This is a comprehensive and up-to-date critical examination of cultural diversity in Germanic-speaking societies. It goes beyond ethnic, religious, and gender stereotypes to show minority groups as active participants in German history rather than as passive victims. This collection of critical and theoretical essays seeks to interpret the current philosophical, aesthetic, and literary thinking about diversity in literature and language.
The book is divided into four parts: literary analyses of works produced by members of minority populations, linguistic discussions and case studies of minority groups, structures and strategies of discourse and prejudice, and studies of remedies for problems of racism and discrimination. Some of the most significant writers and thinkers in the field have contributed, making this volume of critical concern to scholars and students of German, modern languages, and comparative studies.
CAROL AISHA BLACKSHIRE-BELAY is Director of the International Afro-German Network and teaches Germanic Linguistics and Cultural Studies at Ohio State University. Widely recognized as one of the leading experts on minorities in contemporary German society, her publications have appeared in the
Journal of Black Studies,
University of Pennsylvania Review of Linguistics,
OSU Foreign Language Publications, and
ERIC Resources in Education. Included among her books are
The Image of Africa in German Society,
Language Contact: Verb Morphology in German of Foreign Workers, and
Foreign Workers' German: A Concise Glossary of Verbal Phrases. Her current research deals with multiculturalism in German-speaking societies, and the impact of German colonialism on non-European societies.
Introduction: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Germanic-Speaking Societies by Carol Aisha Blackshire-Belay
Literary Analysis: Motifs and Reflective Designs
Die Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr: Romantic Perspectivesl³&