This work explores the life of the Afro-German writer May Ayim by analyzing her writings as well as by discussing the social circumstances in which she lived. Chapter 1 provides a look at the Ayim's life, with special emphasis on major factors influencing her childhood. The effects of the personal as well as social pressures that Ayim dealt with as a child and young adult are also discussed. Chapter 2 focuses on the history of Afro-German children born shortly after World War II. Chapter 3 includes an explanation of Minor Literature and an examination of May Ayim as an author of such literature. Her importance as such is established. Due to Ayim's position outside the mainstream of German society social factors that greatly affected her life as a result of this situation are discussed in Chapter 4. These factors are: identity, culture, and ethnicity. In Chapter 5 Ayim's attempts to incorporate both the white and black aspects of herself despite the deeply rooted history of racism in Germany also discussed. Chapter 6 includes an examination of the toll that Ayim's familial and social experiences played on her feelings of romantic love, especially toward another Afro-German. In Chapter 7 there is an examination of the exhaustion that Ayim felt toward the end of her life. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2005. / April 1, 2005. / Blacks in Germany, Afro-deutsche, Afro-Germans, May Ayim, May Opitz / Includes bibliographical references. / Birgit Maier-Katkin, Professor Directing Thesis; Winnifred Adolph, Committee Member; John Simons, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181057 |
| Contributors | MacCarroll, Margaret (authoraut), Maier-Katkin, Birgit (professor directing thesis), Adolph, Winnifred (committee member), Simons, John (committee member), Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds