Intercultural Literature Research Articles

„An der Themse wächst man sich anders aus als am Stechlin“. Theodor Fontane und England

What has become a recognised component of German studies today in various varieties and theoretical concepts of “intercultural literature” is not as “new” as people often like to pretend. Goethe’s concept of “world literature” and Heine’s Franco-German writings are still without the theoretical concept, but in practice they are already in many ways what constitutes intercultural literature today. One author who has not yet received much attention in this respect is Theodor Fontane with his travelogues from England and Scotland, in which he attempts to convey to Germans images of a nation whose image was not exactly the best.

A look at intercultural sensitivity from the perspective of mindfulness and acceptance of diversity

Although the concept of mindfulness is gradually increasing its use in the intercultural literature, it is seen that there has not been enough empirical research on the role of mindfulness in intercultural relations and the variables related to intercultural relations. One of the intercultural variables is intercultural sensitivity. In today's world, which is getting richer with increasing diversity, it can be said that approaching intercultural sensitivity from the framework of mindfulness will provide a more comprehensive understanding. Acceptance of diversity is one of the variables that are emphasized in the culturally sensitive approach processes. Therefore, it is thought that mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches will positively affect intercultural sensitivity. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the roles of mindfulness and acceptance of diversity variables in predicting the intercultural sensitivity levels of university students. The study is a descriptive research in which the correlational survey model was used and the data were collected with the convenience sampling method. 336 university students participated voluntarily in the study. Acceptance of Diversity Scale (ADS), Adolescent and Adult Mindfulness Scale (AAMS), Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), participant information form were used as data collection tools. Multiple Linear Regression Analysis and Pearson Product Moment Correlation techniques were used in the analyses. The findings revealed that the sub-dimensions of Adolescent and Adult Mindfulness Scale -focus on the present moment, being non-reactive, non-judgmental, self-accepting- and acceptance of diversity explained 33% of intercultural sensitivity level. As a result, it is a necessity to provide an inclusive and supportive environment free from discrimination for every individual of society and to protect their well-being. In order to foster intercultural sensitivity; it is of great importance to promote mindfulness and acceptance of diversity.

Methodological models of the study of Bosnia and Herzegovina literature through intracultural processes

Given its plural nature, Bosnian literature implies multiple layers and articulates internal processes that are significantly different from external ones, generating an intracultural profile that challenges a specific, different, and at the same time, unique approach to its study. Relying on the general methodology of the study of literature and on the history of the study of Bosnian literature, with a methodological foundation in the eclecticism of cultural studies and intercultural literature, the work tries to point out the possibilities of studying Bosnian literature through intracultural processes.

Global competence in Japan: What do students really need?

Japanese universities are expected to foster globally competent graduates, but the precise parameters of global competence in Japan are not well defined. While universal frameworks for intercultural and global competence abound, their applicability in non-Western contexts is under-explored and little research has been conducted examining the global (or intercultural) competence construct in Japan. This study sought to address this gap by examining the nature of global competence in Japan and the challenges that students face in its development. A novel method integrating Q-methodology and the Delphi Technique was used to collect, refine and analyze expert and stakeholder opinions. Findings indicate that though perceptions of global competence in Japan are more closely aligned with intercultural literature than with local government policy, elements of global competence deemed important in Japan are often overlooked or minimized in the existing (mostly Western) literature. This has implications for global competence education and research in Japan.

Migrantenkinder auf den Spuren ihrer Väter in literarischer Darstellung

The article aims at the analysis of one of the fundamental phenomena of modern societies, namely the comparison between father and son, or differences between tradition and ideas of innovators, presented in the so-called intercultural literature. The starting point is the theorem of a fatherless society and various father images, which is deliver not only in the literary performances. In the article the author also analyses the prose of selected German language works by the female authors of Turkish origin, e.g. Saliha Scheinhardt, Serap Çileli, Alev Tekinay and Aysel Özakin. The analysis focuses on the following questions: which father images are presented in this literature, what role the father figures play in it, how they are pictured, and whether the conflict between father and son or father and daughter is of importance in such narratives.

