Literature//Vorzeichen
How relational reading disrupts the canon
We look forward to welcoming you to the first online lecture of our series #Vorzeichen. Whom, What and How we read, which takes place on 30 April, 2024. Our first speaker is Jeannette Oholi (Dartmouth College, USA), whose lecture on How relational reading disrupts the canon, will share ideas on how the literature of Black authors, authors of colour and other racialised authors in Germany can be read relationally to each other to do justice to the multiplicity of literary traditions.
The online lecture will take place in cooperation with the Leibniz-Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL) Berlin and will be moderated by Dr Kyung-Ho Cha and Dr Maha El Hissy. Participation is free and the lecture will be held in German and broadcast on Zoom. A recording will be made available afterwards on the #Vorzeichen series website. You can register in advance or join the event directly via the link.
The lecture is the first of six talks by academic and literary experts in the series #Vorzeichen. Whom, What and How we read. The aim of the series is to critique the literary canon by focusing on reading as a means for revealing and dismantling power structures. Texts, forms, aesthetics, discourses, conceptual ideas, and topoi that emerge beyond hegemonic, i.e. dominant, canonisation processes will be examined. In cooperation with an academic institution, the online lectures will feature speakers from various fields, such as academia, publishing and translation, who will discuss the exclusion of texts and authors through canonisation processes and market pressure.
These one-hour online events are open to anyone interested in literature and are particularly recommended for German scholars, German culture specialists, students, publishers and translators.
The literary works of Black authors and authors of colour in Germany are still mostly read in isolation from one another and not in relation to one another. Such a reading is problematic because, to use Mithu Sanyal's words, it conceals a "community of books" in Germany. Historically evolving solidarities and common, persistent acts of resistance remain hidden. At the same time, reading which isolates literary texts, means that the literature of Black authors and authors of colour in Germany is constantly received as 'newly arrived'. This ultimately strengthens the canon and suppresses the multiplicity of literary traditions of Black authors, authors of colour and other racialised authors in Germany.
In my lecture, I would like to share ideas on what a relational reading might look like, which themes could be considered and what effects this reading has on the canon and literary history. Here I follow scholars like Elahe Haschemi Yekani who argue in favour of disrupting the canon rather than simply opposing it with a counter-canon. Relational reading can disruptthe canon, as it reveals connections and intersections, ruptures and continuities in and between literary traditions that are part of German (literary) history.
Jeannette Oholi is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College, USA. She completed her doctorate on contemporary Black European literature at Justus Liebig University Giessen. She is currently working on an anthology of Black German literature, which will be published by transcript in summer 2025. Jeannette Oholi also likes to move outside of universities and was involved in the Black Literature Festival Resonanzen in 2022 and 2023, among others. She is currently working on her post-doctoralproject focusing on anti-racism and literature.
Dr Kyung-Ho Cha is a literary scholar at the Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL Berlin). His research focuses on contemporary literature in a (post-)migrant context, 18th and 19th century literature and classical modernism.
Dr. Maha El Hissy is an independent literary scholar and critic. In 2024, El Hissy will curate the event series #Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] for the Goethe-Institut Northwestern Europe. She is editor of a forthcoming anthology on the art and literature of immigration to post-war Germany with Verbrecher Verlag.
The online lecture will take place in cooperation with the Leibniz-Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL) Berlin and will be moderated by Dr Kyung-Ho Cha and Dr Maha El Hissy. Participation is free and the lecture will be held in German and broadcast on Zoom. A recording will be made available afterwards on the #Vorzeichen series website. You can register in advance or join the event directly via the link.
The lecture is the first of six talks by academic and literary experts in the series #Vorzeichen. Whom, What and How we read. The aim of the series is to critique the literary canon by focusing on reading as a means for revealing and dismantling power structures. Texts, forms, aesthetics, discourses, conceptual ideas, and topoi that emerge beyond hegemonic, i.e. dominant, canonisation processes will be examined. In cooperation with an academic institution, the online lectures will feature speakers from various fields, such as academia, publishing and translation, who will discuss the exclusion of texts and authors through canonisation processes and market pressure.
These one-hour online events are open to anyone interested in literature and are particularly recommended for German scholars, German culture specialists, students, publishers and translators.
Abstract
The literary works of Black authors and authors of colour in Germany are still mostly read in isolation from one another and not in relation to one another. Such a reading is problematic because, to use Mithu Sanyal's words, it conceals a "community of books" in Germany. Historically evolving solidarities and common, persistent acts of resistance remain hidden. At the same time, reading which isolates literary texts, means that the literature of Black authors and authors of colour in Germany is constantly received as 'newly arrived'. This ultimately strengthens the canon and suppresses the multiplicity of literary traditions of Black authors, authors of colour and other racialised authors in Germany.
In my lecture, I would like to share ideas on what a relational reading might look like, which themes could be considered and what effects this reading has on the canon and literary history. Here I follow scholars like Elahe Haschemi Yekani who argue in favour of disrupting the canon rather than simply opposing it with a counter-canon. Relational reading can disruptthe canon, as it reveals connections and intersections, ruptures and continuities in and between literary traditions that are part of German (literary) history.
Quote
“Only like this, in solidarity and resistance, can German literary history be disrupted, subverted and rewritten.”
Jeannette Oholi: Literaturgeschichte stören, p.417
About Jeannette Oholi
Jeannette Oholi is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth College, USA. She completed her doctorate on contemporary Black European literature at Justus Liebig University Giessen. She is currently working on an anthology of Black German literature, which will be published by transcript in summer 2025. Jeannette Oholi also likes to move outside of universities and was involved in the Black Literature Festival Resonanzen in 2022 and 2023, among others. She is currently working on her post-doctoralproject focusing on anti-racism and literature.
Moderation
Dr Kyung-Ho Cha is a literary scholar at the Leibniz Centre for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL Berlin). His research focuses on contemporary literature in a (post-)migrant context, 18th and 19th century literature and classical modernism.
Dr. Maha El Hissy is an independent literary scholar and critic. In 2024, El Hissy will curate the event series #Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents] for the Goethe-Institut Northwestern Europe. She is editor of a forthcoming anthology on the art and literature of immigration to post-war Germany with Verbrecher Verlag.
#Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents]
The event is part of the series #Vorzeichen [Accidental Portents]: Whom, What, and How We Read. In addition to the six online lectures at the interface between literary studies and the publishing industry, the series includes eight conversations with authors plus book reviews that will be published on Instagram over the course of the year. The project is curated by Dr Maha El Hissy, independent literary scholar and critic. Detailed information about the series as well as event announcements and recordings of events that have already taken place can be found here: