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Acta Germanica

German Studies in Africa

von Cilliers van den Berg (Band-Herausgeber:in)
©2019 Dissertation 196 Seiten

Zusammenfassung

Die ersten beiden Beiträge befassen sich mit der Vermittlung von Deutsch als Fremdsprache im südafrikanischen Kontext. Zwei Beiträge haben kollektives Gedächtnis und/oder Gedenken im Fokus: Der erste bezieht sich auf Gedächtnisregimes in Deutschland und der zweite auf die österreichische Erinnerungskultur. Die Flüchtlingskrise in Europa wird einerseits unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der europäischen Perspektiven auf afrikanische Flüchtlinge und andererseits unter Hinweis auf Beteiligung literarischer Texte am öffentlichen Diskurs über diese Krise untersucht. Die thematischen Zusammenhänge zwischen den Werken von Bettina von Arnim und Sophie Mereau zu Politik und Menschenrechten, deuten auf die historische Rolle, die Soziopolitik immer gespielt hat. Zwei Beiträge konzentrieren sich auf die Medien Film und Musik: F.W. Murnaus Nosferatu und zwei Lieder von M.-U. Kling und AnniKa von Trier werden diesbezüglich analysiert. Die abschließenden drei Artikel haben klassische literarische Texte im Fokus: Die Kapuzinergruft von Joseph Roth, W. G. Sebalds Die Ringe des Saturn und Die Verwandlung von Franz Kafka.
The first two contributions in this book focus on the teaching of German as a foreign language in the South African context. Two contributions engage with collective memory and/or commemoration: the first considering memory regimes in Germany and the second focusing on Austrian memory culture. The refugee crisis in Europe is evaluated with specific reference to European perspectives on African refugees and by looking at different ways in which literary texts participate in the public discourse on this crisis. An investigation into the thematic connections between the work of Bettina von Arnim and Sophie Mereau on politics and human rights indicates the historical role socio-politics has always played. Two contributions focus on the media of film and music: F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu and two songs by M.-U. Kling and AnniKa von Trier are analysed from this perspective. The concluding articles have classic literary texts as its focus: Joseph Roth’s Die Kapuzinergruft, W.G. Sebald’s Die Ringe des Saturn and Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

  • Cover
  • Titelseite
  • Impressum
  • Inhalt
  • Editorial
  • Motivations for learning German in the South African context with Stellenbosch as case study. An investigation into knowledge production and the decolonising of the curriculum
  • Kollektives Gedächtnis und Erinnerungsorte in Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Theorie und Praxis für die Arbeit mit fortgeschrittenen Deutschlernenden im südafrikanischen Hochschulkontext
  • The commemoration of 20 July 1944 and the contest for dominance of post-war memory regimes in Germany
  • „Störung“ und „Zwischenlage“: Erinnerungskultur in Elfriede JelineksDie Kinder der Toten (1995)
  • Hoffnung auf Integration? Europäische Perspektiven auf Flüchtlinge aus Afrika: Sprache(n) und Kultur(en)
  • „Als wären wir Verbrecher“. Zu prekären Leben und dem Umgang mit Geflüchteten in Abbas Khiders Ohrfeige und Julya Rabinowichs Dazwischen: Ich
  • „Hochverräterisches oder sonst Despektierliches“. Die Schwägerinnen Bettina von Arnim und Sophie Mereau zu Politik und Menschenrechte
  • Adaptation, Expressionism, and Weimar: Murnau’s Nosferatu Reconsidered
  • Nicht einmal der Charme der „digitalen Bohème“. Das akademische Prekariat im neuen Jahrtausend
  • Genderkonstruktionen bei Joseph Roth. Am Beispiel Die Kapuzinergruft
  • On the edge of a cosmopoetic paradigm shift: Sebald’s Die Ringe des Saturn
  • Zum Zusammenwirken von Prekärem, Arbeit und Identität in Franz Kafkas Die Verwandlung
  • Peter Horn 1934 – 2019
  • Werner Krueger 1943 – 2019
  • Notes on Contributors

