Gerhard Fischer

Biography

Before taking up his position at UNSW, Gerhard Fischer studied in Germany and the United States. He taught in the USA, in Algeria and Germany. His research is in the area of twentieth century German literature (Brecht, Müller, Enzensberger, Sebald, among others), and in modern drama and theatre. A second edition of his “Schreiben nach der Wende, Ein Jahrzehnt deutscher Literatur, 1989-99”; co-edited with David Roberts, Tübingen 2001, appeared in 2006. In 2002, he published a history of the Grips Theater of Berlin (GRIPS Geschichte eines populären Theaters, 1996-2000, Munich). Other research interests include WWI and Australian migration history (Enemy Aliens, UQP 1989), and multiculturalism (Race, Colour and Identity in Australia and New Zealand; co-edited with John Docker, UNSW Press 2000). In the mid-1990s, he collaborated with Black Australian writer Mudrooroo (aka Colin Johnson) on the play “The Aboriginal Protesters Confront the Proclamation of the Australian Republic on 26 January 2001 with a Production of The Commission by Heiner Müller” (The Mudrooroo/Müller Project, UNSW Press 1993). The play was successfully premiered at the Sydney Festival 1996 and called a ‘landmark in Australian theatre’. Subsequently, Fischer published extensively on Mudrooroo and his work (“Remembering Mudrooroo (1938-2019”), ANGLICA 30/1, 2021). He is the editor of a Special Issue of the Australian Studies Journal on the literary estate and the international reception of Mudrooroo, scheduled for publication in October 2024. Fischer’s memoir/journal The Dragon Mother’s Dream. A Year in La Jolla was published by ETT Imprint (Sydney) in 2016.