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: Berlin

05. Die Berlin Folge – Einleitung in historische Kontexte

Berlin ist ein beliebter Schauplatz in der Literatur. In dieser Folge sprechen wir über 3 sehr unterschiedliche Berlin Bücher und ihre sprachlichen Besonderheiten. Es geht um Jessica J. Lees Mein Jahr im Wasser: Tagebuch einer Schwimmerin, um Sharon Dodua Otoos Adas Raum und Esi Edugyans Half Blood Blues. Sprache kann zum Lokalkolorit eines Textes beitragen und hat eine emotionale Bedeutung. Einige Sprachentscheidungen treffen Autor*innen und Verlage im Sinne ihre imaginierten Leser*innenschaft – was können sie verstehen oder was wäre vielleicht zu herausfordernd?

Shownotes

Raising the Spirit of Un-belonging

/ Jordan Lee Schnee

As part of the Barrio Berlin festival, Hopscotch Reading Room, and poco.lit. co-program an evening at the cemetery café Lisbeth. Several dozen people squeeze into the building for a reading by Avrina Prabala-Joslin, a Tamil poet, and Maya Saravia, a Guatemalan artist.

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How do you say Ballroom in German? (Part 2)

/ Sophie Yukiko

In her second essay, Sophie Yukiko continues her critical examination of the German Ballroom culture. She observes that it holds huge potential because from its earliest days, it has always been a space for discussion, criticism, adjustment and conversation.

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Jessica J. Lee
Dispersals

/ Anna von Rath

Jessica J. Lee’s third book, Dispersals, On Plants, Borders and Belonging, consists of fourteen personal essays about plants crossing borders and putting down roots in new places. Lee chooses several trees, shrubs and algae, which hold meaning in her own life, to engage with their history and journeys into different parts of the world. In doing so, she questions under what circumstances species are considered either cosmopolitan or invasive.

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Natasha A. Kelly
Schwarz. Deutsch. Weiblich.

/ Susi Peter

In her current book Schwarz. Deutsch. Weiblich – Warum Feminismus mehr als Geschlechtergerechtigkeit fordern muss(Black. German. Female – Why feminism must demand more than gender equality in English), Natasha A. Kelly traces the history of Black women in Germany, which she skilfully weaves together with her own life story.

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5 years of Berlin’s African Book Festival

/ Kathleen Samson

Now in its fifth year running, taking place from 25-27 August in the Alte Münze at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, the African Book Festival Berlin, organised by the team at InterKontinental, serves as a vital platform for African literature in Berlin’s — and Germany’s — literary scene.

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Max Czollek
Versöhnungstheater

/ Anna von Rath

Max Czollek’s Versöhnungstheater (Theatre of Reconciliation) is an equally confident and lively intervention in current debates as his previous books. Despite the specific focus on post-national socialist continuities, some aspects discussed in the book bear similarities with postcolonial aims.

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