Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (21)
- Report (2)
- Working Paper (2)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
- Part of Periodical (1)
Language
- German (13)
- English (9)
- Portuguese (2)
- Spanish (2)
- French (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (27)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (27)
Keywords
- identity (27) (remove)
Institute
The paper attempts at outlining some aspects of experienced intercultural phenomena in Transsylvania starting with the late 50ies and deals with the question of cultural and linguistic choice of an individual born into a multilinguistic and multicultural family. The close connection between mother tongue and identity is analysed under the particular circumstances of the author’s biographical background. The paper should be read as an autobiographical statement which the author considers necessary for the understanding of her legitimate status within present day German literature written in Romania.
This article traces the representation of love, gender and national identity in Shani Mootoo’s creative work in general and her most recent novel Valmiki’s Daughter (2008) in particular. In all her work, Mootoo describes the phenomenon of otherness as a part of the negotiating process of the protagonists' selves.Challenging xenophobia, homophobia and all forms of prejudices the author works with the concept of lesbian and bisexual love, cross-racial relationships in order to write identity and to create a home.
This study analyses the role of the Romanian language in Christian Hallers novel Die verschluckte Musik (2008). The Romanian words are linked to the content and symbolical context, and also to intimacy or strangeness. Single words and expressions are connected to memories and rituals. For the family residing in Bucharest they are everyday elements. By migration they become cultural artefacts, are included in family stories. In the new home country Switzerland, the Romanian language is an element of intimacy. The language is also a method of exclusion and dissociation. Ruth, the first-person narratorʼs mother, is excluded in Bucharest until she learns the national language. In the Swiss environment the already familiar Romanian language is for Ruth a method of dissociation. For the first-person narrator, the few Romanian words are details connected to gastronomic culture which distinguish him from the Swiss environment. While travelling through Bucharest, the Romanian language becomes a method of exclusion, it is connected to an area that was not attainable for a long period. His journey updates the language for him.
The ancient Egyptians were accustomed to use "travel" and "individualism" as metaphors for the journey of one's life, as an expression of an individual’s aspirations in pursuit of a goal, whether on land or sea. ,A person who exhibits unusual attitudes or deviates from the cultural path of Egyptian society, will face obstacles and serious difficulties such as drowning, drifting, or disaster, while at the same time being tested by the gods, who could integrate him back into society and the Egyptian culture again, or leave him in the depths of darkness. In this context, our paper aims to shed light on the importance of individualism and how it is used as the basis for deviation from the prevalent cultural path. It also examines the relationship between individualism and the Egyptian culture, social identity, and self-representation. It also deals with individualism as an expression of human ambition, and its implications. Additionally, it discusses the issue of determinism and divine fate and their impact on the orientation of humans travelling through life, as opposed to human free will.
Num tempo em que Lewis Hamilton é o primeiro negro a ganhar o compeonato do Mundo de Fórmula 1, sendo também o primeiro a participar; tempo em que Barack Obama se torna Presidente dos Estados Unidos da America, lembro-me novamente do meu avó, do meu pai, das lutas que eles tiveram que travar e deparo-me subitamente com a voz da esperança. Os tempos estão a mudar! É verdade. Não basta apenas falar em mudar as mentalidades, é preciso, isso sim, trabalhar nas mentalidades. E tal é impossivel sem saber de onde vimos. É preciso criar um novo grupo de jovens angolanos que, como um vírus, possam contagiar os demais. É preciso buscar as origens étnicas e culturais. Não quero com isso dizer que se deve criar seres independentes de Angola, mas homens e mulheres capazes de entender que Angola é um estado multi-cultural e multi-étnico; que a sua etnia é a xx, a sua língua a yy, e, deste modo, compreender comportamentos sociais que só se pautam sabendo de onde se vem.
