Dr. Walter Veit, Adjunct Associate Professor
Overview
Areas of research interest: Medieval and baroque studies; comparative literature; literary theory; poetics; aesthetics, rhetoric and intercultural studies.
On this page:
Contact Details
Room W321
Menzies Building
(Building 11)
Consultation by appointment
Contact
Phone: 03 9905 2244
FAX: 03 9905 5437
Email:
walter.veit@arts.monash.edu.au
Mailing Address:
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
Building
11
Monash University
Clayton 3800
AUSTRALIA
Background
Born in Germany in 1935, Walter Friedrich Veit was educated at the universities of Tübingen and Cologne, where he studied History, Philosophy, German Literature and Comparative Literature. He received his doctorate in 1960 from the University of Cologne. From 1963 to 1965 he taught German Studies at the University of Ceylon. In 1967, he came to the Department of German Studies at Monash University where he is now, after his official retirement in 2000, an Honorary Associate Professor. He taught German literature and philosophy, Comparative Literature, and European Studies, and at present supervises a number of PhD-students. His research and publications comprise the areas of German literature, literary theory, comparative and intercultural studies, history of ideas, Australian-German intellectual relations, and travel literature. He has been Visiting Professor at the universities of Cologne, Berlin, and Kiel. He was also a founder member of the Centre of General &Comparative Literature and its long-serving Director. He is now Senior Research Associate of the Centre.
He was a foundation member and president of the Australian and South Pacific Association of Comparative Literature Studies (ASPACLS), vice-president of the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA), and a member of the Executive of the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA). He is at present an Honorary Associate Professor of the Contemporary European Research Centre (CERC) of the University of Melbourne and a Life Member of the German Studies Association of Australia (GSAA).
In close co-operation with the Goethe-Institut Melbourne he has organized four international European Studies conferences: Europe 1992 (1989), Economy and Culture (1993), The Future of Work - Work of the Future (1995), and Change of Values - Value of Change (1997).
In 1997 he was awarded the Cross of Honour (First Class) (Bundesverdienstkreuz Erster Klasse) of the Federal Republic of Germany for services to German Studies in Australia.
His current research projects are in the area of the philosophy of rhetoric and topics, history of ideas, and of the history of the contributions of scientists and missionaries from German speaking countries to the cultural, intellectual and scientific heritage of Australia. Publications in both areas are listed in the bibliography below.
Selected Publications
Books
- 1963 Studien zur Geschichte der Goldenen Zeit von der Antike bis zum 18.Jahrhundert. (Studies in the history of the Golden Age from antiquity to
the 18th century.) Cologne, IX,198 pp. - 1970 (ed.) Captain James Cook Image and Impact. South Seas Discoveries and the World of Letters. Melbourne, Hawthorn Press; 137 pp.
- 1980 (ed.) Captain James Cook Image and Impact. The Pacific Syndrome: Conditions and Consequences. vol.2; Melbourne, Hawthorn Press; 200 pp.
- 1987 (ed.) Antipodische Aufklärungen - Antipodean Enlightenments. Festschrift für Leslie Bodi. Frankfurt - Zürich - New York, Peter Lang, 556 pp.
- 1988 (translated) Grassi, E. Renaissance Humanism. Studies in Philosophy and Poetics. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, vol.51; Binghamton, New York; 145pp.
- 1992 (ed.) with B.Nelson & D.Roberts, The European Community in the 1990s: Economics, Politics, Defense. Oxford, Berg, 232 pp.
- 1992 (ed.) with B.Nelson & D.Roberts, The Idea of Europe. Problems of National and Transnational Identity. Oxford, Berg,180 pp.
- 1993 (ed.) with V. Wolf, Bibliography of German Studies in Australia 1960 - 1992. Goethe-Institut, Melbourne - National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia. München, iudicium verlag, X,235 pp.
- 1997 (ed.) with P.James & St. Wright, Work of the Future: Global Perspectives. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1997, 349pp.
- 2004 (ed.) The Struggle for Souls and Science. Constructing the Fifth Continent: German Missionaries and Scientists. Occasional Paper Number 3. Northern Territory Government: Strehlow Research Centre. Alice Springs. 2004, 216pp.
- 2005 "Arbeiter im Weinberg" oder "Der ungebildete Missionar." Aspekte der nicht-theologischen Bildung der Missionare. (Berliner Beiträge zur Missionsgeschichte 8) Berlin: Wichern Verlag.
Articles
- 1963 Toposforschung: Ein Forschungsbericht. Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift für Literatur und Geistesgeschichte 37 (1963): 120-163.
- 1971 "Autorität." (Authority in rhetoric and literature.) Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie, ed. J.Ritter et. al. Stuttgart - Basel, Schwabe; vol.1 pp. 724-727;
- 1980 "Intellectual Tradition and Pacific Discoveries - The Function of Quotations in Georg Forster's Voyage Round the World." In: Captain James Cook - Image and Impact. vol.2, pp.95-117;
- 1981 "History and Temporality. Some Theses Against Skepticism in the Writing of Literary History." Neohelicon Budapest; VIII,2 pp. 255-267.
