Joseph McVeigh
Professor Emeritus of German Studies
Biography
After completing graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Cologne, Joseph McVeigh came to Smith College in the fall of 1985 and in the ensuing years has directed Smith’s Junior Year in Hamburg Program seven times (1988–90, 1999–2000, 2005–07, 2009–10 and 2013–14). His research interests lie primarily in post-1945 Austrian and German literary culture and in the area of German and American cultural relations. Among his book-length publications are America and the Germans (two volumes), which he edited with Frank Trommler (University of Pennsylvania) (1985); "Kontinuität und Vergangenheitsbewältigung in der österreichischen Literatur nach 1945" (1988); Ingeborg Bachmann's Die Radiofamilie (2011); and the monograph Ingeborg Bachmanns Wien 1946-1953 (2016).
Publications
Books
Author, Ingeborg Bachmanns Wien 1946-1953 (Berlin: Suhrkamp/Insel, 2016).
Author, Kontinuität und Vergangenheitsbewältigung in der österreichischen Literatur nach 1945 (Vienna, Stuttgart: Wilhelm Braumüller Verlag, 1988).
Editor, Ingeborg Bachmann. Die Radiofamilie (Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2011).
Co-editor (with Frank Trommler), America and the Germans: An Assessment of a 300-Year History, 2 volumes (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985).
Translator, Georg von Welling, Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum(Newburyport, MA: Weiser, 2006).
Articles and Chapters in Books
“’They were all deceived’: Art, Women and Propaganda in the Life and Work of Käthe Kollwitz.” In: Claire C. Whitner, ed., Käthe Kollwitz and the Women of War. Femininity, Identity, and Art in Germany During World Wars I and II. Catalog of the Exhibition at Smith College and Wellesley College, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), pp. 21-29.
"The Cold War in the Coffeehouse: Hans Weigel and his Circle of Writers in the Café Raimund." Journal of Austrian Studies 48.3 (Fall 2015), pp. 65-88.
"Introduction to the Special Issue on "Austria and the Cold War. Culture, Politics, National Identity." Journal of Austrian Studies 48.4 (Fall 2015). Co-authored with Günther Stocker (University of Vienna).
"'...mehr als eine Störung in meiner Erinnerung': Ingeborg Bachmann und die Politik des Kalten Kriegs 1947 - 1953." In: Michael Rohrwasser and Günther Stocker, eds.,Spannungsfelder — Die deutschsprachige Literatur im Kalten Krieg 1947 - 1968(Wuppertal: Arcor Verlag, 2014), pp. 307-326.
"Hans Weigel als Mentor Ingeborg Bachmanns." In: Wolfgang Straub, ed., Hans Weigel. Kabarettist, Kritiker, Romancier, Literaturmanager. (Innsbruck: Studienverlag, 2014), pp. 113-129.
"Foreword." In: Ingeborg Bachmann. The Radio Family. Mike Mitchell, Transl., (London: Seagull Books, 2014), pp. 297-341.
"'Ohne dass der Hörer kapiert...': Der Sender Rot-Weiß-Rot im Kalten Krieg" In: Michael Hansel and Michael Rohrwasser, eds., Kalter Krieg in Österreich. Literatur -- Kunst -- Kultur. (Wien: Zsolnay, 2010). Vol. 17 of the series Profiles, published by the Austrian Literature-Archives and the Austrian National Library, pp. 108-122.
"Smith College -- eine amerikanische Frauenhochschule mit einem naturwissenschaftlich-technischen Studiengang" in: Zukunft Bologna? Gender und Nachhaltigkeit als Leitideen für eine neue Hochschulkultur (Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 2007), pp. 115-125.
"Popular Culture in Austria 1945 to 2000" in: Ritchie Robertson and Katrin Kohl, eds.,A History of Austrian Literature 1918-2000 (Columbia, SC: Camden House Press, 2006).
"Die Stille um den 'Mordschauplatz'. Ingeborg Bachmann, der Kalte Krieg und Sender Rot-Weiß-Rot" in: Monika Albrecht and Dirk Göttsche, eds., Über die Zeit schreiben, Vol. 3 (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2004), pp. 55-68.
