Curriculum Vitae: Anabela Mendes
Anabela Mendes
Assistant Professor with tenure at the Department of German Studies of the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. Investigator and lecturer on Literature of German Expression between the 17th and 21st century (since 1980), German Culture, Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art (Master's Degrees in 2004 and 2006), Theory and Aesthetics of Drama (since 2006).
She has a large number of publications in these areas and is a regular participant in national and international conferences. She obtained her Ph.D. with a thesis on the Aesthetics of Radio entitled Éter, Órbitas e Odisseias – Dos caminhos da oralidade nos raios da voz. Leituras dramatúrgicas de peças radiofónicas alemãs emitidas entre 1930 e 1944 (Aether, Orbits and Odysseys – On the ways of verbality in the rays of the voice. Dramaturgical readings of German radiophonic plays transmitted between 1930 and 1944).
As a translator, since 1972, she has been working, among others, on plays by Thomas Bernhard, Bertolt Brecht, Daniil Charms, Thea Dorn, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Peter Handke, Ödon von Horváth, Wassily Kandinsky, Heinrich von Kleist, Heiner Müller, Arthur Schnitzler, Patrick Süskind, and Frank Wedekind. Since 1985, as a dramaturgist collaborates with various academic and professional acting groups. In 1991 she translated and directed the project O Contrabaixo (The Double Bass) by Patrick Süskind which was performed at ACARTE – Fundação Gulbenkian.
In 2001 she designed and directed the academic project Expressionando integrated in the Portuguese-German week, celebrating the 36th anniversary of the cultural agreement between Portugal and the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2003 she produced and directed an artistic-pedagogical project based on two stage compositions by Wassily Kandinsky, Noite and Som Amarelo (Night and Yellow Sound) at the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon). She wrote the concept and produced the play Faustiando..., performed in Lisbon and Berlin in 2005, within the ambit of a scientific project dedicated to Goethe and Pessoa. In 2006 she directed a performance about the myth of Prometheus in Goethe and Pessoa which was presented at Casa Fernando Pessoa and at the Goethe Institut in Berlin. In 2007 she wrote and directed the play Por mares já há muito navegados performed at the Lisbon Geographical Society, within the context of the Colloquium Alexander von Humboldt and Garcia de Orta – Wanderings, research and dialogues among cultures. She is co-author of two international scientific projects, as well as different presentations and publications on Literature and Science dedicated to the issues: Mito, Sonho, Razão e Inconsciente nos Faustos de Goethe e Pessoa (Myth, Dream, Reason and Unconscious in Goethe's and Pessoa's Faustus's); Prometeu e Fausto em Goethe e Pessoa – Cartografias Dialogantes (Prometheus and Faustus in Goethe and Pessoa – Dialoguing Cartographies) (2005-2006).
Together with Gabriela Fragoso she is responsible for the concept and organization of the international and transdisciplinary project entitled Alexander von Humboldt and Garcia de Orta – A viagem científica e o dialogo entre culturas (Alexander von Humboldt and Garcia de Orta – The scientific journey and dialogues among cultures) (2006-2009).
