Berlin is heralded worldwide as being a city that is open, innovative and diverse: a true multicultural metropolis. Music plays a central role in the city’s claim to this title. Go to any one of Berlin’s many notorious alternative nightclubs and you will hear techno, house and electronic dance music blasting out to hoards of enthusiastic partygoers. Many of these clubs and their participants claim that these parties represent diversity, acceptance, equality and tolerance: Spaces within which social divisions are suspended, difference is overcome and people are united. This ubiquitous discursive assertion is referred to in this thesis as a “diversity discourse”. This “diversity discourse” will be deconstructed and situated within a wider political context, with a specific focus on perceptions of race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender. Engaging with theories of intersectionality, post-colonial theory (looking specifically at Jasbir Puar’s important work on homonationalism) and employing qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and autoethnographic inquiry, it will be argued that the “diversity discourse” works as a mask to conceal a reality of social segregation. Far from being sites of equality and diversity, it will be suggested that access to these nightclubs is premised on the possession of societal privilege. That being said, it will also be argued that research into EDM nightclub participation refrain from viewing these clubs within a binary framework of “good” or “bad”; Rather, they should be seen as complex sites of ambivalence, within which multiple identities are acted out and explored. The project contributes to the current body of work within the (post-) discipline of intersectional gender studies, arguing for the need for theorisations in the field to encompass notions of intersecting privilege and disadvantage.

Masters of Art / In my thesis entitled ‘African Tradition and Modernity in Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness’, I analyze the way Western modernity and African traditions interact in Mda’s novel. I suggest that both modernity and tradition interact to produce a hybrid culture. This will become apparent in my analysis of the way Mda depicts the cattlekilling episode and the effects of Nongqawuse’s prophecy, and also in the novel’s contemporary characters. Mda shows the development of an African modernity through the semi-autobiographical figure of Camagu who is not slavishly indebted to Western ideas of progress, but is a hybrid of African values and a modern identity. In my thesis I will look at the way Mda also addresses the issue of the oppression of the Xhosa in colonial history, and the way he demonstrates that the divisions of the past deeply influence post-apartheid South Africa. In this regard, I will show how The Heart of Redness is a critique not only of colonial oppression, but also of the newer injustices plaguing the post-apartheid South African society. The focus of Mda’s critique in this regard is the proposed casino that stands as a model of environmentally destructive, unsustainable and capitalist development. Instead, Mda’s novel shows an alternative modernization of rural South African society, one which is based on community upliftment and environmentally friendly development. Through an exploration of the above aspects of the novel, my thesis shows that Mda’s writing exemplifies a hybrid African modernity, one that incorporates Western ideas as well as African values.

This essay examines the relationship between language, identity, power and visibility in Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019). This is achieved by applying post-colonial theories regarding double consciousness, and the construction of an Other. Theories put forward by Spivak and Fanon are also discussed in relation to this. By looking at how language is used, both by characters and author, we can see what an immense role language playes in the construction of identity and in the establishing of power.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how Mayareligiosity is portrayed and expressed in visual media in the form of series and films. The study also aims to investigate why Mayareligiosity is portrayed and expressed in that way and to discuss what reasons may be behind this. Based on the study´s purpose, the following questions have been formulated:  1.       How is mayareligiosity portrayed in these films and series? 2.       Why is mayareligiosity portrayed in this way?   The empirical material for this candidate's thesis consists of three visual media in the form of two films, The Fountain (2006) and Apocalypto (2006), and a series, Maya and the Three (2021). Based on previous research, background and postcolonial theory, the films, and series’ portrayal of Mayareligiosity is presented, analyzed, and discussed. It was possible to find several similarities between the portrayals in the visual media and there were also some differences. A division that was made was based on from what perspective the Mayareligion was portrayed, from the inside or from the outside. Discussion about how the perspective affects the portrayal and what this means followed. The foundations of how and why Mayareligion is portrayed the way it is can be found in post-colonial theorizing. It is based in a colonial history with power relations between colonizers and colonized and power relations around historiography. It is expressed through orientalism, binarism and subaltern groups. The discussion shows how a film industry built on Christian foundations and in Christian contexts leaves traces in films and their actions, partly in post-colonial perspectives.