"'Nicht auf Schlachtfeldern allein wird der Sieg der Demokratie entschieden.' Culture Wars in Postwar Austrian Radio" in: John McCarthy, Walter Grünzweig, Thomas Koebner, eds., The Many Faces of Germany. Transformations in the Study of German Culture and History. Festschrift for Frank Trommler (New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2004), pp. 136-146.
"'Mein Vater, ich hätte dich nicht verraten...': Reshaping the Familial Past in Ingeborg Bachmann's Radiofamilie-Texts," New German Critique, No. 93 (Fall 2004), pp. 131-143.
"Ingeborg Bachmann as Radio Script Writer," The German Quarterly Vol. 75, No.1 (2002), pp. 35-50.
"Die Bachmann im Radio," Wiener Journal (June 2000), p. 42.
"Lifting the Paper Curtain: The Opening of Austrian Literary Culture to German after 1945," German Studies Review, Vol. XIX, No. 3 (Fall 1996), pp. 479-499.
"The Undergraduate Curriculum: What's Right/Wrong With It?" in: John A. McCarthy and Katrin Schneider, eds., The Future of Germanistik in the USA. Changing Our Prospects (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1996), pp. 57-64.
"Theodor Kramer" in: Donald Daviau, ed., Major Figures of Modern Austrian Literature, Vol. III (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 1995), pp. 201-234.
"Zu den Theaterstücken von Gerald Szyszkowitz" in: Klaus Zeyringer, ed., Gerald Szyszkowitz Oder Die Kunst des Erinnerns. Analysen, Kommentare, Dokumente(Vienna, Stuttgart: Boesskraut & Bernardi, 1993), pp. 105-120.
"Afterword" in: Gerald Szyszkowitz. Five Plays (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 1993), pp. 333-344.
"Memory and Artifact, History and Character in the Novels of Gerald Szyszkowitz,"Modern Austrian Literature, Vol. 24, No. 3-4 (1991), pp. 149-160.
"The American Occupation of Austria in the Austrian Novel after 1945," Österreich in amerikanischer Sicht. Das Österreichbild im amerikanischen Schulunterricht, Vol. 5 (1991), pp. 13-24.
"Konrad Bayer," Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol 35: Austrian Prose Writers after 1914, Donald Daviau, ed. (New York: Gale Publishing Co., 1989), pp. 55-61.
"'Das bin nur ich. Wenn ich es bin.' Literature and Politics in Austria Since 1945," The German Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 1 (Winter 1988), pp. 5-21.
"The Forum Stadtpark in Text and Context. Possibilities for the Classroom,"Österreich in amerikanischer Sicht. Das Österreichbild im amerikanischen Schulunterricht, Vol. 4 (1988), pp. 34-41.
"Introduction" (co-authored with Frank Trommler), America and the Germans, Vol. I: Immigration, Language, Ethnicity (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985), xi-xxi.
"Introduction" (co-authored with Frank Trommler), America and the Germans, Vol. II: The Relationship in the Twentieth Century (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985), pp. xi-xvii.
"Das Fortleben der 'Ostmark-Literatur': Zur Identität der österreichischen Literatur zwischen 1945 und 1960," Modern Austrian Literature, Vol 17, No. 3-4 (1984), pp. 92-111.
"Continuity as Problem and Promise: The Postwar Writings of Erika Mitterer," Modern Austrian Literature, Vol. 12, No. 3-4 (1979), pp. 113-126.
Book Reviews
Review of Wolfgang Straub, Die Netzwerke des Hans Weigel. (Wien: Sonderzahl, 2016). In Journal of Austrian Studies 51.1 (2018).
Review of Dagmar Heissler, Ernst Lothar. Schriftsteller, Kritiker, Theaterschaffender (Wien, Koeln, Weimar: Boehlau, 2016). In Journal of Austrian Studies 50.3 (2017).
Review of Wolff A. Greinert, Hans Weigel. "Ich war einmal..." Eine Biographie. (Wien, Graz, Klagenfurt: Styria, 2015). In Journal of Austrian Studies 50.2 (2017).
