Ernst Jünger Translation Competition

As part of an EU-funded research project hosted by the German Department at the University of Bristol, we invite translations of extracts from some of Ernst Jünger’s travel writings. Prize money will be given to FOUR entries, with one category limited to entries from current undergraduate students, and numerous book prizes will also be awarded.  The aim is to promote the study of Ernst Jünger’s works in English. The deadline for submission of entries is 1 July 2013.

• Background
• Judges
• Prizes
• Timeline

The Competition

1. We invite translations of extracts from ONE of the following travel diaries by Ernst Jünger:
   a)      Atlantische Fahrt
   b)      Am Sarazenenturm
   c)       Zweimal Halley.
2. Where possible, translations should be based on the texts as published in Ernst Jünger, Sämtliche Werke, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta (for Atlantische Fahrt: vol. 6, 1982, pp. 109-183; for Am Sarazenen­turm: ibid., pp. 219-323; for Zweimal Halley: vol. 21, 2001, pp. 26-101), although other published versions of the texts may be used if this edition is not accessible.
3. One extract of (roughly) eight consecutive pages (or 2,000 words) should be translated.
4. Entries must be the original work of the translator and must not have been previously published, accepted for publication, broadcast, or entered for any other competition, in whole or in part.
5. To enter, please submit: (a) five copies of the translation; (b) one copy of the completed entry form. Translations not based on the text from Sämtliche Werke should (c) be accompanied by five photocopies of the original German text used.
6. Entries should be sent to: ERNST JÜNGER TRANSLATION COMPETITION, School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol, 17 Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1TE.
7. Translations (and copies of the original, where applicable) should NOT identify the translator. Every sheet should be marked with the entrant’s ‘alias’ (which may be any combination of eight letters and/or numbers). The identifying alias must be entered in the appropriate place on the entry form. Entry forms will not be seen by judges, who will thus read anonymous submissions.
8. Each translation must be double-spaced on A4 sheets (or US ‘letter size’), page-numbered. Each copy of the translation should be stapled or collated with treasury tags or similar. Do not send loose sheets. Translations and copies of the original should NOT be stapled to entry forms.
9. Only one entry may be submitted per entrant. Entries may be the collaborative work of any number of translators, but prizes are awarded ‘per entry’ only.  
10. There are no limitations with respect to age, nationality, place of residence, or professional status EXCEPT that staff members of the University of Bristol German Department, Judges and their relatives or dependents may NOT enter.
11. Entrants will be notified via e-mail when their entry is received and when the results of the competition are announced.
12.  No entries will be returned. No correspondence will be entered into and we regret that feedback on entries cannot be provided.
13. The decision of the Judges is final.
14. Entry into the competition signifies acceptance of all the Rules.

Please contact Dr Christophe Fricker (christophe.fricker@bristol.ac.uk) if you have any questions.

Background

Ernst Jünger (1895-1998) was one of the most significant writers and thinkers of 20^th-century Europe, and is one of the most controversial. He became famous with the publication in 1920 of In Stahl­gewittern [Storm of Steel], an account of his experiences in the trenches in the First World War. In the following eight decades, Jünger published more than fifty works, including diaries, novels, stories and essays. His novella Auf den Marmorklippen [On the Marble Cliffs, 1939] is a thinly veiled critique of the Nazi regime. Tributes by writers of international stature (including Jorge Luis Borges, Bruce Chatwin, and Heiner Müller), as well as visits from European heads of state and government (such as François Mitterrand, Roman Herzog, Helmut Kohl, and Felipe González) have helped secure Jünger a prominent place in intellectual debates across Europe.

Jünger is a citizen of the world as well as a European and visited virtually every corner of the world. Volume 6 of his Sämtliche Werke (published with Klett-Cotta) includes diaries of some of his numerous trips to Sardinia and neighbouring islands as well as accounts of journeys to Brazil, Antibes, Rhodes, and Spitzbergen. Later diaries record trips to South, South East, and East Asia as well as the Sudan, Angola, Liberia, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Extensive diaries exist also of visits to other Mediterranean sites, including Crete, Morocco, Sicily, and Cyprus.

Through this translation competition, we would like to address two deficiencies in Jünger studies. First, very few of Jünger’s works have been translated into English; and second, Jünger’s travel writings have received comparatively little scholarly attention even in Germany.

The competition is timely given as Jünger is becoming the subject of increasing public and scholarly attention. Jünger is emerging as a hidden ancestor of contemporary theoretical and societal discus­sions. Calls for a fundamental re-evaluation of Jünger’s writing have been issued. Two extensive biographies were widely reviewed by the German press in 2007 and have also been commercially successful. Expert and popular audiences across Europe have become part of this development. Ever since the early 1930s until the end of his long life, Jünger made every attempt to explore commonalities and bridge differences between various global cultures.

Judges

Julian Evans (London)

Dr Christophe Fricker (Bristol)

Thomas Friese (Vienna)

Dr Petra Rau (Norwich)

Professor Robert Vilain (Bristol)

Prizes

First prize: £400

Second prize: £200

Third prize: £100

Undergraduate prize (for current undergraduates at any university, including 2013 graduates): £100

Numerous book prizes, courtesy of Klett-Cotta