Katrin Isabel Schmitt

Beginning after the End. Trauma and Narrative in Twenty-First Century North American Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

This book examines contemporary North American post-apocalyptic novels, proposing that post-apocalyptic literature is a form of trauma literature. The study identifies characteristic elements of the post-apocalyptic genre, focusing particularly on themes of trauma and narrative. The corpus includes Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars, Nick Cole’s The Old Man and the Wasteland, Edan Lepucki’s California, and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven. The author develops a three-phase model of the post-apocalypse characterized by 1. Catastrophe; 2. Destruction; and 3. New Beginnings. The first phase examines the apocalyptic catastrophe as the catalyst for all-encompassing change. The second phase explores the post-apocalyptic world as a liminal space of radical transformation. The third phase analyzes depictions of potential new beginnings, where political, societal, and bioethical questions and values are renegotiated. Using this model, the study demonstrates that the phases of the post-apocalypse are closely intertwined with negotiations of trauma. The first phase represents a traumatic upheaval, the second phase portrays traumatized conditions, and the third phase presents potentially post-traumatic new beginnings. In summary, this book provides a genre study that systematically establishes and analyzes the characteristics and variations in contemporary North American post-apocalyptic literature ...

Ines Kremer

Zwischen Anpassung und Auflehnung: Mouloud Feraoun im literarischen Feld

Mouloud Feraoun (1913-1962) gilt heute als ‚Gründervater‘ des maghrebinischen Romans in französischer Sprache. Dennoch blieben in seiner Rezeption wesentliche Aspekte seiner Texte unbeachtet, da sie als literarisch wenig bedeutsam und zugleich apolitisch wahrgenommen wurden. Hier setzt die vorliegende Arbeit an, die das zentrale Anliegen von Feraouns OEuvre, die soziale Frage im (post)kolonialen Kontext, in den Vordergrund rückt. Seine Sozialkritik, die bislang wenig zur Kenntnis genommen wurde, wird durch Komik und Ironie wirksam und richtet sich unter anderem gegen die althergebrachte Geschlechterhierarchie. Damit weisen Feraouns Romane auf eine maßgebliche Entwicklung der algerischen Literatur in französischer Sprache voraus. Die exemplarische Analyse seiner Zusammenarbeit mit Akteur_innen des literarischen Feldes sowohl im kolonialen Algerien als auch in Frankreich, darunter Emmanuel Roblès und Albert Camus, lässt zudem die Konturen eines algerischen Teil-/Binnenfeldes hervortreten, dessen beginnende Autonomisierung in den 1940er und 1950er Jahren anzusetzen ist ...

Isabel Schröder

Das Gefängnis schreiben. Zeugnisliteratur und Fiktionen afrikanischer Autorinnen

Ausgehend von einem transgenerischen und transregionalen Ansatz widmet sich die Monographie von Isabel Schröder der afrikanischen Gefängnisliteratur. In der Untersuchung werden die in der Rezeption des Genres oftmals vernachlässigten weiblichen Stimmen sichtbar gemacht und in ihrer Vielfalt aufgezeigt. Die Arbeit bringt erstmals zahlreiche englisch- und französisch-sprachige Werke aus verschiedenen Regionen Afrikas zusammen und analysiert im Detail sechs zwischen 1970 und 2015 erschienene Texte afrikanischer Autorinnen aus Eritrea, Kamerun, Marokko, Nigeria, Senegal und Simbabwe. Betrachtet werden sowohl persönliche Zeugnisse Gefangener als auch fiktionale Romane, die das Leben im Gefängnis schildern. Dieser Forschungsansatz ist von besonderem Interesse, da beide Textsorten testimoniale Funktionen erfüllen und gleichzeitig Strategien des fiktionalen Erzählens aufweisen. Trotz der sehr unterschiedlichen historisch-politischen sowie kulturellen Kontexte der Gefängnistexte, ist ihnen oftmals gemeinsam, dass sie auf inhaltlicher Ebene Kritik an politischen und gesellschaftlichen Verhältnissen äußern sowie an eine moralische Gemeinschaft appellieren. Diese Kritik ist häufig genderspezifisch, sie kann allerdings nur in Wechselbeziehung mit anderen Differenzkategorien gedacht und verstanden werden, weshalb die Analyse konsequent einem intersektionalen Ansatz folgt ...

Carolin Patzelt, Katrin Mutz, Magnus Fischer (Eds.)

Creole Languages in Diasporic Contexts. Language Biographies and Plurilingual Identities

This volume represents a selection of the talks given at the International Symposium on “Language biographies and plurilingual identities in diasporic contexts“ (University of Bremen, March 28th-March 31st 2022). While plurilingual contexts and language contacts resulting from migrational movements have received increasing attention in linguistics over the past years, the particularities of language contact and linguistic developments in diasporic contexts have not yet been extensively studied. This is particularly true with regard to creole languages – even though the majority of creole speakers live in diasporic contexts. Based on the discussion of concrete case studies, this volume seeks to provide impulses from creole studies to the research field of 'migration and diaspora'. At the same time, it contributes to anchoring diaspora research in creole studies, thus focusing on the topics of globalization and transnational mobility, which have been widely neglected in creole studies so far. The contributions at hand comprise different philologies. They represent different approaches and questions relating to diaspora studies and discuss different English- and Romance-based creole languages from different geographical regions. Thus, a rather comprehensive illumination of a promising new field of research is provided and the need to bring together fields and approaches which have been applied independently of one another so far is highlighted ...

