Literature//Vorzeichen
Literature in, not of, Germany
How does literature translated into German influence the German literary reception, curriculum, and market? Which global narratives and hi/stories become visible when translated and not only German-language literature is considered as part of the contemporary German literary scene and literary historiography? How can collective literary scholarship and transnational solidarity networks and alliances change the way we read texts?
For the next event of the series #Vorzeichen, our guest will be Professor Ervin Malakaj (University of British Columbia, Canada). The event will be co-hosted by poco.lit, a platform for postcolonial literatures in the broadest sense. Poco.lit is invested in the ethico-political power and significance of literature; paying special attention to creativity, this is a space that fosters critical engagement with power dynamics and intercultural conversations. The event will be co-moderated by Dr Anna von Rath (poco.lit) and Dr Maha El Hissy, the curator of the series. The lecture will be held in English and participation is free of charge.
Literature in, not of, Germany: Thinking about Transnational Solidarities and Diasporic Kinship with Lana Bastašić
Lana Bastašić’s literary practice, her presence on the German literary market, and the public termination of a contract with her German publisher Fischer Verlag serve as occasions to think about what and under which conditions literature translated into German is fostered by the German literary establishment. The talk will examine how Bastašić—as a post-Yugoslav writer—was at once intriguing and irritating for the German context. However, disrupting a market’s established logics does not exclusively mean literary failure. Drawing on postcolonial critique, the talk will explore how Bastašić’s politics of opting out served as a framework for new constellations of transnational solidarities that recognise the interconnectedness of various planetary struggles.
Moreover, Malakaj (who was born in former Yugoslavia and whose family lived as refugees in Germany) will trace how his personal engagement with Bastašić’s writing and reading about her experience on the German literary market formed a kind ofdiasporic kinship particularly conducive to exploring the intersection of literature/diaspora/solidarity.
Dr Maha El Hissy is an independent literary scholar and critic. In 2024, El Hissy is curating the event series #Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] for the Goethe-Institut in Northwestern Europe. She is editor of a forthcoming anthology on the art and literature of immigration to post-war Germany with Verbrecher Verlag.
The online events are open to anyone interested in literature and are particularly recommended for German scholars, German culture specialists, students, publishers and translators. In addition to the six online lectures at the interface between literary studies and the publishing industry, the series includes eight conversations with authors plus book reviews that will be published on Instagram over the course of the year. Detailed information about the series as well as event announcements and recordings of events that have already taken place can be found here:
For the next event of the series #Vorzeichen, our guest will be Professor Ervin Malakaj (University of British Columbia, Canada). The event will be co-hosted by poco.lit, a platform for postcolonial literatures in the broadest sense. Poco.lit is invested in the ethico-political power and significance of literature; paying special attention to creativity, this is a space that fosters critical engagement with power dynamics and intercultural conversations. The event will be co-moderated by Dr Anna von Rath (poco.lit) and Dr Maha El Hissy, the curator of the series. The lecture will be held in English and participation is free of charge.
Abstract
Literature in, not of, Germany: Thinking about Transnational Solidarities and Diasporic Kinship with Lana BastašićLana Bastašić’s literary practice, her presence on the German literary market, and the public termination of a contract with her German publisher Fischer Verlag serve as occasions to think about what and under which conditions literature translated into German is fostered by the German literary establishment. The talk will examine how Bastašić—as a post-Yugoslav writer—was at once intriguing and irritating for the German context. However, disrupting a market’s established logics does not exclusively mean literary failure. Drawing on postcolonial critique, the talk will explore how Bastašić’s politics of opting out served as a framework for new constellations of transnational solidarities that recognise the interconnectedness of various planetary struggles.
Moreover, Malakaj (who was born in former Yugoslavia and whose family lived as refugees in Germany) will trace how his personal engagement with Bastašić’s writing and reading about her experience on the German literary market formed a kind ofdiasporic kinship particularly conducive to exploring the intersection of literature/diaspora/solidarity.
Quote
What does solidarity mean to you? What histories of injury do you acknowledge and which do not come into view for you as worthy of your attention?
Ervin Malakaj: Historical Injury and Multidirectional Solidarity in Times of Crisis, The New Fascism Syllabus, 06.03.2022.
Bio
Ervin Malakaj is associate professor of German studies at the University of British Columbia. He is an award-winning scholar, teacher, and community organiser who works at the intersection of German cultural history and queer studies. Currently, he holds an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for advanced researchers at the University of Cologne’s Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies and a Canada Council for the Arts grant for a book of personal essays on queer life in the Bosnian and Herzegovinian diaspora. In 2016, he co-founded the international scholarly collective Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum. The research and community practice of the group reshaped scholarly and disciplinary practices internationally.Moderation
Dr Anna von Rath is co-founder of poco.lit. She lives in Berlin and works as a translator, among other things. In recent years, she has translated Franceska Ekwuyasi, Patricia Hill Collins, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil from English.Dr Maha El Hissy is an independent literary scholar and critic. In 2024, El Hissy is curating the event series #Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] for the Goethe-Institut in Northwestern Europe. She is editor of a forthcoming anthology on the art and literature of immigration to post-war Germany with Verbrecher Verlag.
#Vorzeichen
The lecture is one of six talks by academic and literary experts in the series #Vorzeichen. Whom, What and How we read. The aim of the series is to critique the literary canon by focusing on reading as a means for revealing and dismantling power structures. Texts, forms, aesthetics, discourses, conceptual ideas, and topoi that emerge beyond hegemonic, i.e. dominant, canonisation processes will be examined. In cooperation with an academic institution, the online lectures will feature speakers from various fields, such as academia, publishing and translation, who will discuss the exclusion of texts and authors through canonisation processes and market pressure.The online events are open to anyone interested in literature and are particularly recommended for German scholars, German culture specialists, students, publishers and translators. In addition to the six online lectures at the interface between literary studies and the publishing industry, the series includes eight conversations with authors plus book reviews that will be published on Instagram over the course of the year. Detailed information about the series as well as event announcements and recordings of events that have already taken place can be found here: