GERMAN 592 A: Cultural Studies

Die Orestie, Schauspiel Frankfurt (2020)

German 592, Winter 2024

Ellwood Wiggins

The plight of the most oppressed is often only given voice by others, more privileged, speaking for their interests. This structure of advocacy is very clear in the German word Fürsprache (speaking for), and is the literal root of the Latin advocatus, from which our English term derives. But what does it mean to speak for another?  Who has that right? Who can—or should—speak for whom? What ethical and epistemological challenges does advocacy entail?

In this course, we will explore these questions through readings in literature and rhetoric. We’ll begin with Aeschylus’ Eumenides, which stages the first trial by jury. Katrin Trüstedt, leading scholar of advocacy, notes that three important institutions come into being when the god Apollo steps up to speak on behalf of the matricide Orestes: the justice system; religious intercession; and the theater itself.

From ancient Greek tragedy and rhetoric, we’ll work our way up to the thorny problems of advocacy for those affected by today’s most trenchant crises: speaking for refugees and for the non-human environment.