LL-L "Events" 2001.11.04 (03) [E]

Mon Nov 5 01:58:46 UTC 2001

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 04.NOV.2001 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Christine Rinne <crinne at INDIANA.EDU>
Subject: CFP GLAC-8: Eighth Germanic Linguistics Annual Conference

Call for papers

GLAC-8: EIGHTH GERMANIC LINGUISTICS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Indiana University, Bloomington

April 26-28, 2002

*     *     *     *     *

Featured Speakers:

Richard M. Hogg, University of Manchester
Joan Maling, Brandeis University
Susan Pintzuk, University of York

*     *     *     *     *

We invite colleagues at all levels (faculty, graduate students, and
independent scholars) to submit abstracts for 30-minute papers on any
linguistic or philological aspect of any historical or modern Germanic
language or dialect, including English (to the Early Modern period) and
the extra-territorial varieties. Papers from a range of linguistic
subfields, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax,
semantics,
sociolinguistics, language acquisition, contact, and change, as well as
differing theoretical approaches, are welcome.

Papers will be selected for the program by a broad-based committee in a
double-blind process. Please send to the address below a one-page
abstract
in a 12-point font, ready to be reproduced photographically. More
information on abstracts may be found at the conference web site listed
below. Submissions must be received by January 2, 2002. Notifications of
acceptance will be distributed by February 1,
2002.

GLAC-8
Department of Germanic Studies
Ballantine Hall 644
1020 East Kirkwood Avenue
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
U.S.A.

More information about abstracts and other aspects of the conference are
available at the conference web site, at
<http://www.indiana.edu/~glac8/index4.htm>. Or contact the conference
organizers, Robert D. Fulk (Dept. of English) and Rex A. Sprouse (Dept.
of
Germanic Studies), at <glac8 at indiana.edu>.

----------

From: "Yogi Reppmann" <yreppman at rconnect.com>
Subject: Hollywood Star as US-Low German Ambassador

Dear Friends,

In Germany the keynote address of Eric Braeden at the 4. US-Platt
Conference made national news.--

We would appreciate, if you may forward the attached press release to
medias who might be interested.

Thanks in advance!

Yours, Yogi Reppmann
President of the American/Schleswig-Holstein Heritage Soc. (ASHHS)

3 Lincoln Lane
Northfield, MN, 55057
Tel: (507) 645-9161
Fax: (507) 663-7929
Yogi at moin-moin.com
http://www.moin-moin.com

        Hollywood Star as US-Low German Ambassador

        "Moin, Mississippi!" on National German TV

    4th US - Low German Conference in Grand Island, Nebraska

By: Christoph Ahlers, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Translated by Chris Larkin, Carleton College, Northfield, MN

"When will they measure us by our contribution to American History and
Presence - and not only by the shadows of the ill-fated German past?"
This question was asked by Hollywood soap opera star Eric Braeden (who
plays the character of "Victor" from "The Young and the Restless")
in a moving keynote address at the Fourth US-Low German ("Platt")
Conference held in Grand Island, Nebraska.

In the main auditorium of the "Liederkranz Choir Association" in Grand
Island, Braeden shared recollections of his own German heritage: his
youth in the town of Bredenbek in the north German state of
Schleswig-Holstein; teachers returning from WWII as physically disabled
veterans; his mother’s constant refrain of "We can’t afford
it;" his first love; his journey on board the vessel "The Hanseatic,"
which brought him to New York; and his painful experiences as a German
expatriate in his new home country.

The "Liederkranz" society (meaning "wreath of songs," a typical name for
a German-American choir in the 19th century) and "The Platt
Deutsche" (immigrant speakers of the Low German dialect who originally
formed a mutual funeral association which became a social club),
organized the festive frame of the Fourth US-Platt Conference. The
American / Schleswig-Holstein Heritage Society (ASHHS) invited all
"Platt"
experts to Grand Island.

More than 250 participants from 22 American states, northern Germany,
and even

Switzerland were welcomed by ASHHS president and conference organizer
Dr. Joachim (Yogi) Reppmann; a dual citizen of Northfield,
Minnesota and Flensburg, Germany.