Review of Primus-Heinz Kucher and Rebecca Unterberger, "Akustisches Drama." RadioÄsthetik, Kultur und Radiopolitik in Österreich 1924 – 1934. (Bielefeld: Aisthesis Verlag, 2013. In: Journal of Austrian Studies 48.2 (2015).
Review of Friederike Gösweiner, "Du holde Kunst." Lyrikvermittlung im Radio.Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2012. Journal of Austrian Studies 47.4 (2014).
Review of Markus Kóth, "Aber es handelt sich eben um ein phantastisches Land".Das Österreichbild in den literarischen Werken Jörg Mauthes -- ein Beitrag zur Identitätsgeschichte der Zweiten Republik (Vienna: Praesens, 2009) in Modern Austrian Literature 43.4 (2010), pp. 103-04.
Review of Hans Rauscher, ed., Das Buch Österreich, in Modern Austrian Literature 40.4 (2007), pp. 159-160.
Review of Evelyne Polt-Heinzl, Im Keller: Der Untergrund des literarischen Aufbruchs nach 1945, in Modern Austrian Literature 41.2 (2008), pp. 109-110.
Review of Ingrid Pfeiffer, Scheidewege der Worte. Literatur in österreichischen Zeitschriften 1945-1948 (Vienna: Steinbauer, 2006) in Modern Austrian Literature, 40.2 (2007), pp. 127-129.
Review of Esther Dür, Erika Mitterer und das Dritte Reich: Schreiben zwischen Protest, Anpassung und Vergessen in Modern Austrian Literature 40.1 (2007), pp. 82-84.
Review of Kristen Krick-Aigner, Ingeborg Bachmann's Telling Stories. Fairy Tale Beginnings and Holocaust Endings (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2002), in The German Quarterly 77.1 (2004), pp. 109-110.
Review of Ricarda Schmidt and Moray McGowan, eds., From High Priests to Desecrators. Contemporary Austrian Writers, in The Germanic Review 70.2 (1995), pp. 84-85.
Review of Wolfgang Elfe, James Hardin, Gunther Holst, eds., The Fortunes of German Writers in America. Studies in Literary Reception, in The German Quarterly, 67.2 (1994), pp. 290-291.
Review of Joseph Strelka, ed., Georg Saikos magischer Realismus. Zum Werk eines unbekannten großen Autors, in The German Quarterly 65.2 (1992), pp. 259-260.
Review of Herbert Kuhner, Der Ausschluß. Memoiren eines Neununddreißigers, in Modern Austrian Literature 24.1 (1991), pp. 171-172.
Review of Kunze, et. al., eds., Gerald Szyszkowitz. Beiträge und Materialien, in The German Quarterly 63.3-4 (1990), pp. 598-599.
Review of Wolfgang Wendler, ed., Carl Sternheim. Briefe (2 vols.), in The Germanic Review 65.2 (1990), pp. 61-62.
Review of Wolfgang Hackl, Kein Bollwerk der alten Garde -- keine Experimentierbude. 'Wort in der Zeit' (1955-1965). Eine österreichische Zeitschrift, in Modern Austrian Literature 23.1 (1990), pp. 173-174.
Review of Erwin Chvojka, ed., Theodor Kramer. Gesammelte Gedichte (Band III), in Modern Austrian Literature 22.2 (1989), pp. 111-112.
Review of Klaus Amann and Albert Berger, eds., Literatur der dreißiger Jahre in Österreich, in The Germanic Review 63.1 (1988), pp. 42-43.
Review of Friedbert Aspetsberger et al., eds. Österreichische Literatur der Nachkriegszeit und der 50er Jahre, in The Germanic Review 63.1 (1988), pp. 41-42.
Review of Lessing in heutiger Sicht. Proceedings of the 1976 Lessing Society Conference, in The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography (1979), pp. 492-493.
Literary and Non-Literary Translations
Georg von Welling, Opus Mago-cabbalisticum (1760), (San Francisco, CA: Red Wheel-Weiser, 2006).
