Rezension zu Edema, Patricia Stella: Bilder des Wandels in Schwarz und Weiß. Afro-amerikanische Identität im Medium der frühen Fotografie (1880-1930), Bielefeld, 2013

<p>Die Ich-Erzählerin in "Pawels Briefe" versucht ihre Familiengeschichte und ihre eigene Geschichte zu (re)konstruieren.Die Geschichten sind mithilfe der verschiedenen Medien der Erinnerung (re)konstruiert.Die (Re)konstruktion der Geschichten mithilfe der Erinnerungen der Mutter,der Fotografien und der Briefe ist problematisch, weil es so viele Lücken gibt.Die Identität der Ich-Erzählerin bleibt fragmentarisch und instabil, weil sie nachgetragen sind.</p>

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Die Ich-Erzählerin in "Pawels Briefe" versucht ihre Familiengeschichte und ihre eigene Geschichte zu (re)konstruieren.Die Geschichten sind mithilfe der verschiedenen Medien der Erinnerung (re)konstruiert.Die (Re)konstruktion der Geschichten mithilfe der Erinnerungen der Mutter,der Fotografien und der Briefe ist problematisch, weil es so viele Lücken gibt.Die Identität der Ich-Erzählerin bleibt fragmentarisch und instabil, weil sie nachgetragen sind.

The following thesis deals with the problem of self-identity in Ingeborg Bachmann’s narrative cycle Das dreißigste Jahr (The Thirtieth Year) and discusses the terms and conditions of developing one’s own, authentic identity. Until now, this early cycle has been analysed with an emphasis on either gender studies or philosophical perspectives. These analyses mainly address the utopian concept of language or the boundary between that which can be said, and ‘the mystical’ beyond this border. To give the question of identity a new perspective, this thesis applies existentialist theories from the field of philosophy to the narratives and determines the connection between self-identity, world, society and language. Gender theories, as well as philosophical-mystical speculations, are mainly excluded in the search for a new answer to the old question: How is a person’s identity formed? The main questions that are addressed in the thesis include: Is it possible to be oneself and how? How can we create our own identity despite the image of ourselves presented to us by others? And are we capable of constructing our own identity with the language available to us? In the first part of the thesis, I will provide a theoretical foundation, the philosophical background that underpins my analysis. After clarifying the direction of my study, the questions it will address and describing the method I will use in my analysis, I include a definition section that gives clear explanations about the key concepts of identity and existentialism which pertain to my analysis. This is followed by a basic philosophical introduction that explains the main concepts used in this work, including: Being thrown into the world, the quest for self-identity, the relationship between the “self” and the “other” and the meaning of language. These concepts are taken from the existentialist philosophy of Heidegger and Sartre. The next section gives an overview of the research to date concerning the most important works on the topics of “identity” and “language” in Ingeborg Bachmann’s prose, with a focus on the cycle Das dreißigste Jahr and positions the thesis in the context of this current research. The main analysis of the primary work applies the philosophical theories to a close analysis of the narratives, focussing not just on single narratives, but on aspects of them all. After a short overview of the contents of each narrative it analyses these aspects under five main topics: The condition of the self as being “thrown into the world”; the relation between self and society; the problem of language; the attempt to break free from society and language; and finally the “reconciliation” between society and a person’s self-identity within the framework of world, language and society. The main emphasis in the results focuses on the alienating effect that society as well as language has on the self, and the struggle of the self to achieve an independent and authentic self-identity. This thesis goes beyond the existing research on the narratives by addressing aspects of the self within a given framework other than gender theories, role-specific arguments or philosophical-mystical explanations. Its analysis of the works from an existentialist point of view, i. e. Sartre and Heidegger, provides a new perspective on what are essentially philosophical texts.