Nebraska’s governor Mike Johanns, who has north German ancestors,
stressed in his opening address the rich German tradition in
America's history and the outstanding contributions made by Germanic
immigrants to this country. "For you we will always roll out the deep
red
carpet," said Johanns to the contingent of 90 visiting Platt specialists
from Germany, who bravely traveled abroad in difficult times,
demonstrating their unflinching solidarity with the US.

For the Low German Americans the conference was a pleasant opportunity
to talk Platt with old and new friends from the region of their
forefathers. Many Americans learned Low German as their mother tongue
before kindergarten introduced English as their second language. The
conference program gave many opportunities to "snack Platt" [to chat Low
German].

Dr. Wolfgang Grams, from Oldenburg in Lower Saxony, described in his
lecture the circumstances of German emigration and introduced his
current project "Routes to the Roots." Grams’ project explores the
forces that forged the first link over the Atlantic and began 150 years
of German-American history. In a related workshop, Grams gave valuable
advice on how to perform genealogical research.

Professor Bill Keel of Lawrence, Kansas, and two of his PhD students
gave a report of their field studies in Germanic dialects in Kansas. The
aim
of this research is to develop a dialect atlas for the state of Kansas.
New influences are given by "plautdietsch"-speaking Mennonites, who are
currently migrating from Mexico to Kansas. These Mennonites had left the
region southwest of Hamburg to emigrate first to Russia. After the
Communistic Revoltion 1917 they moved to Mexico.

Ute Biemueller, from Lohe-Rickelshof, Schleswig-Holstein, presented for
the first time her Low German version of the famous German-American
"Schnitzelbank Song." In the days before the conference she visited 13
schools in Grand Island and led more than 1000 students in singing Platt
songs.

Grand Island local historian Edith Robbins gave a fine lecture on the
weekly Low German newspaper "Weltblatt," which was published in Grand
Island 1889. Although famous Platt novelists from Germany were among the
contributors, the publication folded after only 15 months due to a
financial crisis.

Pommeranian Platt language and culture were represented by participants
from Wausau, Wisconsin (the location of the third Low German
Conference in 1999) as well as delegations from Germany.

One of the most widely read books in Germany is the epistolary novel
"Juernjakob Swehn Travels to America" by Johannes Gillhoff, first
published in Berlin in1917. Pastor Dick Trost, PhD, from Des Moines, IA
has recently translated this longtime German bestseller into English
making the archetypical experiences and adventures of Low German
immigrants available to the English-speaking world. In Grand Island
Trost
also introduced his latest ambitious project: a translation of Fritz
Reuter's "Keen Hüsung" [No Home]. This Low German novel depicts the
hardships of life in the fatherland and helps to explain why so many
people emigrated from the countryside of Europe to America.

A Low German church service by Pastor Alfred Rodewald of Concordia,
Missouri kicked off the last day of the US-Platt conference. The
survival of Low German was the topic of the final roundtable discussion.
The dialogue reached a disturbing common understanding: there is
little hope for Platt survival. This rural German language, full of
verbal images and speech from the heart, has not been passed down to the
next
generation. Perhaps the grandchildren might one day discover the
language of their forefathers. Then, and only then, would there be
possibilities to study Platt in the future.

Throughout the conference, an interesting experience for all
participants had been the constant filming by a German television crew.
The
resulting documentary will be on national German TV on December 27,
2001, at 8:15 p.m. (prime time), under the title "Moin Mississippi"
(Howdy, Mississippi).

The Fifth US-Low German Conference will be held in Eric Braeden's native
village of Bredenbek, north of Hamburg, from June 24-26, 2002. Eric
Braeden from Hollywood promised to participate. US visitors attending
the conference will also have the opportunity to book a group tour
through Germany and be part of the world largest sailing competition -
the Kiel Week.

Further information: www.moin-moin.com [or] Institute for Low German in
America, Dr. Joachim (Yogi) Reppmann , Professor of German, 3
Lincoln Lane,

Northfield, MN 55057; Tel.: 507-645-9161 - yogi at moin-moin.com

Please mail yogi at moin-moin.com and get a photo - from left to right: Low
German ambassador Eric Braeden, a Hollywood TV celebrity from
Bredenbek, Germany, and conference organizer Yogi Reppmann of
Northfield, Minnesota and Flensburg, Germany.

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