Blending Worlds

On Ethnic Identities in Late Modernity

Elka Ts chernokoshewa

Tschemokoshewa, Elka 1997: Blending Worlds. On Ethnic Identities i n Late Modernity. - Ethnologia Europaea 27: 139-152.

Can a perHon simultaneously identi(y him- or herself with two or more individual ethnic He m a ntics? Can, in this sense, a person have several ethnic identities? And how is this dealt with in theory, what kind of concepts do we have about such clouble lives and such hybrid identities? Why is ethnicity often defended as virtually the last bastion of unambiguity? Who is interested in this? The article centers around these questions. The empirical argumentation iH based primarily on the example ofthe Sorbs - a Slavic minority in Germany. The theoretical m·gumentation tries to open up the ethnological cultural studies for some of the considerations of the system theory and the modern constructivis m. The article is a plea for the hybridity of cultures, ideas, politics, and fo r an ethnology which takes part in this construction.

Ellw Ts chernokoshewa, Assoc. Prof:, Department fo r Empirical Cultural Studies I Popular Art, Sorbian Institute, Bahnho{st1: 6, D-02625, Bau.tzen, Germany.

it is also a part of German or German-language Confessions and Attributions stage literature" (Lorenc 1995: 43). In an essay with the title "Bikulturalitat und So much for his confession. But how do the Selbstverstandnis" (Biculturalism and Self­ humanities deal with the classification of such image), it is not without irony that the author texts or cultural events? As an initial approach Kito Lorenc writes about the ethnic classifica­ to this question, I would like to cite an example tion of his work as well as the events in the taken fr om the largely autobiographical novel German-Sorbian Theater in Bautzen: "As you Liebe und Mull (Love and Waste) by Ivan Kli­ know, the Sorbian actors do not only co-act in ma. The central figure, a writer who fe ll into German plays, and their German colleagues do disgrace fo llowing the events of 1968, earns his not - depending on their faculty of language - living as a street sweeper in Prague, and in his only occasionally appear in plays performed in fr ee time he occupies himself with the biogra­ the Sorbian language. One respects and toler­ phy of Kafka. His train of thought: "Franz ates one another also in his or her respective Kafka undoubtedly belongs to the most re­ ability or partial inability. And all of them will markable writers to have lived in Bohemia. He appear together in the tragic grotesque play Die often cursed Prague and his parental home; wendische Schiffahrt (The Wendish or Sorbian however, he could not bring himself to tear Ship's Voyage), a piece commissioned by this himself away fr om either of them. Only upon theater, which (I may say so as its author) is not superficial examination does the milieu of his merely a play written by a Sorbian playwright fantastic stories have nothing to do with a real that is 'also produced in German', but rather, it place. In reality, his hometown was more to him is an original Sorbian piece, although its Sorb­ than just a backdrop fo r his tales. He was ian author originally wrote it in German and permeated by its multitude of voices and its there was never a Sorbian version nor will there melancholy, by its shadiness, its susceptibility. ever be one. Of course this piece is a part of [ . ..] Kafkaspoke perfect, at best somewhat rigid Sorbian literature; however, at the same time, Czech; he wrote in German. He, who was not a

139 and research on the Self and the Other. Olo fOnt aorbluchon Jlowev­ Roglonon cr, my theoretical approach here is concerned 0 with the discourse surrounding-pure and mixed identities, surrounding cultural homogeneity

L and ditl'erence in late modernity. L

Beyond Unambiguity

we evaluate current biographical material on @ If KalawaCalau the members of ethnic minorities, we will find an abundance of material on how individuals declare their affiliationwith two or more sepa­ rate ethnic semantics. The lyricist R6za Domas­ cyna recently commented on this in an inter­ view in which she stated that she had grown up in Lausitz (Lusatia) with two languages, and explained how she composes her literary work in both Sorbian and German. "As a child, lan­ guage was like a game to me," she says. you Sorblsche "If Spruchgeblele possess two languages, you remain curious."2 In Q nlodorsorblsch her essay "Warum das alles?" (Why all of this?), Q Oborgangsdlolekte she also speaks of the discontinuity and the Q oborsorblsch ambivalence of a life on the boundary: "I recall the reading assignments we had in school. Fried­ Fig. 1. The Sorbian area in eastern Germany. rich Schiller's Glocke (The Bell) and the Sor­ bische Bekenntnis (Sorbian Confession) by Ja­ German, but a Jew. Not a single Czech literary kub Bart-Cisinski". But it was not so much historian has ever summoned up the generosi­ Schiller and Cisinski who left a lasting impres­ ty, the courage or the tolerance to place him sion on her, says the writer, but rather "a lot of alongside Czech writers. The fe eling of being authentic banality": her own childhood, the excluded and of loneliness which runs through dissonance in the deeply religious family, the his prose was certainly a result of his predispo­ mother in traditional dress and herself in a sition, but also of his circumstances. He shared miniskirt, the mother who secretly learns the this with many of his peers" (Klima 1991: 89- Sorbian alphabet out of her daughter's school­ 90). book3, the father's accounts of the war, of the In the fo llowing contribution, we shall not "German war", in particular what he left out, simply be occupied with the question of wheth­ his states of panic, the Sorbian language, which er a cultural text or event can be credited to was oftenfo rbidden or at best only silently held more than one national culture: to the Czech or in contempt, the LPG4, the borders, idiomatic the Jewish, to the Sorbian or the German. expressions like "pol'sche Wirtschaft" (sham­ Rather, this contribution centers around the bles), "wend'sche Hanka" (Wendish Hanka), question: Can a person simultaneously identify "deutscher Michel" (the plain honest German), him- or herself with two or more individual "die lwans" (the Russkies), "Heimatlieder" ethnic semantics? Can, in this sense, a person (songs about the homeland) and what they have several ethnic identities? I am going to conceal. And all of this is bundled up with the base my empirical argumentation primarily on constant desire "to be different" (Domascy­ the example ofthe Sorbs - a Slavic minority in na 1995). Germany. 1 In this respect, my contribution is But itis not only the writers and the intellec­ linked to some of the findings of research on tuals who tell of a "divided, double life" - to cite minorities and migration, as well as to concepts the title of a poem by Domascyna. Research on

