Performing New German Realities: Turkish-German Scripts of Postmigration

This book explores the relationship between theatre and migration in Germany, focusing on plays by Turkish-German artists and the new realities of "postmigrant" Germany. It highlights the role this theatre has played in a larger re-scripting of the German stage and offers a critical perspective on contemporary European theatre.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 322 pages
Publication date: 08 July 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

One in four people in Germany today have a so-called migration background, however, the relationship between theatre and migration there has only recently begun to take center stage. Indeed, fifty years after large-scale Turkish labor migration to the Federal Republic of Germany began, theatre by Turkish-German artists is only now becoming a consistent feature of Germany's influential state-funded theatrical landscape. Drawing on extensive archival and field work, this book asks where, when, why, and how plays engaging with the new realities of "postmigrant" Germany have been performed over the past 30 years. Focusing on plays by renowned artists Emine Sevgi Özdamar, and Feridun Zaimoglu/Günter Senkel, it asks which new realities have been scripted in the theatrical sphere in the process – in the imaginations of playwrights, readers, audience members; in the enactment and direction of scripts on stage; and in the performance of new institutional approaches and cultural policies. Highlighting the role this theatre has played in a larger, ongoing re-scripting of the German stage, this study presents a critical perspective on contemporary European theatre and opens innovative developments in the conceptualization of theatre and post/migration from the German context to English language readers.

One in four people in Germany today have a so-called migration background, however, the relationship between theatre and migration there has only recently begun to take center stage. Indeed, fifty years after large-scale Turkish labor migration to the Federal Republic of Germany began, theatre by Turkish-German artists is only now becoming a consistent feature of Germany's influential state-funded theatrical landscape. Drawing on extensive archival and field work, this book asks where, when, why, and how plays engaging with the new realities of "postmigrant" Germany have been performed over the past 30 years. Focusing on plays by renowned artists Emine Sevgi Özdamar, and Feridun Zaimoglu/Günter Senkel, it asks which new realities have been scripted in the theatrical sphere in the process – in the imaginations of playwrights, readers, audience members; in the enactment and direction of scripts on stage; and in the performance of new institutional approaches and cultural policies. Highlighting the role this theatre has played in a larger, ongoing re-scripting of the German stage, this study presents a critical perspective on contemporary European theatre and opens innovative developments in the conceptualization of theatre and post/migration from the German context to English language readers.

Weight: 450g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030698508
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021