The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature by Nicole Coleman

Reviewed by: The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature by Nicole Coleman Miriam Schwarz Nicole Coleman. The Right to Difference: Interculturality and Human Rights in Contemporary German Literature. U of Michigan P, 2021. 258 pp. Cloth, $80.00. Drawing on antiracist scholarship, especially that of Fatima El-Tayeb, Nicole Coleman emphasizes in her introduction to The Right to Difference that the German national identity continues to be imagined as mono-ethnic and white.1 She sees this reflected in literary categories of German literature and criticizes that what started as a homogenizing endeavor in the nineteenth century is still apparent when scholars work with a binary that differentiates between white German literature and migrant or intercultural literature. Coleman argues that literature studies must aim to represent the reality of German diversity and suggests a reconceptualization of the term "intercultural literature" that forgoes "categorization based on background" (19). Here, precisely, is a disconnect between Coleman's premise and the theoretical solution she proposes: despite criticizing that Germanness is strongly associated with whiteness, she aims to detach intercultural literature from biographical rather than racist categories. This is reflected in Coleman's theory of interculturality. Her definition [End Page 112] of culture is separated from hierarchizing identity markers such as racialization or nationality and "assumes that there is a network of culture which overlaps [ … ] and that all humans affiliate with multiple cultures at the same time" (21); culture is "any kind of social group that provides us with meaning" (27). Her theory of difference works accordingly. Based on Derrida and Levinas, Coleman conceptualizes difference as networked and inherently interlinked with sameness. Since difference can therefore be understood as a commonality that all humans share, Coleman argues for a "right to difference" (33). While Coleman incorporates Leslie Adelson's criticism of the term interculturality concerning its implications of essentialized and discrete cultural entities, she does not address the term's implications that epistemic systems exist on an eye-to-eye level regardless of political and discursive hierarchies. Coleman admits that before an intercultural attitude that understands difference as a shared commonality is achieved, there is work to be done. Thus, she develops a new model of intercultural competence that she proposes as an "intercultural lens" (59). She proposes it as a tool for analyzing what she terms "human rights literature" (50), aiming to create an understanding of the right to difference. Based on models of intercultural competence and communication that argue for cultural relativism, namely, those by Milton J. Bennett and Darla K. Deardorff, Coleman's model consists of five categories that describe "attitudes towards cultural difference" (40). "Cultural ignorance" and "cultural exclusionism" describe a denial of cultural differences and a negative view of cultural differences, respectively. "Universalism" tries to understand and eventually reduce cultural differences from one's own cultural perspective, often by focusing on sameness rather than difference. "Autocultural reflexivity," the awareness of one's own cultural socialization, is the threshold to "interculturality" which is where "autocultural reflexivity and engagement with others come together" (41–42). Coleman argues that reading human rights literature does not automatically lead to empathy for those who are perceived as different. Rather, her analysis of eight contemporary German novels suggests ways of "reading interculturally" in order for "classrooms [to] become places for social knowledge about exclusionary practices and [ … ] racism, and also spaces for strategy testing and potential scenarios for intercultural societies" (57). Each of her four chapters of literary analysis contrasts two novels by different German authors who write about a similar topic, loosely describable as trials of genocide perpetrators, political incarceration, [End Page 113] German-Polish postwar identities, and refugees in contemporary Germany. Coleman examines the texts and protagonists by asking which of the attitudes toward cultural difference they represent. The context she provides for each chapter and the detailed teaching suggestions are highly resourceful, especially for teaching white students. The results of her analysis suggest that there is indeed a link between the authors' epistemic position, the topic they write about, and which overall attitude toward difference Coleman identifies in the texts. Given that scholars like José Medina have shown that marginalization leads to epistemic advantages, one might argue...