Cecile Sandten (Ed.)

Making the City: Transformative Processes in (Post)Industrial Urban Spaces

The Industrial Revolution, which began around 1770 in England, marked a period of profound cultural and economic change, especially for urban populations. By the mid-19th century, industrialisation had spread across Europe and North America, transforming cities such as Manchester, Łódź, Mulhouse, Tampere, or Pittsburgh into symbols of rapid development. While this era fostered hope and progress, it also brought challenges like long working hours and ecological shifts. The decline of key industries, such as steel, later created new difficulties for urban spaces navigating post-industrial realities. The edited volume Making the City: Transformative Processes in (Post)Industrial Urban Spaces builds on the conference held in June 2023 at Chemnitz University of Technology. The essays explore industrial heritage and its lasting effects on urban and rural spaces, addressing themes such as postcolonial perspectives, community ownership, or grassroots initiatives. These approaches contrast with investor-driven urban development and provide alternative models of “making the city.” Organised around two themes – “(post)industrialisation” and its representations – the volume highlights how the past continually informs the present. From preserving industrial heritage and adapting urban policies to reinterpreting city life in urban studies, literature, art, and music, the collection offers a multifaceted look at the processes that shape cities and their identities in the post-industrial era ...

Francesca Siverio

Globalization’s Temporal Regime. An Analysis of Cultural Hegemony in Selected Works by Salman Rushdie, Jeet Thayil and Rana Dasgupta

Globalization characterizes the contemporary era. Considered as a recent manifestation of Western hegemony and identified with the undisputed power of the United States, globalization replaces European colonialism in determining the current power relations. The literary analyses of Fury (2001) and The Golden House (2017) by Salman Rushdie, Narcopolis (2012) and The Book of Chocolate Saints (2017) by Jeet Thayil and Tokyo Cancelled (2005) by Rana Dasgupta explore how globalization-as-modernity has radicalized the role of temporality in determining one’s cultural belonging and how it uses a specific conceptualization of time to pursue its cultural agenda. What are the features of globalization’s temporality? What kind of values and individuals are promoted by globalization’s temporal hegemony? What role do one’s biography, creativity and the social body play in the formulation of alternative temporal and cultural configurations? The fictional texts not only show how the perpetuation of Western cultural hegemony is strictly intertwined with the imposition of a specific temporal regime, but they also shed light on the importance of alternative narratives and, ultimately, on the liberating power of imagination ...

Deborah de Muijnck (Ed.)

Troubling Time(s). Questioning Prevailing Notions of Time in the Study of Literature and Culture

This volume examines how narratives across literature, film, and (museal) art challenge and reshape our understanding of time during crises. The contributors explore temporal disruptions in personal, societal, and environmental contexts, revealing how storytelling can critique dominant temporalities and inspire transformation. The volume begins by revisiting past and future scenarios, from dystopian visions shaping collective futures to narratives reconciling contested histories. Section two examines personal struggles and societal upheavals, highlighting how propaganda, performance, and comedy address moments of crisis. Subsequent chapters explore narrative strategies that review linear notions of time, from exhibitions and novels to travelogues. Sections three and four uncover resilience in crises, reflecting on nostalgia, biodiversity loss, and cultural upheaval as sources of care and creativity. The anthology concludes with focus on the Anthropocene, where speculative fiction, climate narratives, and the ethics of gardening propose cyclical, slowed temporal experiences as alternatives to modernity’s linear time ...

Meike Stein

Travels With My Mother. Krachts „Eurotrash“ im Spiegel von Nickels und Greenes „Travels With My Aunt“

Christian Kracht erklärte im einzigen Zeitungsinterview, das er zur Veröffentlichung von „Eurotrash“ gab, dass er unter anderem von Graham Greenes Roman „Travels With My Aunt“ inspiriert sei. Doch nicht nur Greene hat einen Text mit diesem Titel geschrieben: Krachts langjähriger Freund Eckhart Nickel hat ebenfalls eine Version von „Travels With My Aunt“ veröffentlicht, die Aufschluss über das literarische Selbstverständnis beider Autoren gibt. Ausgehend von Krachts Arbeit im Bereich des literarischen Journalismus und der Reiseliteratur sowie seiner Anwendung von Autofiktionsstrategien zeigt sich „Eurotrash“ durch eine vergleichende Lesart mit Nickel und Greene als Pop, Selbstmythologisierung und authentisches autofiktionales Selbstbekenntnis. Die Performance der Autorpersona Kracht wird dabei durch die Medienkampagne rund um die Veröffentlichung von „Eurotrash“ erweitert. Das Zusammenspiel von medialem Dispositiv, subjektiver Reflexion und praktischer Selbstbearbeitung im Sinne der Automedialität ermöglicht eine künstlerische Erzählung der eigenen Geschichte, die durch den Eintritt in den literarischen Raum die Grenzen zwischen Leben und Kunst aufhebt ...