140 the ethnic sense of be longing or the "simple trips, weekend and extended vacations, cultur­ people" in the region supply an abundance of al festivals, diverse encounters, as well as em­ material on such an ambivalent life, e.g. the ployment across the border. Characteristic for work by lnes Keller, Surbische und deutsch­ this is, e.g., the Sorbian High School, which is sorbische Familienr.(Sor bian and German-Sorb­ just celebrating the 50th anniversary of its ian Families), which is based on extensive field fo unding: afterthe years ofN azi discrimination research. The investigations on cultural identi­ against the Sorbs in the Third Reich, the high ty carried out at the Sorbian High School in school was first established in Czechia. But Bautzen verify this: in interviews with stu­ another part ofthe banality ofevery life are the dents, events were portrayed which were de­ typical inspections at construction sites in or­ scribed by those questioned as "conflicting", der to catch people from the east doing illicit "split personality", or "[ have somewhat mixed work, or as has recently been the case, the feelings about it" ("das ist'n bil3chen gespalten tightened controls by border guards in order to bei mir").li And in a newspaper article under the catch illegal border crossers from non-EU coun­ spectacular title "Kamenzer Schulratin fiihrt tries. These individual examples clearly illus­ ein Doppelleben" (Kamenz school inspector leads trate that the people in this region exist beyond a double life), a situation is described which is unambiguity. not at all unusual for this region: "To a certain In a similar vein, research on migrants, extent, the woman leads a double life. When she refugees and other foreigners supplies informa­ gets up in the morning, mumbles a sleepy 'Do­ tion on how they fall back on different areas of bre Ranje!' to her husband, perhaps looks in on cultural semantics and practices and in many her mother, whom all her life she has only seen respects - including an ethnic one - lead double in traditional Sorbian dress, she is Lenka, Len­ lives. In her book Der getOtete Pafl (The Mur­ ka Pj echowa. Everyone in Ralbicy, where she dered Passport), Barbara Wolbert tells compact grewup as the oldest often children, knows her stories about people who come to the Federal in this way. The people here only speak German Republic of Germany fromTurkey to work here when strangers ask for directions. Moments for ten or more years before returning to Tur­ later, however, she climbs the steps leading to key. Many of them move there and then back her officein Kamenz and slips, so to speak, into several times in their lives, and each return her second self. Her name is now Helene Pech, becomes a new experience. Some first genera­ she is a senior civil servant responsible for 35 tion migrants who receive retirement benefits elementary schools in Upper Lusatia. Of course in Germany live half the year here, the other this includes the school in Ralbicy (Ralbitz) she half - there. Others, on the other hand, make once attended herself."7 more of an attempt to integrate themselves and Lausitz is a region where the people do not to settle down - either here or there. However, solely draw from the German-Sorbian relation all of these people live in a constant crossing of of tension. Today, it is a border region where borders, in agreement with the allegedly una­ three countries meet - Germany, the Czech greeable, and their lives prove "that with mi­ Republic, and Poland. In past centuries, parts grant labor, affiliations have developed which of the region belonged to Saxony, then to Bohe­ appear to make national statehood obsolete" mia, Silesia, Poland, Brandenburg, Prussia. (Wolbert 1995: 178). Typical for the region are also its many reset­ Other empirical evidence for the liberal han­ tiers and refugees who came here fr om the east dling of differentethnic semantics in concrete, and southeast after the Second World War. human, everyday life situations could also be Today, radio broadcasts in different Slavic lan­ drawn on. But the question is: How is this dealt guages can be clearly received in this region. with in theory? What kind of concepts do we Part of the banality of everyday life is to make have about such double lives and such mixed a quick trip to Poland or the Czech Republic: to identities? When we attempt to study the theo­ go shopping, fillup the car's tank, or go out to retical treatment of these questions, we are eat. In addition to this there are school field confrontedwith a series of uncertainties, often

