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The answer to the question – Which can be the best way to teach and to learn to understand foreign people and culture in ethnically, culturally and linguistically homogenous teaching contexts? – is simple: through language teaching and learning. This process is per definitionem the encounter between a culture of origin and a target culture. The process of learning and teaching foreign languages generates the encounter with languages and cultures, which implies on the one hand a comparison of different cultural contexts and on the other hand self-reflection.
Starting from data, which were collected based on a survey, the present contribution attempts to answer the following questions:
1. What is the role of foreign language teachers in ethnically, culturally and linguistically homogenous teaching contexts?
2. To what extent do foreign language teachers and students perceive the intercultural dimensions of foreign language education in such contexts?
This article is a critical presentation of the study Der Zauber des fernen Königreichs. Carmen Sylvas Pelesch-Märchen/Farmecul regatului îndepãrtat. Poveştile Peleşului, (The Magic of the Faraway Kingdom. Carmen Sylva’s Tales of the Pelesh), edited at the Ibidem publishing house in Frankfurt this year. The author proves that – contrary to some opinions in current literary criticism, according to which the works of the queen poet were but recorded and retold Romanian folk tales and legends – Carmen Sylva’s writings are personal works with intrinsic literary value, where themes and motifs from the folklore and mythology or from the Romanian and occidental literature are used only as pre-texts. Silvia Zimmermann’s merit is a significant one, namely that of rediscovering Carmen Sylva who has not only been a creator, but also an important mediator between the Romanian and the German culture.
This paper proposes to analyse contrastively the phraseological expressions which include proper names in German and Romanian languages and also, to interpret them as cultural elements that generate problems when trying to translate them. It is intended to establish equivalence relations between the onimical expressions of the two languages, suggesting, where it will be the case, the translation strategies.
Two Romanian authors, Nora Iuga and Carmen Francesca Banciu have published their impressions about the German capital Berlin. Nora Iuga stayed there twice for a limited period of time (in 2000 and in 2010), whereas Carmen Francesca Banciu decided to live in Berlin after her scholarship there ended in 1991. This is why Carmen Francesca Banciu’s writing changed together with the changing city, which was then under construction not only literally but also in a figurative way integrating new influences due to the opening of Eastern Europe after the end of its isolation during the Cold War. She is one of those new elements which reshape Berlin adding new and different perspectives to its cultural life. Banciu publishes her impressions in Berlin ist mein Paris. Nora Iuga, on the other hand, remains nothing but a visitor. Her ideas about the City and about the Germans in general change a lot during her stays in Berlin. In the end, she leaves for Bucharest with new impressions, which are released in Romania in her book Berlinul meu e un monolog.
The present study makes reference to the scientific achievements of the Romanian Germanist Horst Schuller. As a journalist, university professor and translator, he developed an extensive research work that has brought forth studies of the Romanian-German criticism as well as many studies of intercultural research. In all of his studies of literary criticism dealing with intercultural themes, Schuller holds the opinion of a bilateral exchange between the ethnic groups of a multi-ethnic state as Romania is. He regards interculturality as a plea for tolerance and communication, i.e. living-with-one-another – not living side by side or living past one another.
Presenting the actual theoretical debates (of Göhlich, Welsch, de Nancy, Bachmann-Medick) with respect to the concept of transculturality, underlining the related aspects such as hybridity, intertextuality, globalisation, the author traces the aspects of transculturality in the process of the translations from Romanian to German. The success of the literary transfer is conditioned by the intra- and intercultural competence, by the knowledge of the identity factors, of the specific operational frame and of the key texts (translations or originals) from the literatures that come into contact with it. As in other countries, where there are specific basic cultural notions with a certain symbolic charge like „birch” in Russia, „hut” in the Czech republic, the traditional cultural universe affirmatively or polemically resorts to cultural words such as „plai” (poetic realm), „codru” (forest), „mioritic” (mioritical). Tracing by means of rich examples the history of translations, the author distinguishes the stages of translations motivated by philological, ethnographic, political interests and lastly and parallel to it, by aesthetical interests. These translations contribute to the identitary image of the Romanians, being normally recorded with an increased attention and sensibility. Concretely applying the discussed theoretical concepts on a text, the author presents the German translation of an essayistic text by Andrei Pleşu, arguing the possible interest of the German public for the writer, emphasizing the ironical hybrid and ludic signs that are important for the translation, with all untranslatabilities of the word games, in order to find at least an adequate, if not equivalent, transfer. The annotations and the translation (starting with the analysis of the title) constitute a demonstration of transculturality applied live.
The paper focuses on aspects of comparative phraseology and paremioloy between two languages, German and Romanian and aims at disclosing differences and similarities in connection with proverbs and idioms on “the devil”. 112 items circling around “the devil” and its synonyms are being analyzed as to the life experience, world perspective and superstitions reflected in the proverbs, by drawing parallels between the equivalent structures functioning in the two languages, their form and content.