Chike Okoye (Ed.)

When Four Are Gathered: The Crucial Poets of Nigerian Modernity. With a Foreword by Professor Obi Maduakor

The watershed of Nigeria’s modernity took a very poignant turn after the civil war of 1967-1970. New temperaments, tensions, consciousnesses, strains, severances, bonds, perceptions, animosities, forbearances, loves, alliances, lessons, and so on, across the multiethnic divides of the country, materialized. These ever-dynamic states of flux have continued in different degrees and directions to date. Literature, ever-faithful, continues to accompany Nigeria’s vicissitudes – poets being arguably the most poignant in response(s) and representations. The literary traditions and the attendant canon of the Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark-Bekederemo, Christopher Okigbo, Gabriel Okara, and so on era gradually gave way to the Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Chimalum Nwankwo, and Odia Ofeimun period. The whole point of this book and its intellectual exercise is to review the subsisting literary canon of an era in Nigeria’s literary historicity – that of the crucial period of upheavals in society, polity, and governance – expanding the erstwhile trio of poets to justifiably include Chimalum Nwankwo. They are the four gathered, representative as crucial poets of Nigerian modernity in this critical volume ...

Manolis Ulbricht, Jens Scheiner (Eds.)

From Oriens Christianus to Islamic Near East. Historiographical, Theological, and Cultural Cross-Pollinations in Late Antiquity and Early Islam

The volume offers a new contribution to the study of the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean during Late Antiquity, the Early Islamic and Medieval periods. Originating from a two-day workshop held at the Chair of Byzantine Studies at Freie Universität Berlin (Dec. 7th–8th, 2017), it approaches Christian-Muslim coexistence between the fourth and tenth centuries CE through an interdisciplinary lens. The objective is to present a unified and holistic approach to Late Antique and Early Islamic Studies (LAESSI), revealing the interactions that shaped the transformation from Oriens Christianus to Islamic Near East (OCINE). The edited volume gathers an international, interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore and better understand the Near Eastern milieu in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic period. Divided into three sections, Historiographical Cross-Pollination, Theological Cross-Pollination, and Cultural Cross-Pollination, the chapters examine the coexistence of Christian and Muslim cultural spheres in an intellectual space of complex interactions and exchanges ...

Kerstin Knopf

The Gothic Canadian Century. Unhomely Beginnings and Canada's Gothic Literature in English 1800-1900

This book provides a comprehensive account of Canadian gothic literature throughout the nineteenth century, including little-known texts that were popular in their day but have since sunk into oblivion. Based on various American Gothic subgenres discussed in detail, it establishes the Frontier Gothic, French-Canadian Gothic, Exploration Gothic, Orientalist Gothic, and Female Gothic as major Canadian gothic subgenres. The book theorizes Canada’s unhomely beginnings and traces the responding development of Canadian gothic literature, while relating textual analyses to the British and American gothic traditions. The book discusses the Canadian texts' responses to land, historical trauma, frontier experience, nation-building, colonial ideologies of conquest, rifts between Old and New World values, as well as anxieties about French and British neglect and American domination, national identity, and fears of the national and cultural 'other.' Women's texts responded vigorously to conventional gender beliefs, marriage laws, and patriarchal domination of women, while employing the gothic mode to imagine rebellious and gender-bending behavior and more egalitarian or unfettered lives for women ...

Simela Delianidou

Heinrich Bölls ‚Poesie des Geldes‘. Geld und Gaben in ausgewählten Romanen

Heinrich Böll hinterlässt – wie diese kulturkritische, ökonomisch reflektierte Studie demonstriert – mit seinen frühen Romanen Der Engel schwieg (1949-1951/1992), Billard um halb zehn (1959) und Ansichten eines Clowns (1963) eine ‚Poesie des Geldes‘, die an eine religiöse, mithin urchristliche ‚Ästhetik des Humanen‘ anknüpft. Er stellt in diesen Texten eine diachrone Betrachtung des Geldes und der Gabenpraxis an, geht kritisch mit verschiedenen Geldtheorien und Werteordnungen um und legt Mythenbildungen offen. Dabei wirft er einen kritischen Blick auf verschiedene Phasen der deutschen Wirtschaftsgeschichte: von der ersten Gründerzeit im Kaiserreich, dem Wirtschaftsaufschwung im Nationalsozialismus, der vermeintlichen „Stunde Null“ nach 1945 bis hin zum „Wirtschaftswunder“ in der jungen BRD. Böll bedient sich einer spezifischen literarischen Fortschreibung, der Verbindung von littérature engagée und l’argent engagée, und entwirft bereits zu diesem frühen Zeitpunkt sein Gegenmodell, das das Thema Ökonomie wieder an die Wirtschaftsethik anzubinden sucht und explizit die Frage nach der Aufgabe der Kunst als einer „Poesie der Einmischung“ stellt ...