Integration is perceived as an important political matter in Sweden. Despite the high priority of integration interventions, people with migrant backgrounds hold a marginalised position and are excluded from Swedish society. On this basis, the aim of this study was to understand how integration is constructed and how people with a migrant background are categorised in Swedish integration interventions. To achieve the aim of this study two texts that regulate integration interventions conducted by the Public Employment Service Agency and Swedish municipalities were examined. The regulating texts were examined by conducting a poststructural discourse analysis according to the analytic tool “What´s the problem represented to be” by Carol Bacchi. The findings of the study have been conceptualised using postcolonial theory, intersectionality, and ideas regarding postraciality which are derived from critical race theory. The study shows that people with a migrant background are categorised and constructed as the Others in relation to what is perceived as Sweden and Swedishness in the examined integration interventions. By colonial and racist discourse, the Swedish cultural identity is constructed as superior, while the Others cultural identities are constructed as inferior. The study also shows that employment is depicted as crucial to integration. Integration is expected to be achieved through the acquiring of knowledge and experience by people with a migrant background. Sweden’s structural racism is at the same time made invisible. The integration interventions can consequently increase exclusion of people with a migrant background by being characterised by colonial and racist ideas, despite their aim to favour inclusion. The study suggests that through awareness of colonial and racist power structures that influence social work, Swedish integration interventions could favour participation in society on equal conditions.

[pt] O legado de Próspero: uma investigação do projeto narrativo de Ruy Duarte de Carvalho parte do estudo da peça de William Shakespeare intitulada A tempestade para verificar, segundo uma perspectiva pós-colonial, a abordagem da colonização nas narrativas do escritor angolano Ruy Duarte de Carvalho. Publicadas após a independência de Angola, nelas a experiência da colonização não se mostra como um processo plenamente findado, visto que suas marcas ecoam no presente. Assim, Próspero e Caliban (personagens da peça shakespeariana considerados, a partir da década de 1950, como respectivos símbolos do colonizador e do colonizado) e a simbologia da tempestade são aqui teoricamente retomados na tentativa de elucidar os novos impasses vivenciados após a descolonização angolana. Para se estabelecer a aproximação entre a peça de William Shakespeare e as narrativas de Ruy Duarte de Carvalho, levou-se em conta o diálogo teórico proposto pelo autor angolano ao nomear sua trilogia como Os Filhos de Próspero (aludindo ao processo de mestiçagem física e cultural advindo da colonização), bem como a recorrência temática da tempestade em sua criação artística. Nesta Tese, além das narrativas que compõem a trilogia Os filhos de Próspero – Os papeis do inglês (2000), As paisagens propícias (2005) e A terceira metade (2009) –, são também analisadas as obras Como se o mundo não tivesse leste (1977), Vou lá visitar pastores (1999) e Desmedida (2006). / [en] Prospers legacy: an investigation Ruy Duarte de Carvalhoss narrative Project analyses, upon a post colonial point of view, William Shakespeares play entitled The Tempest, to verify the colonization approach in the narratives of the Angolan writer Ruy Duarte de Carvalho. Published after the independence of Angola, these works dont show the colonization experience as a fully complete process since its traces reverberate in the present time. Thus, Prospero and Caliban (Shakespearean characters considered after the 1950s as respective symbols of the colonizer and the colonized) and the tempest symbology are theoretically discussed, in this research, to elucidate the new obstacles experienced after the Angolan decolonization. To establish the approach between Shakespeares play and Ruy Duarte de Carvalhoss narratives, the theoretical dialog proposed by the Angolan author naming his trilogy as Os filhos de Próspero (referring to the physical and cultural miscegenation process as a result of the colonization) was considered as well as the tempest thematic recurrence in his artistic creation. In this thesis, besides the narrations that set Os filhos de Próspero – Os papeis do inglês (2000), As paisagens propícias (2005) e A terceira metade (2009) –, Como se o mundo não tivesse leste (1977), Vou lá visitar pastores (1999) e Desmedida (2006) are also analyzed.