Defining Migration Writing

Abstract With a view to extending and enriching the vibrant, ongoing debate about migration and literature, this article makes an attempt to define »migration writing«. Using three perspectives – the theme-oriented, ethnic-oriented and text-oriented approaches – the paper examines the concept of »migration writing« in relation to other literary terms. Therefore, the starting point for the discussion is a brief comparison of migration writing with autobiography, travel writing and postcolonial literature. Then some useful comparisons are made to other related literary concepts, such as exile literature, refugee literature, foreigners’ literature, guest worker literature, Kanake literature, »allochthonous« literature, ethnic literature, minority literature, diasporic literature, hyphenated literature, multicultural literature, intercultural literature, émigré literature/emigrant literature, immigrant literature, migrant literature, the literature of migration. From these concepts, there emanates what I call »migration writing«. The label is used by me as a term for a whole variety of different types of literary and non-literary texts that have been published since the 1990s. These texts either tackle the topic of migration or emerge from the experience of migration (but not necessarily address the subject of migration). It is also not necessary for the author to be a migrant: it is enough that his or her work is inspired or influenced by the experience of migration and is imbued with a vision of cosmopolitan, transnational, hybrid society and the globalised world. Given the large scope of this definition, it seems best to define the genre as a constellation of many different types of text which are connected to one another by a set of characteristic features. Some of these features include: the real-life nature of the writing, creolization and multilingualism in the text, references to multiple cultures and/or geographic locations, impact of the Internet and online communication on the structure of the work, common themes and motifs. The article ends by illuminating the research potential of migration writing. Among other things, it gives highly informative accounts of migration experience, exposes the stereotypical representations of migrants, gives piercing insights into migrants’ host and home cultures, explores the issues of identity, nationality, borders and belonging, provides alternative knowledge about current social and cultural transformations. Acting as a counterweight to the dominant narratives, migration texts often make visible the phenomena that are unintentionally ignored or wilfully excluded from the mainstream public discourse. Consequently, they provide alternative knowledge that can be a useful research material in all kinds of areas, such as sociological, political, economic or culture studies.

Experientially grounded praxis of social justice language education: pre-service teachers of English engage in field work in an Argentine NGO

ABSTRACT Framed within the theory and practice of social justice in English language teacher education (ELTE), the aim of this study was to foster pre-service teachers’ awareness of social justice principles, issues and practices by taking part in a service learning experience during their higher education studies in a non-governmental organisation located on the outskirts of La Plata city in Argentina. In collaboration with their university tutors, three pre-service teachers taught workshops using intercultural literature in English during 2017–2018 for underserved children in the NGO. Data comprise four reflection logs written by each teacher candidate during 2017–2020, analysed using content analysis. Findings show the significance of providing an experientially grounded sense of social justice education. The study illustrates pre-service teachers’ journeys toward social justice grounded in field work beyond the level of rhetoric. It also tests current perspectives on social justice in a South American setting, as work done on this basis has focused almost exclusively on Africa. Implications for ELTE and education in general are discussed.

Undoing inequalities: inclusive and transformative language practices in rural Argentinian Patagonia

ABSTRACT This article reports a service learning experience carried out by university student tour-guides and pre-service teachers of English during 2017–2018 in a rural multi-grade primary school in northern Argentinian Patagonia. With their university English language teachers, participants taught workshops using intercultural literature in English to 6–14 year olds from the native Mapuche communities with no prior contact with English. They also designed and delivered two guided tours of heritage sites in the area. Theoretically, the study is grounded in a conceptualisation of social justice language education beyond redistribution, with a focus on recognition, inclusive language ideologies and practices, and transformative learning. Designed as a case study, data comprise reflection logs, workshop and tour plans, field notes, children’s artefacts, photographs and video-recordings of the experiences. Qualitative data analysis involves holistic, inductive and deductive phases. Findings indicate that the children engaged in multilingual, multimodal, creative and embodied forms of expression combining their affective and semiotic resources through literature, music, movement and embodiment, the creative arts and outdoor learning experiences. These resources became the means for initiating transformation of their selves and their social milieu focused on the local environment. Implications for language education in multilingual contexts are discussed.

