The news from the University of Bristol that Prof. Anne Simon’s position as specialist for Medieval and Early German Literature and Cultural History is threatened of being abruptly terminated because of “redundancy” has also caused alarm among her former colleagues and academic friends in Canada. If it were not so grievous both for Dr Simon and her students, it could be seen, from the outside, as another sequel in David Lodge’s satires on university life in his home country. Dr Simon is one of the few British scholars of early German Studies whose work is also well known to North American scholars. Since her earlier graduate studies at the University of British Columbia, notably under the renowned British-Canadian medievalist Michael S. Batts, Dr Simon went on to postgraduate studies and further academic work in the UK and in Germany. She kept up her professional contacts with her North American colleagues, gave lectures at conferences in Canada and the United States, initiated an extended visit by Canadian scholar Prof. Marketa Goetz-Stankiewicz in 2009, and generally furthered the critical study of earlier German and European cultural history in the Anglo-American world. Looking at the testimonies from Dr Simon’s distinguished British and European colleagues on the website in her support one becomes overwhelmed by a feeling of dismay at the short-sightedness of this administrative decision. We can only hope and fervently wish that the Dean of Arts and the administration of the University of Bristol at large will pay heed to the words of Prof. Silvia Ranawake on this website: “The loss of the Medieval/Early Modern expert will make it impossible for the Department of German to offer a credible well-balanced programme of German Studies that will be up to the standards normally associated with an internationally recognized university.” By substituting the subjunctive form “would” for the indicative “will” in the above statement the University of Bristol could be given the chance to correct its (in my view) misguided decision, continue the highly successful premodern studies component of its German Studies division, and fully reinstate and confirm Dr Simon in her position.

Karl A. Zaenker, Assoc. Professor Emeritus
Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies (CENES)
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, B.C. Canada
November 28, 2010

I have known Dr Anne Simon for some two decades. Before she was appointed at Bristol in 1992, she was my research assistant in the University of London on the Walther von der Vogelweide project. I valued her work as a caring and conscientious tutor when I was Examiner in Bristol (1992-1994). Subsequently I have met her at conferences and been impressed by her papers. She is now a scholar of international repute, as is evident from the e-mails you have received from my German, Austrian and Swiss colleagues. She has diversified her research and teaching, working now primarily in the early modern period. She was also much respected as a Head of Department at Bristol.

Medieval and Early Modern studies have long been one of the strengths of Bristol’s German Department (as of other departments). I was fortunate enough to hear Professor August Closs give a paper on Gottfried’s Tristan, shortly before his death. The tradition has been continued by, among others, Professor Frank Shaw. To abolish the teaching of the first thousand years of German literature is, as one of my German colleagues has pointed out, nonsensical.

Mit grossem Befremden erfahre ich soeben von den Absichten der Universitaet Bristol, den Bereich Mittelalter und Fruehe Neuzeit in den “German Studies” durch die Entlassung von Frau Dr. Anne Simon abzuwickeln. Nicht nur ist Frau Kollegin Simon in diesem Bereich durch ihre wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten sehr gut ausgewiesen, ihre Beitraege und ihr wissenschaftliches Engagement sind auch eine wesentliche Komponente in der Vernetzung deutscher und britischer Germanistik/Mediaevistik. Abgesehen davon richtet sich dieser Protest gegen eine Vorstellung von Wissenschaft auf ausschliesslich oekonomischer Basis, die jeder Sachkompetenz entbehrt und zur Konsequenz hat, dass entscheidende Faktoren historischen Wissens, europaeischer Identitaetsbildung und kultureller Selbstdefinition dann in Zukunft nicht mehr wissenschaftlich bearbeitet werden und damit fuer eine nachwachsende Generation nicht mehr zur Verfuegung stehen werden. Der Deutsche Germanistentag 2010, der vor kurzem in Freiburg/Br. stattfand, hat sich in seiner Sektion II gerade dieser Verantwortung der Germanistik in ihrem Wissenschaftsverstaendnis eingehend gewidmet.