Der Unfall (The Accident)
Der spanische Gastarbeiter Abél wird schwer verletzt mit eingeschlagenem Schädel in einer Baugrube gefunden. Sein Bruder Paco kommt nichtsahnend einen Tag später nach Köln. Ohne Kenntnisse der deutschen Sprache muss er sich durchschlagen und wird schnell mit Vorurteilen konfrontiert. Nachdem er vom Kriminalkommissar, der die Untersuchung leitet, über Abéls Zustand informiert wurde, versucht er selbst, […]
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 Tongues – Multilingualism, Literature and Translation. As with previous weeks, our readings included articles from […]
Book Review: “The Passport”
UC Berkeley undergraduate Preethi Kandhalu reviewed Herta Müller’s 1986 novel “Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan auf der Welt” (The Passport): The Passport presents the story of Windisch, a miller who lives in the Socialist Republic of Romania with his wife and daughter, Amalie, who is in a desperate quest to acquire a passport to emigrate to […]
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 Literature in 2009. The novel was later translated into English by Serpent’s Tail – a […]
Book Review: “Septembertee”
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. Julia Schroeder reviewed Renan Demirkan’s memoir Septembertee oder Das geliehene Leben: In der 2008 erschienenen Autobiographie Septembertee: oder das […]
Ferien (Vacation)
Sommer. Ein abgelegenes Landhaus in der Uckermark. Umgeben und verborgen durch einen Wald. In diesem weltabgeschiedenen Refugium lebt Anna (Angela Winkler) mit ihrem Mann Robert (Wigand Witting) und ihrem Sohn Max (Amir Hadzic). Im Verlauf eines Sommers kommen in dem Haus mehrere Generationen der verzweigten Familie zu sammen. Laura (Karoline Eichhorn), Annas Tochter aus erster […]
Evet, Ich will!
The movie revolves around three different couples who have to overcome familial and cultural obstacles to be with their ones they love. A man looking for a bride-for-hire also learns the hard way that expectations and reality do not always come together well. Links: IMDB, Film official website Genre(s): comedy, romance Director: Sinan Akkus Cast: […]
Wut (Rage)
Der Teenager Felix Laub (Robert Höller) stammt aus wohlhabendem Hause und hat zum türkischstämmigen Can (Oktay Özdemir) ein zwiespältiges Verhältnis: Obwohl Felix von Can und seiner Gang drangsaliert wird, kauft er ihm gelegentlich eine Portion Marihana ab. Eines Tages geht Felix mit neuen Turnschuhen auf die Straße, die ihm prompt von Cans Bande ausgezogen werden. […]
Book Review: “Transit”
UC Berkeley undergraduate Victoria Brinkerhoff reviewed Anna Seghers’ novel Transit: Transit describes the encounters and emotional turmoil of an anonymous twenty-seven-year-old German refugee in the early 1940s. The novel is written from the refugee’s perspective; in his narration, he documents his new experiences in the unoccupied city of Marseille, France after he flees from Paris in search […]
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, 2013. (Introduction by Peter Conrad, Afterword by Heinrich Böll) Book review by UC undergraduate Victoria Brinkerhoff: […]