Participantes en la IP: Katharina Annus

Katharina Annus participará (junto a Caroline Hesse) en el panel 'Proyección del Camino y Ciudad de Santiago en la Literatura Europea ' con una ponencia bajo el título 'Le fait pèlerin según A. Dupront' y que tendrá lugar el jueves, 7 de mayo, a partir de las 9 y media de la mañana

My name is Katharina Annus. I am 25 years old and I am studying French, Spanish and Educational Science at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

In 2006 I participated at the International Seminar at Kiel and helped with the presentation of several films which are connected to the topic of the City.

I am really glad that I can be part of the intercultural exchange this year again.

One of the main aspects of my interest is the paradox on of the solitude in the multitude, that often characterizes the human being in the city. The sociologist Georg Simmel defines this phenomenon in his essay of 1903 Die Großstädte und das Geistesleben as follows:

„Denn die gegenseitige Reserve und Indifferenz, die geistigen Lebensbedingungen großer Kreise, werden in ihrem Erfolg für die Unabhängigkeit des Individuums nie stärker gefühlt, als in dem dichtesten Gewühl der Großstadt, weil die körperliche Nähe und Enge die geistige Distanz erst recht anschaulich macht; es ist offenbar nur der Revers dieser Freiheit, wenn man sich unter Umständen nirgends so einsam und verlassen fühlt, als eben in dem großstädtischen Gewühl; denn hier wie sonst ist es keineswegs notwendig, dass die Freiheit des Menschen sich in seinem Gefühlsleben als Wohlbefinden spiegele.“

According to Simmel, the solitude in the multitude marks the man in the city. Therefore, this phenomenon becomes part of the city’s character, too. In my opinion this paradoxon expands in a world that is more and more globalized. The occidental man is almost free in his creation of identity. In a society, in which different cultures and traditions intertwine, he does not have to constitute his personality according to fixed rules. This gives him the freedom to live his individuality but bears difficulties, too. It produces a feeling of being lost and alone.

I hope I will get new ideas for this topic and also for the vast and interesting subject-matter “Space”. For example its transmission into literature, its different connotations and the interaction between real spaces and literary ones.

There is so much more that interests me in the discourse of the city, but I do not want to steal someone else’s place.

So I close here by saying that I look forward to meet brilliant scientists from all over Europe and perhaps even build friendships. It is a gift to get the possibility to be part of that great form of scientific globalization.

See you in May,

lots of regards