“Auf der anderen Seite” Review by Ying Ruan
Auf der anderen Seite is a German-Turkish drama directed by Faith Akin in 2007. The movie follows stories of six people from either Germany or Turkey, presenting political and social issues faced by elder and younger generations of Turkish, Turkish-German and German people. The various backgrounds of characters lead to a sophisticated situation depicting Turkish […]
“Auf der anderen Seite” Review by Ann Huang
In his drama Auf der anderen Seite, released in 2007, Fatih Akin depicts the fatefully interwoven lives of six individuals: two mothers, two daughters, and a father and his son. Each filial pair, distinct in its respective place on the identity spectrum between German-German and Turkish-Turk, begins the narrative with parallel paths. The eventual convergence […]
Multicultural Germany Class: Multilingualism
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 Treasure Nguyen: During the tenth week of class we delved into language, exploring multilingualism, literature, and debates about the institutionalization of a language in a nation’s constitution. We […]
Book Review: “Why the Child is Cooking the Polenta”
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. Ying Ruan reviewed Aglaja Veteranyi’s novel “Warum das Kind das Polenta kocht” (Why the Child is Cooking the Polenta): […]
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 Romanian writer Aglaja Veteranyi in 1999. The narrator is an unnamed girl, who travels with […]
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 […]
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: […]
Book Review: “Scherbenpark” (Broken Glass Park)
UC Berkeley undergraduate Brittany Scott reviewed Alina Bronsky’s 2008 novel Broken Glass Park: Broken Glass Park is a young adult novel that brilliantly emphasizes how differences in nationality can impact one individual’s life in a multiplicity of ways. The main protagonist Sascha fights against the stereotypes the bloody murder of her mother perpetuates as well as cultural stereotypes, […]
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 in nationality can impact one individual’s life in a multiplicity of ways. The main protagonist […]