Hans Schulte Books

Faust has been called the fundamental icon of Western culture, and Goethe's inexhaustible poetic drama is the centerpiece of its tradition in literature, music and art. In recent years, this play has experienced something of a renaissance, with a surge of studies, theater productions, press coverage and public discussions. Reflecting this renewed interest, leading Goethe scholars in this volume explore the play's striking modernity within its theatrical framework. The chapters present new aspects such as the virtuality of Faust, the music drama, the modernization of evil, Faust's blindness, the gay Mephistopheles, classic beauty and horror as phantasmagoria, and Goethe's anticipation of modern science, economics and ecology. The book contains an illustrated section on Faust in modern performance, with contributions by renowned directors, critics and dramaturges, and a major interview with Peter Stein, director of the uncut 'millennium production' of Expo 2000.

The forthcoming Directive on Consumer Rights is part of a far-reaching European development in the field of consumer law and general contract law. The European Commission has initiated the long expected broad shift to full harmonisation. This puts the national laws and all lawyers applying it under new challenges. In future, the Member States will be prohibited from deviations not only „downwards“ but also „upwards“. In particular the relation between (EC and national) consumer law and general contract law is under question. The Czech EU Presidency in the first half of 2009 gave the occasion for a conference organised by the Charles University, the Acquis Group and the Czech European Consumer Center at Prague. Leading contract law scholars, policy makers and stakeholders from across Europe put the Proposal under close scrutiny from political, legal and practical angles. This volume contains the results of the conference and thus responds to the question of the extent to which the Proposal offers indeed perspectives for European consumer law. It also contains a position paper elaborated by the Acquis Group in the aftermath of the conference which highlights strengths and weaknesses and suggests improvements of the Proposal.

How did Austrian writers grapple with their country’s problematic twentieth-century history? Nine scholars investigate how the complex role of the national past changed the content and context of Austria’s literature. Contributions range from Klaus Zeyringer’s aggressive argument for an authentically Austrian literature, to the late Harry Zohn’s autobiographical insights of a transplanted Viennese. Probing essays examine the Liberal and the National-Socialist era writers in exile and in their roles as post-war social critics.Shadows of the Past also puts the authors themselves in the A «mini-reader» of hard-hitting as well as humorous narrative texts complements the literary history that begins the volume. Written by Barbara Frischmuth, Elisabeth Reichart, and Erich Wolfgang Skwara, these six texts are accompanied by helpful introductions to each author. As a further aid for English-speaking readers, the original in German literary and critical texts are translated for the first time. Shadows of the Past allows students of European culture and comparative literature to experience a dramatic century in Austrian literature and history.

The EC Consumer Law Compendium presents the results of a wide-ranging study prepared for the European Commisison. This Compendium provides the reader with the necessary information for conducting pan-European cross-border consumer transactions. For the first time, the transposition of 8 key consumer directives (including those on sales, unfair terms, distance and doorstep selling as well as package travel and timeshare) into the national laws of all Member States is analyzed. The findings of this study reveal the substantial differences between the various national implementing measures as a result of utilising minimum harmonisation clauses and regulatory options.

The literary translator has long been a figure who has suffered from a lack of respect and recognition for his invaluable contributions to his particular culture. Indeed, as Hans Schulte notes in the introduction, the debt owed him is great, for 'without him, his community would be doomed to provincialism,' a state in which no society can survive in the modern world. All too often, the translator is perceived merely as a literary mechanic between artist and audience, rather than as an artist himself. In this volume, the translator, his art, and his role in society are addressed from a variety of angles in the collected essays. As a whole, the work paints a new portrait of the literary translator which brings out the finest points of his art, and highlights the enormous value of his contributions. Co-published with McMaster University.

In the spirit of the comparatist Peter Heller, to whom this book is dedicated, twenty-three leading scholars from various disciplines explore the modern crisis consciousness, its origins in 'Romantic' Germany, and its rich though troubled cultural harvest. An ever-shifting crisis is the result of the new spirit of subjective individualism confronting the old rational and social orders. As these essays demonstrate, the contradictional dynamics of enlightenment and irrationalism inspired the course and the manifestations of German culture, from Klopstock to the 'Historikerstreit' of very recent history. Co-published with the McMaster Colloquium on German Literature, Art and Thought.