Language teaching through the medium of film may prove very rewarding in that it moves the focus away from language and its general markers (grammar, vocabulary) alone and casts it onto culture, cultural boundaries and rules. Among them, space plays a very important role. It defines who we are, where we come from. Especially the fine line between what is considered public or private space is worth being analyzed. With examples from two movies, students of German as a Foreign Language are meant to discover this fine line, look beyond it and restore an equilibrium between the public and the private in order to be prepared for intercultural experiences.
The article presents in its first part approaches to the concept of text genres and some milestones in the evolution of text linguistics. The aim of this linguistics consists in the research of different ways of constructing texts, regardles of style and genre. Starting from the premise that some textual elements are indices for the text genres, the article exposes some observations regarding delimitations between text genres and research approaches from the intercultural and interdisciplinary perspective.
This scientific article focuses on Ursula Ackrill’s novel ˮZeiden, im Januarˮ and its aim is to examine the specificity of present-day literature of the Transylvanian Saxons. Starting from the methodological considerations of Jan Assmann and Aleida Assmann, the concept of memorial culture will be exemplified and analyzed through relevant scenes of the novel, in close connection with Leontina Philippi’s approach of writing the chronicle of Codlea. Antonescu’s fascist dictatorship, the obligation for Saxon men to serve in the SS troops, the friendly collaboration between Antonescu and Hitler, the collaboration between German and Saxon military, the role of collaborators at that time, the Saxons’ customs and traditions, the portrait of the Jew of Lipscani street, Bucharest society during the rule of Ion Antonescu are just a few aspects of the novel which emphasize the intercultural character of this writing on the basis of communicative and cultural memory.
The anthology Vînt potrivit pînă la tare. Tineri poeţi germani din România (1982) introduced to Romanian writers and readers a new poetry that used a direct language and referred to the social and political situation of Romania. The authors – Germans from Romania whose texts where translated into Romanian – are Anemone Latzina, Franz Hodjak, Rolf Frieder Marmont, Johann Lippet, William Totok, Richard Wagner, Rolf Bossert, Hellmut Seiler, Horst Samson and Helmut Britz. The young poets engaged during the 1970’s in a dialogue with German literature, which allows an intercultural approach. The publication of the anthology was a daring gesture in the context of the 80’s politics and had also an influence on the poetry of some Romanian poets.
This article focuses on the phenomenon of interculturality within the framework of “Poveştile Peleşului”/”Tales of the Pelesh” by Carmen Sylva, the Poet-Queen. Being of German origin and having studied in Germany, but transposed as queen of the Romanian people to a totally different cultural space, Carmen Sylva wants to present the culture of her adoptive country to her home country. She succeeds in doing this through her own works or by translating some Romanian literary works into German, which she propagates in the German language space. Starting from a theoretical basis referring to interculturality, this article refers to the hybrid character of “Poveştile Peleşului”/”Tales of the Pelesh”, to some aspects of presenting alterity, concluding that the author is extremely interested in the culture of the Romanian people, whose language she learned, her ultimate scope being that of bringing the two cultures – the German and the Romanian culture – closer to one another.
Using the example of Lavinia Branişte’s novel Null Komma Irgendwas, the present article will explore the value of intercultural literature through a specific poetry. I will analyze with a close reading how questions of values as well as questions of apprehension of’ home’ are presented through a specific narrativ. I will draw paralells to Gottfried Keller´s Die drei gerechten Kammmacherandto Friedrich Nietzsche’s poem Vereinsamt.
The first cultural influences come out in Dobruja together with the appearance of the first German colonists, beginning from 1840 till 1891. The colonization process develops itself in three stages and colonies in places like Tulcea, Malcoci, Almagea, Ciucurova, Cogealac, Tariverde, M. Kogălniceanu and others set up as a result. The German population has created an original culture, an ethnic and spiritual communication being deeply set up, but at the same time a communication struck by the specific conditions imposed by the history of this south-eastern European area. On the other side, the Turkish invasion of Dobruja started earlier, in 1388, when it was actually defeated by Mircea cel Bătrân. In 1393 the Turks succeeded in taking Dobruja and Silistra, but in 1404 Micea cel Bătrân re-conquered the greatest part of these regions. Many Turkish and Tartars moved into Dobruja during the long period of Ottoman rule. The 19th century ethnographic maps show a mainly Turkish population in the area of modern day Dobruja, Tartars and Turks in the southern part of Dobruja and Romanians dominating the north of Dobruja. The paper aims at presenting aspects regarding these two different identities and cultures which are to be found in Dobruja, as well as their integration process within the Romanian Dobrujan modern society.