300282 Transculture – concepts and practical approaches (S) (SoSe 2015)

Globalization, Internationalization and Migration have changed the world. What impacts have these phenomena had upon the individual and his or her self-understanding. The nation bound concept of culture, dominating Europe and other regions in the world in 19th century, has proven to be practically useless and theoretically unsubstantiated. Intensive movements and networks of people, as well as information and goods, create transnational spaces; however, there is no shared conceptual and linguistic basis for the description of these global phenomena, which transgress many boundaries.

“I have three cultures”, performance artist, Nezaket Ekici said. One wonders how she understands the possession of these cultures and the numerous relations between them. “Yes, German, Turkish und international”, she explained (Dogramaci 2013). From this example, one can ask whether there is an option to talk about ones individual identity consisting of various elements bound to a specific culture, rather than referring to nationalities. Throughout the seminar, we will examine several theoretical approaches to globalization and transculture, e.g. Tine Davids/Francien van Driel, Arjun Appadurai, Homi Bhabha, Néstor García Canclini, and compare the concept of a third space with hybrid and trans- culture. Simultaneously, we will analyse the practical examples, given in texts or film data, using the concepts.

Participation requirements

The students must be open to study and class discussions of theoretical concepts (mostly texts within the area of Sociology and Political Philosophy). For credits, a presentation of one concept or analyses is needed.