C’est trop auch! the translation of contemporary French literature featuring urban youth slang
(2016)
The French post-colonial novel has recently been witnessing the emergence of urban youth language or français contemporain des cités (Goudaillier 2001). This linguistic variety allows underprivileged youths from multi-ethnic suburbs to rebel against authority by deliberately violating standard language norms. Its characteristics include frequent lexical input from immigrant languages, in particular Arabic and English, and the use of verlan at the morphological level, with the latter involving a form of back slang using syllabic inversion, which can be recurrently applied to heighten its coding function. In view of the social rejection of this ‘antilanguage’ (Halliday 1978), it has had difficulty penetrating into literature. However, this is now beginning to change, with urban youth discourse appearing in a number of novels, mostly by young ‘post-migration’ writers (Geiser 2008), such as Faïza Guène, Insa Sané and Rachid Djaïdani. While this language variety has mainly been dealt with by sociolinguists, some of the novels concerned are now crossing borders, and a multi-disciplinary approach to this phenomenon is now called for, combining linguistic, literary and translatological tools.
The transfer of this heterolingual genre does indeed raise a number of issues. For example, if we assume that translation is a cultural-political practice (Venuti 2008), what options do translators have to convey the resistant discourse of young immigrant slang users? How will the relationship between language use and social identity manifest itself in the target text? And how can a contrastive linguistic analysis of the features of urban youth language help to resolve translation problems? I will draw on a corpus of French and Dutch novels as well as some translations from French in an attempt to answer these questions.
For intercultural language teaching, coaching students on how to perceive the cultural “other” is of crucial importance in order to avoid culturally based misunderstandings. This paper explores how perceiving the other can offer conclusions for perceiving and becoming aware of the self. Through that, a process of giving and taking ensues in which perceptions of the self and of the other are constantly fluctuating depending on the context in which the communication is taking place. At the crossroads between members of two different cultures, a dialogue emerges in which the points of view of both parties are changed. The paper outlines how perception is a construct in which one’s own origin, education, and emotions are blended in. Intercultural learning is the way to deal with this constructs in a flexible manner so as to create new interpretation patterns. It teaches how to sympathize with the other and how to better understand oneself.
: The concept of the foreign view is a recurring theme throughout all of Herta Müller’s prose. This kind of view derives from her biography. Certainly an unique biography but it is also transferable to many other people. Expressions like „remaining in order to leave“ or „arrived, but long not here“ become guidelines of leaving and arrivals or non-arrivals. The individual acts in-between languages, worlds and in-between cultures. Identity has to change continuously, as it is always in a process.
Erinnerungsdiskurs und Identitätskonstruktion in Carmen Elisabeth Puchianus Roman "Patula lacht"
(2013)
The novel of Romanian-born German author Carmen Elizabeth Puchianu Patula lacht, was published in 2012 by the Karl Stutz Passau publishing house in Germany. The novel is hybrid in nature, with discourse oscillating constantly between the factual and the fictional, many of the events being autobiographical and rendered in the form of recollections. The present article sets out to analyse Carmen Elizabeth Puchianu’s above-mentioned novel in terms of the recollection techniques used. This study is based on research in literary and cultural theory issued over the past several years. The interference between recollection and identity – which is not regarded as an entity proper but rather as one that is built and enriched with multiple facets throughout the narrative – is also investigated.
This article aims to trace different hypostases of alterity as they occur in the novel Vaterlandstage (Days at Home) by contemporary Romanian-born German author Dieter Schlesak. The paper draws on the distinction suggested by Volker Barth between the concepts “das Fremde” (i.e. “the stranger” that remains unknowable and impossible to control) and “das Andere” (i.e. “the other” which is excluded as a result of othering). The analysis of the way in which these two forms of alterity are represented in the novel shows that they go beyond the ethnic and cultural meaning of the terms and are closely linked to Schlesak’s antimimetic poetics, his identity concept based on estrangement and not-belonging as well as to his rejection of a materialist view of the world.
