Copyright by Berna Gueneli 2011
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Copyright by Berna Gueneli 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Berna Gueneli Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: CHALLENGING EUROPEAN BORDERS: FATIH AKIN’S FILMIC VISIONS OF EUROPE Committee: Sabine Hake, Supervisor Katherine Arens Philip Broadbent Hans-Bernhard Moeller Pascale Bos Jennifer Fuller CHALLENGING EUROPEAN BORDERS: FATIH AKIN’S FILMIC VISIONS OF EUROPE by Berna Gueneli, B.A., M.A., M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2011 Dedication For my parents Mustafa and Günay Güneli and my siblings Ali and Nur. Acknowledgements Scholarly work in general and the writing of a dissertation in particular can be an extremely solitary endeavor, yet, this dissertation could not have been written without the endless support of the many wonderful people I was fortunate to have in my surroundings. First and foremost, I would like to thank my dissertation advisor Sabine Hake. This project could not have been realized without the wisdom, patience, support, and encouragement I received from her, or without the intellectual exchanges we have had throughout my graduate student life in general and during the dissertation writing process in particular. Furthermore, I would like to thank Philip Broadbent for discussing ideas for this project with me. I am grateful to him and to all my committee members for their thorough comments and helpful feedback. I would also like to extend my thanks to my many academic mentors here at the University of Texas who have continuously guided me throughout my intellectual journey in graduate school through inspiring scholarly questions, discussing ideas, and encouraging my intellectual quest within the field of Germanic and Media Studies. I thank in particular Katherine Arens, Janet Swaffar, Pascale Bos, and Jennifer Fuller for their academic mentorship and assistance. Awards and fellowships are one of the many other important factors that allowed for scholarly exchanges and the timely completion of my dissertation. Throughout my graduate studies the Department of Germanic Studies and the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin have generously recognized my work with fellowships and awards, including a 2009/2010 Continuing Fellowship. While the professional development awards allowed me to attend numerous national conferences to present my v research, the Continuing Fellowship allowed me to indulge in my research and to concentrate on the writing process. One factor that made my graduate experience a sane one was the pleasant surroundings of friends and mentors. I am grateful to faculty members Per Urlaub, Werner Krauss, Matthias Rothe, Marc Pierce, Paola Bonifazio, and Stine Skou Nielsen for the many inspirational conversations, their refreshing humor, and the lasting friendship that I will always associate with my time here at the University of Texas at Austin. Most importantly, my graduate student life has been such a wonderful experience due to my friends, colleagues, and fellow graduate students here at UT and at other institutions. I thank them for the many stimulating discussions we have had and all their support throughout the years. Thanks for being my friends and supporters: Jan Uelzmann, Bradley Boovy, Mariana Ivanova, Rob Kohn, Ela Gezen, Adam Johnson, Daniel Greenfield, Martin Kley, and Lee Holt. I particularly thank my friends Bradley Boovy and Adam Johnson for proof reading parts of my dissertation. Finally, I also would like to extend my thanks to my family for continuously supporting my desire to study, travel, and explore the world. For it is the sum of all my previous intellectual journeys and adventures that directed me to the University of Texas at Austin to pursue my PhD. vi Challenging European Borders: Fatih Akın’s Filmic Visions of Europe Publication No._____________ Berna Gueneli The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: Sabine Hake In my dissertation, I discuss three of Akın’s feature films: Im Juli (In July, 2000), Gegen die Wand (Head-On, 2004), and Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven, 2007) in order to investigate Akın’s filmic visions of Europe. Through close textual readings, I analyze three aspects of his films in particular: the spatial conceptions of Europe (city- and landscapes), the sounds of Europe (music and languages) as well as the display of ethnic minorities and the changing urban demography in Germany and Europe. I argue that Akın employs an “aesthetic of heterogeneity” to portray his filmic Europe as a diverse space, in which multiethnic and multilingual music, people, and sceneries are juxtaposed with regions that often have been perceived historically and politically as distinct and complicated. My first chapter discusses Akın’s conceptions and depictions of European Space in In July. By analyzing city- and landscapes, soundscapes, and dynamic spaces in In July, I argue that Akın provides a dynamic, fluctuating, and interconnected European space, including Eastern Europe and Turkey. In my second chapter, I scrutinize language use and dialogue in Head-On to map out the changing demographics in European urban vii spaces. Ultimately, I argue that Akın moves beyond Hamid Naficy’s theory of “accented cinema” by including accented languages and dialects for all protagonists, including Western Europeans. Through this linguistic polyphony, multilingualism and a diversity of accents are depicted as integral elements of today’s Europe. In my final chapter, I discuss the sound of Europe as depicted in The Edge of Heaven. Looking particularly at music (and music lyrics) in the film, I argue that Akın’s use of dubbed and remixed music (especially by the artist Shantel) underscores Akın’s filmic challenges to (national) European borders. By foregrounding the mixed styles of music, where an “original” becomes hard to decipher, the director shows, on an aural level, that blurring boundaries and multidirectional movement are the predominant components of today’s Europe. viii Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction to Project ................................................................................... 1 Fatih Akın and his Cinema........................................................................... 12 Akın Scholarship................................................................................. 12 Akın and the “New Europe” vs. “Fortress Europe”............................ 16 Akın as European Filmmaker ............................................................. 23 Akın and the Context of Turkish-German Cinema...................................... 29 Dissertation Questions ................................................................................. 44 Chapter Outline................................................................................... 45 Chapter One: Akın’s Spatial Conceptions and Depictions of Europe in In July .. 48 Introduction.................................................................................................. 48 Hungarian-Romanian Border: “Grenzhochzeit” (Border Wedding).. 51 Movement, City- and Landscapes, and Soundscapes .................................. 57 Movement: Dynamic Spaces in Europe.............................................. 57 City- and Landscapes: Visual Spaces in Europe................................. 72 Soundscapes: Aural Spaces in Europe................................................ 87 Conclusion: Decentralized Europe?............................................................. 92 Chapter Two: Language Use and Dialogue: Multilingualism in Akın’s Head-On........................................................................................... 96 Introduction.................................................................................................. 96 Language Use in Head-On......................................................................... 100 Language and Belonging: Switching Codes – Switching Places...... 100 Language and Complications of National and Ethnic Categories .... 109 Language and the Extension of European Spaces: Hamburg-Istanbul .................................................................... 120 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 127 Chapter Three: Soundscapes in The Edge of Heaven ......................................... 129 Introduction................................................................................................ 129 ix The Sound of Music in The Edge of Heaven ............................................. 136 Akın and Shantel............................................................................... 136 Transition Scenes: Germany and Turkey.......................................... 142 Turkey ............................................................................................... 145 Germany............................................................................................ 153 The Sound of Languages in The Edge of Heaven...................................... 161 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 165 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 169