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Transcultural Satire in German Fiction of Turkish Migration: Self-Deprecation, Ethnic Impersonation, Intertextuality

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Transcultural Satire in German Fiction of Turkish Migration: Self-Deprecation, Ethnic Impersonation, Intertextuality TRANSCULTURAL SATIRE IN GERMAN FICTION OF TURKISH MIGRATION: SELF-DEPRECATION, ETHNIC IMPERSONATION, INTERTEXTUALITY Steffen Kaupp A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Priscilla Layne William Donahue Richard Langston Jakob Norberg Ann Marie Rasmussen © 2016 Steffen Kaupp ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Steffen Kaupp: Transcultural Satire in German Fiction of Turkish Migration: Self-Deprecation, Ethnic Impersonation, Intertextuality (Under the direction of Priscilla Layne) My dissertation presents a study of satire in contemporary German Fiction of Turkish migration. Engaging with a body of works hitherto neglected in scholarship, I examine how satirical texts, films, and plays intervene critically in discourses on post-unification German national identity. Drawing on the seminal work of scholars such as Leslie Adelson, Tom Cheesman, B. Venkat Mani, Petra Fachinger, and Deniz Göktürk, my dissertation expands the scholarship of Turkish German Studies by linking a discussion of satire as a critical rhetoric to the question of how we talk about what it means to be German. Chapter one offers a novel framework of the satirical vis-à-vis standard conceptions of satire and deconstructionist theories of reading. I understand satire as a form of rhetoric that creates moments of ambiguity by bringing together intersectional categories like gender, ethnicity, race, religion, in order to challenge the audience’s practices of interpreting cultural otherness. Chapter two examines the use of ethnic self-deprecation as one such strategy in Osman Engin’s short stories and his first novel, Kanaken-Ghandi through the lens of Bakhtinian polyphony and Judith Butler’s work on hate speech. Engin, I argue, employs ethnic self- deprecation as a narrative strategy to straddle the line between deconstructing and re-affirming cultural stereotypes. Investigating the role of ethnic impersonation in Hussi Kutlucan’s film Ich Chef, Du Turnshuh, the third chapter turns to the question of ethnicity as a visual signifier for the negotiation of cultural inclusion and exclusion in post-1990 film. In dialogue with Katrin Sieg’s iii work on ethnic drag and Amy Robinson’s theory of passing, I show how the film challenges ethnically-coded narratives of Germanness. In the final chapter on Nurkan Erpulat and Jens Hillje’s play Verrücktes Blut, I discuss how intertextuality and adaptation (Hutcheon, Genette) of different story and character worlds are used to create moments of ambiguity and over- determinacy in the play, in order to challenge the audience’s perception of what an inclusive German society might look like. iv To Luna Marie and Marisue in Eternal Love Your Strength, Love, and Compassion Inspire Me Every Day v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help, support, and love of many people. First, I would like to thank the Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies for providing me with an intellectual community of colleagues and friends. From the moment I met you in 2010, I knew that I had found an academic home. Thank you for making the last six years as enjoyable as they have been. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation committee. First and foremost, many thanks to my advisor Priscilla Layne. Your thoughtful guidance in conceiving and executing this project has been invaluable. You knew when to be hands-on, but also gave me the room to let my own thinking grow. All along, you have made sure that I never lose track of the big picture, while also helping me refine even the most intricate details of every chapter. I want to thank Dick Langston for always asking the “tough” questions. Ever since the Kluge seminar in my first year, you have pushed my thinking, and in turn made me a better scholar. My thanks to Jakob Norberg for bringing his expertise in satire criticism to my project, which was invaluable for my theory chapter. Words are not enough to thank Ann Marie Rasmussen and Bill Donahue for everything they have done for me. Without your mentorship and friendship, I would not be the teacher, scholar, and person I am today: Thank you for everything! Thank you to my friends who have been at my side throughout the last six years. Christian, I could fill pages telling you how much your friendship means to me. You are like a brother to me, and I am so glad that you are part of my life. Thank you for everything! Claire, thank you for vi being such a wonderful friend, conference buddy, fellow feminist, and “sports wife.” I can’t wait for the next adventures our friendship has in store for