Tag Archives: literature
Multicultural Germany Course: Week 5 Summary (Sept. 28 & 30)
This last week in class, we discussed the idea of German collective memory and screened the film Almanya – Welcome to Germany. The week’s discussions started with how the term “melting pot” was used to describe US culture in the … Continue reading
Multicultural Germany Course: Week 4 Summary (Sept. 21 & 23)
Who defines identity? Germany’s struggle with inclusivity. This last week in class, we discussed the limits of Germany’s capacity to take in immigrants and what it means to be German. Proponents of reducing the number of foreigners in Germany believe … Continue reading
Multicultural Germany Course, Fall Semester 2015
This course addresses questions of mobility and borders in our increasingly connected and disjointed world. We will approach the history of post-World War II Germany through the lens of migration, reading a variety of texts critically and relating them to … Continue reading
New Issue of TRANSIT
“TRANSIT: A Journal of Travel, Migration, and Multiculturalism in the German-speaking World” is pleased to announce the publication of the first installment of texts in the 2013-14 volume: an excerpted translation of Ali’s Kürk Mantolu Madonna (The Madonna in the Fur Coat, 1943) … Continue reading
Multicultural Germany Class: “The Bridge of the Golden Horn”
This post is part of a series in which students reflect on their discussions in the UC Berkeley undergraduate seminar “Multicultural Germany.” This week’s summary is by Teddy Lee: The Bridge of the Golden Horn (original title: Die Brücke vom Goldenen Horn) by … Continue reading
Warum das Kind das Polenta kocht
English translation: Why the Child is Cooking the Polenta, translated by Vincent King, Champaign: Dalkey Archive Press , 2012. Book review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Ying Ruan: Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta is a semi-autobiographical novel written by … Continue reading
Multicultural Germany Class: Multiple Tongues
This post is part of a series in which students reflect on their discussions in the UC Berkeley undergraduate seminar “Multicultural Germany.” This week’s summary is by Jenelle Mathews: This week in class was a continuation of last week’s topic, Multiple … Continue reading
Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan auf der Welt (The Passport)
English translation: The Passport, translated by Martin Chalmers, London: Serpent’s Tail, 1989 Book review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Preethi Kandhalu: The Passport is a novel by Herta Müller that was published in 1986; Müller was the winner of the Nobel Prize for … Continue reading
Transit
Written between 1941-42 while in Exile. First published in English, Spanish, and French in 1944; German original first published in the Berliner Zeitung in 1947. Newest English translation: Transit, translated by Margo Bettauer Dembo, New York: New York Review of Books, … Continue reading
Scherbenpark (Broken Glass Park)
English translation: Broken Glass Park, translated by Tim Mohr, Europa Editions, 2010. Book Review by UC Berkeley undergraduate student Brittany Scott: Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky was published in 2010 and is a young adult novel that brilliantly emphasizes how differences … Continue reading
Die schärfsten Gerichte der tatarischen Küche (The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine)
English translation: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, translated by Tim Mohr, New York: Europa Editions, 2011. Book review by UC Berkeley undergraduate student Melissa Carlson: Alina Bronsky’s novel, The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, which was written in … Continue reading
Deutschland allein zu Haus
Book review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Sara Sellami: Deutschland allein zu Haus is a novel written by the Turkish-German author, Osman Engin, and was published in 2013. The book tells the story of a Turkish-German family coming back from vacations … Continue reading
Book Review: “In Times of Fading Light”
As part of their work for the Multicultural Germany undergraduate seminar at UC Berkeley, students in the course have reviewed recent German books relating in various ways to topics of migration, multiculturalism, and contemporary German identity. Jennifer Lau reviewed Eugen … Continue reading
In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts
English Translation: In Times of Fading Light, translated by Anthea Bell, Minneapolis: Grey Wolf Press, 2013. Book review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Jennifer Lau Family dynamics, interestingly enough, rarely change across time. Society progresses and human beings adapt, but internal … Continue reading