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Editorial

Die University of the Free State trat von 5. bis 18. April 2019 als Gastgeber für die vierte gemeinsame Tagung des SAGV (Germanistenverband im Südlichen Afrika) und des GAS-Verbandes (Germanistik in Afrika Subsahara) auf. Das Tagungsthema „Warteräume: Afrikanische Germanistik und Prekariat“ war Anregung zu einer Vielzahl von Beiträgen, von denen einige für die Aufnahme in diese Ausgabe überarbeitet wurden. Der erste Teil enthält zwei Beiträge, die sich mit der Vermittlung von Deutsch als Fremd-sprache befassen. Der südafrikanische Kontext stellt den Rahmen für beide dar - der erste befasst sich mit den Gründen, warum südafrikanische Lernende und Studierende Deutsch lernen, und der zweite mit Fragen zum kollektiven Gedächtnis und zu Gedenkstätten, und wie diese im DaF-Unterricht vermittelt werden können.

Das Thema „Erinnerung“ ist ein wichtiges Motiv auch im zweiten Teil. Zwei Beiträge haben kollektives Gedächtnis und/oder Gedenken im Fokus: Der erste zieht den Verlauf des Gedenkens vom 20. Juli 1944 in den jeweiligen Gedächtnisregimes Deutschlands in Betracht. Der zweite Artikel verwendet die Begriffe „Störung“ und „Warteräume“ als Metaphern, um Elfriede Jelineks Die Kinder der Toten im Kontext der österreichischen Erinnerungskultur zu analysieren. Das Gedenken an schwierige Vergangenheiten soll jedoch die Schwierigkeiten der Gegenwart nicht überschatten: In einem politisch aufgeladenen Beitrag, der sicherlich zur Diskussion anregt, wird die Flüchtlingskrise in Europa unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der europäischen Perspektiven auf afrikanische Flüchtlinge bewertet. Auch ein zweiter Beitrag konzentriert sich auf die Flüchtlingskrise in Europa, indem unterschiedliche Arten der Beteiligung literarischer Texte am öffentlichen Diskurs über diese Krise untersucht werden. Wenn diese Artikel die wichtige Rolle der Soziopolitik bestätigen, scheint die Untersuchung nach thematischen Zusammenhängen zwischen den Werken von Bettina von Arnim und Sophie Mereau zu Politik und Menschenrechten, auf die historische Rolle hinzudeuten, die sie immer gespielt hat.

Zwei Beiträge konzentrieren sich auf die Medien Film und Musik: F.W. Murnaus klassischer Stummfilm Nosferatu wird als expressionistischer Film betrachtet, der unter Hinweis auf die Unterdrückung der Weimarer Autokratie kontextualisiert und interpretiert werden kann. Dagegen werden zwei Lieder von M.-U. Kling und AnniKa von Trier analysiert, um die digitale Bohème mit dem akademischen Prekariat zu vergleichen, insbesondere im Hinblick auf akademische Stellen im Bereich der Germanistik. Die abschließenden drei Artikel haben klassische literarische Texte im Fokus: Anhand des Romans Die Kapuzinergruft wird gezeigt, wie Joseph Roth auf eine deutlich moderne Art und Weise Gender konstruiert. Es folgt eine alternative Lesart von W. G. Sebalds Die Ringe des Saturn, die die Kosmopoetik als Bezugsrahmen verwendet. Der Band schließt mit einem Blick auf die dynamischen Zusammenhänge von Prekarität, Arbeit und Identität in Franz Kafkas Die Verwandlung ab

Da Carlotta von Maltzan mit der Ausgabe von 2018 ihre redaktionelle Verantwortung abgelegt hat, möchte ich diese Gelegenheit nutzen, ihr großen Dank für ihre Arbeit als Herausgeberin in den letzten 10 Jahren auszusprechen. Ihr wichtigster Beitrag als Herausgeberin und Highlight war die erneute Akkreditierung der Zeitschrift durch das South ←7 | 8→African Department of Education and Training im Jahr 2013. Für südafrikanische Germanistinnen und Germanisten ist diese Akkreditierung von größter Bedeutung. Sie hat dazu geführt, dass Akademiker vor Ort ihre Beiträge weiterhin regelmäßig einreichen. Darüber hinaus hat sie es aber auch geschafft, das internationale Ansehen von Acta Germanica zu fördern und vielen afrikanischen Kolleginnen und Kollegen eine Stimme auf internationaler Bühne zu verleihen. Für ihre langjährige harte Arbeit und ihre Bereitschaft auch bei der Vorbereitung der diesjährigen Ausgabe mitzuwirken, vielen Dank.