us. April, thank you so much for being willing to proofread the whole dissertation—I promise to use commas more sparingly in the future. Annegret, thank you for always having an open ear, and for the many awesome study buddy sessions—I am very thankful for our friendship. To my parents, Birgit and Dieter, thank you for your unconditional love and support over the last 31 years. You have been and will always be my role models, and I will consider myself lucky if I become half the person that you both are. To my sister Sabrina, my nephew Nino, and my brother-in-law Steven, thank you for always being there for me, both in times of joy and sorrow. I can’t thank my grandparents enough for all the love they have given me: Vielen Dank, dass ihr immer für mich da seid. A sincere thank you also to my “American family:” The Popes have welcomed me into their family with such kindness and love for which I am deeply grateful. Last, and most importantly, I want to thank my wife. Elissa, this Ph.D. is as much yours as it is mine. You have picked me up when I was down, you have laughed with me when I wanted to cry, and you have shown me with your unconditional love and support what really matters in life. Thank you for believing in me, and always being at my side! My mother-in-law Marisue and my niece Luna Marie did not live to see the completion of this dissertation. I dedicate this project to them in deep honor and sincere gratitude for all that they have given to me and our families. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………. x Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 “This is not funny, or is it?” — Thinking about Contemporary Satire……………………1 Satire in German Fiction of Turkish Migration…………………………………………...8 Research Overview………………………………………………………………………14 Chapter Overview and Methodology…………………………………………………….20 CHAPTER 1: Reading and Writing Difference: A Conceptualization of Transcultural Satire……………………………………………………………………………25 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………25 Colorblindness in the European Context……………………………………………….. 28 On the Limits of Satire in A Transcultural Context……………………………………...33 Making (a) Difference: Conceptualizing the Satirical…………………………………...40 The Self vs. The Other; or: What it Means to Take a Position……………………………53 Conclusion: Transcultural Satire…………………………………………………………58 CHAPTER 2: On Satirical Ethnic Self-Deprecation in Osman Engin’s Dütschlünd, Dütschlünd übür üllüs and Kanaken-Ghandi………………………………………60 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………60 Breaking Down the Violence of Words: On the Reversibility of Hate Speech………….68 Hyperbolic Ethnic Self-Deprecation: Osman Engin’s Short Stories…………………….77 Polyphonic Ethnic Self-Deprecation: Osman Engin’s Kanaken-Ghandi………………..87 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….99 viii CHAPTER 3: Between Mimesis and Masquerade: Satire of Ethnic Impersonation in Hussi Kutlucan’s Ich Chef, Du Turnschuh…………………………………………………102 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..102 Ethnic Travesty: A Strategy for (Temporary) Survival………………………………...111 Remembering and Forgetting: “Performing the Family” and Ethnic Impersonation…..126 Performing Boss, Performing German: Ethnic Narrative Performance………………..139 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...148 CHAPTER 4: Palimpsestic Performances: Satire of Intertextuality in Nurkan Erpulat and Jens Hillje’s Verrücktes Blut……………………………………………...150 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………. 150 Schiller meets La Journée de la Jupe: On the Importance of Adaptation……………...161 Playing a Role, Breaking from a Role: On Multilayered Character Development…….174 Structural Adaptation: The Chorus of Transculturation………………………………..193 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...202 EPILOGUE……………………………………………………………………………………..204 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………210 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 - Martin Sonneborn impersonating Barack Obama……………………………………...3 Figure 2 - Cover of Charlie Hebdo, Issue published on February 9, 2006………………………34 Figure 3 - Cover of Charlie Hebdo, Issue published on September 19, 2012…………………...34 Figure 4 - The piano marking the entrance of the chorus. Screenshot from a recording of the Ballhaus Naunynstraße production of Verrücktes Blut……………………….197 x INTRODUCTION “This is not funny, or is it?” — Thinking about Contemporary Satire This dissertation began as a simple conversation, a disagreement between friends, and became a research project that would keep me occupied for the next six years. The conversation was about an episode of Kaya Yanar’s TV comedy show Was guckst du?!, which a friend of mine and I had just watched together. Was guckst du?! enjoyed tremendous mainstream TV success from 2001 until 2005, with 120 episodes produced and aired by the private German
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