"Innere Unruhe"?: Zehra Çirak and Minority Literature Today

The article discusses the work of Istanbul-born Berlin author Zehra Çirak — winner of the 1989 Adelbert von Chamiso Förderpreis and the 1993 Hölderlinförderpreis — and her position vis-a-vis the controversial and occasionally detrimental treatment by scholars and publishers of so-called minority writers in the Federal Republic. Also examined is current scholarship on minority writers and the advantages and disadvantages of the approaches taken. The article focuses on literary quality rather than on ethnic background, although the latter can be useful to a degree, especially for reasons of categorization. Several of Çirak's texts are analysed and discussed.