Cilliers van den Berg

Bloemfontein im Oktober 2019

←8 | 9→

Editorial

From 5-18 April 2019 the University of the Free State hosted the fourth joint conference of the SAGV (Association for German Studies in Southern Africa) and GAS (Association for German Studies in Subsahara Africa). The theme of the conference, “Waiting Rooms: African Germanistik and Precarity” inspired a wide variety of contributions, some of which have been reworked for inclusion in this edition. The first part of the journal includes two contributions, both of which have the teaching of German as foreign language as its focus. The South African context presents the frame for both – the first focusing on the reasons as to why South African learners and students study German in South Africa, and the second considering issues regarding collective memory and memorial sites and how these can be mediated in the teaching of German as a foreign language.

The issue of memory is likewise an important motif in the second part. Two contributions have collective memory and/or commemoration as its focus: the first considering the trajectory of the commemoration of 20 July 1944 in the memory regimes of Germany. The second article uses the concepts of “disruption” and “waiting rooms” as metaphors to consider Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten within the context of Austrian memory culture. But commemorating the difficult past cannot overshadow the difficulties of the present: In a politically charged contribution that may well be a subject for discussion, the refugee crisis in Europe is evaluated with specific reference to European perspectives on African refugees. A second contribution also has the refugee crisis in Europe as its focus, by looking at different ways in which literary texts participate in the public discourse on this crisis. If these articles confirm the important role of (socio-) politics, the investigation into the thematic connections between the work of Bettina von Arnim and Sophie Mereau on politics and human rights, seems to indicate the historical role it has always played.

Two contributions focus on the media of film and music: F.W. Murnau’s classic silent film, Nosferatu, is reconsidered as an expressionistic work of cinema that can be interpreted within the context of the repression of the Weimar autocracy; and two songs by M.-U. Kling and AnniKa von Trier are analysed to compare the digital Bohème with academic precarity, particularly with regards to academic appointments in German studies. The concluding articles have classic literary texts as its focus: it is shown how Joseph Roth, in a considerably modern way, constructs gender in his novel Die Kapuzinergruft. This is followed by an alternative reading of W.G. Sebald’s Die Ringe des Saturn, using cosmopoetics as frame of reference. A look into the dynamic ways in which precarity, work and identity are interrelated in Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung concludes the edition

Since Carlotta von Maltzan concluded her editorial responsibilities with the 2018 edition, I would like to use this opportunity to convey deep gratitude to her for her work as editor over the past 10 years. The most important highlight of her contribution as editor was the re-accreditation of the journal by the South African Department of Education and Training in 2013. For South African Germanists this accreditation is of utmost importance, and the result has been that local academics keep on submitting their contributions every year. But beyond this she also managed to promote the international standing of ←9 | 10→Acta Germanica, giving many African colleagues a voice on the international stage. For her hard work over the years and willingness to assist and advise in the preperation of the 2019 edition, many thanks.

Cilliers van den Berg

Bloemfontein, October 2019

←10 | 11→

Motivations for learning German in the South African context with Stellenbosch as case study

An investigation into knowledge production and the decolonising of the curriculum

KARIN GROENEWALD

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

This paper aims to identify tendencies in the motivations for learning German as a foreign language in South Africa, and the implicated power structures of these tendencies. In the context of South African language politics, particular attention is paid to knowledge production and the discourse around decolonising the curriculum. The findings of a case study are presented to support theoretical findings on the subject, which focuses on high schools in Stellenbosch and the German division of Stellenbosch University.