141 even ill-humor und re::;entmeni. Where doc::; devastating examples of' National Socialism this come f'rom? I low did the ideu of' ethnicity unci racism in Europe, today it is not surp r is i ng ori ginate? I would like to submit a brief outline. that theory sometimes attempts to circumvent Substantial research carried out in the last these concepts. However, if that is done, the several years has conclusively verified how "the danger arises that at the same time, ethnic invention ofthe nation" and "the construction of identificationas a part of socialization, as a purt history" have occurred in Europe in the last two of an individual's social ability to act is thereby to three centuries. To d ay, we already know circumvented. Because the scientific notion of something about how the European frontiers ethnicity obliquely refers to (very soberly for­ oribrinatecl, how national and ethnical aflilia­ mulated) only the following: "That groups of tions were produced, and which fu nction cul­ people possess a common cultural ground, share ture hud in these proce::;ses. lt is known that the historical and contemporary experience with process of the development of nations, which each other, have ideas about a common ances­ was an important step in the direction of a try, and based on this develop a certain con­ modern society, took place inwardly - as the sciousness regarding identity and solidarity, is construction of' a unit - and outwardly - as a a social fa ct which did notjust become known in distinction. Within this social, economic and the present day. This 'social fact' appears to be political process, those parts of the culture that a general and fu ndamental characteristic of symbolized this process and were able to nur­ human socialization, a universal category com­ ture it gained in significance. Those parts ofthe parable to categories like the division of labor, culture that tended to express the similarities inequality, culture, power or socialization, which beyond national boundaries or emphasized in­ can be fo und in all societies, albeit in relevantly ternal differences were irrelevant to this pro­ differentmanif estations and with differing sig­ cess, disruptive, which is why they were mar­ nificance" (Heckmann 1992: 51-52). ginalized or denied - in the areas of both theory So much for Heckmann's general definition. and politics. What was being soughtter af was The ethnic problem is particularly significant that which could suggest homogeneity, unbro­ for ethnic minorities, subcultures, and for other ken continuity and individuality within the divergent groups who have become marginal­ nation and ethnos, and that which allowed a ized into peripheral cultures in the process of distinction fr om the neighbors, that which es­ the development of national cultures. In this tablished boundaries between one's self and the case, the rejection of the notion of ethnicity can others. In the era of the development of nation­ sometimes eventually serve to promote rather states, the idea of a separate culture was taken than expose certain potentially dangerous pow­ on as something very special, uniform and con­ er structures. If we exclude ethnic semantics stant. In this regard, a selective method was from our research, some processes of disrespect practiced and ethnic and cultural identities and discrimination can slip away from us, as were determined according to the either/or well as something too of the human quest fo r model: either this side or that side of the border. acknowledgement and equality. How will we be The idea: a people, a nation, a culture gained able to understand that in the present day, plausibility. Human beings became German, someone can already be delighted that he or she Polish, French, and pure culture, indeed any­ is accepted as a human being just like the thing pure was favored. others in society? Like the Kamenz school in­ To briefly summarize my standpoint: The spector previously mentioned who leads a dou­ claim to purity, homogeneity, obligation inwards ble life, who endeavors to intensify the contact (and thus the negation of all differences within between German and Sorbian youths. In the the group) and the incomparability outwards article we read: "The contacts already reach as (and thus the negation of all solidarity out­ far as Dresden," she beams. "More and more wards) makes race, ethnos, national culture German girls and boys are realizing: They are into "dangerous ideas" - to cite an important just like us, except that they speak one more essay by Eric Wolf.And after two centuries of language!"

142 Perhaps another model besides the either/or one can help u::; to get out of' thi::;di lemma. We could con::;ider an either/and/ormodel . Research

on ethnit:rn in o ritie::; like the Sorb::;, but abo on migrants and other "fo reigners", provides us with powerful evidence to this means. Similar MUMitorahlrz ose 5 km to most members ofethnic minorities, the Sorbs t are fu ndamentally bilingual and they draw, as the situation requires, fr om the cultural reser­ voirs of the minority as well as the majority 5 culture. They also have two names - as do the

place name signs here. The Tu rkish immigrant workers who live in the Federal Republic of Germany also produce their own, new culture out of diverse elements of various cultures.And this cultural blend is not accidental, and it is not to be accredited to inadequate conformity to the host culture. Rather, it is a concrete response to new circumstances. It is the creative handling of the inconsistencies of one's own life situation. These people have stridden through the grids of routine, inherent bonds and inherited affilia­ tions and are staking out new spheres of action, experience and communication for themselves. They have pointedly left the unblemished world Fig. 2. Double place names in Lausitz. of purity and unambiguity -whatever that may be - and have irrevocably decided in favor of a the Chilean biologist and neurocybernetician hybrid and ambivalent world. I do not mean to Humberto R. Maturana. In the disciplines of deny the difficulties, the constraint, the suffer­ ethnology/cultural science, too, the view of eth­ ing, and the destroyed existences which often nicity as a construction has recently gained accompany foreigners along the way, but these more plausibility. Ye t until this consideration people overcome the barriers of an assigned has not been built into a coherent and system­ existence, develop unknown capacities for ac­ atic theory, it can easily be misunderstood. This tion, write their own biography, create new is the case, e.g. , if a misleading opposition is put worlds. forward: construction versus reality and/or con­ Perhaps when we refer to minorities like the struction versus effectivity. Such a perspective Sorbs, but also to migrants and other stranded suggests that there is indeed somewhere and existences, we can more adequately speak of an something "more real", "truer", or "more effec­ either/and/or identity. I call that - blending tive" than the ethnic construction just about to worlds. Over the last few years, the conceptual­ be deconstructed. Such a train of thought is izations of ambivalence (Bauman 1991), Cre­ theoretically unsound and politically danger­ olization (Hannerz 1987) and hybrid cultures ous. In particular when it is partially applied to (Hall 1992) have opened the view to a new minorities, migrants, and other border cross­ paradigm in this respect. ers. Etienne Balibar recently also expressly warned of this: "Every discussion about bound­ aries refers to the establishment of certain - Ethnicity Action as national and other - identities. Now, it is well "We literally create the world in which we live established that to differingdegr ees, there are by living it." This sentence belongs to one ofthe active and passive, desired and accepted, indi­ intellectual fathers of modern constructivism - vidual and common identities or rather, identi-