- 1983 "Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Romantic Nationalism." In: Romantic Nationalism in Europe. (ed.) J.C.Eade, Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra; Monograph No.2; pp.151-164;
- 1983 "The Topoi of the European Imagining of the Non-European World." In: arcadia. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft, Berlin, 18,3; pp.1-20;
- 1984 "The Potency of Imagery - the Impotence of Rational Language: Ernesto Grassi's contribution to modern epistemology." In: Philosophy and Rhetoric, 17,4 pp. 221-239;
- 1985 "Überlegungen zur Hermeneutik der Germanistik in Australien."(Reflexions on the hermeneutics of German studies in Australia.) In: Das Fremde und das Eigene: Prolegomena zu einer interkulturellen Germanistik (The Foreign and the Familiar. Prolegomena toward intercultural German studies.) (ed.) A.Wierlacher, Munich, iudicium-Verlag, pp. 314-326;
- 1986 "Sancta Simplicitas ." In Sensus Communis. Trends in Comparative Literature. Festschrift for H.H.H. Remak, (eds.) J.Riesz, et al. Stuttgart, G.Narr Verlag, pp.369-383;
- 1987 "Die Hermeneutik des Fremden." (The hermeneutics of the foreign.) in: Anspruch und Widerspruch. In: Zürcher Gespräche - Zurich Colloquia, vol.2 (eds.) E.Grassi and H.Schmale, Munich, W.Fink; pp. 35-69;
- 1987 "Simplicitas antipodea." In: Antipodische Aufklärungen - Antipodean Enlightenments. pp.489-502;
- 1989 "E.R.Curtius' Anstösse zu einer Erneuerung der Literaturtheorie." In: W.Berschin & A.Rothe (eds.) Ernst Robert Curtius - Werk, Wirkung, Zukunftsperspektiven. (Heidelberger Symposion zum hundertsten Geburtstag 1986) Heidelberg, Winter; pp.273 -287;
- 1990 "Die Rankengöttin." (The Vine Goddess) in: Pantheon. International Annual Art Journal, XLVIII, 1990, pp.4-27, 198;
- 1991 "In Search of Carl Strehlow: Lutheran Missionary and Australian Anthropologist." In: From Berlin to Burdekin. The German contribution to the development of Australian science, exploration and the arts. (eds.) D.Walker and J.Tampke, University of New South Wales Press; 108-134, 246/7;
- 1992 " `In Australia, we read it differently ...': Interculturality and the theory of literary criticism." In: S.Gunew et al. (ed.) Striking Chords. Multicultural literary interpretations; pp.129-145.
- 1992 "Argumentatio." In: W.Jens et al. (eds.) in: Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, Tübingen: Niemeyer; Vol.1, 904-914;
- 1993 "Deficits and Taboos in the Intellectual Discussion of the New Europe." In: Meanjin. Special Issue: Intellectuals in Europe; 52,1;31-47;
- 1993 "Interkulturelle Deutschlandstudien als Europastudien. Konzeptentwicklung unter sich wandelnden politischen und kulturellen Bedingungen." (Intercultural German Studies as European Studies. Conceptual developments in changing political and cultural conditions.) In: B.Thum & G.F.Fink (eds.), Praxis Interkultureller Germanistik. Research - Education - Politics. Munich: iudicium, 1-17;
- 1994 "Arbeit. Ein geistesgeschichtlicher Überblick." In: Ernesto Grassi and Hugo Schmale (eds.) Arbeit und Gelassenheit. Zwei Grundformen des Umgangs mit der Natur. München: Fink 1994; 57-84;
- 1996 "Critica radicale della ragione - o l'altro rispetto alla ragione: La sfida della retorica." In: Emilio Hidalgo-Serna and Massimo Marassi (eds.) Studi in onore di Ernesto Grassi. 2 vols. Napoli: La città del sole, vol.1,99-126;
- 1996 "Frage - Quaestio - Question", in Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik,(eds.) G.Ueding; Tübingen: Niemeyer; vol 3, 420-445;
- 1996 "Selbstverwirklichung, Entsagung und Verwandtes." In: Ursula Brucks, Michael Schödlbauer and Elisabeth Strowick (eds.) Metamorphosen der Arbeit. Reflexionen der Arbeitspsychologie. (Festschrift für Hugo Schmale) München: Finck Verlag 1996, 303-327;
- 1997 "The Portuguese in the Pacific: Myth and Reality." In: Voyages in Literature - A Viagem na Literatura. (Estudos Gerais da Arrabida - Conferencias do Convento 1), (ed.) Maria Alzira Seixo, Lisboa: Publicates Europa-America, 1997; 195-230.
