From essentialism to hybridity Fatih Akin's Gegen die Wand as portrayal of second-generation Turks in Germany /

by Johnson, Courtney Elizabeth.

Kristie Foell, Advisor Who are the Turks living on German soil? This question is central to many contemporary discussions being waged in the German media. In a country with approximately 2 million residents of Turkish descent, the time has come for this question to finally be addressed and answered. While journalists and politicians grapple with this topic, one director has made significant contributions to the discussion through one film: Gegen die Wand. This thesis explores the struggles that second generation Turks in Germany face when it comes to identity. It will look into the history of the minority Turkish population in Germany, and the struggles that the current generation must face. By incorporating the hybridity theory of Homi K. Bhabha the discussion will be widened to include new ways of approaching the question of identity. The thesis will then focus on Gegen die Wand and show the ways in which this film opens up new opportunities for discussing this very topical issue of second-generation minorities in Germany. iii “The migrations of modern times…have transplanted themselves according to some social, religious, economic or political determination, or some peculiar mixture of those. There has therefore been something in the removements analogous in nature to religious schism. The people have taken with them only a part of the total culture…The culture which develops on the new soil must therefore be bafflingly alike and different from the parent culture: it will be complicated sometimes by whatever relations are established with some native race and further by immigration from other than the original source. In this way, peculiar types of culturesympathy and culture-clash appear.” –T.S. Eliot, Notes Towards the Definition of Culture iv I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Stephen and Mary Ann Johnson. Their unwillingness to accept anything less than my best, and their constant faith in me have made it possible for me to attempt and complete all that I have accomplished in life. v