Von Bewegungen, Entgrenzungen und Gleichzeitigkeiten: Schwarze deutsche Literatur als polyphone Tradition lesen

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

In this article, I argue in favor of reading Black German literature as a polyphonic literary tradition, and against an isolated reading of novels, as this limits and reproduces an imagined lack of history (Geschichtslosigkeit). In order to be able to read Black German literature as a literary tradition, I propose the method of text comparison, which centers themes, motifs, (deliminations of) form and other aesthetics across genres. As I show, a comparative analysis can, for example, focus on movements, the diaspora, postcolonial Germany and the writing into, rewriting and writing anew of histories. A shift in perspective in literary studies from the isolation of Black German literature to its contextual embedding in a Black literary tradition makes clear that a strictly linear view of Black German literature does not do justice, as the literatures exist in plural simultaneities (Gleichzeitigkeiten) and are in dialogue with each other.