Keywords: motivations for learning German, language acquisition, knowledge production, decolonising the curriculum, German as a Foreign Language in South Africa

The purpose of this paper is to investigate possible motivations for learning German at school and university level in the South African context.1 Given the unique language politics of post-apartheid South Africa, with eleven official languages stipulated in the national constitution, the relevance of learning German at South African schools and universities is often brought into question. Although German is not included as one of these official languages, it is taught at many schools and universities across the country.2 In fact, the number of German learners at university level between 1994 and 2008 remained relatively stable with 1187 and 1195 students respectively, despite an overall decrease in foreign language teaching at universities after the Language-in-Education Policy of 1997. (Maltzan 2009:208) Although the period between 2003 and 2015 saw the closure of six South African German sections at universities, the number of students in the nine remaining German sections in South Africa, and one in Namibia, remained at a slightly decreased figure of 1077 students in 2016, suggesting that interest in the language does remain. (cf. Annas 2016:107-108) However, despite these numbers, German teaching at South African schools and universities has faced many obstacles in the last ←11 | 12→two decades, such as the restructuring of German departments at universities by integrating them with larger language departments3, the strong decrease in teaching staff and general questions regarding the legitimacy of German teaching in the South African context. An inquiry into motivations for learning German in South Africa could help to illuminate the future and direction of German as subject and provide insight into the general standing of European foreign languages in the South African secondary and higher education landscape.

As a means of situating this investigation within the context of South Africa’s language politics, the issues of knowledge production and decolonising of the curriculum will be taken into account, both of which have been problematised by the 2015 #RhodesMustFall (RMF) and #FeesMustFall (FMF) protests across South African university campuses. To what extent can the promotion and teaching of (European) foreign languages be justified in a country with eleven official languages? What implications do this have for the status of South African languages among learners? The first hypothesis this paper aims to prove, is that learners of German decide to learn the language, because they associate it with various professional and economic advantages, thus making it a valuable acquisition, both in terms of its practical and instrumental value. This value is of course increased by the fact that many learners study German as a foreign or third language and the acquisition of the language is promoted by German governmental organisations such as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Goethe-Institut. The promotion of a particular language inevitably creates a hierarchy. Attitudes toward languages and speakers of these languages are influenced by the associated status and power of the respective language. It is for this reason that language learning has been described as an act of identity formation. (cf. Ruck 2013:205) In fact, Ruck (ibid.) states that individuals in a specific social group adapt to one another through adopting the values, institutions and customs of the group through interaction and communication, in other words, through language. The second hypothesis of this paper is therefore that learners of German in South Africa choose to study German, a European language4, as opposed to another official South African language, as it is attributed a greater prestige and regarded as having more economic value than any of the African languages5.

A preliminary consideration is that language and identity are very closely linked and that second language acquisition therefore has an important impact on its learners. The teaching and learning of a particular language outside of the countries in which it is spoken as official language, should therefore be examined critically, as the promotion of a respective language increases the potential influence of the countries (and communities associated with it) within the community in which this language is taught. It connects ←12 | 13→people all over the world to the country or countries in which this language is spoken. This notion can be linked to Pierre Bourdieu’s definitions of cultural and social capital. He explains that, aside from economic capital, “which is immediately and directly convertible into money,” there are two other forms of capital (Bourdieu 1986:16). Cultural capital refers to the accumulation of what Bourdieu refers to as “culture, cultivation, Bildung,” in other words knowledge and skills, with which one can “impose recognition.” (ibid.:18, 21) Although one could certainly argue that the term “cultural” is problematic in this context6, the fact remains that the possession of particular knowledge, in this case of a language, often is regarded as more valuable than others. It follows therefore, that the knowledge of some languages and its context may be considered more important than others. This is closely related to postcolonial theory, from which much of the theory in this paper is derived.

The third definition of capital, as defined by Bourdieu (1986:21), refers to social capital and is described as follows:

Social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition – or in other words, to membership in a group – which provides each of its members with the backing of the collectively owned capital, a “credential” which entitles them to credit, in various senses of the word.

Details

Seiten
196
Jahr
2019
ISBN (PDF)
9783631810637
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631810644
ISBN (MOBI)
9783631810651
ISBN (Paperback)
9783631809044
DOI
10.3726/b16497
Sprache
Deutsch
Erscheinungsdatum
2020 (Januar)
Schlagworte
Digitale Boheme Genderkonstrukte Cosmopoetics Precariousness Elfriede Jelinek Abbas Khider Julya Rabinowichs Bettina von Arnim Sophie Mereau F.W. Murnau Joseph Roth W.G. Sebald Franz Kafka
Erschienen
Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2019. 196 S.

Biographische Angaben

Cilliers van den Berg (Band-Herausgeber:in)

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198 Seiten