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Stanford University, Department of Comparative Literature, honors theses, 1996-2018

The collection consists of honors theses written by undergraduates in the Stanford University Department of Comparative Literature.

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht : An Oral History

Hans Ulrich “Sepp” Gumbrecht, the Albert Guérard Professor in Literature Emeritus, shares reflections on his family background, education, and career as a scholar and teacher. In addition to speaking about the origins of some of his most well-known works, Gumbrecht describes growing up in Würzburg, Germany after World War II; his education and faculty positions in German universities; and his recruitment to Stanford as the university worked to strengthen its humanities programs. Other topics of note include generational differences in post-war Germany, Stanford’s Department of Comparative Literature, the Philosophy Reading Group (PRG), the Stanford Presidential Lectures in the Humanities and Arts, and the beauty of Stanford athletics.Growing up in post-World War II Germany • German identity • Hometown of Würzburg in Bavaria and childhood memories • Parents’ work in the university hospital • Growing up under American occupation • Destruction of Würzburg during World War II • Parents’ time in medical school during World War II • Women in medicine in Germany • Catholic influence on childhood • Impact of having tuberculosis as a child • Early struggles in school • German education system • Influence of American reeducation • School president and student government • Parental expectations that he “continue this rise of the family” • Reading and books as a child, including memories of reading The Tin Drum • Inspiring words from a memorable high school teacher: Der versteht Geschichte • Year at Lycée Henri-IV in Paris, France • Introduction to philosophy while in France • Affinity for learning languages • Accents • Father’s encouragement of foreign travel during summer vacations • Lack of interest in studying medicine despite high scores on Arbitur • Awarded the prestigious Maximilianeum stipend for university studies • Studying romance philology and Germanic studies • Influence of studying German medieval literature with Hugo Kuhn • Concept of the humanities in Germany and his belief that humanities is more than ideas • Study at Regensburg, a new university with charismatic professors, including Joseph Ratzinger • Study abroad in Salamanca • Nickname of Sepp • 1968 in Europe and student protest • Assassination of Benno Ohnesorg • Socialist Student Association • Theodor W. Adorno • Student protests of Adorno’s womanizing • Generational conflict in Germany • Higher education in Germany in the 1960s • Year abroad in Salamanca, Spain • First publication, a translation of Spanish essays • First job as an assistant professor at University of Konstanz • Fraught relationship with graduate advisor who later was discovered to have been a Nazi war criminal • Medieval literature • Writing book on the year 1926 • Interest in “historical otherness” and the “positive discontinuity” in his work since coming to Stanford • Academic careers in Germany • Teaching at the University of Bochum and University of Siegen • Involvement with Graduiertenkollegs or graduate schools in Germany • Recruitment to Stanford Department of Comparative Literature • Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford and relationship with language-specific departments • Growth of humanities at Stanford • Colleagues: Ian Watt, John Freccero, Michel Serres, René Girard • Changes in the department in the 1980s and 1990s • Creation of the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages • Richard Rorty at Stanford • Creation of the Philosophy Reading Group • Origins and development of the Stanford Presidential Lectures and Symposia in the Humanities and Arts • Bringing Jacques Derrida to campus • Thoughts on teaching • Work and research habits • In 1926 and concept of presence • Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey • Love of sports as inspiration for In Praise of Athletic Beauty • Introduction to American football • Faculty recruiting group for the Athletics Department • Stanford Athletics • After 1945 and thoughts on progress • Honorary doctorates • Value of oral history 

Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht : An Oral History

Hans Ulrich “Sepp” Gumbrecht, the Albert Guérard Professor in Literature Emeritus, shares reflections on his family background, education, and career as a scholar and teacher. In addition to speaking about the origins of some of his most well-known works, Gumbrecht describes growing up in Würzburg, Germany after World War II; his education and faculty positions in German universities; and his recruitment to Stanford as the university worked to strengthen its humanities programs. Other topics of note include generational differences in post-war Germany, Stanford’s Department of Comparative Literature, the Philosophy Reading Group (PRG), the Stanford Presidential Lectures in the Humanities and Arts, and the beauty of Stanford athletics.Growing up in post-World War II Germany • German identity • Hometown of Würzburg in Bavaria and childhood memories • Parents’ work in the university hospital • Growing up under American occupation • Destruction of Würzburg during World War II • Parents’ time in medical school during World War II • Women in medicine in Germany • Catholic influence on childhood • Impact of having tuberculosis as a child • Early struggles in school • German education system • Influence of American reeducation • School president and student government • Parental expectations that he “continue this rise of the family” • Reading and books as a child, including memories of reading The Tin Drum • Inspiring words from a memorable high school teacher: Der versteht Geschichte • Year at Lycée Henri-IV in Paris, France • Introduction to philosophy while in France • Affinity for learning languages • Accents • Father’s encouragement of foreign travel during summer vacations • Lack of interest in studying medicine despite high scores on Arbitur • Awarded the prestigious Maximilianeum stipend for university studies • Studying romance philology and Germanic studies • Influence of studying German medieval literature with Hugo Kuhn • Concept of the humanities in Germany and his belief that humanities is more than ideas • Study at Regensburg, a new university with charismatic professors, including Joseph Ratzinger • Study abroad in Salamanca • Nickname of Sepp • 1968 in Europe and student protest • Assassination of Benno Ohnesorg • Socialist Student Association • Theodor W. Adorno • Student protests of Adorno’s womanizing • Generational conflict in Germany • Higher education in Germany in the 1960s • Year abroad in Salamanca, Spain • First publication, a translation of Spanish essays • First job as an assistant professor at University of Konstanz • Fraught relationship with graduate advisor who later was discovered to have been a Nazi war criminal • Medieval literature • Writing book on the year 1926 • Interest in “historical otherness” and the “positive discontinuity” in his work since coming to Stanford • Academic careers in Germany • Teaching at the University of Bochum and University of Siegen • Involvement with Graduiertenkollegs or graduate schools in Germany • Recruitment to Stanford Department of Comparative Literature • Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford and relationship with language-specific departments • Growth of humanities at Stanford • Colleagues: Ian Watt, John Freccero, Michel Serres, René Girard • Changes in the department in the 1980s and 1990s • Creation of the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages • Richard Rorty at Stanford • Creation of the Philosophy Reading Group • Origins and development of the Stanford Presidential Lectures and Symposia in the Humanities and Arts • Bringing Jacques Derrida to campus • Thoughts on teaching • Work and research habits • In 1926 and concept of presence • Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey • Love of sports as inspiration for In Praise of Athletic Beauty • Introduction to American football • Faculty recruiting group for the Athletics Department • Stanford Athletics • After 1945 and thoughts on progress • Honorary doctorates • Value of oral history 

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