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Peter Burger reflects on the reception of his Theory of the Avant-Garde and crafts a spirited response to his critics, while expanding on and refining his original claims. For Burger, what continues to distinguish the avant-garde are two interrelated principles: the attack on the institution of art and the revolutionary transformation of everyday life. Underscoring the explicitly theoretical, rather than merely historical, thrust of this definition, he defends this generalizing strategy as a necessary means of achieving clarity about the changing role of art in society. He reiterates his argument about the failure of the historical avant-garde (to overcome the distinction of art and life), while placing a new emphasis on its equal measure of success (in transforming the internal logic of the art institution). The avant-garde’s appropriation of outdated and popular materials, for example, played a key role in challenging the norms of the art world, helping to bring about the leveling of distinctions often associated with postmodernism. On the one hand, the avant-garde failed in its attempt to revolutionize social reality; on the other hand, its impact on the norms and values of the art institution was significant and far-reaching. Contemporary or neo-avant-gardes remain caught on the horns of this contradiction, insofar as their aesthetic experiments—whatever the explicit intentions of the artist—only shore up the walls of the institution rather than breaking them down.

The following conversation centers on a rare book: Ein Gedicht fur ein Buch or A Poem for a Book (1996), a collaboration between Yoko Tawada (I960-), author, Stephan Kohler (1959-), photographer and papermaker, and Cle mens-Tobias Lange (I960-), book artist and designer.1 Robert Rainwater, former curator of the New York Public Library's Spencer collection which houses one of the 45 editions, described^ Poemfor a Book as "a perfect mar riage between the Japanese handmade book and the more recent European tradition of livres d'artistes," and lauded it as "a paean to the act of reading and to the art of the book."2 Recently, the book was prominently displayed at the New York Public Library as part of the exhibit Ehon: The Artist and the Book in Japan. Yoko Tawada, who writes in Japanese and in German, was born as #ftffl*T(fcfrfc 0 or Tawada Yoko in Tokyo, Japan, in 1960. She established residency in Germany twenty-two years later and has been living there ever since. Tawada has published collections of poems, short stories, radio plays, texts for the theater, novels, literary essays, and experimental performance pieces.3 In the following dialogue?a revised version of a podium discussion that took place in conjunction with the exhibit?Yoko Tawada and Bettina Brandt discuss the relationship between artist books and migration.

Yoko Tawada, who writes and publishes both in German and in Japanese, is one of the most important "foreign" authors writing in Germany today. Tawada discusses in her poems, plays, stories, essays, and novels not only questions of national and cultural identity but also questions of gender. The following interview focuses on the use of different languages in Tawada's writing and their relationship to such topics as metaphor, creativity, childhood, collecting, art, metamorphosis, and the material world.

(2004). Collecting Childhood Memories of the Future: Arabic as Mediator Between Turkish and German in Emine Sevgi ozdamar's Mutterzunge. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 295-315.

In the past decade the number of studies investigating temperament in farm animals has increased greatly because temperament has been shown not only to affect handling but also reproduction, health and economically important production traits. However, molecular pathways underlying temperament and molecular pathways linking temperament to production traits, health and reproduction have yet to be studied in full detail. Here we report the results of metabolite profiling of the prefrontal cortex and serum of cattle with distinct temperament types that were performed to further explore their molecular divergence in the response to the slaughter procedure and to identify new targets for further research of cattle temperament. By performing an untargeted comprehensive metabolite profiling, 627 and 1097 metabolite features comprising 235 and 328 metabolites could be detected in the prefrontal cortex and serum, respectively. In total, 54 prefrontal cortex and 51 serum metabolite features were indicated to have a high relevance in the classification of temperament types by a sparse partial least square discriminant analysis. A clear discrimination between fearful/neophobic-alert, interested-stressed, subdued/uninterested-calm and outgoing/neophilic-alert temperament types could be observed based on the abundance of the identified relevant prefrontal cortex and serum metabolites. Metabolites with high relevance in the classification of temperament types revealed that the main differences between temperament types in the response to the slaughter procedure were related to the abundance of glycerophospholipids, fatty acyls and sterol lipids. Differences in the abundance of metabolites related to C21 steroid metabolism and oxidative stress indicated that the differences in the metabolite profiles of the four extreme temperament types could be the result of a temperament type specific regulation of molecular pathways that are known to be involved in the stress and fear response.

Although ECT has been the subject of controversy for decades, ECT has brought increased chances for recovery to many people suffering from severe depression. Crossfield (1988) states the evidence is overwhelming that treatment of some depressive clients with ECT is the best treatment available. Other researchers have found that ECT is equal to, and sometimes superior to, other therapies for major depressive disorders (Gomez & Gomez, 1993). Depression is a treatable condition about which nurses have a responsibility to educate clients and their families (Valente, 1991). If clients and their supportive families and friends are to understand rather than undermine treatment, education about ECT is essential (Valente, 1991). Well-meaning friends and family who are misinformed could strongly discourage ECT, so it is important that their myths about ECT be dispelled (Valente, 1991). Furthermore, if depression in an already at-risk elderly population is not recognized and treated, great suffering will continue to be endured and life-threatening situations may occur. Depression often is manifested differently in older persons than in younger ones. Nurses can improve the quality of care provided to these depressed elderly clients by allowing them to express their fears and anger (Gomez & Gomez, 1993). Furthermore, the nurse's attitude should be hopeful, positive and consistent with them. This action can help clients develop trust with the nurse and further their own quality care. Estimates are that 70% to 90% of individuals who suffer from severe depression and receive ECT do indeed recover (Valente, 1991). ECT should be undertaken only after the outlined treatment protocols have been considered and with the knowledge and understanding of the following statements issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in the 1993 Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). First, ECT has not been adequately tested in milder forms of depression. Because of this gap in the research, the efficacy of ECT across the spectrum of depressive symptomatology is unknown. Second, ECT is costly when it entails hospitalization. This factor has great meaning in the changing, increasingly cost-conscious, health care arena. Third, ECT has specific and significant side effects, e.g., short-term retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Not only are these side effects troublesome for inpatient recipients of ECT, but the side effects can be quite dangerous for persons receiving treatment on an outpatient basis. The potential for injury is grave for persons who have memory deficit. Given the present cost-conscious, cost-cutting atmosphere, an anticipated rise in the number of clients receiving ECT on an outpatient basis is a distinct possibility. Fourth, the risks of general anesthesia are present. Age is a well known risk factor for general anesthesia. Fifth, treatment with ECT still carries substantial social stigma for clients. In spite of the increasing acceptance of ECT as a treatment for depression in the elderly, many clients prefer to keep their receipt of treatment secret fearing social repercussions of open discussions with family and friends. Sixth, ECT can be contraindicated when certain other medical conditions are present. Persons suffering from severe cardiac or pulmonary disease are frequently disqualified for treatment due to the risk of receiving anesthesia. Last, people usually require a prophylactic treatment with antidepressant medication, even if a complete, acute phase response to ECT is attained (pp. 26-27).

Author(s): Brandt, Bettina; Tawada, Yoko | Abstract: The texts published here were originally presented together at the "Imaginary Cities" conference at Penn State University on April 13, 2007. They are being published here for the first time.