DAS SCHICKSALSMOTIV IN SELIM ÖZDOGANS ROMAN „DIE TOCHTER DES SCHMIEDS“

Selim Özdoğan is a German-Turkish author who was born and raised in Cologne (Köln) in 1971. He grew up bilingual, studied ethnology, English and philosophy, but dropped out of university. He has published literary works since 1995, such as.: Es ist so einsam im Sattel, seit das Pferd tot ist (1995), Im Juli (2000), Trinkgeld vom Schicksal (2003), Die Tochter des Schmieds (2005, Heimstrasse 52 (2011), Wieso Heimat, ich wohne zur Miete (2016), Wo noch Licht brennt (2017). The novel “Die Tochter des Schmieds” is the first volume in the novel trilogy. In all the abundance of treatises on typical problems and motives in intercultural literary works, the motif of fate will be examined in the novel “Die Tochter des Schmieds”, independent from the other volumes (Heimstraße 52, (2011) Wo noch Licht brennt (2017). The motif of fate may not be a typical motif in intercultural literature, but it is a universal motif that Özdoğan used in his work. The aim of this work is to show how the motif of fate was processed in the novel with the hope of providing useful insights into the literary work. Keywords: Intercultural literature, die Tochter des Schmieds, motif of fate.

Konzepte der Interkulturalität in der Germanistik weltweit ed. by Renata Cornejo, Gesine Lenore Schiewer and Manfred Weinberg

Reviewed by: Konzepte der Interkulturalität in der Germanistik weltweit ed. by Renata Cornejo, Gesine Lenore Schiewer and Manfred Weinberg Silja Weber Konzepte der Interkulturalität in der Germanistik weltweit. Edited by Renata Cornejo, Gesine Lenore Schiewer, and Manfred Weinberg. Bielefeld: transcript, 2020. Pp. 432. Paper €50.00. ISBN 978-3-8376-5041-9. There was a time when a collection of articles on intercultural matters in the field of Germanistik would focus narrowly on "migrant literature" and its representation of cultural positioning. This volume, ambitiously including the word "worldwide" in its title and designed to be the first in a series on the topic, is evidence of the richness gained by an arrangement that lives up to Deleuze and Guattari's concept of rhizomatic knowledge structures. German is presented as a "relais language," a conduit with many entrances and exits which provides a loose limitation for relevance, and the collection itself is a relais place where thoughts and methodologies from different disciplines, including linguistics and pedagogy, can meet. The volume is a documentation of papers presented at the conference on Interkulturelle Germanistik in Ústí nad Labem and Prague in 2016. Subsections of the volume reflect topic strands at the conference, and six plenary talks from the six continents on knowledge production and the understanding of German studies in different areas of the world are also included. The three major sections focus on theory, intercultural linguistics/multilingualism, and intercultural literature and film. The latter is the most expansive, taking up over half of the volume, and is further divided into subsections focusing on Chamisso literature, migration and displacement, and identities and their relation to contexts. The focus of individual chapters ranges from close readings of individual works and comparative analysis of works by authors from similar intercultural constellations through broad discussions of intercultural aspects of particular geographical regions or social phenomena. The most striking feature is, perhaps, that the contributions are truly heterogeneous in authorship, methodology, focus, and level of detail, so that, by design, they occasionally appear to dissolve the superficially clear and linear structure of sections and subsections; this intrinsic dissolution of standardized presentation extends even to the interculturally shaped English of the abstracts preceding each article, which I feel is a rare and valuable aspect (in contrast, the language of the articles themselves is standard academic German throughout). While it feels problematic to choose what particular contributions should be mentioned in a review when the volume weaves such a complex web of voices, a few articles can convey a skeletal sense of that web. Paul Michael Lützeler's self-reflective [End Page 192] discussion of language policy and expectations at the GSA and various other German-promoting associations is an incisive and relevant reminder of the different political impacts of English and German in these contexts. Benoît Ellerbach's chapter on the hermeneutics of Schami's work provides a very useful discussion of terms that have been used for intercultural literature over time, as well as changes and inconsistencies in the author's own perspective on his work versus its framing by media and literary analysis. It makes a clear case in favor of letting complexities and inconsistencies reveal themselves and against resorting to reductive universalizing tendencies, whether across authors or across time. Raluca Rădulescu traces a fascinating connection between the poetic responses to experiences of Sprachkrise by Lorca, Benn, and Celan and the corresponding response in the work of José F.A. Oliver, who draws on imagery from both Lorca and Celan but reimagines its meaning. Riham Tahoun investigates how the intertextuality of a given text is developed both through its own discursive practices and its reception, using Navid Kermani's work as a base to show both de-construction (dissolution of culturally shaped semantic networks) and construction (the formation of new constellations of meaning that are both more open and more tolerant of contradictoriness). Based on several recent novels about refugees in Germany such as Jenny Erpenbeck's Gehen, ging, gegangen and Abbas Khider's Ohrfeige, another convincing contribution is Manar Omar's discussion of refugees as a literary phenomenon that places them at the balance point between being world-less and...