Axel Honneth propone, inspirándose en el joven Hegel, una concepción de la justicia basada en la idea de reconocimiento. Dicha concepción parte del previo acercamiento a una serie de fenómenos negativos, los cuales define como fallas en el reconocimiento. Desde la óptica de Honneth los fenómenos negativos constituyen patologías sociales y formas de injusticia, debido a la falta de calidad moral de las relaciones intersubjetivas. Las consecuencias socio-psicológicas en las personas que los sufren son la construcción de una identidad dañada y dificultades en el logro de la autorrealización. El presente artículo pretende realizar, recogiendo el planteamiento de Honneth, un análisis ético-político de los fenómenos de estigmatización, invisibilización y cosificación sufridos por las personas con diversidad funcional, llegando a la conclusión de que tales fenómenos suponen la negación de la dignidad personal, en la que reside el fundamento de la justicia que nos debemos unos a otros.
Most of us receive numerous spam e-mails, texts that in one or the other way try to convince us to engage in the transaction of enormous sums of money, promising enormous benefits. In reality, such scam e-mails are fraudulent attempts to swindle money from unsuspecting Internet users. Language, its social contexts, and the composition of texts play a crucial role in the scammers’ strategies to approach their victims. This article uncovers and discusses some of the linguistic strategies by which scammers try to shape a sense of identity and mutual relationship – in the face of virtual anonymity –, and to involve their readers personally. In their attempts to get the recipients involved, scammers combine cultural indexicals, interactional roles, and narrative strategies. The analysis distinguishes three different narrative strategies in scam e-mails: Based on first, second, and third person stories, scammers establish links with the recipients by combining fictional content with real-world contexts. Some of the narratives display quite elaborate and artful traits and involve prototypical functions of traditional fairy tales. Hereby they implicitly connect the story content with the interactional roles of e-mail communication.
The following essay is based on the narrative Die schiefe Fassade der Kindheit. Erfundene Familienkunde written by Eginald Schlattner. The action takes place in Transylvania, a region where several nations live together. The key concepts are identity and alterity, because only by analysing the other one can find and understand one’s own identify. The traits of the communities living together are portraited by Aunt Maly, a strong supporter of the German traditions and by Grisi, the grandmother, who presents the mentality of her people as opposed to the Romanian people. The story also reveals the conflicts between these two ethnical groups. Nevertheless life in Transylvania can be seen as an example of how people belonging to different cultures can peacefully live together.
Axel Honneth associates his reading of Hegel with Winnicott's maturational development theory, in order to defend theses on intersubjectivity and recognition. That connection between philosophy and psychoanalysis is a target of criticism from two Hegelians: Joel Whitebook, a reader of Freud, and Judith Butler, a critical reader of Freud and Lacan. At the core of the controversy is Honneth's rejection of the work of the negative that is performed by Freud's death drive. We intend on following in the wake of that debate, and thus investigate the reasons and consequences for social criticism of Honneth's rejection of Freud's death drive.
Axel Honneth associa sua leitura de Hegel à psicologia da maturação de Winnicott de modo a defender teses sobre intersubjetividade e reconhecimento. Esta articulação entre filosofia e psicanálise é objeto da crítica de dois hegelianos: Joel Whitebook, leitor de Freud, e Judith Butler, leitora crítica de Freud e Lacan. No centro da polêmica está a rejeição honnethiana ao trabalho do negativo realizado pela pulsão de morte freudiana. Pretendemos seguir o rastro deste debate e investigar as razões e consequências para a crítica social da recusa do frankfurtiano à pulsão.
The present article focuses on the preservation of identity in the works of three Romanian-born authors (two of them of German origin – Herta Müller and Hans Bergel and the third of Jewish origin – Norman Manea). Their existence has been highly influenced on the one hand by being born in Romania, by the interaction with Romanian people, on the other hand by the oppressive communist regime under Ceaușescu, having to undergo censorship, imprisonment and even deportation. Therefore, all three authors have chosen to leave Romania and emigrate to Germany or America. These experiences have added new dimensions to their concept of identity. At the same time, they act as intermediaries between cultures, and keepers of their own multi-layered and complex identity.
