Novels of Turkish German Settlement: Cosmopolite Fictions (review)

Students and scholars of literature in Germany after 1945 have a useful resource in Tom Cheesman's accessible new book. Cheesman seeks to trace the development of "Turkish German literature" from a literature of migration to a literature of settlement via an analysis of Turkish German novels. Equally important, however, for the book's conception is the goal of claiming the notion of "cosmopolitanism" as a useful theoretical perspective from which to view Turkish German literature, particularly as an alternative to notions such as "multicultural" or "intercultural."

The subtitle derives from several points important to Cheesman's project. Mark Terkessidis and Hito Steyerl have pointed out ways in which immigrant cultural products are appropriated to market a hip Germanness. Cheesman also makes a similar claim, arguing that notions such as "multicultural" are often used as "polite fictions," through which Turkish German and other minority German cultures are appropriated by the publishing industry to use the "sexiness of cultural diversity for promotion abroad," notions that "[celebrate] transformations and progress within German culture [ . . . ] by reasserting notions of absolute difference and locking writers into the role of representatives of ethnic and national minority communities" (35). Cheesman also hopes to point out with his title that often forms of cosmopolitanism in Turkish German novels are "decidedly fictional," whether in terms of fond utopian ideals, an implicit perspective constructed through stylistic strategies, or a cynicism that turns against a hypocritical humanistic liberalism (15).

Cheesman bases his book on three main premises: 1) that Turkish German literature both derives from and accelerates what he terms the "cosmopolitanization" of German society, 2) that diversity promotes controversy which is in turn productive for cultural transformation, and 3) that Turkish German literature is developing its own specific intertextual traditions (12–13).

The prologue, a transcript of a television talk show in which Feridun Zaimoglu participates, serves as springboard for the first chapter's survey of the legal and social issues relevant to post-war Turkish German migration. In chapter two, Cheesman charts general trends in scholarship on Turkish German literature. This chapter also contains a brief overview of notions of cosmopolitanism. Chapter three seeks to analyze various forms of "rooted cosmopolitanism" as seen in Turkish German authors in relationship to the dominant left-liberal understanding of cosmopolitanism. Chapter four is conceived of as a chronological history of Turkish German literature that particularly considers Akif Pirinçci as a pioneer novelist. This provides an interesting alternative view to many traditional overviews of Turkish German literature or of German literature of migration, which often construct a genealogy that emphasizes the founding of the Südwind group and the short-lived phenomenon of self-designated Gastarbeiterliteratur. Chapter five focuses specifically on Zafer Şenocak. In this chapter Cheeseman particularly emphasizes the important role that certain expectations of the ethnic/exotic 'Other' play in the publishing industry, and convincingly argues that these expectations are key reasons for the lack of Şenocak's success in Germany. In chapter six Cheesman turns to the testimonial genre, and in chapter seven, provides an analysis of the archetypal Turkish male, whom he terms "Ali."

The book's major strengths lie in its sweeping perspective and its excellent, accessible overview of Turkish German literature from a deliberately anti-essentialist perspective. The bibliography itself is a very useful resource. Cheesman refers to an impressive number of novels and places Turkish German works in a complex transnational perspective, particularly by considering intertextuality, recognizing where the authors draw on multiple traditions far beyond the realm often delineated as "Turkish German." Refreshingly, Cheesman also highlights the importance of ethnic expectations in the publishing industry.

The strengths of the book, however, lead to its major weaknesses. While Cheesman seeks to provide a complex history of the Turkish German novel, in providing such broad perspective (and reference to such a wealth of material), the book loses sight of its more theoretical goal of providing an argument for the usefulness of the notion of cosmopolitanism. This problem is exacerbated...