On October 17, 2024, we are looking forward to welcoming author Mirrianne Mahn to the #Vorzeichen literature series. Together, we will discuss her new book Issa, as well as the novel as a genre for thematizing repressed colonial history, highlighting the perspectives of Black women, and drawing attention to colonial exploitation and violence as both literal and metaphoric subjects.

The conversation will be moderated by independent literary scholar and critic Maha El Hissy, who is curating the #Vorzeichen series for the Goethe-Institut Northwestern Europe in 2024. Discussions will be held in German and broadcast via Zoom. If you are in Stockholm, you can also join the conversation live at the Goethe-Institut Sweden. As always, participation is free of charge, and all are welcome.
 

Issa

A pregnancy leads the title character in Issa to Cameroon, where she would like to participate in traditional ceremonies to facilitate a connection with her female ancestors. The novel weaves together the stories of five Black women in Cameroon and Germany, whose lives are separated by more than a century. The family portrait that develops stretches back to precolonial times, setting spirituality, ritual, and healing against colonial violence, exploitation, and rape. Mirrianne Mahn’s novel Issa reveals how centuries of Black history are German history, too.

»I know these stories so well, I sometimes believe I lived them myself.«
Mirrianne Mahn: Issa. Rowohlt, 2024.
 

Mirrianne Mahn

Mirrianne Mahn was born in Buea, Cameroon in 1989 and grew up in a small village in the Hunsrück. Today, she lives in Frankfurt am Main, where she works to combat racism and discrimination through her engagement as a theater maker and activist. She is a consultant for diversity development and antidiscrimination and has been a member of the Frankfurt City Council since 2021. The same year, she was also highlighted for her political engagement by FOCUS Magazin as one of the '100 Women of the Year'. Her novel, Issa, was published by Rowohl Verlag in 2024 and nominated for LitCologne’s Debut Prize.
 

Vorzeichen

This online event is part of the series #Vorzeichen. Wen, was und wie wir lesen [Accidental Portents: Whom, What, and How We Read]. The series illuminates the multiplicity of texts, forms, and aesthetic practices which have developed outside the hegemonial practices of canonization. It provides a critical perspective on the literary canon, highlighting the importance of reading as a practice for critiquing structures of power. In addition to literary conversations, the series will also include six online lectures at the intersection of literary studies and the contemporary literary scene, along with book discussions and reviews which will be published over the course of the year on Instagram. Further information about #Vorzeichen, as well as announcements for forthcoming events and recordings of previous sessions can be found at the following link.