Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2004

Abstract

After outlining some striking similarities between ethnic food marketing and multicultural literature, I intend to analyze the role of food in contemporary German literature and society. Specifically, I will look at two texts by Rafik Schami ("Kebab ist Kultur") and Uwe Timm (Die Entdeckung der Currywurst). In both of these texts, food plays a crucial role. In "Kebab ist Kultur," food is a marker of difference and alterity. In Die Entdeckung der Currywurst, food is the impetus to trace history - personal history as well as the history of postwar Germany. Questions related to cultural differences, history, and memory have been highly contested within German society, and I am therefore convinced they will continue to play an important role in German literature and German studies.

Comments

This document was originally published by Dickinson College (Glossen) in Glossen. Copyright restrictions may apply. http://www.dickinson.edu/glossen/heft20/henderson.html