Overcoming otherness. Considerations on intercultural aspects in Karin Gündisch’s novels
Immigration, cultural identity, integration, tolerance and the ability to adapt to a new environment are issues that often come up in today’s global society. The paper focuses on the way in which cultural otherness is perceived by children and...
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Immigration, cultural identity, integration, tolerance and the ability to adapt to a new environment are issues that often come up in today’s global society. The paper focuses on the way in which cultural otherness is perceived by children and teenagers. The article is based on the analysis of Karin Gündisch’s novels. The awarded author from a migrant background offers an insight into the above mentioned problems. Gündisch’s characters are mostly East-Europeans or South-East-Europeans who try to make a living in developed countries of the Western World. The author portrays entire families, children, parents and grandparents. Thus we can discuss the different stages of integration and the different attitudes towards it. How does the comfort of “home” influence identity? How can you rediscover yourself abroad? Does cultural diversity increase prejudice? What does the idea of a “Paradise abroad” involve? These are some of the aspects, the article is trying to explore.
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Response by Bachleitner to "Translation and the materialities of communication"
In her article, Karin Littau proposes a material or medial turn in the humanities and social sciences to end the neglect of the material basis to every act of communication, including translation. This proposal is warmly welcomed. As a comparatist...
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In her article, Karin Littau proposes a material or medial turn in the humanities and social sciences to end the neglect of the material basis to every act of communication, including translation. This proposal is warmly welcomed. As a comparatist who has for some time been trying to build bridges between literary studies and book history, I strongly support Littau's point of view – all the more since I am less optimistic regarding the general acceptance of such ideas in the humanities, and especially in literary and translation studies. I am not so sure that McLuhan and the other authorities for the importance of mediality and technicity whom Littau quotes (e.g. Kittler, Ong, and Gumbrecht) have really provoked a "crisis in the self-understanding of the human sciences". For brevity's sake, in my response below, I leave aside literary studies to focus on translation studies.
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