INTRODUCTION I/ INSTANCES DU RECIT a/ Le Narrateur b/ Le Narrataire c/ Le focalisateur II/ LES TRACES DU "MOI" a/ La crise de l’identité b/ L’ancrage anthropologique III/ STYLE DE L’AUTEUR Style hermétique CONCLUSION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CRELAF (Cercle de Reflexion des Etudiants en Littératures Africaines), Département de Littératures Africaines, Université Omar Bongo, Gabon
The marginalization of the hijra identity in postcolonial Pakistan perpetuates the inequalities that have dogged the transgender community since the colonial era. Although Pakistan has since ratified all concerned UN treaties aimed at protecting transgender people and preventing human rights violations against them, the country’s gender-variant population nevertheless remains vulnerable to these transgressions. As such, this study aims to explore the following inquiry: “What are the lifeways of the hijra community and how do hijra people face human rights violations in their daily life activities?”
The identity construction of the hijra is a complex process. Pakistan is a patriarchal society that determines gender based on biological sex. While a genitally ambiguous child is generally recognized as intersexed, the family usually obscures this circumstance or tries to enforce a predominantly male identity onto the child. To some degree, an intersexed child is allowed to perform feminine roles, particularly when compared to a biologically male individual who is inclined toward femininity. They may partake in “girls’ games” or in “women’s chores” like cooking; they may opt to don feminine clothing and jewelry or practice walking and talking “like a girl.” Many family members and relatives consider such actions a threat to family honor and/or an indication of weakness, which in turn renders the child vulnerable to sexual or physical assault. Abuse also causes some gender-variant children to drop out of school. As adults, many hijras do not see childhood sexual encounters as assault, particularly because they considered themselves to be feminine even from a young age. Nevertheless, experiences of isolation, abuse, and exclusion often compel a gender-variant child to seek company outside of his/her family of orientation.
Many transgender individuals see redemption in joining the hijra community: there, a new identity is defined and shaped. New members mirror themselves after more senior hijras. In the community, relationships are solidified through similar childhood experiences and interests as well as a shared freedom to express the outer reflection of an “inner feminine soul.” Here, they accept the childhood label affixed to them by heteronormative society: hijra. In fact, the identity now becomes the key to economic viability and socialization.
The predominant livelihood strategies within the hijra community are dancing and prostitution. New members must adhere to stringent norms and rules; they risk (sometimes severe) punishment if they do not. For example, a new hijra must adopt a very strict feminine appearance; if she does not appear feminine enough she may be socially isolated or physically punished. Similarly, a hijra is required to remain passive during sex. In fact, because hijras are stereotyped as passive and vulnerable, many clients physically exploit or even rape them. If she tries to resist, a hijra may face physical violence and, in extreme circumstances, death. Reporting abuse to law enforcement authorities often leads to further exploitation. As such, whether dancing or performing sexually, hijras are encouraged to do whatever is asked of them.
In the last decade, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken significant steps to ensure the rights of transgender people. The Court has similarly compelled local governments to amend existing legislation in order to protect the transgender community. Nevertheless, discrepancies exist in legislative and judicial interpretations of the transgender identity, which continues to impede the struggle for basic rights. Indeed, there is a long way to go in the effort to incorporate transgender people into the folds of mainstream Pakistani society.
Una historia filosófica de la identidad estadounidense: Balance de propuestas y su crisis actual
(2018)
Este trabajo de síntesis crítica, realiza un balance de los principales aportes de pensamiento que han favorecido la configuración de la identidad estadounidense y su reformulación periódica. Se sistematizan las escuelas, según su transición de teólogos-políticos (como los puritanos, carismáticos y trascendentalistas, con aportes tipo pactismo bíblico, libre albedrío, caridad pietista, destino manifiesto, etc.), pasando por filósofos pragmáticos (como los constituyentes, democratizadores y reconstructores, con recursos como libre-pensamiento -free masonry & whigs-, federalismo, pragmatismo, etc.), hasta académicos socio culturales (sobre todo, de Estudios culturales, vía nociones de consenso, v.g. fronterismo, excepcionalismo y crisol cultural; así como artificios de hecho diferencial –a raíz de la fuga de cerebros de la Escuela de Frankfurt, Normale Annales, Birmingham, etc.-, con categorías de clase, status y conflicto social, metámeros etnoculturales, constructos de género, etc.). El estudio llega hasta la crisis actual, sin soluciones generalmente aceptadas y bajo la amenaza transoccidental.