- 1997 "Misunderstanding as Condition of Intercultural Understanding." In: Cultural Dialogue & Misreading, (eds.) Mabel Lee & Meng Hua, Sydney: Wild Peony Press (University of Sydney World Literature Series 1) 1997; 163-174.
- 1998 "Deductio – Inductio." In: Historisches Wörterbuch der Rhetorik, (ed.) G.Ueding Tübingen: Niemeyer, vol 4, 351-373.
- 1998 "From Queiroz' Terra del Espiritu Santo to colonial empires in the Pacific: Missionary voyages and their ideologies." In Les Récit de Voyage: Typologie, Historicité. In: (eds.) Maria Alzira Seixo & Graça Abreu; Lisbon: Ediçoes Cosmos, pp.45-76.
- 1999 "Australien, Deutschland, Europa. Bedingungen und Konturen interkultureller Deutschland-Studien als Europastudien: die australische Sicht." In: Jahrbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Intercultural German Studies.(ed.) Alois Wierlacher; München: iudicium; vol. 25 (1999), 247-272.
- 1999 "Comparative Literature, Interculturality and the History of Australian Literature." In: Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek and Milan V. Dimiç with Irene Sywenky (eds.) Comparative Literature Now: Theories and Practice. - La Littérature Comparée à l'heure actuelle: Théories et Réalisations. Paris: Champion 1999, pp.425-437.
- 2000 "The Antipodes: The Alter Ego of Europe. Understanding of the Self in Face of the Other." In: Isabel Allegro de Magalhães (ed.) Literatura e Pluralidade Cultural. Lisboa: Ediçoes Colibri, 1999; 727-746.
- 2000 "Selbstverwirklichung, Entsagung und der Orient." In: (ed.) Ortrud Gutjahr, Westöstlicher und Nordsüdlicher Divan. Paderborn: Schöningh, 2000, 89-107.
- 2000 "Rhetorik als Argumentationstheorie. Das philosophische Problem der Vorwissenschaftlichkeit am Beispiel der Rhetorik." In: Thomas Schirren and Gerd Ueding (eds.) Topik und Rhetorik. Tübingen: Niemeyer. (Rhetorik-Forschungen, Bd. 13) pp.445-458.
- 2001 "Baldwin Spencer und Carl Strehlow, ein Anthropologe und ein Missionar in Zentral-Australien." In: Biographies au pluriel. Interculturalité, couples, mise en scène: langue - littérature - socité.(eds.) Thomas Keller & Freddy Raphaél. Strasbourg: Presses Universitaires de Strasbourg; pp.15-34.
- 2002 "Goethe's Phantasies of the Orient: European Exoticism and the Orient." In: Eighteenth-Century Life vol.26.3 p.165-181.
- 2002 "The East in Goethe's Poetry." In P.Mildonian, M.A.Seixo, L.C.Martins (eds.) La Porta d'Oriente: Viaggi e Poesia - A Porta do Oriente: Viagens e Poesia. Lisboa: Ediçoes Cosmos; pp.73-92.
- 2004 "Topics and the Discovery of the New." In: Jürgen Fohrmann (ed.) Rhetorik, Figuration und Performanz. Stuttgart: Metzler; 59-80.
- 2004 "Labourers in the Vineyard or The Uneducated Missionary." In: Michael Cawthorn (ed.) Traditions in the midst of change. Communities, cultures and the Strehlow legacy in Central Australia. Northern Territory Government: Strehlow Research Centre 2004, 136-150.
- 2004 "Social Anthropology versus Cultural Anthropology: Baldwin Walter Spencer and Carl Friedrich Strehlow in Central Australia." In: Walter Veit (ed.) The Struggle for Souls and Science. Constructing the Fifth Continent: German Missionaries and Scientists. Occasional Paper Number 3 Northern Territory Government: Strehlow Research Centre. Alice Springs. 2004, 92-110.
- 2007 “New Rhetoric - Newest Rhetoric: Ernst Robert Curtius, Chaim Perelman, Ernesto Grassi, Michel Meyer and What Now?” In: Christine Magerski, Robert Savage, Christiane Weller (eds.) Moderne begreifen. Zur Paradoxie eines sozio-ästhetischen Deutungsmusters. Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitätsverlag, 2007 pp.453-467
- 2008 “Missionaries and Modernism in Literature.” In: (ed.) Ulrich van der Heyden Berlin) Border Crossings: Explorations of an Interdisciplinary Historian (Festschrift für Irving Hexham. Missionsgeschichtliches Archiv vol. 12) Stuttgart, 2008, 353-370.
- 2008 Globalization and Literary History: Rethinking Comparative Literary History – Globally. In ed. Ralph Cohen & Hayden White, New Literary History. Special Issue: Globalization. December Issue 2008, 39; 415-435.