A New Perspective on Post-Migration German Identity Sandra Digruber
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2015 A New Perspective on Post-Migration German Identity Sandra Digruber Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON POST-MIGRATION GERMAN IDENTITY By SANDRA DIGRUBER A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2015 Sandra Digruber defended this thesis on April 3, 2015. The members of the supervisory committee were: Christian Weber Professor Directing Thesis Birgit Maier-Katkin Committee Member A. Dana Weber Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 2. ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE GERMAN IDENTITY IN THE 19TH-CENTURY ......................... 3 2.1 Johann Gottlieb Fichte ........................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Richard Wagner ................................................................................................................ 12 3. WHAT IS GERMAN TODAY? .............................................................................................. 22 3.1 ‘Germans’ about Themselves ........................................................................................... 22 3.2 The Situation of Turkish Germans .................................................................................... 24 3.2.1 Germans with Migratory Background about Being German ................................. 25 3.2.1.1 Literature ................................................................................................... 25 3.2.1.2 Movies and TV ......................................................................................... 35 3.2.1.3 Music ......................................................................................................... 44 3.2.2 Recent Political Questions and Movements ........................................................... 53 4. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 57 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 59 Biographical Sketch ...................................................................................................................... 62 iii ABSTRACT This paper examines the question of what it means to be German. Its goal is to show a historic comparison between what was published in the 19th-century and what has changed since the end of WWII. The basis of the first part will be, among others, Richard Wagner’s article “Was ist deutsch” (1865/1878) and Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s “Reden an die deutsche Nation” (1807/1808). In the second part, these concepts and ideas will be put into relation with today’s situation. That means, there will be a short introduction to the historical events that lead to today’s situation of many people of Turkish descent living in Germany and constituting an inherent part of German society. This part also uses different media to show how Germans address the question of German identity since 1945. I argue that nowadays, especially people with migratory background, i. e. second- or third-generation immigrants deal with the topic of national identity and what it means to be “German,” although these people do not comply with all categories of German national identity established in the 19th-century by personalities such as Fichte or Wagner. So, I will investigate if these categories are still applicable today. After few examples of what 19th-century thinkers would qualify as “pure Germans,” my main focus will be on literature, music, and films by people with migratory background and how they express themselves towards German identity. I will show that Germany is more multicultural than pure and does to a certain extent no longer correspond to the ideals of the 19th-century, even though recent political movements raise their voice against this kind of new national identity. iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Before the question “What is German?” can be addressed in terms of national identity and especially from the point of view of second- and third-generation Turkish immigrants, it is important to first take a closer look at the terminology. In order to talk about German identity, another question has to be addressed first, namely: What exactly is meant by the term nation? The reason is that the term ‘nation’ has to be made clear before ‘national identity’ can be addressed. To begin with, as German sociologist Max Weber noted, ‘nation’ is not the same as ‘people of a state’ but rather a “community of sentiment . which normally tends to produce a state of its own” (M. Weber 176). The idea of a nation therefore goes beyond the territorial aspect of people living in the same state and requires common ground on an intellectual level. This goes hand in hand with the idea of French philosopher Ernest Renan, who explained that national communities are not natural but cultural artefacts. What he means by this is that natural borders are not necessary for defining a nation. In fact, there are quite a few nations that extend beyond their natural borders, such as France with its overseas départments and territories. Also, with the examples of Switzerland or Canada we see that nations can even have more than one official language (Schneider 19-20). Cultural aspects such as religion or language are consequently not seen as crucial for the establishment of a nation (Schneider 20; M. Weber 173). Even though a collective historical consciousness is often said to define a nation, this argument is self-evident and, according to Schneider, even tautological: “Die Nation leitet sich aus dem Bewußtsein einer gemeinsamen Geschichte ab, aber diese Geschichte ist nur bewußt, wenn und weil die Nation sie entsprechend vermittelt – und das ist niemals ‘objektiv’ oder neutral” (Schneider 20). Since it is impossible to empirically prove the existence of a nation, it is an 1 imagined community (Anderson 5-7; Schneider 21), for example through media. Moreover, these communities are “imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign” (Anderson 6). Their clear distinction to other communities shows that they have finite boundaries and the fact that they cannot be placed under a specific authority makes them sovereign. Just as a nation’s boundaries are not as concrete as a country’s natural borders, the idea of a nation changes in the course of history and has to be seen as a “flexible construct” (C. P. Weber 430). The same applies consequently to one’s national identity, which is not the same at all times. It is for this reason that I want to explore how German national identity has changed from the beginning of its emerge in the 19th-century to the present day, or, if the same ideas are still true today. In the following, I will begin by shortly outlining how German national identity evolved in dependence on the formation of a nation in general. I will focus on sources from the 19th- century, particularly Richard Wagner and Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Both writers considerably contributed to the development of a unified German identity, and their ideas challenge the idea that this process has only taken place since the end of WWII. That is, I will point out the concepts and ideas that these two personalities qualified as “typically” German in the 19th- century. This serves as the basis to explain why Turkish immigrants could be seen as the Jews of the 21st-century. After briefly addressing examples in which people that would be characterized as “true” Germans by Fichte or Wagner define Germanness, I will then describe how second- and third-generation Turkish immigrants express themselves towards (their) German identity by looking at examples from literature, film, and music. In the last part, I will refer to recent political questions and movements that pick up on some of the ideas from the 19th-century as seen in Fichte or Wagner. 2 CHAPTER 2 ATTEMPTS TO DEFINE GERMAN IDENTITY IN THE 19TH-CENTURY Defining what it means to be German seems to be a challenge for authors. Richard Wagner, for example, mentions the following at the beginning of his article “Was ist deutsch?,” which will be discussed further at a later point: “War die hier vor mir stehende Frage: ‚was ist deutsch?’ überhaupt so schwierig zu beantworten, daß ich meinen Aufsatz, als unvollendet, der Gesamtausgabe meiner Schriften noch nicht beizugeben mich getraute . .” (“Was ist deutsch?” 1). I am not trying to find a holistic definition here. I will rather point out some of the most common characteristics that have been mentioned over time. This will give an overview of the most influential ideas that are believed to have shaped the concept of German identity and nationhood. One of first important steps towards a national identity was made by Johann Gottfried