21 au 23 février 2002, Lomé (Presses de l'UL) 2003, 300 S.
  • (together with Susanne Gehrmann) Le Blanc du Noir. Représentations de l'Europe et des Européens dans les littératures africaines , Münster (LIT) 2004, 258 pp.
  • (together with Véronique Porra) Special issue «Études Francophones et Postcolonial Studies» by Neohelicon , Vol. XXV, 2008, 2.
  • (together with Antoine Champeaux, Eric Deroo) Forces Noires des puissances coloniales européennes, Panazol (Lavauzelle) 2009, 352 pages + 32 pages photos.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.uni-protocol.de/nachrichten/id/67111/
  2. ↑ Francis Claudon's review of Astres et Désastres. Histoire et récits de vie africains de la colonie à la postcolonie; in: Études Littéraires Africaines, 2010, 28, pp.105-106

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Riesz, János
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German linguist and literary scholar
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Budakeszi , Hungary