Language Trouble: Re*writing Gender in Contemporary German Literature

Undergraduate / Graduate

Ich will Sprache mit mehr Möglichkeiten, dann kann ich genauer ausdrücken, was ich sagen will." Illi Anna Heger Within German language, gender is ever-present and highly fixed, with every object marked by grammatical categories of "feminine," "neuter," or "masculine." Yet despite this seemingly fixed nature, contemporary authors have been exploring creative avenues to write in gender-fluid ways. In this course we will explore the following questions: How do people respond when the limits of language cause it to fail to reflect or describe their lived experiences? How do people reshape language to expand its meaning? And how do these attempts to create new forms of language shape socio-political discourses? We will begin by mapping out the contemporary discursive fields surrounding gender in Germany, including political arguments about gender-neutral and gender-inclusive language. We will then turn to contemporary literature to explore authors' approaches to expanding language, including the creation of gender-inclusive placeholders in nouns (e.g., Sternchen, Doppelpunkt, and Unterstrich) and neopronouns (e.g., xier, dey). Readings will include contemporary German literature, including works by Kim de L'Horizon, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Illi Anna Heger, and Fatma Aydemir, as well as newspapers and official government documents. This course is intended for upper-level undergraduate students. Readings and discussions will be held in German.