The article consists in a comparative reading of three novels: Um rio chamado tempo by Mia Couto, Le pain des corbeaux by Lhoussain Azergui and Paw królowej by Dorota Masłowska. In spite of the difference of the historical circumstances of Mozambique, Morocco and Poland, these three books meet at an intersecting point: the emergence of an intelligentsia that uses literacy and writing as an instrument to deconstruct the post-colonial concept of nation and to operate a trans-colonial renegotiation of identity. By the notion of trans-colonial, I understand the opposition against new kinds of symbolic violence that emerged after the end of the colonial period; here this new form of oppression is related to the concept of national unity – an artificial construct that leaves no place for a dualism or pluralism of cultural reality (two shores of the Zambezi river, Arab and Berber dualism in Morocco, "small homelands" in Poland).
The young heroes of the novels grasp the pen in order to break through the falseness or the taboos created by the fathers, establishing, at the same time, the relation of solidarity with the world of the grandfathers. The act of writing becomes an actualization of the ancestral universe of magic. The settlement of accounts with the parental generation concerns the vision of nation built upon the resistance against the colonizer (it also refers to the Polish cultural formation, based on the tradition of uprisings and resistance against the Russians).
One of the most memorable moments of Joe Biden’s inauguration as president of the USA was that of Amanda Gorman reciting her inaugural poem The Hill we Climb. The translation of this text led to a far-reaching controversy in the international media while at the same time raising a series of theoretical questions in the field of translation studies. The present paper intends to discuss certain theoretical issues such as the translator’s visibility and literary translation related to forms and relations of power by placing them in the context of the shift of theoretical paradigms in translation studies which started in the second half of the 20th century.
Beyond the communicative function of death notices, to informe about a death case, one will be repeatedly surprised by auxiliary functions of this category of private notices. The following article analizes from an intercultural perspective the representation of the (professional) identity in obituaries and death notices pertaining to a Romanian and a German corpus – the achievements attained to in the job environment and – in case of a blurred or merely outlined professional identity – on interests outside of one’s job, which were cherished by the deceased to the effect of shaping and defining him.
The hereby article deals with situational integration in Franz Hodjak‘s poetry. The lyrical work of the Sibiuborn author never refers to a classical „arrival“, but to a permanent voyage, that does not act exclusively as selfknowledge, but especially as a univocal refusal of identity. Hodjak creates his own topography, looking for an interspace beyond common categories, a place that provides a possibility of non-hindered existence for the human being.
Film is a wonderful means of reflecting upon the identity of the self and the other. A movie like Didi Danquart’s Offset (2006), which deals with intercultural conflicts, even more so. The clash of the Romanian and German cultures depicted in this movie illustrates how the construction of identity – of the self and the other – works.
Danubeland scapes have been a recurrent topic in the German-language literature of Southeastern Europe, especially in German literature from Romania, which was the only one to survive the end of the Second World War in the Eastern Bloc. They developed different forms on both-sides of the Iron Curtain. In the West, the Danubeservedas a frame work for the consolidation of a common identity of many disparate groups of former German minorities from Southeastern Europe under the collective name “Danube Swabians”. Additionally, writers from Romania who emi-grated to the West recalled in their works bothwonderful and frightening images of the lower Danube. In Romania, Danube landscapes are to be seen as attempts to negotiate the concept of homeland from a contemporary perspective after its appropriation by the patriotic literature of the court literati. They emergedas a stage for projecting new sensi-tivities: the suffering of isolation, economic misery and environmental pollution. Subversively narrated landscapes also set hidden signs of the memory of the isolated deten-tion camps on the periphery of the country. The transfor-mation of Danube landscapes is analysed by using literary examples after 1945.