Browsing by Author "Thamm, Eva"

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    Race als Zugehörigkeitskonstrukt im DaF Kontext – Eine kritische Analyse am Beispiel von Friedrich Dürrenmatts Die Virusepidemie in Südafrika
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Thamm, Eva; Von Maltzan, Carlotta; Altmayer, Claus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Race as a construct of belonging in the context of German as a Foreign Language (GFL) –A critical analysis of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s Die Virusepidemie in Südafrika This thesis discusses the cultural pattern of race as a construct of belonging within the short story Die Virusepidemie in Südafrika (The virus epidemic in South Africa) by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The parabolic story tells ironically about a virus which turns all ‘white’ South Africans into ‘black’ South Africans during the Apartheid regime. Categories of ‘race’ are shown in the parable through a specific way of storytelling and by creating perspectives which prove that characters are ‘culturally’ conceptiualised and constructed. The story is playing with ideas of ‘belonging’ and ‘othering, by constantly offering stereotypes, which show that racism and the construct of ‘nation’ is still very much alive in Europe and South Africa. Based on postcolonial theories about ‘race’ and racism, this thesis analyses Dürrenmatt’s text with a special focus on how a problematic cultural pattern like ‘race’ needs to find more attention within the discussion of cultural studies in the field of German as a Foreign Language (GFL). Therefore, the medium of literature is discussed in particular, with respect to the cited example, as a possible transmitter for critical topics and global problems.