3. MIGRATION LITERATURE – SOCIAL, LITERARY AND EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS
3.4 Educational aspects
3.4.2 Intercultural learning and migration literature
Er nennt jenen Augenblick unheimlich, wo das Fremde und das Eigene in dem Sinne kollabieren, daß das Fremde sich als Wiederkehr des immer schon Dagewesenen entpuppt. (Bronfen 1997: 276)
The psychological approach of a common humanity thus includes the idea that the alien is contained in every individual. When it reveals itself as part of our own selves, it may be a terrifying experience. It may also be a pleasant one, as we discover hitherto unknown abilities we share with people we thought were strangers, e.g. a new understanding of situations from another perspective. Experiencing strange worlds in this way may allow us to encounter previously unknown horizons outside, as well as within ourselves.
Pugliese (2006) reminds us that all human relationships are characterised by distance and closeness, including those between the stranger and society. She notes that both concepts are not to be regarded as opposing forces in a relationship but as aspects of movement towards (social) transformation. (Pugliese 2006: 36) Intercultural engagement therefore also means that decisions regarding distance and closeness must be made.
Lernen ist Lernen gegen verinnerlichte Unterdrückungsmechanismen auf Seiten der dominanten und der dominierten Gruppen.“ (Rösch 1995: 114) Awareness of mechanisms of oppression challenges members of the dominant culture to critically review their privileged position within the cultural hierarchy. According to Rösch (1992), migration literature renders the utopian ideal of equality and unity in diversity comprehendible: “Migrationsliteratur macht die Utopie eines gleichberechtigten Miteinander von Verschiedenem faßbar.“ (Rösch 1992: 85) Migration literature therefore presents essential material for intercultural learning as it reveals power relations and at the same time offers an understanding of possibilities of unity and equality. Rösch (1992) warns that conservative views in intercultural education mirror those of literary theory:
Die Orientierung an Kulturgemeinsamkeiten wird in der Interkulturellen Pädagogik meist scharf kritisiert. Zwei Kritikpunkte werden meist genannt:
Die unreflektierte Vereinnahmung und Assimilation nicht-abendländischer, nicht-christlicher und nicht-industrialisierter Kulturen und die unkritische Orientierung an und Durchsetzung von Eurozentrismus. (Rösch 1992: 81)
Fear of appropriation and the insistence on contrasts limits understanding, since such understanding cannot progress beyond the point of recognizing and tolerating difference. Brunner (2004) presents an example of how an approach based on cultural contrast was implemented in educational practice. She criticized the discourse on migration in German schoolbooks as emphasizing life “between two chairs” (Leben zwischen den Stühlen). Such discourse emphasizes difference and the final analysis suggests that life between cultures is as uncomfortable as being caught between two chairs; comfort can only be found on one chair – homogeneity.
Das Fremde erscheint als das “Kulturfremde”, d.h. es wird auf markante Weise thematisiert und nationale Differenzen werden überbetont.
Ausländerkinder erscheinen als „besondere“ (von Natur aus problembeladene) Gruppe. Die in den Schulbuchbeispielen dominante Aussage lautet also:
„Bequem sitzt man eben nur auf einem Stuhl“, d.h. nationale Homogenität gilt als Normalitätsvorstellung. (Brunner 2004: 73)
Such negative presentation of the ‟in-between‟ should, however, not lead to an attitude characterized as „against between‟. Life in the „in-between‟ should be understood and accepted as a social reality for many people, and it should be made clear that such a reality is not only characterized by difficulty, but also by advantages.
In the same way as migration literature resists functionalism as evidence of social developments and their shortcomings, it would be unfair to reduce it to its usefulness in intercultural education. As intercultural literature it does, however, possess certain advantages in this respect over literature from a culturally homogeneous background.
Migration literature offers a minority perspective on social events in Germany. A stranger‟s perspective is less influenced by social obligations or expectations on the part of the host society; his or her perspective is likely to be characterized by more freedom and objectivity. (Pugliese 2006: 35) Rösch (2000) notes that these texts present a specific view of society: that of a visitor from another world. (Rösch 2000:
385) Such a perspective invites the reader to view the target society (Germany) from an outside perspective that may or may not coincide with his/her own view.
Chapter 2 provided a selection of insights from the philosophical/cultural arena that can be translated into a catalogue of goals in intercultural education. It is illustrated in the following chapters that migration literature conveys many of these insights. Some of these are:
Worldliness as a principle, since worldliness in literary interpretation places all literature amongst the cultural variety of world humanity (see p. 43 above).
Analysing one‟s needs and being flexible about them as a prerogative to adjust to changing circumstances as another principle (p. 47 above).
Knowing that universal claims gain validity only after dialogue, but that universalism such as cross-cultural consent on principles of morality, democracy and human rights has a role to play in the same way that protecting indigenous cultures has a role to play (p. 48, 54 above).
Learning that as human beings we exist per se as well as in the eyes of others (p. 69).
Developing a sense of humanity, of who we are, through the quality of our relationships (p. 69).
Assuming similarity before difference as a starting point in intercultural engagement (p. 19, 41).
Being aware of power imbalances and how they affect intercultural relations (p. 47).
Reflecting on global forces that affect our lives such as fundamentalism, individualism or postmodernist dislocation and materialism (p. 61-65).
Discussing the historical developments that led to the ideas we have about life.
This includes the experience of historical fluidity and the resulting heterogeneity of the present. In South Africa, there are for example parallel experiences of African, European and Indian tradition, apartheid legacies and post-apartheid transition. Migration literature teaches about negotiating the self between cultures and about the formation of hybrid identities (p. 58-60).