143 fications. Their multitude and the fact thut they cal Literary Studies), S.J. Schmidt summarizes can be explained a::;eit her cnn::;truction or fic­ a few bu::;ic ideas of the constructivist concept.

tion deprive them of none of their eflectivity" His initial consideration is the consistent tak­ (Balibar 1997: 7). ing into account of the problem of observation:

Over the last 20 years, the discourse of mod­ "In comparison, constructivists like myselfcon­ ern, or also so-called "radical", constructivism centrate on human agents as observers"

has developed more and more into a dynamic, (Schmidt 1994: 214). What is important here is interdisciplinary complex of discussions. As the notion ofem piricism: "At the same time [ ... ) Siegfried J. Schmidt, one of the primary motors empiricism is demonstrated according to a con­ of this development, formulated, it is more and structivist understanding of processes and so­ more concerned with producing empirical evi­ cial criteria, and not of'reality'; in other words,

dence for the know ledge that "we never actually 'empirical research' is defined as a systematic deal with reality itself, but rather always with (because it is led by theory) observation of the the realities of our experience" (Schmidt 1994: second order, the results of which can be socially 7). The new theoretical fr amework of the con­ stabilized, because and/or as far as there is an structivists also implies a new evaluation of the (implicit or explicit) consensus within the re­ social responsibility of science. The point is spective relevant groups of observers regarding "that in particular, the su�ject dependency of the concepts and criteria of the act of observing, our construction of reality can explain our suc­ and as far as these results and their conse­ cessful actions in a socially accepted and seem­ quences agree with the socially accepted crite­ ingly objective physical world. Radical Con­ ria of reality for objects and events in the ob­ structivism supplies arguments for a sensible servers' world of experience" (Schmidt 1994: overcoming of European traditions of thought 215). which have become intolerable. By taking leave The idea of observation of the second order of absolute notions of truth and reality, trans­ emphasizes the difference between the descrip­ forming objectivity into intersubjectivity, and tion level and the object level. Social systems binding all knowledge to human beings and can thus be conceived according to action theory their actions, it refers at the same time to our or - fo rmulated another way - agent theory. complete responsibility for the natural and Central to the constructivist concept is the so­ social environment in which we live" called "text-agent-context syndrome". Here, the (Schmidt 1994: 8). reciprocal constitutional context of communi­ As far as I can see, up to now there have been cation, social agents, collective knowledge, and few attempts to apply the concepts of Radical culture is moved into the foreground. Thus the Constructivism to the ethnic problem in a the­ question about the relations of power and influ­ oretically adequate manner. However, this ence within the fr amework of sociostructural seems to me to be worthwhile, as it could per­ orders can also be raised. It should perhaps be haps open up some of the muddled specialized noted in brackets that constructivism has al­ discussions and help them achieve a discipli­ ready become accepted in particular in the area nary maturity, in particular in view of the new, of empirical literary studies, so that in the case politically explosive nature of the problems of of the "text-agent-context syndrome", the ini­ ethnicity in Europe, and also in view of the tial concern was with the literary text. current drawing up of new borders and the If we maintain this perspective, ethnicity formation of new alliances. Without going over could be conceived of as action. This would open their argumentation, here I only want to selec­ up the possibility of shifting the fo cus of re­ tively enlist a few of the considerations of the search fr om the question "What is ethnicity?" to constructivists which are relevant for our prob­ the question "Who does what with ethnicity and lem. why?". In this way, the use of ethnic semantics In his essay "Konstruktivismus, Systemthe­ can be described as a response to a person's orie und Empirische Literaturwissenschaft" respective living conditions and life situations

(Constructivism, System Theory, and Empiri- while doing justice to theory. A conception of

144 action could serve to clear up ::;orne aspects of Weber's terminology (Weber 1976178). Viewed our problem ofblendingworlds. It thus becomes from the perspective off'unctional-rational sys­ possible to co-conceive the relation between tem theory, society's modernization process is cognition, communication, social system, insti­ presented as a process ofsocial differentiation: tutions, and media fr om a theoretical perspec­ as a transition of societies with hierarchical­ tive. The relation between the macro-level and stratificatory differentiation to societies with the micro-level, e.g. between system level, life fu nctional diffe rentiation (Luhmann 1980/ world and agents, can be meaninbrf'ully mod­ 1989). elled in this way. What is decisive for me here is Contrary to feudal, pre-modern and early first and fo remost to consistently trace the modern societies, within the context of fu nc­ individual performance of the acting subject ­ tional differentiation individuals no longer be­ the activity of the individual - and to move the long to one - and only one - subsystem in agents into the center of the fo rmation of theory. society. Rather, they must be "assumed" to be At the same time, this enables more effective "socially placeless", i.e. individuals do not com­ investigation of the respective power relations pletely belong to one of the subsystems, and and power struggles in society. none of the subsystems can make a complete claim to any one individual. Here they arc fu ndamentally "placeless and foreign". Late The Ye ast of Society modern society requires, so to speak, a person's In an essay on minorities, Iso Camartin, who simultaneous affiliation with various subsys­ lives in Switzerland and among other things tems. In this way, the fu nctional systems of has studied the Rhaetians, refers to minorities society are again clustered in the individual as "the yeast of society". He writes: "The state of and "his world": "Everything which appears contentment into which minorities are capable separate fr om a system theoretical perspective ofsettling nevertheless remains one ofthe most becomes an integral part of the individual biog­ effective gauges for measuring the political raphy: family and gainful employment, educa­ quality oflife in a nation. As majority decisions tion and occupation, administration and trans­ will never guarantee fr eedom to those who are port and communication, consumption, medi­ meant to be different, it is part of the political cine, educational theory, etc. Partial system culture of a country that its elected holders of boundaries are valid for partial systems, but office, i.e. parliament and government, accept not for people in individual situations depend­

responsibility for implementing measures for ent on institutions. [ ... ] partial system bounda­ the provision of such fr eedom" ( Camartin 1987: ries pass through individual situations"

130-131). (Beck 1986: 218). As we all know, research is not exempt from The act of clustering diverse subsystems is this process of the formation of structures and an individual's personal achievement, and pre­ opinions. However, before we devote more cisely this fact constitutes his or her individual­ thought to minorities as the yeast of society, it ity. If we think out this logic fu rther, we are able would be important to understand how contem­ to conceive of a mixed existence or - as I call it porary European society (for which I use the - blending worlds as a model for late modern term late modernity) fu nctions and how indi­ society and for life today. viduals create their world and their ethnic Because in late modernity, it is not just a identity within this systematic framework of matter of mixtures between individual subsys­ conditions. System theory - in particular Max tems: profession, family, politics, gender, con­ Weber, Niklas Luhmann and Ulrich Beck - fe ssion, status, etc. It is also a matter of perme­ provides good reference aids for this purpose. ability within the individual subsystems: gen­ With regard to their systematic fr amework of der, generation, art, etc. Countless examples conditions, modern European societies are in­ can be cited: opera greats like Luciano Pavarot­ creasingly shaped as "formal-rational" and at ti sing with pop and rock stars; fathers take a the same time "subject-free" - to borrow Max leave of absence from work to care for their

145 children, and mothers become the breadwin­ ity strengthens and fo sters the culture of the ners of the f'amily; young people know more Sorbs, just as one cannot imagine European about computers and new media than their culture without the Christian faith . A culture parents, not to mention their grandparents; on cannot be established with disregard for or the other hand, parents sometimes listen to desperate rejection of that which one under­ music louder than their children do. Billions of stands as cu.ltus - worship and respect" people recently experienced it on television: For (Salowski 1993: 144).

Lady Diana's fu neral ceremony, the boundary Such ideas arc often held by the clergy, but between the funeral protocol appr.opriatefor an also by "simple people". I have already attempt­ aristocrat and a commoner was breached: "The ed above to show that today, such conceptions, Royal Family was now required to do the splits," which in a way propagate a uniform and static, commented a guest of the television station i.e., substantial ethnic identity which is binding SAT 1 during the television broadcast on Sep­ for everyone and always retrieveable - a kind of tember 6, 1997. anti-modernity - can mean two things. On the Much theoretical thought has been devoted one hand: a past imagined as having been to all of these mixtures, some of which appears secure is intended to provide security in uncer­ to have already gained acceptance today. But tain times. It can only be hinted at here: high this is not the case for ethnic questions. In this unemployment in the region (at 20.6%, the regard, we come across diverse reservations. administrative district ofBautzen has the high­ This is particularly prominent in the German est unemployment rate in Saxony, and in Sep­ discourse. Why is it so difficultto imagine that tember 1997, Saxony had an unemployment someone can cluster two or three ethnic identi­ rate of 17.5%- twice as high as in any of the old fications in his or her world? Why is the idea states)8, a dramatic shortage of apprenticeship that a person has either one ethnic affiliationor positions, a high rate of migration, breakdown none at all so predominant? Why is ethnicity of the customary fo rms of life and social net­ defended as virtually the last bastion of unam­ work after the collapse of socialism, loss of biguity? Who is interested in this? social status, devaluation of individual biogra­ The research carried out in Lusatia is in­ phies, unknown social, ecological, and other structive for answering these questions. We can uncertainties. The problem with such concep­ observe how unambiguity, purity, and authen­ tions is that as long as support and confidence ticity are conceived of with regard to "that are sought in the past, the opportunities for which is Sorbian": "Where for centuries the consciously and actively tackling the problems Church and national traditions have entered of the present are more likely to be wasted than into a symbiosis, that is where ethnicity is taken advantage of.On the other hand, howev­ intact," e.g. the Catholic parish priest Ml.nein er, such concepts are part of current power Salowski assures us when asked about "that struggles: they are about achieving and secur­ which is Sorbian", without taking the least ing privileges, they are about resources and notice of the significantnumbers of Protestant, spheres of influence, and they are about how non-denominational or loosely denominational the new elite of interpreters and spokespersons Sorbs. "It is obvious that even today, the Chris­ of society will constitute and assert themselves. tian faith determines the lives of the Catholic These are real struggles about power and dis­ Sorbs. Faith and a national consciousness are tribution which - afterthe collapse of socialism very pronounced here, and they complement and upon the reorganization of society - are one another. It is not lastly because thousands being fo ught with both a claim to "authentic" of people here attend church services held in the Sorbian culture and to the right to definewhat Sorbian language every Sunday and holiday it is and is "allowed to be" Sorbian (Tschernoko­ that the faith and the language are kept alive. shewa 1995). Sorbian fe asts and celebrations, the social bond The notion of an authentic Sorbian culture, with the village community, the parish and the however, does not only originate internally, family provide support and security. Christian- fr om within the ranks of the minority itself. It

