MATTERS OF RECOGNITION IN CONTEMPORARY GERMAN LITERATURE by JUDITH HEIDI LECHNER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of German and Scandinavian and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2015 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Judith Heidi Lechner Title: Matters of Recognition in Contemporary German Literature This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of German and Scandinavian by: Susan Anderson Chairperson Michael Stern Core Member Jeffrey Librett Core Member Dorothee Ostmeier Core Member Michael Allan Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2015 ii © 2015 Judith Heidi Lechner This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDervis (United States) License. iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Judith Heidi Lechner Doctor of Philosophy Department of German and Scandinavian September 2015 Title: Matters of Recognition in Contemporary German Literature This dissertation deals with current political immigration debates, the conversations about the philosophical concept of recognition, and intercultural encounters in contemporary German literature. By reading contemporary literature in connection with philosophical, psychological, and theoretical works, new problem areas of the liberal promise of recognition become visible. Tied to assumptions of cultural essentialism, language use, and prejudice, one of the main findings of this work is how the recognition process is closely tied to narrative. Particularly within developmental psychology it is often argued that we learn and come to terms with ourselves through narrative. The chosen literary encounters written by Alev Tekinay, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Maxim Biller, Rafael Seligmann, and Finn-Ole Heinrich magnify this particular human experience on an aesthetic level and dismantle “mechanisms of recognition,” particularly three aspects illustrating the recognition process: the role of the narrator and his or her description of the characters, the construction of family bonds within the texts, and the linguistic and cultural practice of naming with all of its connotations. Within the chosen texts there is no unified depiction of the recognition process, but rather the texts elucidate a multidimensionality of this concept, tying it closely to the political, social, and aesthetic sphere. In this context the analysis brings to light that the iv notion of “authenticity” crucially informs recognition as well as the circumstances of a power imbalance that dominates the process. My analysis shows that contrary to popular assumptions in philosophical and political debates, the concept of recognition turns out to be rather limiting instead of liberating. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Judith Heidi Lechner GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, German, 2015, University of Oregon Master of Arts, German, 2009, University of Missouri Magistra Atrium, German Language and Literature, 2007, Philipps-Universität Marburg AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Contemporary German Literature and German Film Multiculturalism and Post-Colonial Theory PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Student Assistant at the Office for International Affairs, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 2003-2007 Teaching Assistant for German, University of Missouri, 2007-2009 Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2009-2015 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Astrid M. Williams Award, Department of German and Scandinavian, University of Oregon, 2013 University of Oregon Graduate School Travel Grant, 2011-2012 Roger Nicholls Emeritus Professor Award, Department of German and Scandinavian, University of Oregon, 2010-2012 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Prof. Susan Anderson for her guidance, support, and patience during my dissertation process. Further I would like to thank Prof. Dorothee Ostmeier for her feedback and long discussions about the literary texts. I am grateful to Prof. Michael Stern and Prof. Jeffrey Librett for serving on my committee, as well as to Prof. Michael Allan for acting as my institutional committee member. Without your support, conversations, and feedback this project would not have been possible. I would like to thank Jacob Barto, Heather Wolford, and particularly Alexis Smith for editing my texts and for supplying me with helpful commentary on style and grammar, for English is not my first language. Further, I would like to thank Matthew Hannah, Robert Mottram, and Amy Leggette, my fellow Ph.D. candidates, who went through the same process at the same time and helped me to stay calm and focused in order to complete the project. Last but not least I would like to thank my dear friend Eva Hoffmann for her friendship, support, and her encouraging attitude. vii This dissertation is dedicated to everyone “in between,” for others will not determine your being, but you will find ways to express ourselves. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Identity Construction and Recognition in Contemporary German Literature ....... 11 Jewish-German Literature and the Search for a Symbiosis ................................... 12 Migrant Literature and the Question of Recognition ............................................. 17 II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................... 21 Identity Discourse and Recognition ....................................................................... 21 The Concept of Recognition in Contemporary Philosophical Debates ................. 28 Language, Narration, and Recognition .................................................................. 36 III. ALEV TEKINAY’S DAS FERNROHR ................................................................. 45 Lack of Imagination ............................................................................................... 49 Cultural Transformation ......................................................................................... 52 Ambiguous Names ................................................................................................ 55 Power of Naming .................................................................................................. 58 VI. EMINE SEVGI ÖZDAMAR’S MUTTERZUNGE AND GROßVATERZUNGE ............................................................................................ 69 Lack of Recognition and a Search for More .......................................................... 69 Family Ties as Point of Departure ......................................................................... 72 Function of Narration ............................................................................................. 80 Intersection as Solution .......................................................................................... 90 ix Chapter Page V. MAXIM BILLER’S ALS CRAMER ANSTÄNDIG WURDE—THE CORRUPT NARRATOR .......................................................................................................... 94 Intertextual References – Recognizing Literary Tradition .................................... 95 Perspective and Aesthetics ..................................................................................... 99 Attempts of Self-Determination ............................................................................. 106 VI. RAFAEL SELIGMANN’S DER MUSTERJUDE ................................................. 120 The Role-Model Jew .............................................................................................. 123 Point of Departure .................................................................................................. 127 Matters of Recognition and Identity Ascription .................................................... 130 The Jewish Mamme ............................................................................................... 137 The Anti-Semite and the Question of Taboo ......................................................... 145 Identity Politics ...................................................................................................... 152 VII. FINN-OLE HEINRICH’S RÄUBERHÄNDE ...................................................... 158 Adolescence and Recognition ................................................................................ 161 Perspective Matters ................................................................................................ 165 Social Stigma and Recognition .............................................................................. 168 Constructing Motherhood ...................................................................................... 172 The Absent Father and the Exotic Other ................................................................ 174 Escaping Recognition ............................................................................................ 178 Privilege and Perspective ...................................................................................... 188 VIII. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................