The following thesis deals with the problem of self-identity in Ingeborg Bachmann’s narrative cycle Das dreißigste Jahr (The Thirtieth Year) and discusses the terms and conditions of developing one’s own, authentic identity. Until now, this early cycle has been analysed with an emphasis on either gender studies or philosophical perspectives. These analyses mainly address the utopian concept of language or the boundary between that which can be said, and ‘the mystical’ beyond this border. To give the question of identity a new perspective, this thesis applies existentialist theories from the field of philosophy to the narratives and determines the connection between self-identity, world, society and language. Gender theories, as well as philosophical-mystical speculations, are mainly excluded in the search for a new answer to the old question: How is a person’s identity formed? The main questions that are addressed in the thesis include: Is it possible to be oneself and how? How can we create our own identity despite the image of ourselves presented to us by others? And are we capable of constructing our own identity with the language available to us? In the first part of the thesis, I will provide a theoretical foundation, the philosophical background that underpins my analysis. After clarifying the direction of my study, the questions it will address and describing the method I will use in my analysis, I include a definition section that gives clear explanations about the key concepts of identity and existentialism which pertain to my analysis. This is followed by a basic philosophical introduction that explains the main concepts used in this work, including: Being thrown into the world, the quest for self-identity, the relationship between the “self” and the “other” and the meaning of language. These concepts are taken from the existentialist philosophy of Heidegger and Sartre. The next section gives an overview of the research to date concerning the most important works on the topics of “identity” and “language” in Ingeborg Bachmann’s prose, with a focus on the cycle Das dreißigste Jahr and positions the thesis in the context of this current research. The main analysis of the primary work applies the philosophical theories to a close analysis of the narratives, focussing not just on single narratives, but on aspects of them all. After a short overview of the contents of each narrative it analyses these aspects under five main topics: The condition of the self as being “thrown into the world”; the relation between self and society; the problem of language; the attempt to break free from society and language; and finally the “reconciliation” between society and a person’s self-identity within the framework of world, language and society. The main emphasis in the results focuses on the alienating effect that society as well as language has on the self, and the struggle of the self to achieve an independent and authentic self-identity. This thesis goes beyond the existing research on the narratives by addressing aspects of the self within a given framework other than gender theories, role-specific arguments or philosophical-mystical explanations. Its analysis of the works from an existentialist point of view, i. e. Sartre and Heidegger, provides a new perspective on what are essentially philosophical texts.

The aim of this essay is to determine where on a continuum between speech and writingwritten computer-mediated communication (chat language) would be placed. The essaymakes use of a methodology based on Biber (1988). This was done using a quantitativeresearch methodology based on counting and comparing specific linguistic features in different texts. The data for chat language came from the NPS Chat Corpus. Other data used were transcripts of spoken discourse as well as a popular scientific text as material for comparison. This essay is mainly focused on four features: the use of pronouns, passives, ellipsis and the type/token ration of each individual text. Despite the limited size of the material sampled, the results showed that chat language had more in common overall with speech than with writing.

Youthful gay characters in search of their identity have appeared in US-American novels already since the late 19th century. However, they have become more prominent recurring figures in American fiction since 1969, the year of the Stonewall riots. Contemporary gay coming-of-age novels not only shed light on individual processes of gay identity formation set against the backdrop of American society, but also contribute to the creation of an American cultural gay identity. Transferring R.W.B. Lewis’s seminal concept of the American Adam and Jane Tompkins’s influential notion of cultural work alongside a variety of other theories and concepts from the Humanities onto contemporary narratives of gay adolescent identity formation, the present study delineates the literary and cultural value of the contemporary American gay coming-of-age novel and highlights the genre’s importance with respect to individual and collective gay identity formation in the contemporary United States. / Jugendliche schwule Figuren auf der Suche nach ihrer Identität tauchen bereits seit dem späten 19. Jahrhundert in U.S.-amerikanischen Romanen auf. Seit 1969 – dem Jahr der Stonewall Unruhen – wurden sie zunehmend zu bedeutenderen, immer wiederkehrenden Figuren in der amerikanischen Fiktion. Zeitgenössische schwule coming-of-age Romane geben nicht nur Aufschluss über individuelle Prozesse schwuler Identitätsentwicklung vor dem Hintergrund der amerikanischen Gesellschaft, sondern tragen auch zu der Herausbildung einer amerikanischen kulturellen schwulen Identität bei. Die vorliegende Studie überträgt R.W.B. Lewis' einflussreiches Konzept des American Adam und Jane Tompkins' bedeutenden Begriff des cultural work zusammen mit einer Vielzahl von weiteren Quellen aus den Geisteswissenschaften auf zeitgenössische Romane schwuler Identitätsbildung, zeigt dabei den literarischen und kulturellen Wert des amerikanischen schwulen coming-of-age-Romans der Gegenwart auf und hebt die Bedeutung des Genres in Bezug auf die individuelle und kollektive schwule Identitätsbildung in den gegenwärtigen Vereinigten Staaten hervor.