La littérature interculturelle en Europe : une approche de l’œuvre de fiction de l’écrivaine franco-indienne Shumona Sinha

The intercultural literature in Europe currently offers a space for reflexion and for cultural enrichment that allows the renovation and redevelopment of the present cosmopolitan paradigm (Coulmas, 1995). Our proposal entails an analysis of the different critical contributions in relation with intercultural dialogue, and the need of opening up to alterity (Jullien 2008, 2012). The theoretical framework is based on the literary analysis of the novels Assommons les pauvres ! (2011) and Apatride (2017), whose author is Shumona Sinha (Calcutta, 1973-), a French Indian woman based in Paris since 2011. Both narratives show us a critical description of the situation of women, not only in the society of origin but also in the host country, where incomprehension, rejection and exclusion prevail for the refugee population.

Reading in Silence: Translations of Homosexual-Themed Fiction in State-Socialist Hungary and Estado Novo Portugal

The present study examines the Portuguese right-wing and Hungarian communist regimes’ attitudes towards homosexuality and sexual minorities through an analysis of English-language literary works translated and published in Hungary and Portugal between 1939 and 1974. One of its main objectives is to contribute to the scarce body of research on the history of non-normative sexualities by mapping literary works in English that might have been read by the queer community as possible self-help literature in the two countries. Besides the prevailing publishing practices, the modi operandi of the Hungarian and Portuguese censoring apparatuses are compared to see what kind of translated literature with homosexual content was or was not allowed to be published under the two opposing dictatorial regimes and why. The research draws heavily on the book censorship files stored at the National Archives of the Torre do Tombo in Lisbon along with the findings of the Hungarian project English-Language Literature and Censorship (1945-1989) and the project Intercultural Literature in Portugal 1930-2000: A Critical Bibliography.

L’expérience de la migration en France ou la quête de l’éthique cosmopolite. Analyse du roman Soleil amer de Lilia Hassaine

This article shows the consequences of migratory movements in France throughout the twentieth century, as well as the proposals for improvement from the perspective, of current critics such as Bertrand Badie (2008), Tahar Ben Jelloun (1984, 2009), François Jullien (2008, 2012) and Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2009, 2015). Within this framework, the construction of a cosmopolitan ethic is imposed (Cortina, 2021) able to articulate the dialogism offered by contemporary intercultural literature written by women (Alfaro, Sawas et Soto, 2020; Alfaro, 2022). In this context, the novel Soleil amer published in 2021 by the French writer of Algerian origin, Lilia Hassaine, describes the migration problems in France for four decades and the consequences experienced by an Algerian family in which the cultural parameters North vs South come into confrontation and where tradition vs progress generate disagreements. There-fore, we will evoke in this article an analytical reflection around social integration.

