Writing in another tongue: Contemporary German minority literature and creative writing in German as a foreign language (German text)

This dissertation explores the nature, process, conditions and possibilities of writing in a foreign language from two angles: the literary and the pedagogical. The literary material consists of contemporary texts written in German by authors whose mother tongue is not German. Their texts address not only linguistic, but also social, cultural, psychological and political aspects of being foreign in today's Germany. The pedagogical intention is to promote creative writing skills in German by students of the language. The underlying assumption is that the students' motivation and ability for language-learning is facilitated by the possibility of creative self-expression. By responding to literature in a creative way through writing, students can increase their understanding of literature, the writing process, the foreign language and themselves.; The discussion draws on the diverse but interrelated fields of literary criticism, cultural studies, creative writing and foreign language pedagogy, and shows how these disciplines can be integrated and applied in the classroom. An approach to using literature in the foreign language classroom is created in which literary texts serve as points of departure for creative writing.; The first chapter leads from the history of foreigners in Germany via the discussion of German literature by “foreigners” to the teaching of these works in the foreign language classroom. The second chapter addresses the process of writing literature under the condition of “foreignness” (Fremdheit), which first is analyzed from the perspective of the authors. This is followed by an overview of the pedagogical implications, circumstances, challenges and potentials of creative writing in the foreign language classroom. Chapter three discusses methodological issues involved in bringing literature and creative writing assignments together in the intermediate language-literature-culture classroom. The fourth chapter presents a teaching sequence (“Unterrichtseinheit”) detailing the practical application of the proposed approach. A brief concluding chapter offers a review and suggestions for future research.