Die 1880er Jahre waren der Beginn einer massiven europäischen Einwanderung nach Argentinien. In dieser Arbeit werden kulturelle, politische, wirtschaftliche und demographische Veränderungen für das Land untersucht und welche Auswirkungen diese auf das Selbstverständnis der argentinischen Intellektuellen und die argentinische Kultur hatten. Die leitende Frage wird sein, wie eine kulturelle und nationale Identität in Zeiten der massiven Einwanderungswellen im Untersuchungszeitraum entstehen konnte. Dabei wird die politisch-historische Entwicklung, d.h. die Konstitution einer nationalen Identität, erörtert: Ist Argentinien mit der Unabhängigkeit im Jahre 1810 tatsächlich wirtschaftlich und politisch eigenständig geworden ist? Durch Balibars Nationenbegriff wird verifiziert werden, dass sich das Land erst im Untersuchungszeitraum zu einer Nation wandelte, das jedoch eine fragile Identität besaß. Zum anderen werden anhand des Assmannschen Konzeptes des Kulturellen Gedächtnisses die Erinnerungskultur und die Ausbildung eines kulturellen Gedächtnisses der argentinischen Intellektuellen erörtert. Ein einheitliches Bewusstsein für nationale und kulturelle Werte war nicht existent. Dies spiegelte sich in der Literatur, in der Kunst und im Theater im Untersuchungszeitraum wider. Im Laufe der massiven Einwanderungsströme entstand eine neue Gesellschaft, nichtsdestotrotz wurden kulturelle Neuerungen der Einwanderer kaum in die kulturelle Identität integriert. Nicht nur die eigene Kultur wurde verklärt gesehen, sondern auch die europäische Kultur überformt und selektiert, dessen Abbild in die argentinische Kultur integriert wurde. Durch diese Arbeit sollen Erkenntnisse aus historischer Sicht gewonnen werden, die bis heute Argentinien und den gesamten südamerikanischen Kontinent prägen: die Frage nach der Identität, die in Zeiten massiver Immigration verstärkt gestellt wurde. / In Argentina the 1880s mark the beginning of a huge flow of European immigrants to the country. This article deals with the cultural, political, economic and demographic changes and which consequences these had for the identity of Argentinian intellectuals and for Argentinian culture. The article also focuses on answering the prevalent question of how a cultural and national identity could develope in times of massive immigration during this era. The author attempts at examining the political development within its historic context, which gives key clues about the constitution of a national identity: Did Agentina really become self-sufficient politically and economically with its independence in 1810? Balibar's definition of nations confirms that the country of Argentina only developed into a nation during the examined time period of the 1880s, although with a yet fragile identity. The concept of Assmann helps to identify the collective memory and cultural identity of Argentinian intellectuals. Prior to the migration flow examined in this article, a homogeneous consciousness of national and cultural values did not exist. Literature, art and theatre during the examined era all reflected the lack thereof. During the migration flow a new society developed, in which, nevertheless, new cultural values of the immigrants were barely absorbed. Not only did one view Argentinian values in an idealized way, but one also saw selected parts of European culture as ideals, which were integrated into Argentinian culture as they were understood. The findings drawn from a historic context in this article will provide valuable information about questions of identity that, especially during migration flows, continue to be of interest in Argentina and the whole South American continent until today.