146 Fig. 3. "Folklorization" of Sorbian everyday life: Village fe stival in Schwarzkollm.

is often the expectations and attributions fr om in KochstraBe 50. From 1992 to 1996, the pho­ the outside that produce this "authenticity". tographer from Berlin traced the development And this is not only done in a historical sense: in Lusatia and the life of the Sorbs." The title of with the construction of a "pure" German na­ the report is: "Pictures of everyday life in Lusa­ tional culture, the Sorbian culture was also tia" - "The Sorbs are presently responsible for constructed. As we know, this is the fu ndamen­ upholding established traditions" - is a quota­ tal principle of construct for ethnic minorities tion taken from a lengthy article which ap­ in Europe. Today as well, minorities are to be peared in the Frankfurter Rundschau in 1996. thought of only in relation to the majority. For "The Sorbs are most Sorbian when they sing the purpose of distinction, minorities like the and pray in Sorbian" - is a statement fr om a Sorbs are presently often forced into a "pre­ television fe ature by the MDR with the title modern", fo lkloristic, often rustical corner by "The Sorbs - a life against time".9 the majority - if the latter, so to speak, makes The folklorization ofminorities like the Sorbs sole claim to progress and modernity. And this is part of a comprehensive national power con­ distinction is also often thought of in a hierar­ struct. It is a product, and it more or less openly chical way, thus going hand-in-hand with the accompanies the idea of a homogenous national placement of ethnic minorities in the lower culture, which is historically passe and has stratum of society. Even in the year 1997, we been for a long time. And this is where I see an can read the following in the Berliner Zeitung: essential reason why blending worlds - living a '"Yesterday is here' - this is the title of an life beyond ethnic unambiguity - is sorely ac­ exhibition of 50 photographs by Michael Her­ cepted by many. I would like to cite Nora Rathzel rmann in the foyer of the Axel Springer Ve rlag in this regard: "That is perhaps a fu rther reason

147 Fig. 4. "Folklorization" of everyday life: Sorbian children celebrating the so called "Vogelhochzeit". why ethnic minorities are discriminated against the media, but then also for the political arena, and marginalized. They could prove that the and finally even frequently for the scientific perspective of one's lifo lies in the irreverent discussion itself' (Bukow/Llaryora 1988: 159). crossing of all boundaries, in self-determined This ethnization observed by Bukow and action. A perspective that deprives the border Llaryora in the conceptualization of newly im­ guards of all 'cultures' of the basis for their migrated minorities can also be observed with existence" (Rathzel 1996: 62). regard to "resident" minorities like the Sorbs. I do not mean to minimize the differences be­ tween these minorities regarding citizenship Different Ye t Similar at the Same Time and other fa ctors; however, structurally we are W.-D. Bukow and R. Llaryora - in my opinion dealing with the same phenomenon. And in two of the most profound researchers in the practice, strategies and points of view are al­ fieldof minorities in German-speaking areas - ready being rehearsed with a nation's "own have summarized the inappropriate localiza­ fo reigners" which are then also applied to the tion of ethnicity as fo llows: "In comparison with "foreign fo reigners": fo lklorization, othering, many traditional societies, in the Federal Re­ social relegation. The reverse way is also possi­ public, as in other advanced industrial societies ble. in Europe, ethnicity plays a rather curious role. At this stage I want to point out a paradox As a rule, ethnic components are perceived, which for me is one of the most serious of late picked out as a central theme, and questioned modernity. It concerns the question of the in­ solely fr om a very special point ofview. They are herent or acquired identity of people who are almost exclusively sought and fo und in recently blending worlds. As outlined above, these peo­ immigrated minorities - this being the same for ple are living that pluralization offorms oflife all of these groups - and are then incorporated symptomatic for modern life -per definitionem, in a 'minority-centered' way. This is first of all so to speak. They have escaped all forces of true fo r the daily discourse on the street and in subsumptive situating - blood, soil, unambigu-

148 Fig. 5. Everyday life beyond "Folklorization". Photo: Jiirgen Matschie. ity - and have chosen "being different" over of"only as Sorbs", e.g. as an ethnic group pref� security, and "a place elsewhere" over roots. erably recognizable by their traditional dress. Their biographies show that they have left the People coming from Turkeyto Germany do not illusion of an inherent ethnicity behind them, become "Turkish" until they have arrived here and are visibly creating ethnicity as an ac­ (as they are now viewed as "German" in Tur­ quired world. The paradoxical thing is that it is key), and they remain "Turkish" for years after precisely these people whom the citizens and leaving Turkey, even in the second or third institutions of their host country, or the mem­ generation. Today, there are 7.3 million people bers of the majority, do not position based on living in the Federal Republic without a Ger­ their biographies - i.e. on what they have ac­ man passport; more than half of these have quired, what they have lived - but rather, they lived in Germany for more than ten years; 1.3 position them exclusively according to attribut­ million of them were born here (Mi.inz/Sei­ ed, allegedly inherent characteristics. These fe rt 1997). These "fellow citizens fr om foreign heralds of a differentiated modernity are often parts" (to quote the title of an article by Bukow/ gauged according to the standards and ways of Llaryora) have been denied fu ndamental rights thinking of early or pre-modernity. This is a ofju st this modern life: civil rights (the right to very "narrow", even "feudal" perspective which, vote - to vote in federal elections, to be voted however, is unfortunately not rarely held and into political office,at the same time to be taken which for me is a conception geared towards the account of by candidates for political office),an stabilization of social inequalities. This is pre­ unrestricted right to employment (they require cisely what happens with immigrants and with work permits), the right to travel (restrictive other fo reigners when they are ethnicized, as is visa ordinances), etc. After 15 years of residen­ often the case with immigrant workers from cy, German citizenship can be taken into con­ Turkey. This is also what happens with minor­ sideration; however, the other passport must be ities when they are fo lkloricized, which is often relinquished in this case. Thus migrants are the case with the Sorbs: they are often thought again placed before the either/or dilemma, pre-