‚Interkulturalität‘ und ‚Interkulturelle Literatur‘ Ein Beitrag zur Erörterung und exemplarischen Erprobung der neuen Grundbegriffe aus der interkulturellen Literaturwissenschaft

This article discusses the concepts of ‘interculturality’ and ‘intercultural literature’, which circulate as important basic concepts in intercultural literary studies. Considering the fact that the boundaries of these terms often merge into each other, this paper strives to clearly define the usage of the terms. By the discussion on the example of Thorsten Becker’s novel Sieger nach Punkten (Winner on Points), the use of the mentioned terms may be revealed. The criteria for literary interculturality established by Blioumi (2002) and the components of intercultural literature determined by Chiellino (2002) served as the basis for the analysis. By testing these approaches on Becker’s novel, it became clear that it fulfills the criteria of literary interculturality, which lie in a dynamic concept of culture, in double optics, self-criticism, empathy, and hybridity, and is characterized by a special intercultural potential. In this, the significant social contribution of Winner on Points becomes evident, which manifests itself in the fact that the novel promotes intercultural understanding between Turkish and German societies. The questioning of the criteria of intercultural literature drafted by Chiellino, which he sees in the presence of an intercultural memory, an intercultural interlocutor and in the so-called linguistic latency, led to the conclusion that Winner on Points can be classified in intercultural literature. Overall, the analysis functioned not only as an example for applying the approaches elaborated by Blioumi and Chiellino to a textual example, but also for deepening and distinguishing the meaning and use of the basic terms of intercultural literary studies. 

A community service learning experience with student teachers of English: enacting social justice in language education in a community centre

ABSTRACT This article reports a service learning experience carried out by volunteer university student teachers of English during 2017–2018 in a non-governmental organisation in Argentina. In collaboration with their university teachers, they taught workshops using intercultural literature in English for underserved children aged 8-12. Drawing on intercultural citizenship theory and intercultural service learning, which both combine language learning with citizenship goals and social justice and human rights foundations, the aim of the service learning experience was to challenge the conditions of possibility for the children involved. Designed as a case study in combination with action research, varied data types were collected (reflection logs, workshop plans, teacher field notes, artefacts created by the children, photographs and video-recordings of workshops). Qualitative data analysis involved three phases (holistic, inductive and deductive). Findings are presented in a vignette with glimpses of an ethnographic description of the context and a narrative account of the first workshop intended to portray the ‘conditions of possibility’ in the setting. The study shows that language learning was transformatory as the children took small actions in their social milieu using varied semiotic resources to convey their messages. Implications for language education with a social justice basis are discussed.

Literarische Mehrsprachigkeit und Transkulturalität. Der Dialog zwischen den Kulturen und das Echo von Mimikry und sprachlicher Hybridität im Werk deutsch-türkischer Autorinnen

The beginnings of migration literature in Germany were noticeable 20 years after the first agreements for work enlistment in the 1950s between countries around the Mediterranean on the one hand and Germany on the other. Well into the 1980s migration literature was considered to be a politically moti-vated, autobiographical and experiential kind of literature produced by migrants, most of whom were initially foreign workers. Today migrant/- migration literature or intercultural literature is considered to be the work of a generation of authors originating from families with migration experience, or migrants themselves. It is the linguistic hybridity and thematic alterity in these works which form the pre-condition for the dialogue between cultures and languages; a dialogue initiated by the successful examples of migration literature currently available on the market. Indeed, a considerable number of German-Turkish authors ’works enrich the cultural and literary scene in Germany. The article analyses the use of hybridity and mimicry as central themes in the novel Der Mond isst die Sterne auf (1998) by Dilek Zapctioglu. This novel is then compared with the stories in the collection Mutterzunge (1998) and with a novel by Emine S. Özdamar, more specifically with the novel Die Brücke vom goldenen Horn (1998), exploring language and thematic hybridization. Central themes in migration literature are issues such as the loss of the homeland, culture shock, alienation, life in and between two languages and cultures, as well as everyday, subliminal discrimination and the accumulating communication problems. The novels can therefore be defined thematically on the basis of their changing time and space coordinates, their shared theme of space diversity, their oscillation between the homeland and the foreign land, the linguistic diversity of their voices and the reflection they offer on the diaspora.

