The conference is organised as part of the FNRS (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Belgium) project entitled “Belgium ‘Read’ in German and Czech” (2024-2027), directed by Petra James (Université libre de Bruxelles) and Hubert Roland (UCLouvain).

In collaboration with CEFRES – French Research Centre in Humanities and Social Sciences; Department of Czech and Comparative Literature, Charles University; Institute of Czech Literature, Czech Academy of Sciences; & Institut of Slovak Literature, Slovak Academy of Sciences

During the modernist period (roughly 1880s–1940s), Belgium, Bohemia, and the German-speaking countries developed a dynamic and flourishing system of mutual cultural mediation, marked by an intensification of translational practices and supported by the activity of periodicals, publishing houses, and cultural institutions. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these regions underwent a process of autonomation of the literary and artistic fields (Bourdieu 1992; Casanova 2008; Sapiro 2023; Vanacker – Verschaffel 2024). Recent studies have highlighted the limits of the Bourdieusian approach, raising questions about the applicability of this model beyond the French context, as well as the complex interplay between the processes of autonomy and heteronomy (Šebek 2019; Albers – Hahn – Ponten 2022; Hrdina 2024; Robert 2024). Particularly relevant to the Belgian context is Paul Aron’s critique of Bourdieu’s characterisation of the “Belgian literary field” (1985) as merely a “subfield” of the French one (Aron 1999; Durand – Habrand 2018).

Mediation activities were among the key factors in the process of autonomation of national literary fields. In this respect, the marginalisation of female mediators in critical historiography has been widespread despite the crucial role they played. At the first glance, male figures seem to dominate the networks of mediation (Géry 2020). In nineteenth and twentieth-century Europe, the position of women creators (writers, translators, editors, journalists, and others) was deeply precarious, as Libuše Heczková (2009) critically observed regarding Bohemia: “a woman was called ‘to help’, and men considered her a ‘sister’ in their godly actions”. Studies on cultural transfers concerning the reception of Belgian literature in German-speaking Studies on cultural transfers concerning the reception of Belgian literature in German-speaking contexts tend to highlight prominent figures such as Stefan Zweig and Otto Hauser, or Karl Anton Klammer and Friedrich von Oppeln-Bronikowski. Similarly, in the Czech milieu, scholars and mediators such as Otokar Fischer (Thirouin 2020) and Václav Tille are seen as central. On the Belgian side, Henri Grégoire’s work through the journal Le Flambeau has been recognised as fundamental in promoting Slavic culture. However, as Laurent Béghin (2014) emphasised, Grégoire’s mediation of Czech literature was profoundly intertwined with the efforts of his sister, Junia Letty.

Following the theoretical trajectory initiated by Elaine Showalter (1977) and further developed in feminist literary criticism, there is an urgent need to deconstruct this male-centred narrative, particularly within Modernism’s multicultural and multilingual frameworks (cf. the journal Feminist Modernist Studies). The significant contributions of many forgotten female figures must be brought to the forefront, such as Marie Kalašová, translator of Maeterlinck; literary critic Libuše Sobotková; and Lída Faltová, a leading translator of Flemish literature into Czech. Concerning the German side, figures such as Eva Rechel-Mertens, translator of Marie Gevers (van de Pol-Tegge 2025), and Anna Valeton, translator of Stijn Streuvels, also deserve renewed attention.

Translation was just one mechanism of the broader cultural transfer process During Modernism, in the triangular framework defined by the Germanophone, Czechophone, and Belgian poles, in relation to their neighbours and the transnational field, the role of periodicals (Joyeux-Prunel – Carboni – Barras 2024), publishing houses, and cultural institutions was pivotal. The mediation of Belgian literature in German-speaking countries and Bohemia during this period was notably extensive. In the Germanophone contexts, periodicals such as PAN, Das literarische Echo and Die Zeit in Wien served as key platforms, while Czech literature was disseminated and discussed through journals such as Osvěta, Rozpravy Aventina and Prager Presse.

Multilingualism is a complex challenge in translation studies within cultural transfer systems (Meylaerts 2013). In the triangular constellation addressed by this call for papers, it is particularly relevant to emphasise the non-bilateral interactions between and within multilingual literary spheres. The Modernist period witnessed a proliferation of Flemish literature in international contexts, offering a valuable lens through which to examine linguistic, political, and ideological negotiations. Czech- and Germanophone spaces were no exception. Until 1948, Bohemia and Germany were central hubs for the reception of Flemish literature in Central and East Europe, particularly within Czech catholic circles, largely due to Otto F. Babler’s work (Engelbrecht 2014; Engelbrecht – Vaidová – Jančíková 2015) or through ambitious editorial programmes like those of Anton Kippenberg’s Insel-Verlag or of German catholic journals. In Bohemia this process intensified in the 1920s with the mediation of major Flemish contemporary authors such as Felix Timmermans, extensively translated by Rudolf J. Vonka, and August Vermeylen, translated by Otokar Fischer in 1926. In the Germanophone context, Otto Hauser’s early twentieth-century translations of Flemish literature in Vienna, as well as publication policies shaped by Flamenpolitik (Roland 2013), were also significant.

This call for papers invites contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Case studies examining the role of women in shaping, mediating, and redefining the reception of Belgian literature during Modernism (1880er–1940er Jahre) in Czech and Germanophone cultural spaces. Proposals grounded in reception studies, gender studies, or comparative literary history are especially welcome;
• The role of periodicals, publishing houses, and cultural institutions in the mediation of Belgian literature in German-speaking countries and Bohemia, as well as the related practices of publishing, editing, translating;
• Belgian female mediators, periodicals, publishing houses and cultural institutions involved in the reception of Czech or German literature in Belgium during the modernist period;
• The reception of Flemish literature in Czechophone and Germanophone contexts.

This geographic triangulation between Belgium, Czech- and Germanophone spaces may be fruitfully expanded to neighbouring and multilateral cultural contexts, including Slovak, Polish, Hungarian or Romanian ones. Comparative approaches that link these areas with Czechophone and Germanophone contexts are particularly encouraged.

Conference Languages: English, French, Czech, German

Send an abstract of 300 words to: martina.mecco@ulb.be

Deadline for submissions: 30 December 2025