Daniel Kehlmann - AFRICA - Book Presentation

Description

AFRICA
Daniel Kehlmann goes on tour with his new novel "Africa". A colonial order takes shape as one of its negotiators desperately tries to cover up a private fraud. In his new novel "Africa," Daniel Kehlmann takes us into Berlin in the winter of 1884/85. At the invitation of Bismarck, representatives of European states, the USA, and the Ottoman Empire discuss trade, territorial claims, and the rules of colonial expansion. African representatives are not involved. The final act becomes the basis for the subsequent division of Africa into colonies. For Austria-Hungary, Legation Councilor Strinetzky sits at the negotiating table because the ambassador is unavailable: Franz Liszt has dedicated a piano piece to him that needs to be practiced. Strinetzky himself has transferred considerable funds to a fictitious appraiser named Doctor Waldbach to finance his affair with an actress. When a real Waldbach appears in Berlin, the fraud threatens to be exposed. Strinetzky needs to raise 5,000 guilders. Then a Prussian officer challenges him to a duel in the Grunewald.
With these worries, Strinetzky wanders through the conference and, under pressure, develops a talent for negotiations. His private panic unfolds in the routine language of diplomacy. The novel shows how responsibility can dissolve into procedures. Its comedy points to the triviality with which history is made. After "Lichtspiel," Kehlmann again chooses a historical constellation in which an individual becomes part of a political catastrophe without understanding its magnitude. Daniel Kehlmann reads from "Africa." The discussion revolves around how literature transforms historical reality and makes the colonial past visible in the present. Daniel Kehlmann, born in Munich in 1975, lives in Berlin and New York. With "The Measurement of the World," he achieved one of the greatest successes of contemporary German-language literature. "Tyll" was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize; the English edition of "Lichtspiel" was also shortlisted in 2026 and caused a sensation internationally. Daniel Kehlmann lives in New York and Berlin.

Highlights

• Book presentation by Daniel Kehlmann
• New novel "Africa" in a historical context
• Event at Laeiszhalle, Hamburg

General Information

Daniel Kehlmann presents his new novel "Africa," set in Berlin in the winter of 1884/85. The event explores the colonial order and the negotiations that led to the division of Africa, while the protagonist struggles with personal issues.

Location

Johannes-Brahms-Platz, 20355 Hamburg, Germany

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