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C U LT U R E & T H E M E D I A
TOPIC
COSMOPOLITAN POSITIONS
In German society, which is steeped in plural-
tales of themselves and the lives of their par-
ism, there can just as little be one predominant
ents and grandparents, unlike the stories told
cultural trend as there can be one metropolis
by citizens who have lived in Germany for
that towers over all the others. Buttressed
centuries. Whether they were born in Ger-
by the country’s federal structure, Germany
many or not, as a rule they are not influenced
is typified by the simultaneity of many ex-
by some hands-on experience of immigration,
ceptionally different things from different
but by the experience of cultural hybridity.
periods, indeed even countervailing or com-
This life in various cultural contexts engen-
peting currents – in theatre, film, music, the
ders new forms of artistic enquiry into society
visual arts, and literature.
and draws up new front lines for negotiating
rights, a sense of belonging, or participation.
There is a clear trend in theatre: The number
New narratives arise that encourage society to
of premiere performances by contemporary
view itself in a new light and define how Ger-
playwrights has soared. They run the entire
man culture is perceived abroad.
gamut of current forms of the performing arts,
in which traditional spoken theatre mingles
A beacon of such art that celebrates trans-cul-
with pantomime, dance, video, play acting,
turalism is Shermin Langhoff’s Post-Migrant
and music, giving rise to dense performancelike, post-drama stage work. The sheer variety
presented each year at the May Berlin Theater-
INFO
treffen can be read as the polyphonic response
to the issues raised by a complex reality.
Alongside the cultural mainstream driven by
the centre-ground in society new things are
arising, increasingly from marginalised sections of society, and these ideas are penetrating
and enriching the established world of theatre.
“Postmigrant” is the buzzword describing the
phenomenon, reflecting that Germany is an
immigration society as is visible in many cities,
especially in Berlin. Millions of Germans with a
migrant background are the second or third
generation of their family living here, they tell
Adelbert von Chamisso Prize
The Adelbert von Chamisso Prize is a
literary award bestowed since 1985 by
the Robert Bosch Stiftung. It is given
to a published work whose author’s
mother tongue is not German. In 2015,
the prize went to Sherko Fatah, a
German writer with Iraqi roots (for his
oeuvre), to Olga Grjasnova, who was
born in Baku/Azerbaijan (for her:
Die juristische Unschärfe einer Ehe)
and to Martin Kordic (for Wie ich
mir d