Catherine’s work focused on materials at the Robert Musil Institut für Literaturforschung in Klagenfurt, the Theatermuseum in Vienna, and the Literaturarchiv der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. These collections provided invaluable access to manuscripts and theatrical materials unavailable remotely. For example, photographs of stage and costume designs from early twentieth-century Austrian productions helped her render more historically grounded character voices. While in Austria, she also met with several scholars in Vienna and Klagenfurt, whose insights into current Musil research helped situate her project within a broader international network of Musil scholarship. Since returning, she has focused more closely on Musil’s philosophical background (particularly his engagement with Ernst Mach). Working through Musil’s philosophical writing has opened a new dimension of her project and continues to shape how she reads and translates Vinzenz.
Catherine started learning German in her first year at Dartmouth. She participated in both the summer LSA and the fall FSP in Berlin to deepen her knowledge of German language and culture. Her research was generously supported by Dartmouth’s English Department and the Leslie Center for the Humanities. She is especially grateful to Professor Nirvana Tanoukhi (English and Creative Writing) for the continued support of her literary translation pursuits in translation courses and beyond.