[poco.lit.space] – a year in review
The year 2024 is coming to an end and [poco.lit.space] with it. The project was kindly funded by the Lotto Foundation Berlin. We zoomed in on several aspects of postcolonialism in our online magazine, but also at our events and workshops.
We invited writers to contribute to our online magazine with the help of several calls for submission and the funding allowed us to pay them. Especially in the context of the budget cuts in Berlin, we are very grateful that we had the opportunity to support authors, translators and artists in their work. Above all, however, providing space for so many different voices has enriched our online magazine immensely. We were able to create more visibility for diverse perspectives on postcolonial literaturs and cultures.
We divided the project into 3 thematic blocks. Here, we offer an overview of [poco.lit. space] and some key texts. All contributions to this project can be found on the corresponding project page.
What is post-colonialism?
In the first thematic block, we explored the question: What is postcolonialism? What are the key topics? Which recently published books are relevant for the postcolonial debate?
Book reviews
- Natasha A. Kelly – Black – German – Female
traces the history of Black women in Germany. - Diane Oliver – Neighbours and other stories
is an artful, literary journey back in time to the USA in the 1960s, famously a decade of protest and political upheaval. - Lene Albrecht – Weiße Flecken
is an excellent example of a critical examination of one’s own whiteness.
Essays and interviews
- Europe’s Nightmare – The Practice of Decoloniality
traces the history of the decoloniality and shows how “decolonize” became trendy. - Lüderitz
is a photo essay about two places that share the name ‘Lüderitz’. A small village in the Altmark in Saxony-Anhalt and Lüderitz in Namibia, the former German West Africa. - Kurdistan in VHS – The postcolonial questions of Kurdish film
argues that Kurdish cinema should be understood as a permanent negotiation of cultural identity and its resistance.
Ideas that Travel
In our second thematic block, we asked how concepts and ideas have migrated from one context to another.
Book reviews
- Meera Syal – Life isn’t All Haha Heehee
about the lives of three best friends who grew up together in the Punjabi community in East London. This novel emphasises the South Asian experience without isolating the reader. - R.F. Kuang – Babel
skilfully asks: how can we dismantle the master’s house with our own tools? This question is appropriately answered in an obscure way. - Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar – The Time Regulation Institute
offers a satirical look at modernisation processes in the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey.
Essays and interviews
- Shakespeare travelling
explores how Shakespeare’s work has been used for different purposes in colonial and postcolonial contexts. - How do you say Ballroom in German? Part 1 and Part 2
traces how a subculture from Harlem in the 1980s spread worldwide and changed in the process. - On the tip of my tongue
considers multilingualism in India and Europe and how the author herself and others assess it.
Being from
The third and final thematic block centred on the topic of ‘Being from’ with a special focus on indigeneity as a concept of self-empowerment in a post-colonial context.
Book reviews
- Clayton Thomas-Müller – Life in the City of Dirty Water
are the memoirs of the Cree writer and activist, who fights for climate justice. - Alexis Wright – Praiseworthy
tells the story of the small town of Praiseworthy and a visionary looking for a solution to the global climate crisis and the economic dependence of the Aboriginal community. - Tayi Tibbles – Poūkahangatus
is a playful exploration of a young Māori’s own family history, growing up and the tensions of real life.
Essays and interviews
- ‘It’s the language of the colonizer’ – An interview with jarral Boyd
about indigeneity and language and the different discourses around indigeneity in the USA and Germany. - An Ordinary Day at the Museum
about Camilla Therese Karlsen’s experiences in the exhibition about Sámi culture at the MEK (Museum of European Cultures in Berlin). - Neither indigenous nor colonial; Indentured Labourers and the boundaries of postcolonial categories
about the millions of indentured labourers who had to redefine their cultural identity when they left the sub-Indian continent to work in the British colonies of the world.
We thank everybody who contributed to [poco.lit.space]:
Yassien Aglan, Naz Al-Windi, María Fernanda Castilla Muñoz, Lale Diklitaş, Carolina Eidt, Tim Gassauer, Yildiz Göney, Fabienne Imlinger, Shuruq Josting, Camilla Therese Karlsen, Lukas Kiemele, Ila Maegdefrau, Sahej Marwah, Sigrun Meinig, Michaela Maria Müller, Laura O’Connor, Julia Rosche, Maya Saravia, Jordan Lee Schnee, Devika Singh-Kohler, Priya Singh, Destina Yildirim, Sophie Yukiko, Laura Zick, Eva Zirker, Monica Gutierrez, Isabelle Suremann, Mika Young, Giuliana Kiersz, Ben Osborn and Avrina Prabala-Joslin.
Many thanks to Anna Meidert, who gave [poco.lit.space] a visual language with her beautiful illustrations and to Karla Ruas, who designed beautiful bookmarks for us.
Thanks to Luise Wilhelm and Conny Weigert for their work on the website and the designs for our Instagram account.
And last but not least we want to thank everyone who follows and supports poco.lit. We look forward to future projects and chatting with you then.