149 cisely thai dilemma whit:h they wanted io es­ iiy researt:h and majority rcscart:h. Then it will t:ape from by blending worlds. Original ly, f(H· become clear that blending worlds docs not only the migra nt - as for the Sorbs, indeed, for all of affectmin orities or migrants, but al l people: We us - ii was a matter ofihe right io be different are all blending worlds. and still belong. And each time that happens, In closing, I would like to formulate a provo­ modern society robs iiselfofa perspective which cation and direct it to our discipline. The street has model t:haracier. sweeper in Prague in Klima's novel f'u rther After the collapse ofthe socialist system, all motivates me to do this, because in ethnic ofthose people in ihe former Eastern bloc have, terms, he creates his own world similar to in a sense, bet:amemigran ts. They are blending Kafka. My consideration is as follows: At the their lives with iwo worlds. They are blending latest, with the advent of modern constructiv­ their lives in time. To day, we can observe how ism we have recognized that any scientific "the East" is being eihnicized, folkloricized, achievement is a construct, and that science alienated and socially relegated from the out­ cannot exist otherwise. We should then perhaps side. 10 This is also happening as a reaction to somewhat more courageously and openly stand the imminent integration ofEurope and in view by our own scientific constructs. In his novel of the drawing up of new borders between the Th e Satanic Ve rses, and later in his defense of "EU area" and the "non-EU area". This is the the novel and the Impure, Salman Rushdie great, new construction in Europe, and our provides us with an example of how this could discipline should be more watchful and expose be done: "The Satanic Verses celebrates hybrid­ the exuberant ideologization being practiced ity, impurity, intermingling, the transforma­ here as a symptom of current fo rces of power tion that comes of new and unexpected combi­ and distribution. I am thinking here of, e.g., nations of human beings, cultures, ideas, poli­ press reports like ihe following one: "Saxony tics, movies, songs. It rejoices in mongrelization wants electronic border controls" - so the title of and fe ars the absolutism of the Pure. Melange, an article in the SiichsischeZe itung announc­ hotch-potch, a bit of this and that, is how new­ ing this novelty. The article continues: "In fu­ ness enters the world. It is the great possibility ture, electronic surveillance equipment shall that mass migration gives the world and I have secure some sections of Saxony's border to Po­ tried to embrace it. The Satanic Ve rses is for land and the Czech Republic."11 change-by-fusion, change-by-co-joining. It is a In my opinion, old andnew minorities, stran­ love-song to our mongrel selves" (Rushdie 1991: gers of all kinds, people blending worlds pro­ 394). vide a good opportunity fo r theory to give some thought to the idea that difference does not Translation: Rebecca van Dyck mean the opposite of similarity, but rather that in today's world, that which is similar resides in that which is different. The Similar finds ex­ pression, concretization, and action in Diffe r­ Notes ence. For me, this insight is of fu ndamental 1. The Sorbs are a Slavic minority in Germany. significance. It equips theory with a new set of They live in the easternmost part of Germany, in conceptual tools. At the same time, it under­ Lausitz, near the Czech and Polish borders. A distinction is made between Upper Sorbs and mines the fo undation of current power rela­ Lower Sorbs, whereby the Upper Sorbian lan­ tions, namely the idea that nations or ethnici­ guage (in and around Bautzen) is similar to ties are homogenous and cannot be compared. Czechian, and the Lower Sorbian language (in If we maintain this view we can not only find and around Cottbus) is similar to Polish. Recent statistics indicate that there are approx. 60,000 powerful theoretical arguments against xeno­ Sorbs, although this number can fluctuate up­ phobia, but we can also findarguments fo r the wards or downwards depending on how "being creation and support of new alliances. In order Sorbian" is defined.At the end of the 19th centu­ to tread this path, it would be important to first ry there were over 150,000 people actively speak­ ing Sorbian. History books state that the ances- bring together the concepts underlying minor-

150 Mainz: tors of t.he Sorbs came from the ori�inal home­ Llaryora, H.., 1n9-l74. land ofthe Slav� north oft.he Carpat hian Moun­ Camart in, T. 1987: Loh der Ve rf!ihrrw.g. Essays iibt•r tains, and that in about the year 600, they �ettled Nach!-[iebi!-[lieit. Ziirich/Mi.inchen: 11.3-148.

