Reading Contemporary German Diasporic Writing
Module Code: GE330 |
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Module Name: Reading Contemporary German Diasporic Writing |
Module Coordinator: Dr Jim Jordan |
Not running 2024-25 |
Module Credits: 15 |
Module Description
Hardly a day passes without news items about Germany’s migrant communities. But how do migrant and postmigrant writers themselves represent the experience of diaspora, of traumatic dislocation from a ‘homeland’ and of settlement? In this module you will read a range of important and fascinating texts (novels, short stories, poems, essays, articles) which examine this process from migration to some form of integration (or, indeed, non-integration!). You will begin with an overview of post-war migration to Germany and an exploration of key concepts such as diaspora. You will come to see that diasporic writing is a multi-facetted phenomenon which needs to be approached from a range of perspectives, among them identity and hybridity studies, multiculturalism, Orientalism and exoticism, aesthetics, cultural studies and postcolonialism. Using the analytical skills you have acquired, you will see how different modes of reading reveal new and neglected aspects of the texts, and pose essential questions for Germany’s development as a multi-ethnic society.
Assessment Method:
Either one 4,000-4,500 word assessed essay or a 3-hour examination.