Guttenberg to Google Street View

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 4:30 pm - 4:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Poster: Guttenberg to Google Street View Poster (PDF)

Christophe Fricker, Craig-Kade writer in residence at Rutger University, held an entertaining and informative lecture on Guttenberg to Google Street View – Germany today as seen by its Cartoonists, on October 4th 2011.

The career of one of the most glamorous politicians in post-war German politics came to an abrupt end when it was revealed that 94% of his dissertation was plagiarized. In a seemingly unrelated development, hundreds of thousands of Germans objected to their house being filmed by Google Street View. Both events have been the subject of much ridicule by cartoonists at Germany’s newspapers.

In his richly illustrated lecture, Fricker provided background information to these issues, highlighted mainstream views on them and showcased humoristic motifs and techniques employed by op-ed artists.

Cartoon of Google Street View

Christophe Fricker’s first collection of poetry Das schöne Auge des Betrachters (2008) was awarded the 2009 Hermann Hesse Förderpreis. He is also author of Larkin Terminal – Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (2009), a collection of portraits of places and people, and Stefan George: Gedichte für Dich (2011), an introduction to the works of the controversial and inspiring poet.