Literature today is characterized by a diversity of voices worldwide: For some of the most important authors who publish in German, German has been their second or even third language, for example Rafik Schami, Yoko Tawada, Olga Martynova, Saša Stanišić, Natascha Wodin, Emine Sevgi Özdamar and Marica Bodrožić. Some, like Aboud Saeed, who was born in Syria and now lives in Berlin, write bilingually. Others, such as Vladimir Sorokin, Aslı Erdoğan or Peace Prize winner Liao Yiwu, have gone into exile in Berlin but continue to write in their mother tongue. In all of this, it is often forgotten that multilingual biographies were the rule rather than the exception not only in Austria-Hungary and Switzerland until the middle of the 20th century. Against this background and in view of the rich historical collections in DLA, the international conference will focus on questions of multilingualism and its role for literature in changing political conditions. The 'profusion of tongues' is often the result of necessity - yet it has always proved to be an enormous benefit for the art of writing and cultural exchange. With contributions by David Gramling, Kader Konuk, Dr Áine McMurtry, Stephen D. Dowden, Didem Uca and others (Information from the event website.)

Prof. Dr. Thomas Wild is one of the general editors of the Critical Edition of Hannah Arendt's works and co-editor of the work complexes The Human Condition / Vita activa and Men in Dark Times.