About the production

Start

10 a.m.

End

3:45 p.m.

The Lausitz Labor is the traditional venue for philosophy, lectures and discussions at the Lausitz Festival. Over the course of three days, leading authors and philosophers gather at the Altes Stadthaus in the heart of Cottbus, drawing inspiration from various festival experiences to engage in dialogue and explore ideas further. This festival season will feature productions such as Shakespeare’s »Hamlet« and »Symphony of 100 Metronomes«, based on György Ligeti’s »Poème Symphonique« – as well as our 2026 inspiration theme: geschöpferisch (creature and creative in one word).

Do come along and share your thoughts and perspectives with us.

Curatorial Team:

Christoph Menke, Christiane Voss
Lars Dreiucker, Fulvia Modica

10 a.m. – 12  p.m.

Between Literature and Philosophy: The Drama of Hamlet

The story of Hamlet is known throughout the world. This »tragedy of revenge« begins with Hamlet being charged with avenging his father’s murder. The drama of Hamlet lies not in the mere fulfilment of this duty of revenge, but rather in the inner conflict it triggers and the impossibility of remaining true to both the duty and to himself. But what if Hamlet had decided otherwise?

The panel explores the aesthetic and political dimensions of forgiveness, which are linked to power, subjectivity and love. The discussion features literary scholar and Shakespeare expert Sybille Baumbach and philosopher Kathrin Busch, whose work lies at the intersection of artistic research, aesthetics and French philosophy.

Speaker

Sybille Baumbach

Kathrin Busch

1 p.m. – 2.15 p.m.

Moving Forward! After Guilt.

Where do the boundaries of our actions lie – and when is it justified to cross them? Every time a boundary is crossed, it can open up new possibilities – but it can also have destructive consequences. This raises fundamental questions about how we shape the future. How does a society deal with the question of what comes after guilt? What values guide us when we reflect on the past and the future? What responsibilities does this entail for social action?

The multi-award-winning historian Götz Aly, drawing on his expertise in the history of National Socialism, offers us an insight into the political, social and cultural upheavals of the pre- and post-war periods in East and West Germany. In doing so, he explores the question of how societies can find a new direction following profound historical ruptures.

Speaker

Götz Aly

Lars Dreiucker

2:30 p.m. – 3:45  p.m.

Sociobiography as Critical Theory (talk in English)

Didier Eribon is one of the most influential thinkers of our time. In his political autobiographical novel »Returning to Reims«, the French philosopher and sociologist demonstrates that writing down one’s own story, one’s own past, one’s own autobiography, is an act of liberation. Eribon recounts not only his own life, but that of an entire society: the story of every individual is the story of their class, its fears and conflicts, and the social world in which one grows up.

This panel discussion focuses on the autobiographical act of forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation – in other words, self-empowerment and emancipation through one’s own voice.

Speaker  

Didier Eribon

Christoph Menke

Special offer for students

For students and doctoral candidates who do not live in Cottbus, we offer accommodation in Cottbus and travel expenses for the entire lab weekend from 29 to 31 August.

Please get in touch with Fulvia Modica: f.modica@lausitz-festival.eu

Free entrance

Literary Scholar and Guest

Sybille Baumbach

Prof. Dr Sibylle Baumbach is Professor of English Literature and Culture at the University of Stuttgart. Her research focuses on the early modern period and literature from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with a current emphasis on the intersection of cognition and literature. She is currently President of the German Shakespeare Society and Principal Investigator of the ERC project »Literary Attention in Short Fiction«.

Philosopher und Guest

Kathrin Busch

Prof. Dr Kathrin Busch is Professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics at the Berlin University of the Arts. Her research focuses on contemporary French philosophy, aesthetics and artistic research. At present, she is working primarily on the genre of autotheory fiction and on figures in a philosophy of weakness. Latest publication, co-authored with Christoph Brunner and Knut Ebeling: »Permeationen. Durchdringungen von künstlerischer Forschung und ästhetischer Theorie«, Leipzig 2025.

Historian and Guest

Götz Aly

Götz Aly is a historian and journalist; his books, which focus on anti-Semitism, National Socialism and German history in the 19th and 20th centuries, have been translated into many languages. His most recent publication is »Wie konnte das geschehen? Deutschland 1933–1945«, published by S. Fischer Verlag.

Teacher and Moderation

Lars Dreuicker

Lars Dreiucker is the curator and coordinator of the Philosophy Module (discourse-philosophy section) at the Lausitz Festival. The philosopher, who grew up in Lübben in the Spreewald, studied in Dublin, Berlin and Potsdam and was also a lecturer at the SRH Berlin School of Popular Art. He teaches at a primary school in Berlin-Lichtenberg and works as a freelance curator and author.

Philospher and Guest

Didier Eribon

Didier Eribon is a French sociologist, author and philosopher. He was a professor of sociology in Amiens and a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Harvard University, Yale University, New York University and Columbia University in New York. Eribon became known in Germany for his biography of Michel Foucault (1991).

His socio-autobiography »Returning to Reims« (2009) caused an international sensation. In it, he addresses the disintegration of French society, and the work has been received as a key text on the rise of right-wing populism. In 2024, he was awarded the Prix de l’Académie de Berlin for his work. The work »Reflections on the Gay Question« (1999) has become a classic and a founding document of Queer Studies.