Book Review: “Ohne Fleiss kein Reis: Wie ich ein guter Deutscher wurde”
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. Tanja Mehlo reviewed Martin Hyun’s 2012 Ohne Fleiss kein Reis: Wie ich ein guter Deutscher wurde: Ohne Fleiß kein Reis was written […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
Multicultural Germany Class: Week 4, Defining “German”
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 Preethi Kandhalu: The “Multicultural Germany” class started off the week with an interesting presentation from Sara about the German citizenship test one takes during the naturalization process. She highlighted […]
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. […]
Berkeley Exchange Students Reflect on German Identity
MGP research assistant Judith Sijstermans discusses questions of German and European identity with Shenshen Wang, Nora Schroder, and Svenja Von Itter from the University of Konstanz: In fall 2013, Shenshen Wang, Nora Schröder and Svenja Von Itter came to Berkeley from the University of Konstanz as part of their masters programs on European Cultural Studies. But […]