a vast area between the Elbe/Saale and Oder/ Gellner, E. 1983: Na tinnR and Na tionalism .. Nei�He riverH. Severa l centuries later, the area Hall, S. 1992: The Question of Cultural identity. ln: was ravaged by campaigns of conquest by the Stuart Hall, David Held and To ny the Grew (eel). Great Franconian Empire under Charlemagne Modernity and its Future.�. Polity Press: 273-316. and his successors. The Sorbian tribes were Hannerz, U. 1987: The world in Creolisation. T n: firmly placed under German rule in the lOth and Afi'ica 57; (4): 546-559. 11th centuries. Since then, Sorb� and Germans Heckmann, F. 1 992: Ethnos, Demos und Nation, oder: have coexisted in Lausit�.. Woher stammt die lntoleranz des Nationalstaates See E. Tschernokoshewa (ed.) So Langsam wird's gcgcniiber cthnischen Minderheiten? In: Uti Zeit. Kn lturelle Perspektiven der Sorhen in Deut­ Bielefeld (Hg.). Das Eigene nnd das Frem.de. Han­ schland, Bonn, 1994, filr information on the nover: 51-78. cultural situation of the Sorb� today. Honneth, A. 1992: Kampf um An.erhennung, Frank­ 2. Sec Anne Goebel, "Das Spiel m i t den zwci furt/Main. Sprachcn", Siiddeu.tsche Zeitnng, Munich, 29 Kaschuba, W. (Hg.) 1995: Kulturen. - Identitaten. - July 1997. Dishurse. Berlin. 3. The Sorbian language, like all Sorbian institu­ Kaschuba, W. 1995: Yom Verschwindcn des Sozialen tions, was banned under National Socialism. im gescllschaftlichen Diskurs. Zeitschrif� fur Vo lk�­ 4. LPG- Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgemein­ hun.de 91: 27-46. schaft (Agricultural Production Community): Klima, I. 1991: Liebe und Miill. Miinchen/Wien. Organizational fo rm of agriculture during So­ Kostlin, K. 1994: Das ethnographische Paradigma cialism. und die Jahrhundertwende. Ethnologia Europaea 5. See Ines Keller, Sorbische und deutsch-sorbische 24: 5-20. Fa milien. Aspehte ihrer En.twichlu.ng in genera­ Kramer, D. 1996: Diirfen Ethnien sein? Zur Diskus­ tivem Vergleich, Humboldt University, Berlin sion urn das Recht auf Anderssein. Info-Blatt der (PhD manuscript), 1997. Gesellschaftfii r Ethnographie 11/12, Berlin: 54-65. 6. See Dirk Hiiper, Kulturelle Identitat sorbischer Kristeva, J. 1991: Strangers to Ourselves. New Yo rk. Jugendlicher.He mmnisse und Chancen aufdem Lorenc, K. 1995: Bikulturalitat und Selbstverstand­ Weg in eine multikulturelle Gesellschaft, Free nis. Theater der Zeit. Jan./Febr., Heft Nr. 1: 43-45. University of Berlin, Berlin (dissertation manu­ Luhmann, N. 1980/1989: Gesellschaftsstruktur und script), 1995. Sernantik. Studien zur Wi ssen.ssoziologie der mo­ 7. See "Kamenzer Schulriitin fii hrt ein Doppelle­ dernen Gesellschaft. Bd. 1 (1980) und Bd. 3 (1989), ben", Chemnitzer Zeitung 27 July 1997. Frankfurt/Main. 8. See Sachsische Zeitung 10 September 1997, pp. Maturana, H. R. 1987: Kognition. In:. Siegfried J. 1, 9, 21. Schmidt (Hg.) Der Dishurs des Radikalen Kon­ 9. See "Bilder tiber den Alltag in der Lausitz", struktivismus, Frankfurt/Main: 89-118. Berliner Zeitung, 15 January 1997. Miinz,R./Seifert, W.!Ulrich, R. 1997: Zuwanderung 10· "Auferstehung in der Lausitz. Bautzen, eine nach Deutschland. Stadt, die um ihr Image kiimpft", Franhfurter Niedermiiller, P. 1994: Politics, Culture and Social Rundschau. Symbolism. Remarks on the Anthropologyof East­ Refer to Peter Niedermiillerfor more on nation­ ern European Nationalism. Ethnologia Europaea alism "from within". 24: 21-33. 11. See Sachsische Zeitung, 5 September 1997, p. 1. Riithzel, N. 1996: Kultur - Minderheiten - Begriffe und politische Perspektiven. In: Gemeinsam (er)Leben. Handreichungen zur interkulturellen Bil­ References dungsarbeit. Remscheid: 59-72. Rushdie, S. 1991: Imaginary Homelands. London. Balibar, E. 1997: Grenzen und Gewalten. Asyl, Ein­ Said, E. W. 1993: Culture and Imperialism. New Yo rk. wanderung, Illegalitiit und Sozialkontrolle des Salowski, M./GroBe, G. 1993: An der Via Bennonis. Staates. In: Lettre International, 37: 7-8. Bautzen. Bauman, Z. 1991:Modernity andAmbivalence. Polity Schiffauer, W. 1996: Die Angst vor der Differenz. Zu Press. neuen Strtimungen in der Kulturanthropologie. Beck, U. 1986:Risikogesellschaft. Aufdem Weg ineine Zeitschriftfu r Vo lkskunde 92, H. 1: 20-31. andere Moderne. Frankfurt/Main. Schmidt, S. J. 1994: Kognitive Autonomie und soziale Bukow, W.-D./Llaryora, R. 1992: Ethnizitiit in eu­ Orientierung. Frankfurt/Main. ropiiischen Industriegesellschaften. Sozio-kul­ Schmidt, S. J. 1994: Der Diskurs des Radikalen Kon­ turelle Einstellungen zwischen Privatisierung und struktivismus. Frankfurt/Main. Ethnisierung. In: Zukunftkultureller Minderheiten Schmidt, S. J. 1994: Konstruktivismus, Systemtheo­ in Europa? (Hg.) Buchkremer, H./Bukow, W.-D./ rie und Empirische Literaturwissenschaft.In: Henk

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