Cultural values in American and Spanish TV advertising at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic

This article discusses the similarities and differences found in some Spanish and American television advertisements broadcast at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. To carry out this study, forty advertisements shown on television in the two countries during the months of March and April 2020 were analysed. Qualitative and quantitative analysis considered the cultural dimensions of identity, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. In addition, the Chi-square formula was also applied in order to confirm that the differences found in both groups of adverts were not significantly important. The results show that a great deal of similar messages and even expressions was conveyed to both audiences in both countries, although some differences were also found. Besides, the main goal of these ads in both groups was to comfort the audience, and not to clearly promote or advertise the product. Thus, this study demonstrates once again that despite the differences that these two cultural groups display, and which are usually portrayed in intercultural literature, the context highly influences the values typically assigned to a linguistic community. That is reflected in the discourse of speakers, and it is the reason why we can find values opposite to those expected in a cultural group.

Poetische Alterität als Interkulturalität auslösendes Element am Beispiel von Yoko Tawadas Werk Talisman

Im Gegensatz zu der pauschalen Annahme, interkulturelle Literatur sei eine Literatur, die von Schriftstellern betrieben bzw. erzeugt wird, welche einem anderen Sprach-, und somit Kulturraum als die entstammen, erstrebt dieser Beitrag eine klarere Definition. Es wird versucht, festzustellen, was ein literarisches Produkt zu einem interkulturellen Werk macht und welche Aspekte ihm zugrunde liegen. Wenn erst einmal eine solche Definition festgelegt wird, geht der Beitrag zu dem der Alterität über. Indem die Alterität als das Fremde oder das Andere konstatiert wird, wird ihr Bezug auf die Literatur erleuchtet und dadurch gelangt der Beitrag zu einer spezifischeren Alterität, und zwar zum Poetischen in ihr. Darunter versteht dieser Beitrag, dass der literarische Text zwar an sich auch ein Text ist, jedoch einer, der durch seine Andersheit konstituiert wird. Denn er weicht durch Benutzung verschiedener Mittel vom normalen Sprachgebrauch ab. Auf dieser theoretischen Grundlage basiert dann die Analyse des Werkes Talisman der japanischen Autorin Yoko Tawada. Durch eine Mehrzahl an Beispielen werden das interkulturelle Element und die poetische Alterität in diesem Werk herausgearbeitet. Interessant wird hierbei, wie auf die Eigenheiten der deutschen Sprache vom Standpunkt einer Fremden aufmerksam gemacht wird. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt dann dadurch, wie das als interkulturell zu bezeichnende Werk das Eigene beleuchtet und dafür sorgt, dass es besser verstanden wird. Das ermöglicht die Desautomatisierung der Wahrnehmung. Das bis dahin Übliche und Gewöhnliche wird entfremdet, was dazu führt, dass es bewusster wahrgenommen wird. Der Beitrag kommt neben dieser Schlussfolgerung auch zu einer weiteren, dass man durch dieses Verständnis nämlich auch das Andere besser kennenlernt und wahrnimmt.

Comparative Literature and Intercultural Communication: an Imagological Analysis of Iris Alanyali's Work Gebrauchsanweisung Für die Türkei

Multicultural societies are one of the research objects that social sciences researchs are particularly focused on. In these societies, cultural, sociological phenomena and problematics are analyzed by many different sciences by various methods and some conclusions are reached. As an important representative of these disciplines comparative literature creates a research area on these societies with the contributions of both imagology and intercultural literary theories. In fact according to various definitions, comparative literature which plays a major role in the providing of intercultural communication examines the relationship of the individual with the "other" in social and psychological dimensions, especially with its one of the research methods imagology oriented studies and focuses on differences and phenomena which are described as foreign through images. In this study, primarily a general definition of comparative literature is given in a theoretical context, and then imagology discussions and the concept and theories of intercultural literature are mentioned in a descriptive way. In application part of this study, the work of Iris Alanyalı who is considered one of the representatives of intercultural literature in Germany, named Gebrauchsanweisung für die Türkei is examined. The most important reason for this work to be chosen is to determine how effective the bicultural identity which is carried by the author in the work written for the German readership about Turkey and Turkish culture. For this research, various concepts of intercultural literary theories and imagology are used. Thus, with its imagological analysis, in the name of intercultural communication what kind of contribution it has is exhibited.