Cette étude vise à analyser la question de l’identité culturelle dans un corpus dramatique de seize textes écrits en français et en anglais par des Kenyans à l’occasion du Kenya National Drama Festival (KNDF). Tenant compte de l’histoire coloniale et du contexte post-colonial du Kenya, il s’est agi de relever dans ce corpus les marqueurs de la post-colonialité, à y identifier les thèmes majeurs et les traits constructifs de l’identité culturelle kenyane et à y déterminer les particularités culturelles. Dans une optique comparatiste, l’étude s’appuie sur les théories aussi bien post-coloniales que du théâtre. Les concepts post-coloniaux touchant la question de l’identité à travers la langue, la culture et la représentation sont identifiés et analysés dans le contexte kenyan. Pour cette raison, l’on s’est appuyé sur les travaux d’Edward Saïd, d’Homi K. Bhabha, de Chinua Achebe et de Ngugi wa Thiong’o. L’étude révèle que la population kenyane se trouve face à une multiplicité de choix culturels résultant de l’expérience coloniale, de nouvelles pratiques liées à la globalisation ainsi que des complexités et des défis de la vie quotidienne du monde moderne. Le KNDF s’avère un dispositif de sensibilisation du public aux nouveautés, de dénonciation des maux sociétaux et de promotion de normes culturelles africaines. Il apparaît ici que le recours aux langues européennes n’empêche pas de représenter des réalités culturelles locales. Le Kenya fait ainsi preuve d’une mobilité culturelle qui se manifeste dans la progression du système traditionnel vers une disposition mondialisée. / This study analyszes the representation of cultural identity in sixteen drama texts written by Kenyans in English and in French for the Kenya National Drama Festival (KNDF). Considering the colonial history and the postcolonial context of Kenya, the task involved identifying the postcolonial markers within the texts, identifying major themes and traits constituting a Kenyan cultural identity and determining specific cultural identity. Using a comparative approach, the study draws from both postcolonial and theatre theories. The postcolonial concepts touching on identity through language, culture and representation are identified and analyzed in respect to the Kenyan context. For this reason, the study narrows down to the theoretical works of Edward Saïd, Homi K. Bhabha, Chinua Achebe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. The study reveals that the Kenyan population is faced with a multiplicity of cultural choices brought about by the colonization experience, the new practices associated with globalization, as well as the complexities and challenges of daily life. The KNDF proves to be an avenue for sensitizing the public on new phenomena, for denouncing societal ills and for promoting African traditional norms. It is apparent that the use of European languages does not hinder the representation of cultural reality of the local society. Kenya therefore attests to cultural mobility seen in the progression from the traditional system towards a more globalized disposition.

In The Song of the Lark (1915), Willa Cather does something extraordinary by presenting a well-rounded and likeable Mexican character. This is quite different from her contemporaries’ stereotypical depictions of minorities. To include immigrants in a modern novel was avant-garde and radical subject matter; and presenting a realistic, likeable Mexican character was unheard of because the colonized and immigrants were largely ignored in American literature, or deliberately overlooked. When they were included, persistent demeaning views and unflattering Mexican stereotypes were the norm. This paper seeks to explain how positively Cather depicts Mexican characters, decades before Civil Rights. Cather includes the plight of Mexicans in her novel and gives voice to those that were silenced and ignored. Even though she was a bestselling author and considered one of the best American writers of the era, she has not been properly credited for how progressive she was in her treatment of minorities. It is well documented that Cather used juxtaposition and absences in her writing to convey meaning; I build on these absences to add in rhetorical silence and connect her use of silence to the academic conversation about speech in post-colonial analyses. By contextualizing her writings within the period, I demonstrate how progressive her novels are. Even though most depictions of minorities at the turn of the century were stereotypical, Cather diverges from the racism, which makes her decades ahead of her contemporaries in including good immigrants and minorities in American literature.

<p>This paper is intending to examine the intercultural aspects of two teaching aids used in Swedish schools today. How does the material take the students prerequisite in consideration? Is every student included in the material in order with the standpoint and laws in the Swedish school system? And if they are not, who is the outsider in this occasion? With intercultural pedagogy lies the idea that everyone is unique and that teachers has an opportunity to develop and make student grow mentally. Intercultural endeavor is to learn to accept our differences and see them as assets instead. The theory’s used in this paper in mostly the postcolonial theory with its dividing between "us" and "the others".</p>

This paper is intending to examine the intercultural aspects of two teaching aids used in Swedish schools today. How does the material take the students prerequisite in consideration? Is every student included in the material in order with the standpoint and laws in the Swedish school system? And if they are not, who is the outsider in this occasion? With intercultural pedagogy lies the idea that everyone is unique and that teachers has an opportunity to develop and make student grow mentally. Intercultural endeavor is to learn to accept our differences and see them as assets instead. The theory’s used in this paper in mostly the postcolonial theory with its dividing between "us" and "the others".