Gerald Szyszkowitz, Lake of Illusions (Am Irrsee). Drama in Five Acts," in: Gerald Szyszkowitz. Five Plays (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 1993), pp. 185-265.
Curated and Organized Exhibitions and Conferences
Co-Curator with the Students of GER 299: Exhibiting the Visual Arts of Interwar Germany. Held in the Book Arts Gallery of the Mortimer Rare Book Room (Neilson Library) of Smith College, March 7–May 29, 2015.
Curator, From Weimar to War. Popular Propaganda in Germany 1928-1941. An Exhibition of Original Cigarette and Trade Card Albums and Advertising Posters of the 1920s and 30s in Germany. Held in the Book Arts Gallery of the Mortimer Rare Book Room (Neilson Library) of Smith College, March 16–May 8, 2009.
Organizer, Ingeborg Bachmann. Writing Against War / Schreiben gegen den Krieg. A Multimedia Exhibition on the Antiwar Writings of Ingeborg Bachmann. Held in the Smith Campus Center, second floor, March 23–April 12, 2009.
Co-coordinator (with Gertraud Gutzmann), DAAD Seminar “The Museum of History. Recollecting the Recent German and European Past.” Smith College, January 8-13, 1995.
Professional Papers/Lectures
“’Ich bin nicht revolutionär, sondern evolutionär’. Käthe Kollwitz einmal anders gesehen”. Presented on August 4, 2017 at Middlebury College.
“Käthe Kollwitz and the Polarity of Beauty: Nietzsche or the ‘Silesian Angel’?” Presented on March 22, 2016 at Smith College (Weinstein Auditorium) in conjunction with the exhibition “Mothers Arms: Käthe Kollwitz and the Women of War” in the Smith College Museum of Art.
“Ingeborg Bachmann and the Cold War.” Presented at the University of Vienna on January 21, 2016.
"Weigels 'Geschöpf'? Der Werdegang Ingeborg Bachmanns". Presented at the Symposium Die Schaltstelle Hans Weigel at the Austrian Literary Society (Vienna) and the Archive of Contemporary Figures at the University of Krems (Krems, Austria) on November 28 and 29, 2013. Also one of four podium discussion participants at the symposium speaking on Hans Weigel's work as a mentor of young authors (Nov. 28).
"Ingeborg Bachmann in Wien. Zum 40. Todestag der Dichterin". Presented at the art exhibition "'Wortwände.' Sandbilder zu Ingeborg Bachmanns 40. Todestag" at the BeLLeArTi Salon in Vienna on October 17, 2013.
"'mehr als eine Störung in meiner Erinnerung...'. Ingeborg Bachmann und der Kalte Krieg in Wien 1947 - 1953". Presented at the Symposium Spannungsfelder. Die deutschsprachige Literatur im Kalten Krieg 1947 - 1968 at the University of Vienna from September 26 - 28, 2013.
"The Cold War in the Coffeehouse: Hans Weigel and the Circle of Writers in the Café Raimund". Presented at the German Studies Association Annual Conference (Milwaukee, WI), October 5, 2012.
"Ingeborg Bachmanns 'Radiofamilie'". Literaturhaus Wien, Vienna, Austria, June 9, 2011.
Moderator/Speaker, Panel of Smith alumni at 50th Moderator/Speaker, Panel of Smith alumni at 50th anniversary celebration of the Hamburg JYA Program; Hamburg, Germany June 23, 2011.
"Ingeborg Bachmann and the Allied Occupation of Austria". Presented at the University of London (United Kingdom) on May 30, 2009.
Presentation on the Cigarette Card Exhibition in Neilson Library (Book Arts Gallery) for the Kahn Institute Seminar on "Deceit", April 3, 2009.
Moderator/Speaker at the Opening Event of the Ingeborg Bachmann Exhibition. Speakers: Prof. Sara Lennox (UMass), Dr. Heinz Bachmann (Brother of the poet) and Mr. Peter Filkins (Bard College; translator of Bachmann's poems). Smith College Campus Center, Carroll Room, March 23, 2009.
