Ferdinand Kittel
and the Cultural Dialogue with India
International Seminar
2003, May 23th to 24th
Stuttgart, Germany
FRAMEWORK
Ferdinand Kittel (1832-1903) worked as a protestant missionary for the Basel Mission in the Kannada speaking area in south India. His broad interest in Indian culture is reflected in his various publications about the language, literature, religion, folklore and music of south west India. His most celebrated work is the Kannada-English dictionary, which is held in high esteem till today. Besides these texts that addressed the European public, Kittel produced didactic material for the mission schools in India; by using this material his intention was not only to teach Christianity to his Indian students but to make them familiar with their own cultural heritage.
On the occasion of Kittel's 100th death anniversary in 2003, his work, his contemporary context and the further results thereof were critically evaluated. The Ferdinand-Kittel-Seminar, held in Stuttgart from May 23rd to 24th, 2003, offered a forum for discussing related questions. The seminar was organized by the Hermann-Gundert-Society Stuttgart in cooperation with the University of Hagen. For the Indian guests the Landeszentrale für politische Bildung (State Agency for Political Awareness), Baden-Wuerttemberg offered a cultural by-programme which will take place ahead of the seminar.
The main aim of the seminar was to examine Ferdinand Kittel and his work in the historical context as well as the results which can be traced today. Thus, this seminar covered a field of Kittel's life and work different from the previous conference held on Kittel in 1994 that had focussed on his linguistic achievements.
The seminar in Stuttgart discussed Kittel and his work in four panels. In the first panel, the person Ferdinand Kittel, his aims and his methodological approach were investigated. Panel two focussed on the historical and social context of Kittel. The third panel dealt with the consequences of Kittel's work in India and Germany that were and are to be noticed in various fields until our days. In the fourth panel different forms of intercultural exchange that have been instigated by Kittel and others were focussed on.
Please, see further details of the seminar regarding:
Text & Design: S./C./M./M. Frenz
© Hermann-Gundert-Gesellschaft 2003