Writing and Sounding the City: Turkish-German Representations of Berlin.

Abstract

Located at the interdisciplinary nexus of literary criticism, cultural studies, and musicology this dissertation examines representations of Berlin in Turkish-German literature and music. The dissertation argues that Turkish-German writers and musicians construct the city textually and musically by linking Turkish and German cultural practices, providing a new perspective on the ways in which Berlin’s present and past is narrated and made accessible. Central to the analysis are works by Turkish-German writers, Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Aras Ören, and Kemal Kurt, and musicians Islamic Force, Tahsin Incirci, and Orientation, who have placed the migratory experience as integral to Germany’s history and culture. Rather than isolating these writers and musicians and establishing their viewpoint as an outsider position, the dissertation suggests that representations of Berlin by Turkish-German artists offer views from within German culture, intervening into debates on German division and reunification, immigration, and social integration. Proceeding chronologically, this dissertation examines musical and textual representations of Turkish labor migration and workers’ solidarity throughout the 1970s, reconceptualizations of home during the 1990s, and the intertwinement of the spaces of Berlin and Istanbul, West and East respectively after the fall of the Wall. Through historically contextualized close readings, the analysis draws attention to how Turkish-German writers and musicians reflect and comment on the cultural effects of key moments in German history like the Holocaust, the labor movement, and reunification. Against the supposed incommensurability of Turkish and German culture propagated by German media and politicians in debates on dual citizenship, EU expansion, and integration, Turkish-German cultural producers emphasize that intercultural exchange is a significant characteristic of both Turkish and German music and literature. The dissertation demonstrates how profoundly German culture has been shaped by its Turkish-German inhabitants, and shows how Germany’s capital has been transformed by their cultural contributions.

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