#Vorzeichen
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Vorzeichen

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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.

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.


 

Book Reviews by Armin, Yeama und Charlott

The cover of Gesammeltes Schweigen appears at the center of the image, to the left and the right there is a purple background. The cover is grey with red writing and numerous red rectangles strewn across the page. The background is yellow and contains multiple iterations of the word “Schweigen” [silences] in red. There are also additional red rectangles, some in the background and some overlapping with the book cover.
Book cover © Edition Zweifel | Design by Charlott Schönwetter
Book review #6
 Charlott reads 'Gesammeltes Schweigen'

This time Charlott reads a new edition of the classic short story by Heinrich Böll in literary conversation with contemporary author Sharon Dodua Otoo. 

The picture shows Yeama, a young black woman, standing in front of a wall covered in ivy. The cover of Natasha A. Kelly's short story ‘Juliana’ can be seen on the left of the picture.
Yeama © Josiane H.-A. | Book cover © Amazon Original Stories
Book Review #5
 Yeama reads 'Juliana'

With her new contribution, Yeama takes you to the year 2123. Her video about Natasha A. Kelly’s Afrofuturist short story Juliana describes not only her own reading experience, but also provides an introduction to Afrofuturism.

The picture shows a scene from a funfair, it is dark, a merry-go-round can be seen on the right and a Ferris wheel in the background. The picture comes from a video recording, the date 31 August 1998, the time 19:26 and ‘Family’ are indicated on the picture.
Buchtrailer © S. Fischer
Book Review #4
 Armin reads 'Da waren Tage'

Armin’s new book review for #Vorzeichen: A world between dream and reality and an unconventional writing style. Here is his review of Luna Ali’s debut novel, Da waren Tage [Those Were Days].
 

In the foreground, the cover of ‘Angry Cripples’; behind it, the covers of three other books on ableism.
Cover © Leykam Verlag, Cover © edition assemblage, design by Charlott Schönwetter.
Book review #3
 Charlott reads 'Angry Cripples'

Charlott discusses the anthology Angry Cripples: Stimmen Behinderter Menschen Gegen Ableismus in her first book review for #Vorzeichen. There are plenty of good reasons for people with disabilities to be angry, and far too often, they and their concerns remain unacknowledged.

Transparent white book cover in the background, the same cover in small in the foreground.
Book cover © KiWi Verlag
Book Review #2
 Yeama reads 'Weiße Wolken'

Yeama read Weiße Wolken by Yandé Seck for #Vorzeichen. The book was published by KiWi-Verlag in February. You can find out what the metaphor of white clouds is all about in Yeama's review.

The author Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner stands in front of a grey background, her arms are crossed at the back of her neck and she looks into the camera with a slight smile. She is wearing a dress with light-coloured flowers on a blue background; the German and English covers of her book ‘Ich kann dich noch sehen (an diesen Tagen)’ can be seen on the left of the picture.
© Nicole Benewaah
Book Review #1
 Armin reads SGL

First up in the series of book reviews is Armin with his reading of Ich kann dich noch sehen (an diesen Tagen)/ Days you’ll find me (in a place I like to go) by Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner. The book will be published on May 2, 2024 in a German-English version by Rohstoff, a publishing project by Matthes & Seitz.
 

Videos

The picture shows the author Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus against a black background. In the top left corner is the lettering "Vorzeichen" with a hashtag in the background. On the right is the book cover of "Birobidschan".
© Shai Levy
Meet the Author #2
 Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus

At the second reading in our series #Vorzeichen, the German-Israeli author Tomer Dotan-Dreyfus was our guest. He engaged in conversation with moderator and curator Maha El Hissy about his novel Birobidschan.

Necati Öziri looks down into the camera; the sky and a small section of a tower block can be seen in the background.
Necati Öziri © Şebnur Tansu Kayaalp
Meet the Author #1
 Necati Öziri

On March 19, 2024, our new series #Vorzeichen, curated by Dr. Maha El Hissy, opened with a conversation with author and playwright Necati Öziri. The event included discussion of Öziri’s recent debut novel Vatermal [Father’s Mark], as well as Öziri’s efforts to deconstruct classical canonical literary texts through contemporary theatrical restagings.

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.