"Smoking as an Educational and Propaganda Tool in Germany 1928 - 1941", Presented in the Liberal Arts Luncheon Lecture Series, Smith College Club, February 5, 2009.
"The Cold War and Secret U.S. Propaganda, or How Ozzie and Harriet Saved Europe". Presented at Villanova University, Villanova, PA, on November 2, 2008.
"Ingeborg Bachmann and the 'Universal Prostitution' of the Cold War". Presented at the Modern Languages Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois on December 30, 2007.
"Ingeborg Bachmann im Dienst eines amerikanischen Propagandasenders 1951-1953". Presented at the Guest House of the University of Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany) on
"Die naturwissenschaftlichen Studiengänge an einer Frauenhochschule am Beispiel von Smith College". Presented at the "Zukunft Bologna" Conference (Lüneburg, Germany) on September 24, 2006.
"Beyond the Hitler Channel: Fantasies of German-ness in American Popular Culture," presented at Bucknell University (Lewisburg, PA), October 21, 2003.
"Ingeborg Bachmann, the Cold War and Reorientation," German Studies Association Conference (San Diego, CA), October 3 - 6, 2002.
"Austria's Radio Family Confronts the Past," presented at the conference Austria Confronts the Past, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA), April 19 - 21, 2002.
"Humor and the Cold War," Modern Languages Association Conference (New Orleans, LA), December 27 - 30, 2001.
"Austrian Cultural Policy and Cultural Identity after 1945," Eleventh Annual Symposium on Austrian Literature and Culture (Riverside, CA), April 1996.
"Postwar Austria Selects Its History," DAAD German Studies Seminar ("The Museum of History. Re-Collecting the Recent German and European Past"), Smith College (Northampton, MA), January 8-13, 1995.
"The Undergraduate German Curriculum. What's Right and What's Wrong With It?" Germanistik in the USA: Prospects for Change -- Changing Our Prospects, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN), Oct. 13-16, 1994.
"Mozart or the Soap Opera? The American Occupation Media and Austrian Literary Culture Annual German Studies Association Conference (Dallas, TX), Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 1994.
"Lifting the Paper Curtain: The Opening of Austrian Literary Culture to Germany and the West after 1945," German Studies Association Conference (Buffalo, NY), October 1990.
"History and Character/History and Story in the Works of Gerald Szyszkowitz," Fifth annual Converence on Austrian Literature (Riverside, CA), May 1990.
"The American Occupation of Austria in the Novel after 1945," AATG National Conference (Atlanta, GA), November 1987.
"The Authoritarian 'Ständestaat' in the Postwar Austrian Novel," German Studies Association Conference (St. Louis, MO), October 1987.
"The Periodical Wort in der Zeit," German Studies Association Conference (Albuquerque, NM), September 1986.
"The Rebirth of Austrian Culture after World War II," Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY), November 1985.
"The Forum Stadtpark in Text and Context. Possibilities for the Classroom," AATG National Conference (New York, NY), November 1985.
"The Mentor Laments: The 'Nachwuchs-Debatte' and the Development of Austrian Literature after 1945," Mountain Interstate Foreign Language conference (Johnson City, TN), October 1984.
"Carl Sternheim and the Weimar Republic," Delta Phi Alpha Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, PA), April 1984.
"Kulturpolitik und Nationalidentität: Zur Rehabilitierung der 'Ostmark-Literatur' nach 1945," Twentieth-Century Literature conference (Louisville, KY), February 1984.
"Zur Darstellung der austrofaschistischen Diktatur im österreichischen Roman nach 1945," NEMLA Annual Conference (New York, NY), April 1982.
"Die Rettung des Österreichischen: Zu den Exilromanen Ernst Lothars," Fifth Annual Symposium on German and Austrian Exile Literature (Riverside, CA), April 1981.
"The Educational System in Ernst von Salomon's Die Kadetten," AATG National Convention (Atlanta, GA), November 1979.
"Der historische Roman im Exil am Beispiel von Heinrich Manns Henri Quatre," Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (Lexington, KY), April 1979.