Generation Mini-Series: Contemporary German Historical Event-Television and the Implications of its Interactive Elements
TRANSIT vol. 10, no. 2 Sara F. Hall Download PDF Abstract The controversial 2012 ZDF mini-series Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter/Generation War epitomizes German “historical event television,” a broadcasting trend aligned with the recent tendency to normalize the nation’s relationship with its past. Reaching beyond the borders of the narrative drama, the series’ producers created and […]
Thinking Sexuality Differently: Hartmann von Aue, Michel Foucault, and the Uses of the Past
James A. Schultz Download PDF Abstract In the introduction to the second volume of his history of sexuality Foucault suggests that “the effort to think one’s own history” might “free thought from what it silently thinks, and so enable it to think differently”—in this case, presumably, to think differently about sexuality. Insisting on the historicity […]
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 broader questions of economic and cultural globalization: the long term consequences of “guest worker” recruitment; […]
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 Ruge’s 2011 novel, In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts (In Times of Fading Light) : Family […]
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 […]
“New Germany” Exhibition at Deutsches Hygiene Museum Dresden
On Saturday, a new exhibition called “Das neue Deutschland: Von Migration und Vielfalt” opened at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden. The exhibition deals with contemporary Germany as a product of migration and diversity. It aims to explore the Germany of today and to “examine the direction in which it is evolving in its social and cultural diversity.” […]
Multicultural Germany Class: Week 5, Collective Memory
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 Ann Huang: As the discussion of a multicultural Germany progresses, the conversation naturally gravitates towards an analysis of the contemporary situation of ‘migrants’ and the persistent underlying difficulties to […]
“Nächstes Jahr kehren wir zurück…”. Die Geschichte der türkischen “Gastarbeiter” in der Bundesrepublik
Als die Bundesanstalt für Arbeit 1961 eine Anwerbestelle in der Türkei einrichtete, geschah dies in der Absicht, dort lediglich den Ersatzbedarf an “Gastarbeitern” zu decken. Bis zum Anwerbestopp 1973 reisten allerdings etwa 865.000 überwiegend männliche türkische Arbeitskräfte in die Bundesrepublik. Obwohl ihre hohen Erwartungen an die Verdienstmöglichkeiten und an das Leben in Westdeutschland rasch enttäuscht […]
Alamanya Alamanya – Germania Germania
Ein Zug fährt nach Deutschland – ein Zug mit Arbeitsmigranten. Züge wie dieser sind seit Ende der 50er Jahre ungezählte Male gekommen, aus Italien, Jugoslawien, Griechenland, der Türkei, aus Spanien und Portugal, und sie haben mit den Menschen, die sie beförderten, auch die Träume und Hoffnungen dieser Menschen auf ein besseres Leben und bessere Arbeitschancen mitgebracht. […]
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)
With actors Klaus Kinski A band of ruthless conquistadors venture up a river in sixteenth century South America in search of fortune only to find that the journey rapidly becomes more perilous. Morale and feelings of loyalty to Spain deteriorate thus power struggles ensue amongst the soldiers. Links: IMDB Genre(s): Action or Adventure; Biographical; Drama, […]