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 relations among those who share blood and genetics remain mostly the same. The literary fiction […]
Book Review: “So wie ich will: Mein Leben zwischen Moschee und Minirock”
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. Ann Huang reviewed Melda Abkas’ memoir So wie ich will: Mein Leben zwischen Moschee und Minirock: In her autobiography So wie […]
So wie ich will: Mein Leben zwischen Moschee und Minirock
Book Review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Ann Huang: In her autobiography “So wie ich will: Mein Leben zwischen Moschee und Minirock”, published in 2010, Melda Abkas presents her experiences as a second-generation Turkish youth endeavouring to establish her own cultural identity in modern Germany. Written just after Abkas’s 19th birthday, in highly colloquial rhetoric, the […]
Ohne Fleiss kein Reis: Wie ich ein guter Deutscher wurde
Review in Deutschlandfunk 12 June 2012 Wladimir Kaminer’s Blog Review 23 April 2013 Book Review by UC Berkeley undergraduate Tanja Mehlo: Ohne Fleiß kein Reis was written in 2012 by Martin Hyun. In this collection of stories taken from his everyday life, Hyun describes his experiences as a person born in Germany to Korean parents. […]
Septembertee oder Das geliehene Leben
In ihrem 50. Lebensjahr steht Renan Demirkan am Grab ihrer Mutter in deren türkischem Heimatdorf, erinnert sich noch einmal an die gemeinsamen Jahre und fragt nach den Vorstellungen von Leben und Glück, die ihre Generation mit der ihrer Mutter zugleich verbanden und von ihr trennten. Demirkan kam als Siebenjährige nach der türkischen Staatskrise 1962 nach […]
Turkish – German writer criticized
This article talks about a Turkish-German writer who defends democracy, freedom, enlightenment, secular order and civil society. Necla Kelek’s new book “casts a critical look at Islam and condemns the oppression and lack of freedom within Turkish communities and families in Germany.” This comes from her own life experience, which she has often shared: Before […]
German Youths become Islamic Extremist Expats
According to Germany’s Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA), a colony of German Muslim extremist youths has taken hold of the Afghan-Pakistani border. These young people are recruited in Germany and then sever all ties with their homeland and head for a place where they believe that the “Koran stands above everything.” These youths are […]
Islam Critic Necla Kelek: An Enthusiastic Defender of Freedom
The subject of this article is Necla Kelek, a controversial Turkish-German writer who grew up “in a completely Turkish world” under patriarchal authority, where she “experienced what it was not to be free.” Kelek is known for her criticism of the oppressive aspects of Islam as well as her praise of Western society and its […]
Gender Gap in Germany
This article highlights the growing wage gap between women and men in Germany. According to this article women on average earn about 23% less than their male colleagues. This number is 5% higher than EU’s average, and somewhat higher than that of last year. This article suggests that many believe that reducing the gender pay […]