Paul Michael Lutzeler (born November 4, 1943, in Doveren,

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km south-west ...

, Germany) is a German-American scholar of German studies and

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

. He is the Rosa May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Life

Lutzeler studied German and English Literature, Philosophy and History in Berlin, Edinburgh, Vienna and Munich. In 1968 he emigrated to the United States and in 1972 he defended his dissertation at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. In 1973 he moved to St. Louis, where he became a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He was Chair of the Washington University Faculty Senate Council from 1993 to 1995. In 1983 he founded the European Studies Program in

Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis is home to the College of Arts and Sciences and corresponding graduate programs across its many departments. The current Dean of the Faculty is Feng Sheng Hu, the Lucille P. Markey Distingui ...

, of which he was in charge for 20 years. In 1985 he founded the ''Max Kade Center for Contemporary German Literature'', which he chaired until 2022. He chaired the German department from 1983 to 1988. From 1985 until 2022 he was inviting an author and a critic from one of the German-speaking countries every year to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

for teaching and researching. In 2002 he founded ''Gegenwartsliteratur. A German Studies Yearbook'' of which he was the Editor in Chief until 2020. Lutzeler was also engaged in exchange programs between Washington University and different European, American and Asian universities. From 2010 to 2019 he worked on the committee of the transatlantic postdoc exchange funded by the

Volkswagen Foundation The Volkswagen Foundation (German: ''VolkswagenStiftung'') is the largest German private nonprofit organization involved in the promotion and support of academic research. It is not affiliated to the present company, the Volkswagen Group. It wa ...

. He was guest professor in

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, New Delhi, Beijing, Madrid, and Tokyo among others. He taught block seminars at universities in Melbourne, Pavia, Guadalajara, Jerusalem and Zadar. Lutzeler is president of the IAB ( Internationaler Arbeitskreis Hermann Broch), president of the AFM (American Friends of the German Literary Archives in

Marbach am Neckar Marbach am Neckar (, ) is a town about 20 kilometres north of Stuttgart. It belongs to the district of Ludwigsburg, the Stuttgart region and the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Marbach is known as the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller ...

from 2012 to 2019 and was from 2005 to 2010 vice-president of Internationale Vereinigung für Germanistik. He is a corresponding member of two academies in Germany: The Academy of Science and Literature, and the Northrhine-Westfalian Academy of Science and Art and also a member of the

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

. He was a member of the strategy commission of the Wissenschaftsrat der Bundesrepublik Deutschland from 2011 to 2016, and he is a member of the

PEN Centre Germany PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

. Since 2015, he has also been a member of the executive committee of Gesellschaft für interkulturelle Germanistik. Lutzeler is a German and American citizen and lives in St. Louis. He is married and has two children.

Work

Lutzeler's main research interests are contemporary German literature, the literary discourse about Europe, German speaking Exile-Literature in the U.S., and German and European

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. Lutzeler is an expert for the Austro-American exile-author

Hermann Broch Hermann Broch (; 1 November 1886 – 30 May 1951) was an Austrian writer, best known for two major works of modernist fiction: '' The Sleepwalkers'' (''Die Schlafwandler,'' 1930–32) and '' The Death of Virgil'' (''Der Tod des Vergil,'' 1945). ...

, whose works he edited and whose biography he has written. He also published essays and books about the discourses of

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

postcolonialism Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...

, continentalization, and

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

. Several of his works were translated into foreign languages. He also wrote for German newspapers and magazines like

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

, the

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (''FR'') is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. The ''Rundschaus editorial stance is social liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism. In Post-wa ...

, the

Neue Rundschau The ''Neue Rundschau'', formerly ''Die neue Rundschau'' (), founded in 1890, is a quarterly German literary magazine that appears in the S. Fischer Verlag. With its over 100 years of continuous history, it is one of the oldest cultural publicati ...

and the

Merkur Merkur (, '' Mercury'') is a North American brand of automobiles marketed by the Lincoln- Mercury division of Ford Motor Company for model years 1985–1989. Drawing its name from the German word for Mercury, Merkur, the brand targeted buyers ...

Awards

*The DAAD Prize of the German Studies Association for the Broch biography * South West Broadcasting (''Südwestrundfunk'') List of Best Books for the Broch edition ''Der Tod im Exil'' *

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

*Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the Austrian national honours system. History The Decoration of Hono ...

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

of the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

*Outstanding Educator Award of the American Association of Teachers of German *Honorary Membership of the American Association of Teachers of German *Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award of Washington University in St. Louis *Research Award of

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

*The Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award of Washington University in St. Louis *Award for International Exchange of the DAAD Alumni Association USA * Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis of the

German Academy for Language and Literature German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ger ...

