Postkoloniale Germanistik. Bestandsaufnahme, theoretische Perspektiven, Lektüren ed. by Gabriele Dürbeck und Axel Dunker (review)

Postcolonial approaches might have entered Germanistik somewhat belatedly in comparison to other fields, but for more than a decade now, they have been gaining more and more importance in the discipline. This volume is part of a project to expand and systematize the contributions that postcolonial studies have made within Germanistik, i.e., the DFG-sponsored network “Postkoloniale Studien in der Germanistik,” which was founded by Gabriele Dürbeck and Axel Dunker and operated from 2008 to 2011. The network project sought to collect and consolidate individual approaches and research projects, to employ them for a reconfiguration and expansion of the field, and thus also to establish postcolonial studies within the institution(s) of Germanistik. The edited series of the same title, which so far comprises eight books, is part of this effort, and this particular volume (as well as other books in the series) compiles research completed by network members during the duration of the project.

The volume consists of eleven contributions, which are divided into two parts: the first section, “Bestandsaufnahmen und theoretische Perspektiven,” sketches the development of postcolonial studies in Germanistik so far and lays out current topics and possible future lines of inquiry, thus providing the framework for the more extensive second part, which contains analyses and (re-)readings of texts of colonial, post-, and neo-colonial relevance, as well as critical examinations of existing post-colonial treatises.

Gabriele Dürbeck’s contribution provides a historical overview of German post-colonial studies in the past 15 years, including aspects such as the influence of Anglo-American theories or the cultural turn, and a literature survey. While some of this has been done in many a postcolonial anthology, Dürbeck’s survey distinguishes itself by differentiating individual methodological approaches and focusing on some key points, such as the relevance of transnationalism and the intersection with other fields, e.g., intercultural (German) studies. While the author attests to postcolonial Germanistik’s increasing diversity, globalization, and emancipation from merely absorbing outside theories, she also points to diverse areas for potential growth, from a need for further (re-)readings of seminal texts from a postcolonial perspective to exploring continuities with related issues (e.g., the Holocaust), and advancing connections with ecocriticism.

Alexander Honold’s contribution exemplifies one such area of growth by suggesting a link between intercultural and postcolonial studies for further productive inquiry. Putting forward the concept of a connection between written discourse systems and historical colonialism, he theorizes a “Poetik des Fremden” (71) which draws on participatory observation in combination with a critical reconstruction of colonial history for a model of intercultural perception and analysis, particularly in texts from contact zones. In a similar attempt at broadening the scope of postcolonial Germanistik, Sven Werkmeister proposes a focus on media-reflexive considerations—or, as he calls it, an ethnological turn, in cultural studies—for a better understanding of the subtleties of (post)colonial texts.

The following section offers a broad variety of impressive studies illustrating the increasing diversity within postcolonial Germanistik, including its extension into postcolonial ecocriticism (Sabine Wilke), a transfer of the colonial concept to Eastern Europe and its internal others, i.e., Jews and ‘gypsies’ (Iulia-Karin Patrut), and the inclusion of concepts from narratology and discourse analysis for a postcolonial reading of Wolfgang Herrndorf’s enigmatic novel Sand (Maximilian Burk / Christof Hamann). Oliver Lubrich’s interpretation of the perplexing structure of Alexander von Humboldt’s Kosmos as replication of colonialism’s confusing and criticized structure is as insightful as Axel Dunker’s interpretations of various twentieth-century texts that he performs with as well as against Edward Said’s concept of contrapuntal reading.

The section of interpretations concludes with a thematic cluster on German colonial fantasies of Africa. Dirk Göttsche examines recent historical novels about Africa, asserting a tendency towards re-mythicization of the colonial past which, however, is often successfully overcome in texts that employ postmodern narrative...