Akademischer Direktor (Associate Professor)
Research Interests
Early American Literature and Culture, African American Studies, American Realism and Naturalism, Specialized Forms of Technical Translation and Literary Translation (e.g., chess books and Gonzo journalism), Film, Media, and Visual Culture Studies
Profile
Dr. Klaus H. Schmidt is an associate professor of American Studies at the Faculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies in Germersheim. He received an M.A. in Translation Studies (1988) and a Ph.D. in American Studies (1994) from the University of Mainz. He has been teaching courses and seminars in American literature, language, and culture, as well as translation classes and seminars in translation theory since 1989. His research interests include African American literature, early American culture, American naturalism, postcolonial translation studies, as well as transnational television, film, and visual culture.
Administrative Functions
Stellvertr. Leiter des Prüfungsamts (2003-2021); Stellvertr. Leiter der Fachgruppe Übersetzen; Mitglied des Senats (2008-2014), des Senatsausschusses für Studium und Lehre (2008-2014), des Fachbereichsrats (2005-2020), des Haushaltsausschusses (2005-2025), des Prüfungsausschusses (2003-2018) und des Leitungskollegiums (AAAA); Prüfungsbeauftragter (AAAA, 2003-); Studienfachbeauftragter (Fach Englisch/AAAA, 2023-)
Recent Publications
Schmidt, Klaus H. "Excess and A New Pornographic Imagination: Escalations of Neonaturalism in Transnational Visual Culture. Part I: Departure." Studies in American Naturalism 18.1 (2023): 75-117.
—. "[Preview & Summary:] Excess and A New Pornographic Imagination: Escalations of Neonaturalism in Transnational Visual Culture. Part II: Arrival." Studies in American Naturalism 18.1 (2023): 118-20.
—."Neonaturalism in Contemporary U.S. Film." Studies in American Naturalism 15.1 (2020): 18-48.
—. "In Search of Neonaturalism; or, Lost in Translation: Tracing an Elusive Meme in American Literary Criticism and Contemporary U.S. Film – Companion Website." 2020. [for a pdf, click here]
—."Teaching American Realism in Germany." The Oxford Handbook of American Literary Realism. Ed. Keith Newlin. New York: Oxford UP, 2019. 621-47. [for an electronic version, available in the University of Mainz campus net, see here]
—. "Teaching American Realism in Germany: Supplement — Additional Notes and Materials." 2019. [for a pdf, click here]
—. Rev. of Theodore Dreiser Recalled, ed. Donald Pizer (Clemson: Clemson UP, 2017). Studies in American Naturalism 13.1 (Summer 2018): 95-102.
Ernst, Jutta, Sabina Matter-Seibel, and —, eds. Revisionist Approaches to American Realism and Naturalism. American Studies – A Monograph Series 284. Heidelberg: Winter, 2018.
—. Rev. of The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment, 2 vols., ed Mark G. Spencer (New York: Bloomsbury, 2015). Amerikastudien / American Studies 62.4 (2017): n.p. [3 pp.]. Web. https://dgfa.de/category/reviews/
—. guest expert. "SWR2 Wissen: Arthur Miller – Kritiker des American Way of Life," by Anna Dorothea Schneider. Interview. Recorded on March 17, 2015. Broadcast on October 8, 2015.
—. "Review Essay: Edward Watts and David J. Carlson, eds., John Neal and Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture." Amerikastudien / American Studies 59.2 (2014): n.p. [10 pp.]. Web. http://dgfa.de/category/reviews/volume-59-2-2014/
—. Rev. of Stories of Survival: John Edgar Wideman’s Representations of History, by Ulrich Eschborn (MOSAIC 42. Trier: WVT, 2011). Amerikastudien / American Studies 58.1 (2013): 168-71.
—. and Ulrike E. Köstler, trans. Joe Bageant. Auf Rehwildjagd mit Jesus: Meldungen aus dem amerikanischen Klassenkampf. Mainz: VAT, 2012.
Bardeleben, Renate von, Sabina Matter-Seibel, and —, eds. American Multiculturalism and Ethnic Survival. Mainzer Studien zur Amerikanistik 59. Frankfurt: Lang, 2012.
—. trans. Richard Palliser, Glenn Flear, and Jelena Dembo. Gefährliche Waffen – Königsindisch. Everyman Chess Series. London: Everyman Chess, 2010.
—. ed. Renate von Bardeleben. Engaging Dreiser. American Studies – A Monograph Series 192. Heidelberg: Winter, 2010.
—. Rev. of Sisters in Sin: Brothel Drama in America, 1900-1920, by Katie N. Johnson (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006). Amerikastudien / American Studies 54.2 (2009): 258-62.
—. "William Hill Brown, Biogramm"; "William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy"; "Stephen Crane, 'The Open Boat'"; "Arthur Miller, Timebends"; "William Gilmore Simms, Biogramm"; "William Gilmore Simms, The Yemassee"; "William Gilmore Simms, The Sword and the Distaff"; "Tabitha Tenney, Biogramm"; "Tabitha Tenney, Female Quixotism." Kindlers Literatur Lexikon. 3. Auflage. Hrsg. Heinz Ludwig Arnold. 18 vols. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2009. 3: 226-27; 4: 261; 11: 294-95; 15: 167-69; 16: 156-57.
A complete list of publications is available here.
Education
1988 M.A, in Translation Studies (University of Mainz, Germany)
1994 Ph.D. in American Studies (University of Mainz, Germany)