*Dr. h.c. ( Doctor of Humanities) from Washington University in St. Louis

Grants

Fulbright Foundation The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

Woodrow Wilson Foundation The Woodrow Wilson Foundation was an educational non-profit created in 1921, organized under the laws of New York, for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals" via periodic grants to worthy groups and individuals. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the chai ...

Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), founded in 1925, is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies to foster their international relations. Since 1 January 2020, the president has been Joybrato Mukherjee. Organis ...

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

(Research Award) * Zentrum für interdisziplinaere Forschungen,

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

Akademie Schloss Solitude The Akademie Schloss Solitude is a foundation under public law. The main aspect of the Akademie is to promote mainly younger, particularly gifted artists and scientists by means of residency fellowships and also by organizing events and exhibitio ...

, Stuttgart *Humanities Research Center,

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

*Indiana Institute for Advanced Study, Bloomington * Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg, Greifswald
Berlin Kolleg für vergleichende Geschichte Europas
*

Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is the international research college of the University of Freiburg, Germany. The institute was initially part of the university's proposal for funding in the Excellence Initiative in 2007, an in ...

* Internationales Kolleg Morphomata (Institute for Advanced Studies) der Universität zu Köln * Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften (IFK) Wien * Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (KWI), Essen

Bibliography

Books (selection)

*Hermann Broch: Eine Biographie. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1985. (translated into English, Spanish and Japanese, also as an eBook) *Geschichte in der Literatur. Studien zu Werken von Lessing bis Hebbel. Piper, München 1987. *Die Schriftsteller und Europa. Von der Romantik bis zur Gegenwart. Piper, München 1992. *Europäische Identität und Multikultur". Stauffenburg, Tübingen 1997. (translated into Italian) *Kulturbruch und Glaubenskrise: Brochs 'Schlafwandler' und Grünewalds 'Isenheimer Altar'. Tübingen: Francke, 2001. *Postmoderne und postkoloniale deutschsprachige Literatur. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2005. *Kontinentalisierung: Das Europa der Schriftsteller. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2007. *Bürgerkrieg global. Menschenrechtsethos und deutschsprachiger Gegenwartsroman. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, München 2009. *Hermann Broch und die Moderne. Wilhelm Fink, München 2011 *Transatlantische Germanistik: Kontakt, Transfer, Dialogik. De Gruyter, Berlin 2013. *Publizistische Germanistik. Essays und Kritiken''.'' De Gruyter, Berlin 2015. *Hermann Broch und die Menschenrechte: Anti-Versklavung als Ethos der Welt. De Gruyter, Berlin 2021.

Editions (selection)

*Hermann Broch. Kommentierte Werkausgabe, 17 Bände. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1974–1981. (also as an ebook) *Deutsche Literatur in der Bundesrepublik seit 1965 (with

Egon Schwarz Egon is a Danish variant of the male given name Egino. It is most commonly found in Central and Northern Europe. Egon may refer to: People * Egon VIII of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (1588–1635), Imperial Count of Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg (161 ...

). Athenäum, Königstein 1980 *Romane und Erzählungen der deutschen Romantik. Neue Interpretationen. Reclam, Stuttgart 1981. *Goethes Erzählwerk. Interpretationen (with James E. McLeod). Reclam, Stuttgart 1985. *Zeitgenossenschaft. Festschrift für Egon Schwarz zum 65. Geburtstag. with Herbert Lehnert and Gerhild S. Williams. Frankfurt am Main: Athenäum, 1987. *Spätmoderne und Postmoderne. Beiträge zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1991. *Hoffnung Europa. Deutsche Essays von Novalis bis Enzensberger. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1994. *Europe after Maastricht. American and European Perspectives. Berghahn Books, Providence, Oxford 1994. (also translated into Rumanian) *Poetik der Autoren. Beiträge zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1994. *Hannah Arendt-Hermann Broch. Briefwechsel 1946–1951. Jüdischer Verlag im Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996. *Schreiben zwischen den Kulturen. Beiträge zur deutschsprachigen Gegenwartsliteratur. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996. (translated into English) *Der postkoloniale Blick. Deutsche Autoren berichten aus der Dritten Welt. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1997. *Räume der literarischen Postmoderne. Gender, Performativität, Globalisierung. Stauffenburg, Tübingen 2000. *Kleists Erzählungen und Dramen. Neue Studien (with

David Pan David Tse-Chien Pan (born 1963) is an American literary scholar and Professor of German at the University of California, Irvine. He is known for his works on German literature and German philosophy, intellectual history. Pan was a member of the ...

). Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2001. *Hermann Broch. Visionary in Exile. The 2001 Yale Symposium (with Matthias Konzett, Willy Riemer and Christa Sammmons). Camden House, Rochester, New York 2003. *Freundschaft im Exil. Thomas Mann und Herann Broch. Klostermann Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004. *Hermann Broch und die Künste (with Alice Staskova), DeGruyter, Berlin 2009. *Verlorener Sohn? Hermann Brochs Briefwechsel mit Armand. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2010. *Die Ethik der Literatur. Deutsche Autoren der Gegenwart (with Jennifer Kapczynski). Göttingen, Wallstein 2011. *Hermann Broch und die Romantik (with Doren Wohlleben). Berlin und New York, De Gruyter 2014. *Hermann Broch Handbuch. (with

Michael Kessler Michael Kessler (born 24 June 1967) is a German actor, comedian and author. Career Theater Kessler had his acting training at the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum from 1988 to 1992. Afterwards he began acting roles at Schauspielhaus ...

): De Gruyter, Berlin und Boston 2016. *Transatlantic German Studies: Testimonies to the Profession (with Peter Hoeyng). Camden House, Rochester NY 2018. *Hermann Broch – Frank Thiess, Briefwechsel 1929 – 1938 , 1948 – 1951. Wallstein, Göttingen 2018. *Aussteigen um 1900. Imaginationen in der Literatur der Moderne (with Barbara Mahlmann-Bauer). Wallstein, Goettingen 2021. * Die Europäische Union zwischen Konfusion und Vision: Interdisziplinaere Fragestellungen (with Michael Gehler). Boehlau, Wien 2022. *Hermann Broch und die österreichische Moderne (with Thomas Borgard). Brill/Fink 2023.

Editor of scholarly journals

* The German Quarterly (1988–1991) *Gegenwartsliteratur. A German Studies Yearbook (2002–2020)

Editor of scholarly series

*Studies in Contemporary German Literature (1995–2005): 19 vol. *Co-Ed.: Stauffenburg Discussion: Studies in Inter- and Multiculture (1995–2015): 29 vol.

Advisory board

* The German Quarterly (1992–1994, 1998–2003) *Jahrbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache (1986–1996) *

South Atlantic Review The ''South Atlantic Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the South Atlantic Modern Language Association. It was established in 1935 and publishes articles and reviews in the fields of language and literature. As of ...

(1998–2001) *Recherches Germaniques (since 2001) *Literaturstrasse. Deutsch-Chinesisches Jahrbuch (since 2000) *

Comparative Literature Studies ''Comparative Literature Studies'' (CLS) is an academic journal in the field of comparative literature. It publishes critical comparative essays on literature, cultural production, the relationship between aesthetics and political thought, and hi ...

(since 2002) *Moderne: Kulturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch (2005–2011) *Études Germaniques (since 2009) *Revista de Filologia Alemana (since 2009) *Palaestra (since 2010) *Zeitschrift für Interkulturelle Germanistik (since 2010) *Studia Theodisca (since 2011)

Literature

*Michael Kessler et al. (ed.): Hermann Broch – Neue Studien. Festschrift für Paul Michael Lützeler zum 60. Geburtstag. Stauffenburg, Tübingen 2003 (with bibliography Paul Michael Luetzeler) *Mark W. Rectanus (ed.): Über Gegenwartsliteratur/About Contemporary Literature. Festschrift für Paul Michael Lützeler zum 65. Geburtstag. Bielefeld, Aisthesis 2008 (with bibliography Paul Michael Luetzeler). *Peter Hanenberg und Isabel Capeloa Gil (ed.): Der literarische Europa-Diskurs. Festschrift für Paul Michael Lützeler zum 70. Geburtstag. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2013. (with bibliography Paul Michael Luetzeler). *Michael Braun (ed.): Deutsche Literatur und Europäische Zeitgeschichte. Für Paul Michael Lützeler zum 75. Geburtstag. Stauffenburg, Tübingen 2018. *Michael Kessler (ed.): Interkulturelle Dialoge. Exil- und Gegenwartsliteratur, Europa- und Kunst-Diskurse. Festschrift fuer Paul Michael Lützeler zum 80. Geburtstag. Tübingen: Stauffenburg, 2023. (with bibliography Paul Michael Lützeler)

References

External links

Der Weltgermanist: Article on the occasion of Paul Michael Lützeler's 70th birthday
in:

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

(German)
Der Transatlantiker. Article on the occasion of Paul Michael Lützeler's 70th birthday
in:

(German)
Record: A man of phenomenal energy
in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutzeler, Paul Michael 1943 births Living people German Germanists People from Heinsberg (district) Washington University in St. Louis Department of German faculty Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Indiana University Bloomington alumni American Germanists