SHREVEPORT – When does art and theatre become something more?
That’s the underlying theme of a special edition of a German peer-reviewed journal that LSUS instructor Dr. Katherine Pollock edited, centering around the work of theatre director Christoph Schlingensief.
The German academic journal “Colloquia Germanica” focuses on special topics in German literacy and cultural studies.
Schlingensief, who also directed films, was known in the theatre world for starting a play in a theatre and then moving the program outside, taking the audience with him.
One of his more famous performances was “Chance 2000, Vote for Yourself” in which he formed the Last Chance Party where anyone could be a candidate in the German federal election in 1998.
“They actually got votes in the German elections,” Pollock explained. “His performances became something that the public couldn’t ignore and something that became real.
“It’s an example of art being transformed into something else. Understanding art as political action is what motivated me to pursue this line of work.”
Schlingensief’s performances also frequented churches, town halls and areas where homeless people gathered, carrying on conversations about art and politics while preparing food and eating with the audience.
This edition (volume 58, book 2) of “Colloquia Germanica” published in December, but it’s a project a long time in the making.
Pollock became part of a German contemporary drama community through her attendance of annual German Studies Association conferences.
She began participating on panels in 2020 as a graduate student and organizing panels in later years, which is where she connected to the majority of scholars who would contribute to the Colloquia Germanica edition.
Pollock wrote a piece about Schlingensief beyond the theatre, co-wrote the journal’s introduction with co-editor Jack Davis (Truman State University) and organized and edited the rest of the journal.
“I’ve been aware of the publication for a long time, and it’s an honor to be able to participate in this way,” Pollock said. “I first started working on this project in 2022 and asked Jack Davis to help.
“It’s a pretty small world of scholars who study in this area, particularly Schlingensief himself.”
Pollock arranged peer reviewers and other authors to contribute feedback as well as assist native German speakers who wrote their pieces in English.
The journal publishes pieces in both English and German with two pieces in this edition written in German.
“Schlingensief has a disparate body of work that’s fragmented and confusing, but we wanted to produce a volume that examined throughline and used modes of analyses that connected his work instead of just a collection of individual pieces,” Pollock said. “We wanted to identify layers and trends.”
Pollock, who teaches English composition and Spanish classes in her third year at LSUS, will take over German classes this coming fall and add a contemporary drama class.
She’s working on a book project centered around humor and sovereignty which will include Schlingensief.