Migrants' Voices

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

“Deutsche Sprache – schwere Sprache” is a proverb often used to encourage migrants in German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) to keep going and not give up on the German language. More and more, authors who were born outside the German-speaking area and who were primarily socialized in another language than German publish their work in German – in order to do so, some of them resort to the help of translators and editors, others no longer require this kind of assistance. In this upper/under course we will read the works of some authors who have a “migration background” (“Migrationshintergrund”) and deal with various aspects of migration in their writing. We will also (critically) look at initiatives designed to help migrant writers gain more visibility in the world of literature, such as the Albert Chamisso Prize in Germany, the literary award “Writing between Cultures” (edition exil) and the “Hohenems Literature Prize for German-speaking authors of non-German native language” in Austria. We will discuss to what extent such initiatives are supporting and encouraging migrant writers, but also raise the question whether the label “Migrationsliteratur” could bring about some sort of stigmatization and pigeonholing of authors who enrich the German literature with their specific perspectives and experiences.