#Vorzeichen
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Vorzeichen

© Goethe-Institut

Vorzeichen

Whom, What, and How We Read

Through online readings and talks at the intersection of scholarship with the literary scene, as well as book reviews on Instagram, the series intends to open up spaces for texts and readers, different ways of reading and new perspectives on literature. All events will be broadcast online and made available as recordings afterwards.

About the project

Decisions about which titles are deemed to be part of the literary canon are not neutral. Canonical literature reflects power structures. Which aesthetic characteristics are considered to be ideal? Which authors do we pay attention to? With which eyes do we read their books? In music, accidental notes, such as a ♯ or a ♭​​, mark a shift to a different key. Vorzeichen aims to provide impulses which disrupt the idea of a standardised, closed corpus of texts and voices. Through online readings and talks, as well as book reviews on Instagram, the series intends to open up spaces for texts and readers, different ways of reading and new perspectives on literature.


 

Recordings

The picture shows Ervin Malakaj, a man in a chequered shirt with a beard, standing in front of a hedge. The logo of the Vorzeichen series can be seen at the top left of the picture.
© private
Online lecture #2
 Ervin Malakaj

In the second online lecture in the series, on 4 June 2024, Ervin Malakaj explored the question of how translated literature influences the understanding and perception of German literature and which global perspectives can be identified as a result. 

The picture shows the author Khuê Phạm, a woman with long, black hair. She rests her face in her hands and looks directly into the camera.
© Alena Schmick
Meet the Author #4
 Khuê Phạm

In June, Maha El Hissy spoke with author and Zeit editor Khuê Phạm about her novel Wo auch immer ihr seid [Brothers and Ghosts]. As with our event with Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus, this was a hybrid session, with participants both online as well as in person at the bookshop Khan Aljanub in Berlin Neukölln.

The poets Sam Zamrik to the left and Lahya Aukongo to the right.
Sam Zamrik © Paula Winkler|Lahya Aukongo © private
Meet the Author #3
 Lahya Aukongo & Sam Zamrik

Our third literary event on 21 May was dedicated to poetry and featured Lahya Aukongo and Sam Zamrik. The reading took place in cooperation with diffrakt: Zentrum für theoretische Peripherie in Berlin Schöneberg and was streamed live on Zoom. 

Book Reviews by Armin, Yeama und Charlott

Buchcover von Fabian Sauls Die Trauer der Tangente
© Matthes & Seitz
Book review #13
 Armin reads 'Die Trauer der Tangente'

Armin discovers a story he will carry with him in Fabian Saul’s debut novel Die Trauer der Tangente. Find out why in his latest review for #Vorzeichen.

Book cover on white background
© Thienemann
Book Review #14
 Yeama reads 'City of Trees'

Yeama encounters tender words in Chantal-Fleur Sandjon’s new poetic novel, as capable of piercing the reader through the heart as they are of filling the reader with surprise. Yeama’s newest review for #Vorzeichen investigates how the author abolishes conventional narrative forms.

The picture shows the book cover of ‘Alles dazwischen, darüber hinaus’. On a pink background, a pink-coloured side profile of a young person can be seen in the centre-right. The title and other details are arranged around it in dark blue lettering.
© Haymon Verlag
Book review #15
 Charlott reads 'Alles dazwischen, darüber hinaus'

Wordless, but not speechless. For her last #Vorzeichen review, Charlott read Maë Schwinghammer’s autobiographic novel, Alles dazwischen, darüber hinaus [Everything between, above and beyond]. She was captivated by the novel’s stirring and poetic narration of experiences of marginalization as well as its realization of the protagonist’s complexities.

The project Vorzeichen is curated by the independent literary scholar and critic, Maha El Hissy.
© Lina Burcu

Accidental Portents A concept by Dr Maha El Hissy, curator of the project

In music theory, a song composition containing multiple iterations of the same melody is called a canon. The leader sings and provides the tune; other voices then repeat the melody at staggered intervals. Regardless of whether these other voices sing the exact same melody or a variation, participating in a canon always means acknowledging one’s dependency on a single origin or source.